Page 67 of A Second Chance

Her eyes slid up to his. “Is that all you’re offering, an apartment tour?”

A smile escaped him. “I’ll throw in a tour of my bed, if you’re lucky.”

She laughed, a musical sound that he loved. “Does it involve carrying boxes first?” she asked, eyeing the truck.

“It’s a ground floor apartment,” he reasoned. “I can back up in front of the door. But it might be slightly more labor-intensive than supervising. But if ya want, we can hop in the shower after to freshen up.” He tried his best to look innocent.

Gwen smiled and shook her head at him. “I’ll follow you.” She stepped back and put a finger to his chest. “Doesn’t mean you’re getting lucky, though,” she said, her voice full of teasing.

“I already feel like the luckiest guy on earth,” he replied.

She stared at him for a long moment and concluded that he was serious. “I’m a very lucky girl, too.”

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Six

Spring

The buzzing of her text message alerts stirred Gwen out of her dreamless sleep. A text to the group lit up her phone and it was going crazy with replies; she scrolled to the first message. It read simply,She’s here.Leave it to a man not to include any details. She shoved Jason under the covers, his phone was also having a seizure on the side table next to him, but not rousing him from his comatose state. He made an unintelligible groan, rolling to his back.

“Get up, she had the baby,” Gwen said, slinging her legs over the side of the bed.

“Oh shit,” he said sitting. “Are you going to have time? Don’t you still have wedding stuff today?”

Gwen grabbed a pair of black stretchy pants from her drawer and large sweater. She was the maid of honor at Avery and Nick’s wedding that afternoon at Huntington Farms. But it wasn’t one of the giant formal affairs they often threw. They planned a small wedding. They were just using the lawn and gazebo so Avery could get married with the natural backdrop she wanted. And thanks to her friendship with the owners, they were getting use of the barn for a cake and finger food reception after.

“There’s not much else left, just making sure Avery has everything she needs when she gets ready and getting her to the wedding.”

“Oh my god,” Avery burst through the bedroom door without knocking. “I can’t believe—”

Jason, who had crawled out of bed and was standing there without a stitch on dove back into the bed covering himself. “Hey,” he yelled.

Avery waived a dismissive hand at him. “Yeah, I’m not looking at any of that.” Her sister had almost finished moving her stuff in with Nick. But slept over last night before her wedding in honor of tradition. It amused Gwen, because Avery had thumbed her nose at most traditions, until Nick proposed. “I’m getting married today.”

“Yes, I know,” Gwen said, changing into her clothes. “Rebecca had the baby overnight and we’re headed to the hospital for a quick visit. On the way back, I’ll pick you up a smoothie from the place you like.”

Avery nodded. “Don’t be too long then.”

She noted the nerves in her sisters’ voice. “I’ll be back in plenty of time.”

Jason passed them clothes in hand, having slid on a pair of boxers while they were talking. The hall bathroom door closed and the lock clicked. Avery grinned. “That’s a nice-looking naked man you got yourself there.”

“You looked,” Gwen laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed to put on her socks.

“Well, duh,” Avery said, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t mean to see that. I wasn’t thinking, I opened the door and it was…just hanging there.” She fell onto the bed next to Gwen; now they were both laughing. “So that’s why you’re so happy now,” Avery said between giggles and lifting her hands to indicate penis size.

“You’re about to be a married woman,” Gwen chided.

“Sure, but not blind.”

Gwen laughed, grabbed her pillow and hit Avery in the face with it. And for good measure, she held the pillow over her sisters face and lightly pushed down.

“I don’t mean to intrude,” Jason said, standing in the doorway, “but killing her today might piss off Nick.”

Gwen lifted the pillow from Avery’s face. “He’s got a point.” Avery flipped her the bird.

“Just be back soon,” she said.

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