by Luxx Monroe
ONLY YOU
Second Chance Series
By
Luxx Monroe
Copyright © 2016 by Luxx Monroe
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Edited by Aquila Editing
Formatted by BB eBooks
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One: Lena
Chapter Two: Dax
Chapter Three: Lena
Chapter Four: Dax
Chapter Five: Lena
Chapter Six: Dax
Chapter Seven: Lena
Chapter Eight: Dax
Chapter Nine: Lena
Chapter Ten: Dax
Chapter Eleven: Lena
Chapter Twelve: Dax
Chapter Thirteen: Lena
Chapter Fourteen: Dax
Chapter Fifteen: Lena
Chapter Sixteen: Dax
Chapter Seventeen: Lena
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Connect With Me
CHAPTER ONE
Lena
“Lena, it’s been almost a year. You need to get out there and put yourself back on the market. I’d hate to have to buy you a duster for your birthday.”
I peered over the rim of my black-framed glasses at my very best friend and gave her an equally annoyed look. However mean she was, she was usually right. “A duster? Do I even want to know?”
Krista laughed her contagious laugh and darted her eyes to the spot where my legs were crossed. “You know, cobwebs?”
“Krista!” I shrieked and reached over to shove her shoulder. “Shut up! Cobwebs? I get plenty of action, thank you very much.”
She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her Bloody Mary that I’d just made. “Bob doesn’t count. You need a real man, someone who’ll pull you out of your funk. I love you, but someone needs to motivate you or it’ll never happen. Your vibrator only goes so far in life.”
Feeling the spicy mix of tomato and vodka hit the back of my throat didn’t muffle her words. She was right. She was one-hundred percent right. “I hate when I say this out loud to you, but you’ve got a point. It has been a year since Jared left, so I guess I need to get back out there. Fuck me, I’m ready.”
Even though a year had passed since my loving ex-husband walked out our front door, it felt like it was just yesterday. When he looked back at me with a hint of regret, he’d taken more than our dog, Rusty. He’d taken a huge chunk of my heart and self-respect. I vowed that day that I’d never completely give myself to another man. That I’d never make that same mistake twice. I’d given Jared all of me, every single fucking piece. And what did he do? He threw it all away, and for what? Nothing. A nobody. It made me think of that saying about lemons and lemonade. When life gives you lemons, squash them. There’s no use in making fucking lemonade.
“Quit thinking about him,” Krista warned in a sharp tone. She always became a bit bitchier when drinks were involved.
“I’m not,” I lied, and downed the rest of my drink. Setting my glass down on the table beside me, I looked out over the railing to my backyard and was at least thankful I’d gotten our house. Not that I needed something that was so large, with me living alone and all, but I also knew how much Jared loved it here. It gave me a little satisfaction knowing that I kept something that actually meant a lot to him.
“You’re a horrible liar,” she said with a smirk and reached over to my empty glass. “Want another?”
“Yup,” I said quickly, and leaned back in my outdoor lounging chair, pushing my sunglasses back in place. “Did I mention I love the summer?”
Krista and I were both teachers at a local middle school in our small Massachusetts town. Summer vacation had kicked off, and Bloodies were our ritual in bringing on our vacation time. “Summers are the best,” she said with a wink, and was off to refill our liquid lunch.
It had been weeks since I’d thought about Jared, and months since we’d had any communication. Closing my eyes and taking a little trip down memory lane, I soon pictured the first time he noticed me in high school. He was the new boy whom everyone was talking about, and I was the shy sophomore who happened to catch his eye.
He swept me up in his glittery whirlwind, and soon I was his and he was mine. We’d been together for over twelve years, married for five, when I caught him doing the unthinkable.
“Len, I thought I said quit thinking about him.”
Grumbling under my breath, I thanked her for my drink and took a long sip. “I know you keep saying to get over him, but shit, Krista, he’s all I’ve ever known. He was my first for everything, and I pictured only him in my future. I don’t know about being with another guy; I just don’t know how I’ll do it.”
Krista actually laughed at me and plopped down on the chair beside me. “Oh, you’ll do it all right, and then you’ll find out that Jared’s penis wasn’t magical. That there are others out there that can compare or beat his big ol’ dick.”
I couldn’t help it and laughed along with her. “I should have never told you any of those private details.”
“Probably not, but that’s what best friends are for. The fact of the matter is, I’m glad I don’t have to hear about his perfect penis anymore, because I was seriously about to call you out on that shit.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back while soaking up the glorious sun. “Yeah, well. He’s putting that perfect penis god knows where, so it doesn’t do much for me anymore.”
Expecting Krista’s usual witty comeback, her silence took me off guard, and I knew something was up. “What, no comeback?”
A quick shrug was all I got in return, and I was certain she was keeping something from me. I sat up in my lounge chair and pulled my sunglasses down to the tip of my nose. I glared at her and mentally scolded her. “Dammit, Krista. Just tell me.”
A long, loud sigh left her mouth, and then she finally sat up straight and set her drink down on my little glass table. “Fine, but I really wanted to wait until I heard the entire story.”
“The entire story of what? If you know something about Jared, you need to tell me. I don’t want to hear something from a total stranger, you know that.”
Reaching her hands out to me was her way of telling me she wanted me to hold them. Krista was our school counselor, and sometimes her psychological bullshit was ridiculous, but at that moment I didn’t care. “Give me your hands, and just relax when you listen to me, okay?”
“Whatever, just rip if off.”
She rolled her eyes, grabbed my small hands in hers and squeezed them tightly. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that Jared is seeing someone. Someone new, who happens to not be his secretary.”
Okay, I knew this day was going to come, when my ex would find someone else, someone who wasn’t just a fine piece of ass with big tits. Someone who he would want to settle down with, again, until he got tired of that monotonous relationship as well. “Okay,” I said, and fixed my eyes on her face.
“It’s Shelly.”
“Shelly? As in my hairdresser, Shelly?”
A quick nod didn’t help my realization one bit, and soon I was throwing her hands down onto her l
ap and jumping up to pace around my large deck. “Shelly? Shit! Now I can’t even go to her to get my hair done! What a freaking ass! First he ruins our marriage, and then starts sleeping with the only great hairdresser in town? Fuck him, I’m going to kill him!”
I could tell that Krista was trying not to laugh, but this was a serious moment. When you found a hairdresser who connected to your soul, they were impossible to replace. I really was going to kill the son of a bitch.
“Easy, Rambo. You know it won’t last. How old is Shelly? Twenty-three? Sure, she’s a magician at hair, but she isn’t long term. He’s just going through a thing, then he’ll be miserable for the rest of his life like we want him to be.”
I stepped over to the railing of my deck and looked at my large backyard. Jared was the one who always did all of the upkeep on our yard and was the one who kept our house looking amazing. He was also one of the best contractors in town, making much more than triple my salary. Sure, I’d gotten the house, but to honestly keep up with it was impossible. Which made my shittier mood even shittier.
“She’s actually twenty-two, and he may be having fun, but it’s still ridiculous. What in the world do they even have in common, besides probably liking wild, young sex? Ugh,” I said with frustration and placed my head down on my railing.
Soon, a gentle hand was rubbing small circles on my back, and for some reason it did make me feel a little bit better. “It’s not uncommon to have a rebound relationship with someone younger. In fact, it brings you back to your own youth so you can get over the crisis you’re going through.”
I turned around and hugged my best friend. “I’m happy right now that you’re a counselor, but I’m so over talking about this.”
Krista laughed and squeezed me tighter. “So, are you ready to finally go out and meet someone?”
“I guess, but I seriously need to do something about this yard of mine. I can hardly look at it anymore,” I said in the most convincing voice I could muster up, but I knew she could hear the waver in it.
Krista placed her arm around my waist. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but it does look kind of like a disaster. Why don’t you hire someone?”
“Because that probably costs way too much money, and I don’t want to call Jared and ask for more. It’s embarrassing enough to receive a monthly alimony check from him.
“I have something in mind to help with your yardwork, but you’ll have to just go with it, okay? Oh, and I also have the perfect solution to finding you a new man. Singles night. Tonight.” We looked at each other as she wiggled her eyebrows.
I wanted to groan, to tell her no, but she was honestly just trying to help. “Okay,” I said in a whisper.
“Wait, what did you just say?”
I turned my head and shouted, “Okay!”
We both laughed and Krista smiled brightly at me. “That’s more like it. Now, let’s find something amazing to wear in that closet of yours.”
CHAPTER TWO
Dax
“Dude, I’m so glad you’re back in town for the summer. We had some pretty killer times in college.”
I rolled my eyes at my old pal Dillion because I knew how hard it was going to be to replace my old reputation. “Yeah, well, I’m not much of a partier anymore. I’m actually a grown-up now, Dildo.”
A quick punch to my arm let me know he still didn’t appreciate his nickname that followed him throughout school. “Shut the fuck up. We’re going to party, and then we’re going to get so much ass that we won’t even know what to do with ourselves. Will it be Tiffany tonight, or Char? Shit, I’m so pumped for this summer.”
“Right, well, unlike some trust-fund babies, I have to actually work this summer.”
Dillion scoffed at me and walked over to his refrigeration to grab a beer. “Whatever, man. You’re so set up for life that you’d never have to work another day if you didn’t want to. Trust-fund baby my ass. My inheritance has nothing on yours, and you know it.” Dillion motioned to the beer he was holding and I nodded while grabbing a Bud out of his hand.
Every word he said was right on point, but what he didn’t know was that I didn’t want a fucking dime that was left by my father. If you could call him that. A man who left his wife and young child to pursue his dreams in the big city wasn’t exactly who I’d call father of the year. Sure, he’d struck it big in the real estate industry, but when his untimely death happened about six months ago, I never in a million years imagined I’d receive a letter stating that he’d left everything to me. Everything, including his high-rise loft and booming business in New York. The problem was, I didn’t want it.
“Whatever. That money isn’t mine, and I haven’t touched a dime. I’ve made it twenty-two years on my own, and I don’t need his help now.” Taking a quick drink of my beer, I realized how much I needed this.
“I’m just saying, bro, it’s a lot of money. You could use it to help start out your dream, man. You’ve never stopped talking about moving to the city and starting your own fancy-ass hotel. Do that, you know? Use that money to do something you really want. If there’s anything, the asshole should at least give you that.”
Dildo had a point, but I wasn’t ready to hear it quite yet. “Whatever. We’ll catch up later, but right now I need to head over to my aunt’s house and say hello. She’s been blowing up my phone like crazy. I’ll catch you later.”
“Right on. Your aunt was always an awesome chick. Tell her hi for me.” He wiggled his eyebrows, which only earned him a hard punch to his arm. “Okay, okay. Shit, man, that hurt,” he said while rubbing his arm.
Pulling out of Dillion’s driveway made me miss my small hometown. I hadn’t been back to this sleepy town for almost ten years, but it made me miss all of the adventures I’d had as a young boy. Dillion and I actually attended the same college for a few years, until he transferred because he couldn’t balance both the party scene and passing his classes.
It also made me miss my mother, who’d been taken from me at too young of an age, but I knew she was in a better place. If there’s one thing a child shouldn’t go through, that’s watching their mother die slowly from cancer.
That’s another reason I didn’t want a fucking dime from my so-called father. I wasn’t sure if he’d known my mom was sick, but we never heard a word from him. We only received a monthly check that barely made ends meet. So after finding out he’d struck it big in New York, it made me sick to think about ever using his money for myself. It could have gone to my mom, to find her better treatments or to make her more comfortable. Fuck him and his millions of dollars.
After thinking about my dad, I was in a not-so-great mood when I arrived at my aunt’s house. My aunt Krista was my mom’s younger sister, and if it wasn’t for her, we would have never made it through the hell I was put through as a kid. She was too young to take on the responsibility of an almost-teenager after my mother passed, so I was sent to live with my uncle in North Carolina. He’s a great man and did everything in his power to make sure I lived the life my mother would have wanted me to, but it wasn’t easy to get over the fact that I didn’t even want to go and live with my own father. Not that he’d offered, of course, but even if he had, I simply would have told him to fuck off.
After I knocked on her front door a few times, Aunt Krista threw the door open and pulled me into an extremely tight hug. “Dax! Oh my gosh, you’re here! Let me look at you, honey.”
Krista was the type of aunt that every kid loved. She wasn’t just a badass, she was also so easy to talk to that I’d found myself calling her over every teenage issue I’d ever faced. Even though I never came back to visit her, she made it a point to come to every important event in my life.
“Hey, Aunt Krista,” I said with a smile and stepped back as she assessed me.
“I know I just saw you a few weeks ago at graduation, but you’re looking so grown up. What happened to my nephew?”
Laughing, I stepped inside and headed into her living room. “It’s great
to see you, too. Where is everyone?” I asked while looking around, expecting to see my two young cousins running down her stairs to greet me at any minute. Brett and Brock were the cutest little boys I’d ever seen. Twins seemed like a lot of work, but being on the other side was the perfect scenario.
“The twins are out and about with Uncle Gary. They’re having a boys’ day or something that girls weren’t invited to. I didn’t know you’d be here this early, or I would have made them stick around.”
“I’m sure they’re having a blast. Boys’ day is the best,” I said with a wink and sat down on one of her love seats that was positioned right by a huge bay window.
“Tea?” she asked and walked over to her kitchen, which was just on the other side of her living room.
“That sounds great, Thanks, Aunt K.” I grinned and looked around at all of the family photos that were hanging on her wall. Krista was only twenty when my mother passed away, only a junior in college, just a few years younger than I was now. She wanted me, wanted to raise me as her own son, but even at the age of twelve I knew she wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility. My uncle, however, was the eldest child, and even though he never settled down, he was a great role model for me.
She walked over with two cups in hand, and my aunt handed me a mug and sat down beside me. “Dax, I’m so glad you’re back for the summer. Uncle Gary has your rental all ready for you, and he said that you can move your things in this afternoon. He should be back around three and will help with anything you need.”
“That sounds great. Thank you so much. I feel like this is just what I need to figure out what I’m going to do with my life.” I knew I could have gone back to North Carolina with my uncle, but for some reason, Krista’s pleas for me to spend the summer with her and her family sounded nice.
