by Rhian Cahill
When the light turns yellow, it’s time to step on the gas.
Are You Game?, Book 3
You never forget your first.
Truer words have never been spoken when it comes to Kelsey Newman’s first love. Years spent ignoring the ache she feels for Weston Mann has done little to erase him from her mind and her heart.
The one that got away.
Ten years ago, West loved Kelsey enough to let her go when he realized he wasn’t ready for the kind of relationship she needed. Watching her walk down the aisle with another man cut deep. But West is a quick learner, and he never makes the same mistake twice. Now that she’s free, he plans to make up for lost time.
A love that won’t stop.
Kelsey isn’t ready to give West a green light, and he refuses to accept the red ones she’s given him. With each stop and start of their seesawing relationship, she finds herself falling for him all over again. Except it’s hard to trust her heart to a man who once told her he didn’t want it.
Warning: Story contains a reluctant heroine, a determined hero, an ex who doesn’t want to stay exed, and a love that knows no limit—speed or otherwise.
Red Light, Green Light
Rhian Cahill
Dedication
For those of us with fond memories of childhood games.
And for Mr. Summers for his advice and Eden Summers for asking.
Chapter One
West’s gaze connected with the woman across the room for what seemed like the millionth time in the last hour. Since he’d arrived, she’d avoided him with everything except those mesmerising eyes of hers. It wasn’t the first time they’d played this game. Only lately, he’d grown tired of playing—their constant game of red light, green light felt anything but fun. Especially when the light was red more than it was green.
He’d walked away from her once. Young and stupid, he hadn’t really thought about what he was giving up when he didn’t make a move beyond their one night. And by the time he had figured it out, he was too late. She was dating someone else. That was one mistake he didn’t need to repeat to learn from.
“Shit, man. Tell me you are not seriously thinking of going there?” His best friend elbowed him in the ribs.
Bringing his beer to his mouth, West took a sip—his eyes still locked on Kelsey—before he turned to face Zac. “Going where?” He’d play dumb if he had to.
Zac arched one eyebrow. “Dude. I know that look. It says, ‘I wanna fuck you’.
West grinned. “Thanks, but no thanks. You know I don’t swing that way.”
“Fuck off.” Zac elbowed him again, this time with a little more force. “You know I’m talking about Kelsey. You don’t wanna go there.”
Too late. Been there, done that. Should never have moved on.
But West wasn’t about to tell his best friend that train had already departed. Ten years ago. Turning back to look at Kels, West caught her eye once more and sent her a wink.
“Shit. She’s giving you the look now.” Zac took a swig of his beer and choked. “Fuck.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That’s not the I-want-to-do-you look. That’s the I’ve-done-you-and-I-want-to-do-you-again look.” Zac rounded on him and got in his face. “What the fuck, West?”
Crap. West took another sip of beer as he turned away from the woman of his dreams to lean his elbows on the bar. He had to be careful. Too many words would reveal something he didn’t want anyone, including his best friend, to know. Too little would prompt questions he had no intention of answering. “What? She’s hot. I’m not dead and it’s not like there’s a law against looking.” He shrugged and tried to portray a nonchalant attitude when he felt anything but indifferent when it came to Kelsey.
“Yes, there is.” Zac got right in his face again. “She was married to Bry.”
“Was being the operative word.” And West didn’t need to be reminded. He’d spent three years of his life living that particular nightmare. Not to mention the three Kelsey had dated Bryan before becoming Mrs. Newman.
“Jesus. Are you for real?” Zac glanced around before lowering his voice. “You’ve already gone there, haven’t you? Are you the reason she filed for divorce?”
Shit. He wished. No, Kels and Bry had done that all on their own without outside help. And from what Kelsey had told him—and what seemed to be common opinion among their group—it had been a long time coming. West was the first to acknowledge they never should have gotten married. Not when he knew Bry didn’t want Kelsey the way he did. No one could want her on the level West did. His bones ached he wanted her so badly. Of course, he’d had her.
Once.
Okay, more than once, but it had only been one night. One night of absolute pleasure his body had spent the last ten years craving a repeat of. He shook his head clear of memories that had the power to bring him to his knees and focused on the present.
“C’mon, Zac, you have to admit she’s smokin’.” West took another swig of beer.
“Sure. But which one of our group isn’t? Every woman we went to school with is hot enough to melt the South Pole. Must have been something in the water that year.” Zac grinned and West joined him, hoping he was pulling off the blasé attitude of a guy checking out a passing woman.
Heat and movement behind him had West glancing over his shoulder then jack-knifing upright and around, tightening his fingers on the bottle in his hand.
Kelsey.
“Hey, Kels, how ya doing?” West played it cool like he always did when he was around this woman.
“Good.” She smiled and West’s insides clenched, his pulse racing with heated blood.
He’d had those lips wrapped around his cock. Knew how hot and wet her mouth was. How hard she could suck.
“Thanks for helping me move my stuff the other day.”
Her words brought him out of the past and back to the crowded bar. “Oh, right. No worries. Any time.”
He was conscious of Zac standing statue-still beside him. Silence settled between the three of them and West knew he needed to say something to break the tension before the moment turned awkward. His gaze landed on Kelsey’s empty wine glass and he latched on to the diversion. “You want another drink?”
Kels looked at the glass in her hand and shook her head. “No, I’ve already had too many. I’m going to have to leave my car in town as it is, don’t need a hangover tomorrow to add to the inconvenience.”
West put his bottle on the bar behind him. “I’ll drive your car home if you want. I’ve only had one and I caught a ride in with Zac.” He took the glass from her hand. “Consider me your designated driver.”
“Really? That would be great. I’ve got an early class tomorrow so I was going to have to get a cab back into town at some ungodly hour.” She smiled up at him and West’s insides did that whole clenching thing again. Only this time, his groin tightened to the point of pain.
“You still teaching those community-college classes?” Zac asked. It was the first words he’d spoken since Kels had come over and West had pretty much forgotten he was there.
“Yeah. Tomorrow is budgets for the elderly. I think the youngest member of class is sixty-five.” She smiled.
Kels had been working at their local community college since the day she’d received her accounting degree. She did it for free, and West knew it had been a bone of contention between her and Bry their whole married life. He was glad she hadn’t bowed to Bry’s demands to either be paid or stop giving the classes. Another reason he’d known the two of
them were wrong for each other. Bry just didn’t get Kelsey’s need to help those without the means to help themselves.
“Oh, there’s Coop. I wanna catch him before he leaves.” Zac was gone before either of them could say a word.
“Did I scare him off?” Kels asked.
“No. He was a little uncomfortable with our exchange of glances earlier.” West shrugged. “Not our problem.”
“Did he say anything?” Anxiety pinched her mouth and turned her blue eyes a shade darker than normal.
“Nothing you should be worried about.”
She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Honest, Kels, its fine.” He brushed his hand against the back of hers.
Kelsey jerked away and, eyes wide, glanced either side of them to see if anyone had noticed the intimate caress. “Um, I’d like to get out of here early, if that’s okay? Would you mind leaving in about thirty minutes? If not, I can go back to my original plan and get a cab home.”
West sighed. Just like that, they were back on the friend’s side of the fence. He couldn’t count the number of times they’d skirted the line of friendship in the last three years. He’d hoped to be closer to her by now. Hoped they’d have found a way to cross the line from friends to lovers now that she was free. “Whenever you’re ready to go,” he said with a tight smile.
She returned his smile with one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. He hated that smile. It was the one she used when she was trying to pretend everything was okay when it wasn’t. He’d seen that facade far too many times in the past and he couldn’t stand to see it right now. Not aimed at him.
“I’m gonna go sit with the guys.” West indicated the table where Zac had run off to. “Come get me when you’re ready to leave.”
West didn’t run, but he may as well have. He needed to think. Kelsey had been the girl he’d lost his virginity with. The one he’d let walk away and hook up with a friend. He’d wanted her to be happy and thought Bry might be able to do that. Except Bry hadn’t, and West had spent ten years of his life sitting on the sidelines while the woman he loved wasn’t really happy. It’d cut him to the core to stand back and do nothing. It still did. But he was done with the sideline.
He glanced back in Kelsey’s direction. He was getting in the game.
West wasn’t sure how or when he made the decision, but he was going after Kels and was prepared to break every friend code there was to claim her as his.
Kelsey leaned her forehead against the stall door as she turned the latch. It was getting harder and harder to control her reactions around West. She’d snuck away from the group to hide out in the bathroom for a much needed breather. He didn’t need to touch her to get her motor revving. Just one look from those stormy-gray eyes sent her pulse racing and her nerves into a frenzy. But the second he’d run his fingers over her skin… God, she’d almost melted at his feet.
The outer door opened and voices echoed as heels clicked over the tiled floor. She straightened and stepped back, glancing over her shoulder to check the toilet lid was closed before taking a seat. Leaning her elbows on her knees and propping her head in her hands, she stared at the floor.
What the hell was she going to do about West? They couldn’t keep this up. She couldn’t keep it up. At some point, she’d break, and as much as she wanted to cross that line with him, she equally feared it.
She’d tangled herself up with West before and all she’d gotten was a night of unforgettable pleasure and a broken heart. It had taken her a year to get over West’s rejection. They’d never discussed what had happened between them. Not once in all the years since had he brought it up. Then again, neither had she. And yet their sizzling chemistry had continued to bubble beneath the surface of their platonic friendship even during her ill-fated marriage to one of his best friends.
She groaned. God she’d made a mess of her and Bry’s marriage. She’d loved Bryan. Still loved him. But not the way a wife should. Not with everything she was. How could she when she’d given a huge piece of her heart to the boy she’d given her virginity to? If she were honest—and she should be, at least with herself—West had owned her heart long before they’d made their pact to divest each other of their virginity.
Kelsey had no one to blame but herself for the hurt she’d suffered afterwards. She’d gone into that night with her eyes wide open, but like every other teenage girl with stars in her eyes and dreams in her heart, she’d thought loving him physically would unlock his heart and he wouldn’t be able to live another day without her. She shook her head at how naive she’d been. How she’d allowed visions of fairytale-style happy ever after to cloud her mind and render her defenceless—vulnerable.
After their night, West had ignored her to the point that Kelsey had thought she’d done something wrong—something to turn him off. For months, she’d gone over and over every second she’d spent in his arms until she’d come to the only conclusion she could. He didn’t want her. It wasn’t as though he’d jumped straight from her bed to someone else’s. He’d been without a significant other until long after she’d begun dating Bry. Not that she’d really seen much of West in the year following their one night.
They’d both been busy with university and work. Kelsey knew she’d avoided more than one event West had been at because seeing him and not being able to touch him had cut so deep she’d struggled to keep tears at bay. She’d skipped out early on a lot of their friends’ birthdays in those first few months.
“Hey.” The door rattled as someone thumped on the other side. “You about done in there?”
“Give me a sec,” Kelsey called out as she pushed to her feet. She turned around and flushed the toilet even though she hadn’t used it. Unlocking the door, she kept her gaze lowered and made her way to the sink where two women were in the middle of a whispered discussion.
Kelsey froze when she overheard Zac’s name, but when she tried to inch a little closer to hear more clearly, they turned her way. She quickly leaned towards the mirror and fluffed her hair, pretending she was oblivious to them and what they were saying. Getting caught eavesdropping on what was intended to be a private conversation wouldn’t be the best of circumstances. When the woman closest to her stepped in her direction, Kelsey figured she’d managed to put herself in that exact situation.
“Oh, hey. Don’t you hang out with Zachary Moreland and that group of hunks?” the woman asked.
Kelsey turned and had to stifle a gasp. Had she thought they were women? Neither of them could be a day over nineteen. They had to be at least eighteen to get into the bar, but Kelsey had a suspicion they’d barely scraped past that milestone. “Um, which guys?” Stalling seemed to be her best option.
“The one’s hanging out in the back of the bar. I saw you talking with Zachary and another one earlier.” Blondie nudged her equally blonde friend. “You did too, right?”
Kelsey sighed. If she had a dollar for every time some strange female asked her about one of the guys, she’d be richer than Midas. “Yeah, I know them.” She turned to leave.
“Could you introduce us?”
Kelsey’s eyes popped wide and her mouth dropped open as she spun back towards the teenagers. Well, that was a first. No one had been brave enough to ask for an introduction before. “I don’t think so. For a start, I don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m Candy—” the blonde who’d done all the talking so far waved at her friend, “—and this is Missy.”
What kind of names were those? Kelsey shook her head. “Sorry. No can do.”
Before either of them could say another word, Kelsey strode around them and out the door. She’d taken no more than five steps along the dark hallway when a large shadow pushed off the wall into her path. A shaft of fear shot up her spine before she recognised West.
“Oh, it’s you.” She placed a hand on her chest over her thumping heart.
“Hey,
you okay?” He stepped in front of her, the tips of his shoes bare inches from hers. “You were in there a long time.”
West was right. She had been in there a while, and Kelsey shouldn’t be surprised that he’d come to check on her. Regardless of their strained friendship, he’d always watched out for her. Then again, maybe it was just her who felt the tension between them. “I’m fine.”
“You sure? We can head out now if you’re feeling under the weather.” He bent forward so he could look directly into her eyes.
Kelsey smiled. “Is that a polite way of asking if I’ve had too much to drink?” She and every one of her friends knew she was a lightweight when it came to alcohol.
West moved closer, his white teeth flashing as he smiled down at her. “You and I both know it only takes a couple of glasses to put you under the table.”
Returning his smile, she was about to reply when someone slammed into her from behind, shoving her against him. Kelsey threw her hands out to catch herself. They landed on his chest as he spanned his hands around her waist to steady her.
“Thanks for nothing, bitch,” Candy muttered as she and Missy pushed past in the narrow corridor.
“Hey!” West glanced over his shoulder as the women disappeared out of sight. Turning back to Kelsey, he asked, “What was that about?”
“You don’t want to know.” He arched one eyebrow. Then again, maybe he did. “Fine. But don’t let it go to your head. They wanted me to introduce them to our group. Well, you guys anyway.”
His other eyebrow shot up his forehead. “Why? Who are they?”
“I haven’t a clue who they are, and isn’t it obvious why?” Kelsey would never understand how none of the guys had figured out their appeal to the opposite sex and used it to get laid. In fact, she couldn’t recall any of them having anything other than serious relationships. All of them were standup guys who didn’t indulge in one-night stands. Unless they’d managed to keep their sexual exploits well hidden, but she didn’t think so. While they weren’t inclined to share their conquests with her, she’d never overheard any of them bragging about women and never seen them hook up whenever they were all out together.
