One Last Chance (Complete Series Box Set)

by Lauren Wood

  His hands move quickly, and his lips were on my neck, nibbling and tasting my flesh. I could still feel his heart racing in his chest and I knew that he was still reliving the ride. I wished that I could say that I wasn’t ready for him, but by the time he pulled his fingers away, I was soaking, and he was hard as a rock.

  We moved to the hood of the stolen car and I sat up on it, my legs welcoming him into the folds. I felt the first bit of penetration from his tip and my head went back. This was always exactly what I needed, and this moment was no different. I needed Frank and I clung to him as he made me his, over and over again. There was no denying the hold that he had over me. I was like a slave to him.

  Frank

  “Just get off of the bike and turn the engine off.”

  “What is this about officer? I was following the speed limit and adhering to all of the safety signs.”

  The officer snorted. “I bet you were. What are you doing here?”

  I got off the bike and turned the engine off and walked towards the cop. His mirror glasses were on and I wanted to see his eyes. That voice sounded really damn familiar. I had heard it before, but I couldn’t place it. Coming back home to Hartford was like getting a blast from the past. There were so many people here that I knew, but time had changed everyone, including me.

  “Step back.”

  “Do I know you?”

  “Take your glasses off and freeze.”

  It was an oxymoron and I couldn’t do both. He wanted to see my eyes, as much as I wanted to see his. Where did I know that voice from? Hopefully it was someone that I got along with because his hand was hovering on his gun.

  I did as he asked, in the order asked and waited for him to do the same.

  “Franklin Ashby. I should have recognized your tattoo. I remember thinking what a dumb ass thing that was to do. It looked like shit then and I see now you got more.”

  I sighed to myself. “Matt.”

  “It took you long enough.”

  “I seem to remember you have some of your own shitty tattoos. Remember the one that you got of that one chick you were dating. God, what was her name?”

  “Anna.”

  “Yeah, that’s the chick. Do you regret that shit now?”

  “No, I married her.”

  “No way. You went to military school or something.”

  “I enlisted.”

  “Right, right. So how did that go? She met you there?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I bet. Well congrats.”

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  He was not happy to see me, and I couldn’t say that we were at odds with each other when I last saw him, but I was always seen as the troublemaker in high school. Matt had ratted on me a couple of times. He was always into doing the right thing and I wasn’t. It was a fundamental difference that had put us at odds before. It looked like it was going to do it again.

  “Well now that we know who each other are, am I going to be able to go now? I have a party to get to and this isn’t a good start to it. You know how my mom is. She hasn’t changed.”

  “You never did answer the question what you are doing here. We don’t tend to like your sort here. The bikers have been gone from this area for a long time and we want to keep it that way.”

  I pressed my lips together and tried not to say anything. I knew that this was going to be a problem. Matt was going to be a problem and he wasn’t something that I was looking forward to. I just wanted to get home and chill out. The party was a homecoming and I could see that the local cops were going to be a problem. Some things never seemed to change.

  “I see you took the way of law enforcement. It suits you. You always were a prick.”

  Matt pulled back and hit me in the face. My head went back a bit and I spit out a little blood. He’d gotten better at hitting. The military must have buffed him up.

  “That seems like excessive force officer. Why don’t you just let me go and I won’t press charges. We aren’t kids any more Matt and you’re no longer the hall monitor.”

  He was struggling with it and I could tell that he wanted to hit me again. I had given him the first one free because I was just getting back into town, but that didn’t mean that I was going to let it go much further. I started to wonder who would win if we went at it. The military had him looking buff and hitting hard, but the streets were different. We didn’t have any rules.

  “Let’s see that license and registration. If everything checks out, then you can be on your way.”

  I didn’t have a choice but to agree. I could tell that coming home may have been a mistake. But I wanted to bring my club back home. It was time for it to be here in Hartford. It was small and though Matt the Deputy was all gong-ho to start problems for me, I knew several people in his office that didn’t feel the same way. I wasn’t going to try paying off Matt. He never was that sort of person and it didn’t look like much had changed.

  Giving him the identification that he asked for, I watched him walk back to his car and waited. I was watching him through the rearview mirror and I could see that he was talking to dispatch. He got a smile on his face and I knew then that there was going to be trouble. He’d found something on me or my bike that made him happy. Guys like Matt didn’t get happy for little things. I had a feeling that he had a reason to smile and it was going to end up with me in handcuffs.

  There was a moment where I almost took off. I could feel it in my bones that I had to get out of there, but Matt must have known that I was getting antsy. He was back out of the car and moving towards me.

  “It seems like it’s been a long time since you’ve been home. You must have left without taking care of a few things.”

  “Yeah?”

  He agreed, and I blew out a breath. “Can I at least take the bike home before you lock me up? I have people waiting.”

  “No, I think it would be better to tow it, don’t you?”

  I just shook my head. There was nothing that I could do about it, nothing at all. I had to ride it out and as he put the handcuffs on me non-too loose, I asked him what it was about.

  “Have you done so much shit that you really don’t know what you have an outstanding warrant for?”

  He had no idea, really, he didn’t.

  When I got to the police station, it was a sight that I was used to. As many times as I’d been here in the past, it was nice to see that there wasn’t anything changed. It was the same and as I was pushed into the police station by Matt. That man was still causing me trouble.

  “You know, this place actually brings back good memories.”

  Matt just shoved me ahead of him and I was more worried about why he was so pissed off at me, than I was the fact that I was getting booked. It wouldn’t be the first time and it sure the hell wouldn’t be the last.

  “So, what did I do to you? Did I take your girlfriend or something?”

  He just shook his head that I didn’t. “There is no way that Anna would have touched you. You’re not her type.”

  I took offense to that, but I didn’t say anything out loud. I had a mind to find out where Anna was and do that very thing. See how high and mighty he was when I was banging his wife. The idea of that made me smile and I could see that we were alike in some perverse way. We both smiled about the strangest things.

  “There aren’t any more of you guys coming I hope. Hartford is a peaceful town and we don’t want this sort of trouble here.”

  I held up the cuffed hands and told him that it didn’t appear that way.

  “Just don’t think you’re setting up shop here. It’s not going to happen on my watch.”

  “Whatever you say, Chief.”

  He took his time booking me and letting me get access to the cell. It had a phone in it and I was sure that it was Matt way of making me a little more miserable. I must have done something to him for him to be this way, but I wasn’t stupid enough to ask. It was big enough that I was going to have to figure it out and I should h
ave remembered what it was all about.

  When I finally got back to the cell, it was one of two and there was another guy in both. Matt put me in with a big guy and it was another flick from the officer.

  “Now you two play nice.”

  I just flipped him off and went to sit down on the concrete bench. I had no intentions on laying down in the bed. I would’ be here long and I went to the pay phone and reached for my phone. It was then that I remembered that Officer Friendly had taken my phone. I had no numbers and it was sad how few I remembered. I couldn’t even remember my mom’s number and it made me groan out loud. I was cursing the smart phone that made me forget everything.

  “Are you going to use that or what?”

  “You need it?”

  He nodded, and I moved away, trying to rack my brain with someone that I could call. I knew the numbers of people out in Texas where I just came, but I didn’t have any who was even still in town here. Who the hell was I going to call?

  I was coming up blank and when the other guy was done, I went back to sit in front of the phone. How many times had I looked at this very thing? It was amazing to me that I was back here and while I was thinking about the past, I saw a number that I’d etched into the brick a long time ago. I knew instantly whose number that was and I was a mix of emotions. It had been a long damn time since I’d seen her.

  “Fucking Gemma.”

  Of course, she would be the one number that I had, but there was no telling if she was still there or not. It was an old number. I wasn’t good to bring up old ghosts, but after a few more minutes, I decided to call her. I told myself that it was because I had to get bailed out, and it was, but there was another reason all together. I wanted to see her. It had been quite a while since I’d thought about Gemma and a lot longer since I’d seen her. Was it wrong to want to know how she was and what she was up to?

  I dialed the number and waited. It was a collect call and even if she did answer, I almost doubted that she would accept the charges. Why would she? Gemma had been in love with me and I hadn’t been as deep as her. The little bitch was hot as hell and a bit crazy, but it was at a time that I didn’t even know what love was. Sometimes I figured that I still didn’t even know what it was.

  “Hello?”

  Her voice was the same and it made me hard. It was fucked up to be hard, trapped in a tiny cell with another man. I leaned forward and waited to hear the computer-generated voice tell her that she had a call from the jail. It took her a few seconds, but she finally agreed to the charges and waited for it go through.

  “Well this seems about right. I don’t hear from you for almost ten years and you call me from the jail, collect no less.”

  I chuckled into the phone and had a rush of emotions. I realized then how much I’d missed her. It all came back to me now.

  “Damn Gem. It’s good to hear your voice.”

  Gemma

  Why did I just melt a little? I wasn’t supposed to. There was nothing inside of me that told me that I was supposed to have any feelings about Frank calling me.

  “What do you want Frank. You know the drill. Talk fast because it’s by the minute.”

  “Right, I need someone to come here, get my wallet and meet a bondsman to get me out. I will pay you to do it. I know that I don’t have any right to ask you to, but I am. I’m in a jam and the officer around here has a hard-on for me apparently.”

  “I guess so. You beat the crap out of his cousin and he had to get his jaw wired shut for months. You don’t remember that?”

  I didn’t. I got into a lot of fights back in the day and there was no telling who was related to who. At the time, I didn’t care. I still really didn’t, but at least I knew why. That question had been rolling around in my mind since he picked me up. Now it made more sense.

  “No, I guess I don’t. A lot of it is blurry.”

  “Like you not coming back?”

  “It’s by the minute, remember?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Well I guess I will be down there in a few. I got to get dressed. You’re coming in late huh?”

  “Matt took his time booking me.”

  “Now you know why.”

  “Yeah. Thanks Gemma. I really owe you one.”

  I didn’t say much more. I hung up and looked at the phone in a mix of shock and disgust. I can’t believe that such a docile instrument such as a phone could make such a big difference. One minute I was about to watch a movie on the couch with Justin and the next minute, his best friend and my ex-lover, Frank, was back in town. I didn’t know if I should tell Justin or not.

  There was a huge part of me that wanted to go pick him up by myself. It would mean that I would get to see him alone. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen, but I wanted that first meeting. It would be wrong if I went and didn’t tell Justin. He would want to know, and I knew that. I knew that he would want to go get him. I would either tag along or not go at all.

  When I got inside, I figured that the latter was the best way to go. There wasn’t anything between me and Frank any more and all it would do is bring up a past that I was still trying to forget.

  “Hey baby. You will not guess who just called.”

  “Who?”

  He wasn’t even paying attention to me, all of it focused on the television in front of him. I had the popcorn in my hand, a big bowl of it for the two of us, but it was about to be a bowl for one.

  “Frankie.”

  That got his attention and his head snapped to the side.

  “What?”

  “He just called and needs a ride.”

  “He called here?”

  “Yeah. He’s at the jail. I guess he just remembered my number. I never did change it over the years. I liked it to stay the same, so I didn’t have to change it for everything.”

  “Well damn. I don’t know what to say;”

  “Go get him out of jail.”

  “Yeah, shit, of course. I just hadn’t heard that name in a long ass time. Are you okay?”

  I agreed that I was and let him walk closer to pull me in for a kiss. It felt good, like it always did, but now my mind was clouded with ghosts from the past. I wasn’t ready for a haunting, so something was going to have to give, right off the bat.

  “So, is that all that he wanted?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Justin gave me this look and I sighed loudly enough for him to know what I thought of his question. I wasn’t worried about anything. I knew what happened and it wasn’t like that. I told Justin that and he tried to play it off like that wasn’t what he meant. It was. I knew that, but he wasn’t ready to come out with it.

  “Come back soon or I’m going to tell you how this end.”

  He grinned and kissed me again. There was a little extra heat there that I wasn’t sure about. I don’t know what was going through his head, but I knew that he was just as thrown off about Frank popping up as I was. Maybe not in the same way, but he was of course, with his girl now. I wondered if that would matter.

  After Justin left, I was left to ponder it all over a glass of wine. The movie was over, and I went to bed. Justin wasn’t back, and I wasn’t worried enough to call and find out where he was. I figured he was out with Frank. They’d been good friends for a long time and us being together was going to be awkward.

  I went to sleep thinking about Frank and all the times we’d had together. He was my first love and it had certainly been my crazy love. I’d fallen so hard and so fast for him that it was painful. I wanted to think that I’d changed, but the biggest fear of mine was that I hadn’t.

  I woke up the next morning and Justin was next to me. He still had his clothes on and smelled of alcohol, so I figured that he had a good time at the very least. I wanted to ask about Frank. How he was. How he looked, that sort of thing, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to. I was going to have to wait until he told me, and I wasn’t going to be able to act too excited. I was trying to be good, but I knew if I stayed in bed all that
long at all, I was going to be waking him up and asking.

  So instead, I got up and jumped in the shower. It was hot the night before and with Justin next to me, I had gotten sticky. I wanted to rinse off before I started my day. It was going to be a long one. I had a double shift later that started earlier than I was used to. I wasn’t prepared for the day and I blamed Frank for me not being able to get any sleep. He had a way of getting in my head and I woke up several times in the middle of a rather naughty dream that he was the star of.

  I heard the bathroom door open and I jumped a little when I saw that it wasn’t Justin. It was Frank, and I was trying to figure out why he was in here. The glass was frosted on the shower, but I could still see through it. He pulled his pants down and started to pee. I could see a silhouette that I wasn’t supposed to be seeing.

  “Thanks for letting me crash here last night. I couldn’t go home that late after that asshole cop pulled me over and hauled me in. You know it was over that one time we stole that tractor out at the old Montgomery Farm. I’d forgotten all about it.”

  I didn’t know what to say. He thought that I was Justin and he wasn’t really looking at the shower because that’s who he thought it was. It was harder to see in than it was to see out and I wanted to tell him that it was me, but I didn’t know how. I just kind of made a grunting sound and hoped that it would be enough.

  “I hear ya man. I got a splitting ass headache too. I’m going to go make some coffee. So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about last night? We started drinking and I never got around to it.”

  I made another sound that I hoped sounded like Justin and it was apparently enough because Frank finally left, and I was able to breathe again. I don’t know what in the hell I was doing, but I didn’t want to see Frank. For the girl that wanted to see him yesterday, I was certainly not feeling inclined to do it now. I wanted to hide back upstairs in the bedroom.