Page 24 of Chance
“I’m not even going to pretend to understand that, baby.But running isn’t an option now that I’ve found you.I’ll protect you from anything, including whoever is haunting you.”
Her lip wobbled again before she gave me a heartbreaking smile.That damn thing was like kryptonite, draining me of strength.I would have done anything to make sure she never had a reason to smile like that again.“How?”
“I don’t know yet, peaches.What I do know is I’m going to make it better.”
“You can’t fight my memories, Chance.”
“No, but I can give you new ones.Better ones.Happy moments that we create together.”I skimmed my knuckle across her cheek, brushing away the tear that fell before she could blink it back.“With me, you don’t have to be a good girl, Evie.”
Chance
“Arewe going to Netflix and chill?”Evie asked as she unlocked her apartment door.
“You planning on taking advantage of me, peaches?”I teased, following her inside.
“Maybe.I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”When I started to shut the door, her cheeks lost some of that rosy pink glow.“Let’s leave it open.Just for a little while.I-I like the night air.”
Before I could question it, she shoved me onto the couch and walked to the fridge.“We don’t have any beer, but there’s plenty of Diet Coke.Or I could make coffee.There’s also sweet tea that I brewed yesterday.Spoiler, it’s peach-flavored.”
“Tea, please.I’m suddenly addicted to all things peaches.”
Her cheeks filling with heat again, she grabbed the pitcher of tea from the fridge.Stretching out, I got lost watching her flutter around the kitchen, pouring two glasses of tea.When she was close enough to offer me one, I wrapped my hand around her delicate wrist and pulled her onto my lap, careful so I didn’t cause her to spill our drinks.
“Hi,” she breathed, so close, her nose nearly bumped mine.
“Hey, baby.”Brushing her hair over her shoulder, I nuzzled my nose against her ear and down her neck.Evie gasped, the pulse at the base of her throat fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings.Goose bumps lifted along her skin, a tiny, helpless whimper leaving her mouth.
It would be so easy to put my hand between her legs, shift her panties aside, and?—
Fuck.
Grinding my teeth together, I stopped those thoughts before I got carried away.Evie wasn’t ready for that.She sat so still in my arms, unsure what to do, how to react to my lips on her skin.I didn’t want her to be nervous our first time together.And if she wasn’t already, she would be as soon as she saw my cock.
It was torture to pull back, but I only gave myself a tiny taste of her neck before I took one of the glasses from her hand and drained the contents.Surprised at how much I enjoyed the tea, I exchanged my empty glass for hers, savoring it this time.“Damn, peaches.This is the best tea I’ve ever had.”
Skeptically, she lifted a brow at me.“Really?”
“I’m not much of a tea drinker.”I swallowed the last of the second glass, enjoying the tangy-sweet flavor on my tongue.“I’m a simple man.Cold beer.Hot coffee.Water to keep people from bitching at me to stay hydrated at work.Tea isn’t something I go looking for, sweetheart.”
“It’s just something I’ve been experimenting with, trying new recipes to see what I like.Last week, I made a peach lemonade that was so sour I thought Evy’s face was going to freeze in a pucker.”She shifted so she could place both empty glasses on the coffee table.That was as far as I could let her get before I was tugging her back, arranging her on my lap so my cock wasn’t drilling into her hip and I didn’t cripple myself.
Evie settled into me like she’d been doing it her entire life, her hand going to my chest, tracing her finger over the Enforcer patch on my cut.Her eyes took on a glow when she talked about her sister, but I saw something below it, deeper.A sadness that had the power to choke me.I wanted to demand she tell me what caused it, what made her hurt even when she was happy.
“Have you always been addicted to everything peach?”
“I didn’t even know I liked peaches until a few months ago.For a while after my dad passed, I didn’t eat much.”Her finger paused at the end of the patch, her eyes going unfocused for a moment.I caught her hand and lifted it to my mouth, placing an open kiss on her palm.Lashes fluttering, she snapped out of the bad memory.“Fresh peach slices were the first thing I ate when I started feeling like myself again.My obsession kind of spiraled from there.For too many years, I couldn’t be myself, but one taste of that sweet, juicy peach, and it became part of my identity.”
“I’m sorry about your dad.”
“I’m not.”She snapped her mouth shut, her eyes going to the blank television.“He doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy.The world is a better place with him gone.”
Understanding clicked even as what little she was giving me left me with more questions.That sadness in her eyes was full of a loss she didn’t want to allow herself to process.Resentment laced her voice, along with a pain that I wanted to heal.
“Is it a better place for you with him gone, peaches?”
Closing her eyes, she swallowed hard, taking a moment.When she lifted her lashes, she gave me that heartbreaking smile again.“It gave me back my sister.And now I’m here, with you.Free for the first time in my life.So yeah, the world is so much better for me without him in it.”
From the first moment I’d set eyes on her, Evie had become mine.But right then, seeing her grief, her pain, and her relief all mashed together in those exquisite eyes, I knew she owned my heart.I realized how empty my life had been.How lonely I’d been while waiting for her.
