by Meg Ripley
“That’s what I was worried about.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded again. “Good to see you, Addie.”
“You, too.”
I watched them drive off, feeling a bit saddened by the exchange. Emma and Julie turned to me with wide eyes.
“Let’s hear it,” Emma said.
I let out a slow sigh, then resigned myself to reliving this painful story one more time.
3
Addie
“From the first day we met, it was like magic,” I said. We started walking again, more slowly this time so they could listen to my tale. “I was lost in my giant, new high school and dropped my books while I was trying to find my class. There were so many people that I kind of freaked out a little. I was picking up my books and he stopped to help me, and he ended up walking me to my class, even though it made him late for his.”
Owen had shrugged when the bell rang. “It’s the first day. They won’t care.”
“Thank you again.” I held up my schedule. “And for pointing out my next class.” I smiled and dashed into the classroom. I’d sat quickly and glanced back to the door, surprised to see him still standing there.
He smiled at me and my face grew hot. He held up a hand to wave, his smile spreading even wider, before he finally walked away. When class ended, I’d looked up and down the hall for him, but didn’t see him.
I knew where to go next, thanks to him, and when I got to my next class, he slid into the seat next to me. My heart jumped.
“Glad you didn’t get lost on your way here,” he said. “I’d hate to think I’d miss out on one minute of being this close to you.”
“He did not say that!” Julie said and they both giggled.
“We were only fourteen,” I reminded them. “And his brother used to teach him to say all these cheesy lines. It didn’t matter, though; I fell for all of them. And he meant them, too. Those things only come off as cheesy when the person saying them isn’t sincere.”
“Okay, okay,” Emma said. “So, it was love at first book drop. What happened next?”
“We would talk before and after class. Usually, he would walk me to my next one. Then, one Friday, he handed me a note with his phone number and he asked me to call him over the weekend. I called that day after school, and he asked me to go to the mall with him that night.”
“The mall?” Emma asked, flabbergasted.
“Yeah, the mall. Hello? Fourteen,” I said.
“That’s where we spent, like, all of our Friday nights, Em, and you know it,” Julie said. They’d gone to a nearby high school and had been friends before college, where they met me.
“Ignore her,” Julie said. “Did he hold your hand as you walked around?”
“Of course,” I said. “He bought me an Orange Julius and everything.”
“This story could only be cuter if you’d shared a container of fries from the food court,” Julie said.
I pressed my lips together and stifled a laugh.
“You did, didn’t you!” Julie said.
“I feel like I’m stuck in a teen drama,” Emma said.
Julie shoved her lightly.
“We shared fries and a slice of pizza,” I said. “And that was it. From that moment on, we were inseparable. We talked on the phone all night, went to the mall and roller skating and all those things we used to do when we were young teens.”
“So cute,” Julie said.
“Yeah, cute,” Emma said. “So where did it all go wrong?”
“Well…” I blew out a hard sigh. “We dated for years. All through high school. We went to proms together, homecomings, all of that.”
“Wait a minute!” Emma grabbed my arm and turned to face me. “Was he your first?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “And I was his.”
“This is the cutest story ever,” Julie said. “I’m quite jealous.”
“And then he broke my heart,” I said.
“I knew it,” Emma grumbled.
“No!” Julie said in a whiney tone. “He’s so cute! How could he?”
“He got into a college out of state and wanted to get away from everything. So, that summer, when he told me his plans, he said he wanted to end things. He thought a long-distance relationship would be too difficult to maintain, and that it would hinder our studies.”
“Boo,” Julie said.
“I know,” I said. “It was horrible. I cried for weeks. Then I swore off men.”
“Until Sam,” Emma said.
“Yeah well,” I said. “I should have sworn him off, too. Jerk.”
“Let’s not have a Sam moment, please,” Julie said. “You’re done with him, and let’s stay done.”
“Yes, please,” Emma said.
“I think part of the reason I ended up staying with him for so long was because of Owen,” I said. “I just wanted to be dating, you know? After four straight years of being with the same person, it was weird to not have a boyfriend. But, I have no desire to talk about or think about Sam.”
Except that now that he’d been brought up, my mind drifted toward Sam. It had been a complete disaster of a relationship. I’d expected something like what Owen and I had. A relationship that was fun and easy with someone enjoyable to be around. Owen made me laugh. Sam made me worry. He was so intense, I had never been sure where I stood with him or what was going on in his mind. The year we dated was fraught with frustration and confusion.
If being in a relationship was going to be like how things had been with Sam, I never needed to be married. I didn’t want that kind of drama surrounding me all the time. In a relationship that was meant to last a lifetime, I would need someone more like Owen. Well, like Owen but with enough dedication to want to attempt something as common as a long-distance relationship.
Maybe Owen had set the bar too high. After Sam, I started to wonder which one was a more accurate representation of what marriage would be like. The best I could hope for was something in the middle.
“Maybe this will be good,” Emma said. “Maybe you can remember a relationship other than Sam and can actually have someone who’s good for you.”
“I think the bigger problem is, I never really got over Owen.”
They stopped and looked at me.
“After he broke your heart, you still have feelings for him?” Julie asked.
I shrugged. “That’s the only thing he ever did to hurt me, though.”
“Well, it was a pretty big thing, don’t you think?” Emma said.
“It was,” I admitted. “It’s just hard to hate him when all my memories are good ones.”
“And when he’s that hot,” Emma added.
“Not helping,” Julie said, nudging her.
I scrunched up my face as if I were in pain. “The worst part is, he looks even better now.”
Emma sucked in a breath. “Oh. Sorry.”
“You should date him,” I said to Emma.
“Are you crazy?” Emma said. “First of all, no. Second of all, he’s your ex. Third of all, you just said you still have feelings for him! I may not be the best friend in the world, but I’m not that evil. Or stupid.”
“No one’s dating Owen,” Julie said.
My face fell into a frown. No one was dating Owen, and none of us ever would be. He probably had a girlfriend anyhow. Maybe even a fiancé. I didn’t want to be hung up on anyone, especially not my ex from high school who I hadn’t seen in over four years. It was about three and a half years longer than it should have taken me to get over him. Yet, here I was, my heart still racing from our brief encounter, my mind still full of his face and voice.
I shook my head. No. “Okay, stop.” I held up my hands and we all stopped walking. “I can’t do this. If I’m going to get over him, I can’t think about him. Or Sam. Or any other disaster in my life. I want to enjoy the fact that I just earned a degree after four years of very hard work, and so did the both of you. We made it through college, and we’re ready to start our new lives. I
’m not going to do that being stuck in the past. From this point forward, I am in love with no one!”
Julie pumped her fist in the air. “Down with love!”
Emma raised her eyebrow at us. “Um, how about not ‘down with love’ so much as, yay for strong women who don’t need a relationship or a man to feel whole!”
“And that!” I said, raising my fist high to match Julie’s. “Here’s to focusing on our careers!”
If you enjoyed this preview of Alpha’s Second Chance from the Werebears Of The Everglades series, you may download the entire story HERE. Available with Kindle Unlimited.
Sneak Peek of Holden’s Mate
Daddy Dragon Guardians
Holden’s Mate
Daddy Dragon Guardians
1
Leah straightened her dress and drew in a deep breath. It was just a night out at a bar with her friends. It didn’t mean anything, and there was no pressure. Just because Autumn and Summer insisted on calling it a divorce party didn’t mean that she had to feel obligated to hook up with someone and live the wild life like a college student again. It was going to be okay. She had even opted for a low pair of heels instead of the stilettos at the back of her closet, just to make it feel a little more like a normal night out with her girlfriends.
As she stepped up to The Parlor and raised her hand to open the door, she was relieved to see that there was no knob; she only had to push. Leah carefully chose a spot near the middle of the door—where very few people had probably touched the old wood—and stepped inside. The establishment was a long and narrow one that stretched away on either side of her. The back wall behind the bar was painted a pale shade of yellow that contrasted with the dark wood trim and gave the place a bright but cozy feel. Two bartenders worked away busily, sliding drinks down the slick wooden surface and collecting tips in a large glass jar.
“There she is!” Autumn squealed, waving Leah over to their table. “I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up.”
“And I wasn’t going to stop her if she decided to go find you and drag you out tonight,” Summer piped up, running a hand through her pale, curly locks.
Leah gave her friends a small smile as she sat down. She had met the twins back in college, and she knew they meant well. But it was strange for her to be out enjoying herself when she knew she ought to be at home, crying over a cup of tea. “I’m just not sure that I feel like celebrating. It almost seems wrong to be so happy about something so terrible.”
Autumn shook her head, but her auburn hair stayed perfectly in place. Tonight, she had it combed neatly back into a high bun, letting her thick fringe of bangs hang down to frame her angular face. As usual, not a single hair was out of place. She looked more like an attorney or a banker instead of a witch who owned a new age shop with her sister. “You’re looking at it the wrong way. Sure, it sucks that you and Victor didn’t work out. But he wasn’t right for you, and you’ve gotten out of that situation. Why not be happy about it?” She tipped back her giant margarita glass and smiled.
“I have to agree.” Summer leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms, showing off the oversized tunic she wore with her wildly-patterned leggings. She was nothing like her sister, and she always opted to be comfortable above all else. “You have a new chance at happiness, and that’s definitely worth celebrating.”
“Easy for you to say; you’ve never been married.” Leah didn’t want to be catty about it, but this was one of the hardest things she had ever gone through. She’d known women who had gotten divorced, and she had seen it in their readings, but living it was a completely different experience.
“Well, I have,” Autumn said authoritatively. “And I can tell you there’s plenty of cause for a party. Now, let’s get you a drink and start having a good time.” She waved to a waitress. “A margarita for my friend, here, please.”
Leah put a up a hand to stop the young woman from heading back to the bar. “I don’t drink margaritas.”
“You do now,” Autumn argued and waved the waitress away to fetch the drink. “Seriously, now. You were so upset when you found out Victor was cheating on you. We all knew he was a dick anyway, so why are you sulking? You got everything you wanted out of the divorce—even if it wasn’t much—and you don’t have any kids together. There’s no reason for you to ever see him again. Enjoy it. I dare you.” She narrowed her green eyes at her friend, willing her to do as she was told.
“Maybe I should; I’d like to think I will, eventually. But you’ve got to admit this is one hell of a blow to my self-esteem.” Leah slunk down a little in her seat, the weight of it all still heavy on her shoulders. She and Victor had been separated for over a year, but knowing that all the official paperwork had been filed made things feel much more final.
“Why? You’re gorgeous.” Summer leaned over and picked up several locks of Leah’s dark chestnut hair in her hand and let them fall slowly back to her shoulders. “And you’re fun and smart. You’re everything most guys are looking for.”
Leah shook her head. “It’s not just that. I mean, sure, knowing that he was sleeping with that other woman definitely made me feel like I wasn’t good enough. But I’m a goddamn psychic; I hang a shingle out so people will come to me to find out about their futures, but I can’t even predict my own. Don’t you think I should have known he was the wrong guy?”
Her mind flashed back to when she had first met Victor at a party. She had been far too drunk, and he had given her a ride home. Leah had been attracted to him, and it hadn’t hurt that he was intelligent as well. To top things off, he had believed her when she’d accidentally told him she had psychic powers. It was the kind of thing that would have driven most people away, no matter what kind of relationship she wanted to have with them. No one believed that psychics were anything but con artists with crystal balls. But Victor had seemed to understand, even though he had no supernatural gifts of his own. He’d never complained that she was being foolish when she became a psychic freelancer, and he’d even gone with her to a few conventions. It was the most support she’d ever received from someone without powers, and it had meant a lot to her.
Autumn rolled her green, catlike eyes toward the ceiling as she thought. “Have you ever been able to predict things about yourself? I mean, it’s not like you know when you’re going to die, do you?”
Leah had to admit she had a point. “No, and I wouldn’t want to. But it makes me feel like such a hypocrite. I managed to get a publishing deal for my book that claims it can teach people to tap into their own natural abilities, and then I get smacked in the face by reality. I fucking hate it.”
“Maybe your spirit guides sent Victor to you for a reason.” Summer blinked her wide, green eyes. “Maybe you needed someone to help you get started on the right path, but it doesn’t mean you were meant to continue on that path together.”
“Apparently not.” Leah easily remembered that fateful day when Victor had come home from work and set his travel mug down on the kitchen counter. It was a simple thing, and not a gesture that should have mattered at all. But Leah had picked it up to rinse out the remains of his coffee from that morning, and her powers had instantly kicked in. The kitchen had faded around her and turned into an office. A woman was kissing her husband—and it definitely wasn’t Leah. The image was so real that Leah couldn’t help but watch as her own husband’s hands unfastened the buttons of the woman’s shirt and worked their way up her skirt. She’d watched in horror as the two of them made love on Victor’s desk.
Of course, she had gone straight to him with her accusations. That was the first time Victor had ever questioned her psychic powers, calling her a paranoid liar. But she knew as soon as she reached out and touched the lapel of his sport coat that she was right. Victor’s personal items didn’t usually give her much information; not like they did for strangers. But then again, she had always known all of his secrets up until that point. The waitress brought Leah’s drink, and she stared down at the salty
rim of the glass as if it could help her understand what had happened.
“I’ll have another one of those, please,” Autumn asked the waitress, and then turned back to Leah. “That’s okay. It just means you have the opportunity for someone new to walk down that path with you. Now you can find someone who really believes in you.” She smiled and looked off into the distance, lost in the romance of it all.
“Victor believed,” Leah argued. “It was his idea that I should start booking myself for parties, and that was what really got me started in the business. I would probably be stuck in a dead-end job somewhere in a cubicle or working for pennies at a psychic hotline if it hadn’t been for him.” Leah had a real talent; enough that she had been able to make a living from it. Even without sharing the bills with Victor, she never had to worry about how she was going to live.
Autumn tapped her finger on the table. “He had a good sense of business; I can’t argue with that. But I’m not just talking about someone who believes you can predict the future or see into people’s lives. But Summer’s talking about someone who believes in you as a person. Someone who helps you grow and change into the person you were meant to be.”
Summer sipped her daiquiri and nodded. “I’m sure he’s out there. I believe there’s someone out there for everyone, even if it’s not the kind of person we’re expecting.”
“Well, whoever it is, I plan on taking a long time to find him. I don’t want to date anyone for at least the next year. I’ll just take time to be myself and figure out what I want from life. Even then, it’s going to be a very long time before I get serious. If I get remarried before I’m fifty, then I want one of you to shoot me. Promise?”
The twins laughed. Autumn reached across the table and touched Leah’s hand. “You’re never going to make it twenty years, girl. I get it. We’re in our thirties now. It’s not going to be as easy as it was when we were twenty. But we’re not dead yet, and you can’t just give up on yourself like that.”
