My Second Chance Player: A Romantic Comedy (Beaky Tiki Series Book 2)

by Elyse Riggs

  "No," Kaylee gasps.

  "Seriously. I finally figured out a purpose for Jake. I'll give him this, he can still draw a crowd."

  Kaylee picks up a chip. "What's next, then? Another billboard? Meet and greet? You two on a Pirate Fest Parade Float together waving at the masses?"

  Oh no. I hadn't thought of that. Nothing is scheduled that I know of. As Cara explained it, it was sort of a temporary thing. "Um, nothing."

  Fi chimes in. "Yay, then you're done with Jake, right? Except for our little pirate fest volunteer feud. Which we fully intend to win by the way. Angie?"

  I only realize I'm far down the rabbit hole thinking about what no-more-Jake is going to do to my just now resuscitated from the dead vet practice. And that no-more-Jake may not really be what I want after all.

  Damn you, sex life. Just listen to reasonable Angie for once. I know that I won’t heed my own words of wisdom.

  Fi is waving a hand in front of my face, her own face scrunched up into a look of adorable concern. "Earth to Angie. What's up, Angie?"

  "I'm just afraid that being done with Jake kinda means I'm done for good. What am I going to do if Animal Universe wins? Then what?"

  "Hey," Kaylee says. "We'll figure it out, okay? You are Angie Fucking Houtz. You can do literally anything."

  Kaylee is convincing, and my friends are the best. I take a minute to consider the way my life is right this minute, because I'm fairly sure it won't be long before it all goes down in flames to my soul-less competitor.

  All the new patients are really great. A good start, but not nearly enough. Oh well. My friends will still be here for me, that I know. But everything else?

  The look on both Kaylee and Fi's faces tell me that I spaced out again.

  "Sorry, guys. I'm just really worried about all of it."

  "Hey," Fi says, "at least you got your Aunt Patty's bracelet back."

  That's true. And Jake was right there in case I needed him. Stop thinking about Jake, Angie. Stop thinking about that smile, and those biceps, and the way his shoulders fill out that suit, and the way his hair has grown out just enough to grab a hold of.

  That's when my phone chimes a notification. Ugh, I'm sure it's just more bad news at this point. I grab a chip first so soften the blow of whatever message I'm about to read. Of course, when I do read the message, the chip goes down the wrong way.

  I half-cough, half swallow. Then I try to breathe and feel my eyes bugging out.

  "Angie!" Fi exclaims. I hold up a finger like I'm fine. I'm not fine. I attempt to cough it out, but I can feel the sharp pieces stuck in my throat. I attempt to swallow again and that goes sideways.

  Kaylee points at my drink. "Girl, you'd better wash that shit down and do it quick, before Fi here throws you on the ground and starts doing CPR. Sure, she’ll save your life, but it'll ruin that nice top."

  I know that Kaylee's not kidding. Fi takes health and bodily harm very seriously. I grab my drink, shove the straw into my mouth and gulp several sips down as fast as possible, hoping to dislodge the wayward chip with sheer volume. I hope it works, too, because if I can't breathe very soon I'm going to take Fi up on her very generous offer to do CPR on me. I'm already starting to see spots.

  The two of them grab chips of their own, dipping and then eating them, without even choking. Which is what normal people do. But they’re both watching me closely.

  Swallowing the last of the punch, I inhale deeply, if a little wheezily. Then I exhale with relief. Whew.

  "What the hell, Angie? You are not yourself tonight at all. Pirate Festival is like your favorite time of the year."

  "Yeah, but this year it's infested with Jake. Hey, look, I have to go. I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

  "You sure you're okay?" Kaylee asks, and by the look on her face I can tell that there's not a damn thing that I can tell her that she's going to believe.

  She and Fi look appropriately and astutely suspicious. And I decide not to acknowledge that fact, because if I do tell them what's going on they will absolutely talk me out of it. So I just nod.

  A minute later, I've gathered up my things and I'm hiking back through the sand to my car.

  At almost eleven o'clock at night. After the Pirate Festival Ball. Possibly to my doom, and absolutely against the advice of my best friends had I asked them.

  And so, in probably one of the worst decisions I've made since that idiot Jake breezed into town. I'm going to meet him.

  Because of this text. Pirate Float Complex. Come alone. Need your help.

  Whatever Jake has and hasn't done in his life and whatever my feelings for him now are, we've always had each other’s backs.

  Even when his parents found out he cheated on his eighth-grade pre-algebra exam. Even when he got caught speeding, and yes, even that one time I got caught skinny dipping in the ocean near ex-television star Alistair Mane's mansion. In my defense, I thought he was out of town for the weekend.

  The point is, that text is not so subtle code for SOS. I'm mad as hell at Jake as my ex-lover, but I'm not about to turn my back on a friend.

  Chapter 23

  Angie

  I pull up to the dirt parking lot and cut the engine.

  My window is rolled down and I can feel the gentle night’s breeze. There’s only one other car in the parking lot, so naturally I assume it’s Jake’s.

  I try to steel myself since I have no idea what I’m walking into here. Then I open the door and make my way across the dirt to the gate. It’s open.

  Oh yeah, Jake’s a Quartermaster, so he has his own key. I wonder if this is some kind of pirate parade float emergency or a real emergency. Jake’s a lot of things, but he’s not one to fake drama.

  The place is eerily quiet at night, and I find myself tiptoeing in. “Jake?”

  I use my phone flashlight to see in the dark. I know there are lights around here somewhere, but I’ve never been the one to turn them on.

  “Over here.”

  His voice sounds far away and small. But he still somehow manages to project his signature baritone sexiness. I follow the general direction of his voice figuring I’ll run into him eventually since I don’t hear any footsteps approaching me.

  It takes a minute, but I find him finally. He’s sitting on the flatbed of his pirate parade float. Before he even says a word, I can smell him. And I know immediately what has happened.

  I fail to suppress a giggle. He smells just like Fi.

  “Oh no,” he says, “don’t tell me. Of course you would have something to do with this. I just wish it were your perfume instead. I like your scent better.”

  Did he just say he likes my scent? Does he mean my perfume?

  “I said what I said,” he chimes in, as if hearing my thoughts. I’m happy it’s dark in here because suddenly I feel my cheeks heat.

  Then, he surprises me by turning on a lantern. He looks up at me and grins, but I know him too well. He’s upset about something. And sad too. I climb up into the flatbed and sit down next to him.

  “Where’s your date?”

  I laugh. “Stop being a big baby. There’s nothing going on between me and Tristan. What about your date?”

  “Oh, same.”

  We sit in silence a few minutes.

  “You couldn’t turn the lantern on five minutes ago so I could see where I was going?”

  He laughs, but I know that something heavy is on his mind. “What is it, Jake?”

  He’s quiet for a moment. “You always could read me better than everybody else.”

  “Well, we’ve been best friends since the second grade.”

  “I’m sorry, Angie.”

  “You already said it,” I answer, “there’s no need to beat a dead horse. I believe you. I mean, I’m not about to confront daddy about it. There’s no point to it. But I believe you, Jake. And I already accepted your apology.”

  “It’s not about that anymore,” he says.

  I frown at him. “Is that why you texted me? Is this why I’m
here? To clear our past?”

  He laughs a bitter laugh. “No. I texted you because my career’s over. I wanted to talk to you, like we used to. You always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. But I sat here for a while after I texted you and now I’m not sure I deserve it.”

  I put a hand on his leg. Damn, he’s hot in that suit. Even if he did take the eye patch off. And he’s solid muscle under the fabric.

  My mind goes completely rogue to absolutely filthy thoughts of him not in that suit and I have to pull myself out of that train of thought while I can still breathe.

  When I look up, he’s staring at me. That’s when I remember that he knows me just as well as I know him, and I’m busted. The smirk on his face now is for real. It fades fast though. I know he’s hurting.

  I pull my hand back. “So tell me what’s going on.” I’m really not sure. Nobody is. I haven’t even been to any of his games since high school. I followed his stats in college and rooted for him on draft night.

  I was a woman scorned after all, but not a total monster. I know his stats have gone down year to year, but that’s it.

  He fixes me with those crystal blue eyes that make me melt. Then he palms that square jaw with the blond stubble. Even wearing Fi’s scent and upset about his life, he’s still the sexiest guy on the planet.

  “That’s just it, Angie. I have no idea. If I don’t fix it soon and I mean, like, now, I’m done. Permanently. But how do I fix what I don’t know?”

  I consider it. Unfortunately, the one time it matters most, I don’t think I have any answers for him.

  He seems to sense that I don’t have any answers for him. “Can I see your float?”

  “What?” I ask, taken aback. Is float code for something? My body is on fire, screaming yes, yes, yes, show him your float. Whatever that means.

  I feel my chest heaving and have to cross my arms so that my nipples don’t break out of my dress and run to him on their own.

  “Your parade float. I’ll bet yours isn’t just a stinky, empty wooden flat bed.”

  “Oh yeah, sure. The parade float. Of course.” I hate to kick a man when he’s down, but Fi and Kaylee and I actually did have a really good start on our float.

  Jake helps me off of the flat bed to the floor, and when our hands touch it’s magic. Like it was before. That night. The night he left without a word.

  Stop remembering reasons to be mad, my body tells my brain. I want him. I pretended I was over him when he left, but the truth is I’ve wanted him ever since that night. I’ve wanted him and hated him at the same time.

  It was hard enough with him thousands of miles away. Now that he’s here, it’s almost unbearable.

  I pick up my dress on the dirty floor and lead him to our parade float. He brings the lantern and sets it up on our flat bed, which is lined with soft, blue crushed up synthetic flowers meant to look like the ocean.

  “It’s beautiful,” he says. Then he sets the lantern down and turns to me. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Angie. I wasn’t apologizing for not saying goodbye when I got drafted. I’m apologizing, right now, for running out on you after our night together.”

  “Why’d you do it?” My voice is barely a whisper.

  Jake runs a finger through his perfect hair, making it even more attractive. “It was so confusing. You know me, Angie. I’m not usually an emotional guy. But I can honestly say you were the best I ever had.”

  I’m stunned. And speechless.

  “I ran off because it was easier than dealing with my emotions. Especially since you’re you. You know me better than I know myself. I knew if I took one look at you, you’d be able to read me like a book. And I was scared, believe it or not. By the time I figured out how important you were to me, I ran face first into a roadblock. And a shotgun.”

  I try to swallow back my own emotion as I see the raw truth playing on his face. And then I do the only thing I can think of. I step forward, stand on my tiptoes, and press my lips to his again.

  Immediately, I feel my nipples harden again and my core melts. When our lips touch, it sets my entire body on fire.

  He closes his eyes for a moment, and then he puts a hand under my chin and draws me even closer to him. I moan when his tongue enters my mouth.

  The noise sends him into a frenzy and his hands cup my ass through my dress, sending electric shocks of desire pulsing through my body. It’s been so long since I’ve been with anybody. I know that I’m already past the point of no return.

  Then he jumps up into the parade float.

  “Jake, what are you doing?”

  He doesn’t answer, he just grins and puts a hand down so that he can help me up into the float. I can tell by the lust on his face and the huge tent in his pants that this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

  The two of us tumble into the bottom of the parade float in a tangled heap.

  “Ouch,” he says, bumping his head on a piece of wood.

  “You okay?” I put a hand to his face.

  Instead of answering, he pulls me on top of him. I undo his pants so he can spring free.

  His hands go under my dress and I feel him slide my panties off. I’m already so wet.

  I look around, but the coast is clear. Is this really happening?

  Then he pulls me back down into a kiss. I moan into his mouth and his hands explore under my dress. His kiss is more desperate now and his hands move to pull down the top of my dress and then I’m out of my bra as well.

  His hands explore my breasts. I’m already on the edge of an orgasm when his hands make their way back under my dress and guide me onto him.

  He enters me, filling me completely. No guy I ever dated was as big as Jake. I orgasm the first time he thrusts. He rides me gently until it subsides and then he picks up the pace urgently, desperately.

  Until the two of us are screaming and coming at the same time. Like I always imagined that it could be.

  Chapter 24

  Angie

  The next morning I wake and stretch. I slept like I haven't in weeks. The air smells cleaner, the birds are singing, and I finally got that whole Jake monkey off of my back. Life is beautiful.

  Even the broken coffee maker, which I keep forgetting to fix, isn't going to bother me this morning. I go to Ocean Wave, hum as I wait in line, and finally make it to the front where a tattooed guy with spiky short hair and a nose plug does a double take when he sees me.

  "What?" I ask. I mean, I'm feeling surprisingly good this morning, maybe I'm the three thousandth customer and I've won a vacation in Hawaii or something.

  "You're the girl with the football player." He says it like a statement.

  "Nope," I say, "not me."

  "No, I recognize you. You two were a thing, right? And now you're back together?" He slides the coffee over to me.

  For the first time this morning I'm a little annoyed, but I know the coffee will help. He's still eyeing me after having glanced down at his phone.

  "Fine, it's me in the picture, but we're not back together." Maybe we are. I don’t know, really. Jake and I have a history of not knowing what the hell we are.

  His eyes get wide and a few nearby patrons start to look in our direction. I've got to get out of here. I dig in my purse for my credit card. Yes, it's gotten to the point where I have to put fancy coffee on a credit card. But things are starting to turn around.

  Tattoo guy shakes his head. "It's on the house."

  I nod gratefully and pull two crumpled dollars that are sticking up at the top of the jumbled mess that is my purse and put them in the tip jar.

  It's not enough cash for the coffee, but at least it's going directly to the barista. A friendly wave later, and I'm rushing out of Ocean Wave wondering if there's going to be any safe place in this town for me now that the pictures of Jake and I are on the internet.

  That's the concept that I'm mulling over in my head when I pass the billboard. I screech my car to a stop, lucky that I wasn't being followed too closely. So
mehow, in the craziness that has been the hurricane that is my life since Jake got back into town, I completely forgot about the billboard.

  I pull over to the side of the road and stare up at the monstrosity that is Jake and I, sitting way too close together on the couch, a puppy in each of our laps.

  Judging by the oversized smiles on our faces, we're about to put the puppies down and start making out. Or maybe that's only my imagination. Or it could be that this billboard coupled with the internet photos is why the town thinks we're back together.

  I have to hand it to Cara, she picked a first-rate photographer. This billboard is very impressive and I have no doubt it's a big part of the reason the crowds are coming into my vet shop instead of Animal Universe Incorporated.

  Football sells in this little town. Always has, and always will. Well, there's nothing I can do about it now, and since I agreed to let him help me to save his career, I'd better get used to it.

  Inhaling the heavenly aroma that has filled my car from the latte, I muse as I take another sip.

  I pull into a parking space, heavenly latte in hand, and look over the busy parking lot of my vet office. Whatever Jake is and isn't, it's helping. And it's thanks to all of the new business he has brought in that I sip my fancy coffee in triumph.

  Then I head inside. Mia is already getting things ready at check-in.

  "Morning, boss," she smirks, "glad you and Jake are back together."

  "We're not together." I correct gently, trying to keep it together.

  She shoots me a look and then glances down at her phone and then clears her throat at me.

  I stop her. "Look, I don't care what the stupid internet says. I'm telling you the truth. We're not back together."

  "Alright, boss," she says in a sing-songy tone that indicates she doesn't believe a word I'm saying. But it doesn't matter as she crosses the room to let in the first customers of the day.