Chance (Rusted and Reckless Book 1)

by Charlotte Casey

  She took a chance. A once in a lifetime, throw caution to the wind kind of chance. Aveline leaned in closer to him, as if they had a secret to share. Her lips parted ready, more than ready, for his. A sexy little smirk snuck up on his face. He was there, right there with her in the moment. Greer came closer. So close she could feel his warm breath on her lips.

  The door to the bus opened and Rob stuck his head in. “Babygirl, we gotta get goin’.”

  Greer’s eyes went wide at the intrusion as if sense had just been smacked back into him. “Be right there!” she yelled trying to buy them a few more minutes but Greer had already dropped her hand.

  He recoiled away from her. His posture ridged, protected. “And the clock strikes midnight,” he murmured running a hand through his hair and looking away from her.

  Aveline didn’t feel like Cinderella, she felt like the pumpkin.

  “How long of a drive do you have?” he asked in a very controlled voice.

  She slumped a bit against the couch, her shoulders giving way under the weight of disappointment. There went all her sexy confidence. Poof! Right out the window.

  “An hour. When is your next show?” She knew it was a long shot but maybe they would be in the area a few more days. Maybe they could try this again…

  “Two days away in Kentucky.”

  Well, it had been a nice thought.

  Greer wouldn’t look her in the eye. “Next time I’m in the area we should…” he said, using that tone you use with an old acquaintance who you run into at the grocery store promising to get together and catch up but without any actual desire to follow through.

  “Definitely,” she said answering even before he could finish his sentence. Needy much? Geez. That awkwardness from the beginning of the night was back. No longer were they on the same page. They were lucky if they were in the same book at this point. It was actually painful to sit there beside him.

  “I’m glad I finally got to meet you,” she said as she stood, unable to take the discomfort any longer. “Call me later?”

  Greer pulled her into a hug. It was much better than the first one she gave him. He wrapped his whole body around her and pulled her in close. It was the best hug she had ever gotten. Unfortunately, he kept the length to an appropriate amount and let go of her. He took a full step back so there was a clear distance between them.

  And here they were hot and cold again.

  The foot seemed more like a mile. Aveline was disappointed but not surprised. Greer was a music star. Rusted and Reckless was huge. He probably had groupies just waiting for her to leave so they could come warm his bed. She looked over to the bunk beds. Greer slept on the bottom one on the right. It was barely big enough for one person, she knew, she had climbed in to see when he gave her the tour.

  Greer just wasn’t into her like she was into him. That moment, that brief interlude of insanity earlier was probably just him taking advantage of what was in front of him. He had no plans on telling her who he was. Greer admitted as much earlier. He was just being polite to the girl who was pulled up on stage as a joke.

  Stop it! Stop stop stop stop it!

  Even just thinking that left a bad taste in her mouth. Aveline was stereotyping Greer. Making him look bad so this thing between them didn’t feel so weird. He wasn’t like that. They were interrupted. Simple as that. Had Rob not come in when he had, they would have kissed. But they didn’t so nothing has changed. Tomorrow they would chat like they normally did. Everything would go back to being normal.

  “Goodnight Ava. Drive safe.”

  God, she hope that disappointment in his voice was because she had to go and not because she wasn’t what he had expected.

  “You too.”

  Chapter Three

  Her legs were propped up on the bottom corner of her mom’s bed. The TV was on and reruns of old Price is Right episodes were playing, the good ones with Bob Barker. Aveline’s lap held her computer. A busted and dated laptop that was missing the up arrow and a shift key, the CD drive was taped together so it didn’t fall off and the power cord only charged when it was pointing in a particular direction and under the light of a harvest moon. She needed a new laptop but there were no extra funds to go around. She had another hour before Rob got home and took over her nightly watch so Aveline could go to work, again.

  Seven days a week, Aveline worked as manager at a little clothing boutique. She clocked in a total of forty-two hours per week. She would then come home and spend the next four hours doing school work and caring for her mother. When Rob got off work, he came home to take over so that she could go work at the restaurant, typically three or four nights a week. Aveline paid for a nurse to be with her mother in the mornings when she was gone, otherwise, it was all her and Rob.

  Her mother, Molly, had once been a vivacious woman. She was the only female engineer at the company she worked for. It took balls for her to be who she was, working in a man’s world. She had been driving home one night when a truck t-boned her at an intersection. She had flat lined in the ambulance going to the hospital. Aveline had thought she had lost her mother that day, and at times she wish she had. The life Molly lived now was no life at all. A step above a vegetable, she spent her days in bed watching whatever Aveline put on the television. Her mother loathed television. Back before the accident, she had been a reader and enjoyed an occasional movie but TV was not her kind of entertainment. That first year, Aveline used to read to her mother during the day, then she turned it over to audiobooks after picking up the waitressing job and needed that time to study.

  The spark of life in Molly had withered and died over the last two years. There wasn’t much of the woman she used to be inside anymore.

  Molly should be in some kind of care facility and she had been at first, but the cost became too great. Aveline exhausted all of her funds. She was going to lose the house when Rob agreed to move in and help out in the evenings so she could work another job. She had no social life and too many responsibilities to carry on as a normal college student. Life had gotten very real, very fast. Aveline had drifted from her friends until they stopped calling and she stopped caring. The only two people she talked to anymore were Rob and Greer.

  Like some invisible leash was leading her on, Aveline’s head turned and looked at her phone. After they parted ways, Greer and Aveline had continued to talk. It was like she figured it would be, exactly the same. Only, now it wasn’t. That awkwardness from last weekend had followed her home. It could be all in her head but after days of speculation, she decided he felt it too. The pauses were becoming longer and the laughter wasn’t as easy.

  Who was creating the rift? Was it her or him? Maybe they both were. Aveline didn’t think she was treating him any differently now that she knew he was a famous bassist but from his perspective, maybe she was. At first, sure, she was a bit blinded by his stardom but that had worn off real quick when they had hung out in those hours after the show. Their conversations were the same, except now she asked how the band was and where they were traveling next. His voice always got stiff when she asked. Guarded. Maybe she should stop asking. Aveline was only trying to take an interest in his life but she must be going about it wrong.

  So, yeah, it had to be her. What did he have to be weird about? The only explanation was that she was treating him differently. She missed their easy conversation and innocent teasing. The last few days seemed longer now that her one escape had manifested its own set of problems.

  “Honey, I’m home." Rob announced a little while later. Aveline hadn’t gotten much homework done. Only two weeks left of school, it was crunch time and every second was precious. Yet this last hour was spent mulling over Greer.

  “How was your day, Darling?” Aveline asked in her best dutiful housewife voice when he came down the hall and into her mother’s room. She accepted a kiss on the cheek.

  “Neither good nor bad,” he said, kissing her mother’s cheek. There was no reaction. Rarely was anymore.

  Lookin
g at the time on her phone, she noticed that she needed to get moving if she was going to be at work on time, but also that she had no new messages from Greer. The rise of anticipation she had when she checked her phone quickly sank into disappointment.

  “I should get ready. I’ll be home no later than eleven thirty.”

  He waved away her comment. “We’ll be fine. Molly and I are going to pick out a new audiobook to listen to while I make us some dinner.”

  Rob really was a saint. She told him so weekly.

  As promised, Aveline was home by eleven thirty. Rob had already gone to bed but left a note that he save her a plate of spaghetti. She was too tired to eat. All she wanted to do was sit down and not get up again for a week. She dropped her purse on the table, fished out her phone and drug herself to her room. Aveline used to have the room on the first floor but she moved her mother in there after realizing that she couldn’t get her up and down the stairs as easily. Her room was now the master bedroom. It wasn’t much larger than the one downstairs but it did have its own bathroom, complete with bathtub.

  Aveline wanted nothing more than to sink into a tub full of scented hot water but she had a paper to work on. The one she was supposed to be working on that afternoon but had gotten nowhere with.

  She collected her books off her desk and crawled into bed. Not even five minutes into her research and her phone dinged with a message.

  How was your day?

  She smiled. It was Greer.

  Nothing special. Just got off work and trying to work on that annotated bibliography.

  Finished mine yesterday. Let me know if you need some help.

  Thanks. I will.

  She waited and when no other reply came, Aveline put down the phone with an audible sigh and went back to work. Her eyes kept crossing and her yawns were becoming longer. Aveline could barely keep her eyes focused on the text when the infamous ding sounded again.

  Are you mad at me?

  What? No. Shut up.

  Then why are you acting weird?

  Had she been more awake then, she might have read her message before sending it off without a second glance. Instead she typed “You almost kissed me,” and hit send.

  The three little dots that told her he was typing seemed to flash for an eternity. Aveline had woken up fully, worrying that she had said the wrong thing. She was about ready to turn off her phone since she couldn’t stand the non-response when her phone finally sounded, twice.

  I did.

  I’m really sorry I didn’t follow through too.

  Aveline held the phone inches from her face as she read the words over and over. He was sad he didn’t kiss her. That was…amazing.

  You are?

  Fuck yeah! I was so nervous. I screwed it all up, the whole night. I should have told you sooner who I was. At the very least, I shouldn’t have let Jason take the reins on our introduction.

  What? No! It was just…weird. Meeting and all. We were unprepared.

  You’re sweet but I fucked it up.

  Yeah, ok, maybe a little.

  Haha.

  ;)

  Her heart did a little flutter thing. It had sprouted wings and was trying to flitter around her chest like a butterfly. His admission gave her the confidence to keep talking. Aveline wanted to hear more about how he wished he would have kissed her because that was where her mind reverted back to whenever she had a down moment.

  So you wanted to kiss me?

  I haven’t stopped thinking about it. The guys are being dicks about it too.

  Good. Not about the guys but the kiss. I wanted to kiss you too.

  So I haven’t blown my chance with you completely?

  No completely, no.

  I’m calling a mulligan.

  What?

  A do over.

  Aveline wasn’t sure she was reading that right. It seemed entirely too good to be true. But something about it all just fit. Like all those awkward moments between them just clicked back into place and suddenly they were on the right path again.

  Oh, really? And how is that going to work?

  Next time I see you, I kiss you.

  Hmmmm. Where are you at?

  Heading to Arizona.

  When will you be back?

  Not sure. Eight weeks at the very most.

  :-/

  She had been told that she had the patience of a saint. This kiss would test that theory.

  That’s a long time. You sure you won’t meet some beautiful groupie and forget about me?

  Never. You’ve been scorched on my soul, Ava. I promise you, you’ll get your kiss.

  Her chest gave a few loud thumps and she almost forgot to breathe.

  I’m holding you to that. Night, Greer.

  Sweet dreams, Ava.

  *****

  Aveline read once more over her paper and felt confident enough to hand it in. At one point she would have read it to her mom, but it was hard to keep up with things like that when she wasn’t even sure how much her mom understood. There were the occasional moments where she would see a flicker of the old Molly in her eyes, but she hadn’t seen one in months.

  After saying goodnight to Greer, she had stayed up to work on her paper. Their conversation was like an energy shot. She was up half the night working on it and was feeling that lack of sleep now. Although, since she finished her paper early, technically, she could take a nap. She deserved a nap.

  Looking longingly at the bed, Aveline pulled out one of her text books instead and opened to chapter ten.

  She’d nap when she was done with finals.

  “You got mail,” Rob said as he came in with a stack of white envelopes, and one pink one.

  God, she hated the pink ones.

  He went through everything sorting them by: important, can wait, due yesterday, junk and brown chicken brown cow.

  She had no idea what that last one was for.

  Aveline opened the bills with him and put them in her own piles: crap, double crap, fuck me and better sell a kidney.

  “What’s that one?” she asked. There was one letter left. It wasn’t a bill— thank god— but an actual greeting card.

  “This,” he said dramatically, picking up the letter and smelling the edge of it like it held the manliest of colognes. “This is your future.”

  She frowned and held out her hand. Rob placed it in her open palm with a smile. It was addressed to “University Girl.”

  “Who?” she asked but began to tear at the paper. The front of the card was a photo of a golf course. Inside was a plane ticket and one word “Mulligan.”

  “Oh my god.” He didn’t just send her a plane ticket to go kiss him. There was no way.

  Rob snatched the card out of her hand. “I don’t get it,” he said after reading it. “But these are fun. I take it Greer wants to see you again.” He was holding the plane ticket in his hand.

  “I guess so.”

  The ticket was for tomorrow at two o’clock. He made them for after she got off work. It was sweet. Regardless, she couldn’t go. Aveline had work every day, not to mention her mom. She couldn’t ask Rob to abandon whatever plans he had for the weekend to babysit.

  “I can’t,” she said sounding as disappointed as she felt.

  “Uh, yes, you can.”

  Aveline glowered at him. “I have two jobs and can’t just fly off to…” she grabbed the ticket from him. “Tucson at the drop of a hat. Plus,” she looked over at her mother. Just because she probably couldn’t hear her didn’t mean she couldn’t. No use making her mom feel bad with something out of her control.

  Rob waved away her concern like it was an annoying fly. “Pfft. Shut up. You’ve got me and Caroline. Call her and ask if she can stay on till I get home tomorrow. You know she will.” Yeah, she would. “Then go pretend to be a rock star for a few days. Think of it as a long overdue vacation.”

  Could she really do this? It just seemed so irresponsible. Aveline sighed looking at the stupid golf course card. He wanted
to kiss her. Greer was going to pay for her to come out to him just so he could kiss her. Her mouth tilted in a smile. He could wait the eight odd weeks but patience was not his strong suit.

  “I’d still have to get off from both jobs.”

  Rob grinned. “That was not a no.”

  “It was a conditional yes.”

  He whooped. She rolled her eyes. “You deserve this baby doll.”

  Yeah, she did. But could she afford to do it?

  Chapter Four

  He had gotten no sleep. Even amped up with anticipation of a show, Greer would manage to crank out a few hours sleep but waiting for the time when Aveline’s plane landed was utter torture. Like, it was up there with a bowl full of the greatest cookie dough known to man, just sitting on the counter begging for a finger to dip in and swipe at its sugary goodness but having the strictest of moms standing guard with a wooden spoon which she would use to smack your hand away while telling you how salmonella worked.

  Personally, he’d risk it for a spoonful of that unbaked ambrosia that was chocolate chip cookie dough.

  Waiting for Aveline was like waiting for that mom to turn her back.

  But she was coming. That in itself was a miracle. Greer wasn’t sure how she was going to take his invitation. Aveline was responsible. He didn’t mean that in a bad way but responsible girls rarely dropped all their obligations to fly across the country to hang out with a guy in a band who fucked up by not making a move on her last weekend. And Aveline had a lot of responsibilities. Her schedule made his look like breeze.

  Speaking of, he needed to get out of bed.

  Rory was already awake and poking around the kitchen. The man could be up until three in the morning and still wake up at seven-thirty on the dot. He was their unofficial chef for the tour. Rory was in culinary school when they had begun to book some pretty wicked gigs. He had the choice to finish up and the guys all told him that they would hang around with him until he was done but Rory quit so that they could open five shows for Eric Church. It was a move that put them on the map beyond those who knew them around the Smokies.