Chance (Rusted and Reckless Book 1)

by Charlotte Casey

  Greer was shocked. He was jealous that Jason could just pick up the phone and call her and she would answer. Just like that. Would she answer his call?

  But more than that, he was surprised to hear that she was getting help. Not that he thought she needed it. Well, they all probably could benefit from some therapy but Greer thought Aveline’s reactions to what happened were normal.

  “I should get going,” Jason said as he looked at his phone. “Don’t push your hand too far. And for god’s sake, stop lifting heavy shit. The Doc said nothing over five pounds. If I see that amp has moved again, I’m going to be pissed.”

  Greer nodded but had no intention of complying. His ribs screamed at him when he lifted even light things, but he would not put his life on hold just because something hurt. He also had no intention of going to the follow up appointment next week. He was fine. Healing. Why did he need to pay someone to tell him what he already knew? Plus, he hated needles and lately all they wanted to do was poke him.

  “I’ll come by tomorrow,” Jason said, as he stood. Greer waved his friend off and traded his bass for the guitar. He didn’t play anything heavy, just let soft and slow melodies. Stuff he could actually handle with his busted hand. Greer leaned back in his chair, getting himself comfortable and then closed his eyes and played to the crisp fall day.

  So Aveline was getting help. He smiled. Maybe that’s why she replied to his comment. He could have just emailed her, or hell, texted her. But he wasn’t sure how he would be received. Greer went with the comment because it would be easy to ignore if she really was done but also easy to reply to. Her reply gave him hope. He told himself he wouldn’t wait around for her forever but let’s be real, he totally would. Greer loved that girl. He’d wait a millennia for her.

  The squeak of the back gate pulled him from the lazy mood he was in. At almost a full lounge, he had his guitar resting easy on his stomach and his head propped on a pillow. The clouds overhead were fluffy and bold, he liked watching them almost as much as he liked doing the same thing at night with the stars.

  “Over here,” he called to who would either be Sawyer, Rory or his parents. Privacy was a thing of the past when you were healing from surgery.

  Greer turned his head, his hands still strumming the strings to find Aveline standing at the edge of his deck.

  “I uh, rang the bell but you didn’t answer. I heard you playing and took a chance,” she said. Her voice shaking with nerves. Aveline took a quick glance around. Seeing he was alone, her eyes fell back on his. “I hope its ok that I’m here.”

  His hand had stopped mid strum as he stared at her. The mirage that was Aveline smiled hesitantly. She looked good, beautiful of course, but healthy. The dark circles that usually shadowed her tired eyes were no longer there. She had her hair clipped back and new glasses. He really liked her new glasses. They made her look extra studious, which he loved.

  Greer put down his guitar and sat up off the lounger. His ribs ached as he pushed himself up and he couldn’t hide the pain that crossed his face. When he looked up again, Aveline had come closer. She looked worried.

  “You don’t have to get up, but can we talk?”

  He realized then that she was worried not only because he looked like he was about to birth a kidney, but also because he hadn’t said anything yet.

  “Yes, I’d like that.” Greer patted the seat beside him, the one Jason had vacated earlier.

  “You look better,” she said coming to sit beside him.

  He didn’t, he still looked like shit. The bruising had gone from deep purple to a yellow that just made him look sickly. His bandages were gone but stitches graced a few areas of his body. Rory had taken to calling him Frankenstein. Greer gave up trying to explain to him as to why that was incorrect and he would actually be Frankenstein’s monster and not Frankenstein himself.

  “It’s slow going. This is my biggest problem right now.” Greer held up his hand.

  Aveline frowned as she looked at it and then to his surprise, she reached out and grabbed it. Her touch was so soft that it was barely even there. She turned his hand over in hers, covering it, healing it.

  “I’m so sorry you had this happen to you.”

  “Not your fault, Ava.”

  “I went back to the hospital but you had been moved,” she confessed and let his hand go.

  Greer’s lips twitched in a smile. So she had come back. “I didn’t know.” He reached forward and grabbed her hand from her lap and clasped it between his. That was better.

  Aveline swallowed as she looked at their hands. A look he couldn’t place crossed her face and then her fingers tightened around his. “Greer,” she began but was still looking at their hands.

  “Ava,” he responded, a smile in his voice.

  “I’ve figured some things out. Things that I need to tell you.”

  Greer rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “Ok. You can tell me anything.”

  She nodded. “I blamed you. Even as I did it, I knew it wasn’t right but I wanted someone to take the blame for it all. I didn’t want to see the fact that the person I was actually mad at was my mom. I’m here because I wanted to apologize for pushing all of the guilt I felt on to you.”

  Greer was amazed at the woman before him. She had come to so many conclusions about herself and was working on fixing her mistakes. One thing she would always have, no matter what, was his respect.

  “I hope you know that you did nothing wrong. What we have is not something to feel guilty about,” she continued.

  Have.

  Did she say have?

  His eye brows rose as he asked her, “What we have?”

  Her lips twitched into a quick smile. “Even though I wanted to come to you once I heard you were released from the hospital, I knew I needed to work on some things first. I needed to work on myself. I’ve been in therapy for three weeks now, just getting my head on straight. I knew if I told you then you would get that look that you have on your face right now and say that I don’t need to work on shit. I’m perfect and all that crap.”

  She wasn’t wrong.

  “So I made you wait and I understand if you have moved on-”

  “I haven’t,” he injected.

  Her blush was beautiful.

  “You don’t have to say anything else, Ava. Apology accepted, all is forgiven, blah blah blah, let’s kiss and make up.”

  She snorted and pushed him in the shoulder.

  “You’ve got me hooked Ava. You have to know that. I’m just trolling along behind you waiting for you to reel me in.” Greer stopped a minute and thought over what he just said. “Do you have pen and paper?” he asked suddenly.

  “Uh…”

  “Nevermind. Just remember what I said.”

  She laughed. “I don’t think I’ll be forgetting anytime soon. Why?”

  Greer grinned. “Lyrics, Baby. Lyrics.” He put his hands on her waist and tugged her toward him. Ignoring the pain in his abdomen and the shit he would get from Jason and his doctor if they saw him do what he was about to do, Greer picked Aveline up and pulled her into his lap. He held her, savored the solid weight of her in his arms and kissed her.

  “I missed you,” he said into the kiss.

  Her fingers brushed the back of his neck. She kissed him once more before letting her forehead rest on his.

  “I love you.”

  And just like that, he was healed. Forget the doctors and hospitals. The stitches and pain medications. The surgery and recovery. Her love far exceeded any medicine they could give him.

  “Will you stay with me? A day, a month, a lifetime, I’ll take any of it. Just come and stay with me. Let me love you, Ava. Let me show you how much I love you every day.”

  Her arms wrapped around his neck as she hugged him close. Greer buried his head into the crook of her neck. His arms pulled her close until they were practically one body. He felt her head nod against his shoulder.

  “Yes. Ok, yes.”

  He pulled b
ack to look at her. “Yeah?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. For now it will be a weekend but I want more. I want to give more.”

  He reached a hand up and combed back some of her hair and then pulled her forward into his kiss. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he said against her lips. “You are all I’ve ever wanted.”

  Epilogue

  Three Months Later

  “I’m done!” Aveline squealed from her spot at the kitchen table. She had taken over two days prior, when she had started her finals. Books, scrap paper, empty cups, bags of chips, pens, highlighters and post-it notes littered every inch of the long mahogany table. She removed her glasses and gave her eyes a rub. Only eight hours of sleep in the last three days. She probably could have stretched it to ten but she didn’t want to risk it. Aveline had five finals to complete, all before tomorrow morning when she left with the band for a mini tour.

  “Shut up. I’m not done yet,” Greer grumbled from where he sat on the floor in the living room. He had claimed the coffee table and was busy typing away at a paper.

  Greer’s hand was good. Better than good. Four weeks ago, he had played the equivalent of a full concert with the band and hadn’t cramped up once. Everyone agreed that they would wait until after finals and then hit the road for two weeks to make up the shows they had missed that summer.

  Aveline stood and stretched. Her back cracked in the most delightful of ways but she frowned at the odor coming off of her. “That’s attractive,” she murmured. Her last shower had been… God, she had no idea. Had she showed since she started her finals?

  That was definitely step one.

  Shower. Pack. Sleep.

  Possibly food too. Food that wasn’t heated up in a microwave or delivered.

  Oh, and she needed to call Rob. It had been a few weeks since she had been home last. Although she was still paying the mortgage on her house, she didn’t live there. Basically, Greer worked his ninja skills on her and tricked her into staying with him on a semi-permanent basis. The deal was that she would move in for the semester but only if he could find her a job. Within a week of the deal being made, they were moving some of her stuff in. Greer had hooked her up with Darcy, their manager’s assistant, and just like that, she was Rusted and Reckless’ social media consultant. Basically, she hung out with the band and tweeted about what they were doing. It had taken a few days to get the gist of it but now she was a pro. The guys all had their own accounts but she dealt with the general Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Tumblr feeds.

  When they left tomorrow on tour, she would be going along and be getting paid for it.

  Aveline left Greer to his typing and went up to their bathroom. She stripped once she got to the bedroom and in one motion, tossed her clothes on the floor. She’d pick them up later but right now all she wanted was to wash away the last few months of school stress. She had six glorious weeks of vegging to do.

  She had only begun to lather her hair with shampoo when the Greer stepped in behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her wet shoulder.

  “All done?” she asked, turning around so she could rinse her hair and face him.

  He grinned wide and cupped her breasts while her hands were busy. “I am. Can you read it before I hand it in?”

  “Of course.” They switched places once she was all rinsed. Greer had more money than was necessary for one person. If he retired today, he would be set for life. That being said, one of the things she loved most about him was the fact that he lived and shopped like he didn’t have money.

  Case in point--he used Old Spice body wash and shampoo.

  “Why should I spend $75 on something that cleans my body?” he had asked her the first time she noticed. “And I only bought this because it was on sale.”

  He was that way with most things including clothes, shoes and food. He splurged on his home, his instruments and anything pertaining to Aveline. His gifts were usually practical since he knew she would protest otherwise. A few weeks ago, after he found her in the bedroom replacing the duct tape on her laptop, he bought her a new one. Before that it had been a bookshelf in the office, complete with all her favorite authors. Sure, she had those same books at home, they were ratty paperbacks to his pristine hardbacks but the words were the same. Now she had them here too.

  “So I was thinking…”

  Oh boy.

  The last time he was “thinking” they ended up spontaneously flying to West Virginia for the weekend because he had and urge to go rafting and a craving for lasagna at this little mom and pop Italian place. And the time before that, they drug the mattress outside so they could sleep under the stars.

  She adored his off the wall ideas.

  Greer tilted his head back and let his hair catch in the stream of water. “I have a deal for you,” he said wiping water from his eyes.

  Aveline reached past him for her conditioner. “Aren’t we still in the middle of the first deal?”

  He smirked. “Actually, as of ten minutes ago, when you handed in your last final that deal ended. The semester is over. You can go home at any point.”

  Well, she hadn’t considered that. Aveline found herself a little disheartened at the thought of going home. “Ok. So what is your new deal?”

  He grabbed her hips and turned them again so she was in the warm spray of the water. “You move in here permanently.”

  Aveline wasn’t sure what she expected him to say but that wasn’t it. “But what about my house?” The one she was paying a mortgage on but not living in.

  Greer picked up the bar of soap and lathered it in his hands. When he reached for her, there was a glint of pure pleasure in his eye. “See that’s where my part of the deal comes in... I’ve already taken care of your house.”

  As nice as his skilled hands were at cleaning her, this was too serious of a conversation. Aveline pushed his hands away. He pouted like she had taken away his favorite toy. “What does that mean?”

  “Rob has agreed to buy it from you.”

  “What?” Rob was in on this too?

  “I talked to him and-”

  “You talked to him? The man renting a room in my house? Talked to him about buying my house without speaking to me about it first?” Aveline turned off the water. She grabbed her towel from the hook it hung on right outside the shower.

  “I’m talking to you know,” he said a bit confused.

  She stepped out of the shower and away from Greer. “Why wouldn’t you talk to me first about this? It's my property. Hell, it's my life.”

  Greer grabbed his own towel and wrapped it around his waist. “You really want to go back to a long distance relationship after living with me for twelve weeks?”

  “Of course I don’t,” she stated letting her anger tinge the words. “But you don’t sell my house behind my back even if it is to Rob.”

  Greer grinned like he had a secret only he was privy to. “So you do want to stay here.”

  “Well, duh! I was going to talk to you about it on tour.”

  He rolled his eyes at her continued anger and pulled her into an embrace. He kissed her neck and then framed her face with his hands, making her look at him. “Ava, you can drop the attitude. I was just trying to help and happened to find a solution that works for everyone. You are going to live here, with me, forever and ever and Rob gets to officially own the home that he has been living in and maintaining for a few months. You know he started redecorating a while back, right?”

  She huffed out a breath and let her hands settle on his waist, right above the towel. “Yeah, we were video chatting and I caught a glimpse of the new paint. He never even asked if he could paint the kitchen.”

  “It's ugly.”

  She laughed. “It’s hideous.”

  “See, you don’t want to own a house with an orange kitchen! This way everybody wins.”

  “Greer, I have no problem moving in here and selling my house. All I ask is that next time you consult with me first.”


  He nodded and she saw that he really was listening. One thing that Greer did well was listen to what she said. “I can do that.”

  Aveline smiled, which made him smile.

  “So how should we celebrate our new living arrangement?” he asked, all innocence.

  “New? We’ve been doing this for-”

  Greer stopped her with a finger on her mouth. “Shhh. This is new. Before it was temporary and now it is permanent. It deserves to be celebrated.”

  Aveline raised an eyebrow. He wanted a celebration? Well, she’d give him one. With a tug she pulled off his towel and watched it fall to the floor. They both looked down at the title where the wet towel pooled at their feet. Greer looked back at her with a mischievous smile. He took a cue from her and unwrapped her from her towel. “See, I was thinking ice cream but if this is how you want to celebrate, far be it for me to stand in your way of happiness.”

  She could only roll her eyes. This man was too much at times. Too amusing. Too infuriating. Too loving. Too sexy. Too annoying. Too generous. Too crazy. Too…perfect.

  “I believe I’m calling in my three,” Aveline said as he laid a kiss on her lips.

  Their bodies, heated and primed from the shower, came together in the steamy room. “Your three?” he asked between kisses.

  She nodded and let her hands begin to roam. “You still owe me three orgasms from the Hershey concert.”

  He paused long enough to let an exuberant smile spread across his face. “I do, don’t I? Well, I better get straight to work.”

  Coming Soon

  Want more Rusted and Reckless?

  Jason will be back in Jolt (Rusted and Reckless, Book 2) releasing June of 2017.

  While you wait, why don’t you join Charlotte Casey’s newsletter so you can keep up with the guys.

  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

  About the Author

  Charlotte Casey’s roots in country go back to singing Achy Breaky Heart in her car seat at the top of her lungs. She finds nothing sweeter and nothing more desirable than a southern man with drawl. With a romantic at heart, Charlotte couldn’t imagine reading or writing anything that doesn’t revolve around romance. Her stories may be fiction but her characters will leap from the pages and pull you into their world.