“Your point?”
“My point is, what happens when, let’s say, you’re on a long road trip, you make a wrong turn?”
“You turn around and find your way.” I really hoped he got to his point soon.
“Okay…” He sounded out slowly. I scowled to look at him, but my head felt like it was swimming in jello.
“Look, Confucius, don’t get all Nietzche on me. Explain it to me slow.”
“Try again, man. Ask her for a second chance.”
“A second chance,” I scoffed.
“Yeah.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” I laughed humorlessly.
“I’m serious. A do-over.” I sat back on the lounger, the sun shining on my face. I closed my eyes.
A do-over?
A do-over…
For some reason, that didn’t sound half bad.
But how the hell would I talk Tash into something like that?
Chapter Two
Tasha
“YOU’RE DOING WHAT?” Ada asked, setting her own glass of wine on my coffee table. Her aquamarine eyes fixed on me. I took a big drink of my red wine wishing it were a blended strawberry margarita.
Soon enough, I would have blended drinks adorned with pretty fruit and umbrellas while I wiggled my toes in warm white sand.
“I’m going to Tulum,” I shared, tossing more clothes into my luggage.
“Tulum?”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “Tulum. It’s in Mexico.”
“Oh, I know where Tulum is, missy.” I giggled and shook my head as my best friend stared at me like I was a crazy person.
I didn’t blame her.
I hadn’t been in the best shape last week when she had dropped me off from making my divorce official, but the very next day, I had made a decision and with it a plan. A plan that I had pulled the trigger on two nights before.
“Babe, do you really think this is the best time for you to do this?”
“Why not?” I shrugged. I didn’t want her to discourage me. That’s why I had bought my ticket before telling anyone. “This is the best time, Ada, if you really think about it. I’m thirty-five.”
“What about your job and money?” she asked
“We sold the house,” I reminded her, ignoring the pang in the middle of my chest. I loved the house I had thought we had made a home, but when everything was said and done, I didn’t have the money to buy his half, and honestly, it held too many memories and broken dreams.
“So, you have a good nest egg,” she pointed out. “You can buy—“ I shook my head.
“This is LA, Ada. We both know what I got wouldn’t make a dent on something here bigger than a shoe box, and work….” I sighed and cleared my throat. “I like my day-to-day, but being where I work and what’s going on now…” I shrugged. I worked with my sister-in-law at her bakery. She adored me. All of Vince’s family did. But it was official, and it being official meant I had to start taking steps back from them because the day would come when Vince would have a new woman in his life. With her and his new life would one day come a family, and even though I considered myself strong, I knew I wouldn’t be able to endure seeing that.
“Work is just a job. If I do this, and it turns out how I want it to turn out, this could be my chance to finally do something I love. Something of my own, you know?”
“Do this,” she repeated with worry in her eyes.
“Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry,” she said, rolling her eyes then gulping down her wine. “How am I not supposed to worry? My best friend is moving to Mexico and talking about opening a hotel! You could do that here, you know?”
“Ada,” I sighed. Ada was the only person in my corner. My parents were gone, never a huge part of my life to begin with, and my brother lived across the country. I’d texted him about my divorce, and he had responded with, That sucks.
That sucks.
No, ‘How you doing? Need anything?’ Not even an ‘Everything will be okay.’
Just That sucks.
If that wasn’t telling about our relationship, I didn’t know what was.
“I can hardly afford this shoebox studio here. In Tulum I could, I don’t know, I could do more.”
“I know you could,” she blurted, making my eyes widen with surprise. I hadn’t expected her to bend, at least not today. I figured it would take Ada time. “But at the end of the day, it’s my job to worry about you, Tasha. You’re my best friend, and you’re talking about moving to—”
“It’s not talk,” I cut her off, setting down my simple black one-piece bathing suit in my bag. “I bought my ticket.”
“No, you didn’t!” she gasped, but I walked toward her and sat next to her. Taking her hand in mine, I took a deep breath and looked at her.
“A one-way ticket.”
“What?” Her voice softened, and I hoped she would take the rest of the news well.
“I also quit.” It’d been hard. Amaris was amazing. Through the years, she had been like an older sister to me, but she’d understood where I was coming from and had been expecting it.
“You quit?” she whispered, and I nodded.
“We both know I wasn’t going to stay there.” I shrugged, trying to ignore the knot in the middle of my throat. Amaris was a widow and single mom of Vince and my twin godsons. Quitting hurt almost as much as losing Vince.
“You’re serious about this,” she said, and I smiled knowing it didn’t reach my eyes.
“I need this,” I admitted. Raw emotion dripped with each syllable.
“I can go with you!” she offered. It was so sweet and genuine it lightened the mood, and I laughed.
“You have a career! You’re a partner at your firm! You can’t just quit!”
“Says who?” she argued, and we both fell into a fit of giggles. She rested her head on my shoulder, squeezing my hand in hers. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Come on. It’s a beach city, not a convent. They have WiFi!”
“I know, but it’s not the same.”
“I get that. But hey, I might go and hate it and decide not to go through with it and have to crash on your couch while I get back on my feet.”
“Or you might love it and it’ll be a dream come true,” she encouraged, which made me smile. Ada and I had an infinite love for one another and even when it cost us, we wanted what was best for the other.
“Either way, it will be an adventure.”
“Yeah. A good one,” she said, looking up at me.
“The best.” I winked at her, and she nodded.
“Are you going to tell him?” she asked, and I stilled. Vince. Would I tell him? What would be the point? I wondered, and my body relaxed.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t care.” I shrugged and looked around my bedroom. “Now, are you going to help me pack and take the extras to storage, or what?” She watched me for a moment until she nodded and rolled her eyes. She was going to give me that. I didn’t expect it to be the last time she asked about Vince, but I would take the moment.
“That’s what I get for buying an SUV instead of a sports car!” she joked, and I grinned. “Let’s get this done. I’ll treat you to dinner. We can celebrate your whole Under-the-Tulum-Sun expedition.”
“I’ll buy you dessert!” I counteroffered, and thankfully, she took me up on it.
Vince
My cell phone rang, and I frowned, glancing up at the huge wall clock Tasha had insisted we buy that I’d hung up at the beach house when I’d moved in. It was past midnight. Moving through the house, I could hear Tasha’s voice in my head telling me I should have an extra charger in the bedroom so I wouldn’t have to get up.
I reached my phone on the breakfast counter of the small kitchen and scowled at who was calling.
Ada.
“Hello?” I said after accepting the call.
“Don’t hello me. This’s is all your fault.”
“Ada, are you… are you drunk?” The idea was hilarious. Litt
le Miss Prim and Proper drunk.
“We went shot for shot. Training for her for her adventure.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Guessing Amaris didn’t tell you,” she scoffed. I felt lines form over my brow.
“Tell me… wait, what would my sister need to tell me?” Amaris had called, but I hadn’t answered it. I’d let it go to voicemail. I had assumed it was an older sister checking on her newly-divorced dumb ass little brother, and I wasn’t ready to talk to her or anyone.
“I don’t know why I’m calling you. I honestly don’t like you after everything you’ve put her through.”
“That I’ve put Amaris through?” I asked, completely confused about what the hell Ada was talking about and what the point of this late-night phone call was.
“Your sister? No! Everything you put Tasha through.”
“Tasha?”
“I thought you loved her,” she muttered, and my jaw clenched. She had no idea how much I loved her. “I thought if love could work through anything, it was the love you two shared, and for you to do this to her—“
“Ada—“
“Do you still love her? Because… because part of me thinks you do. I’m not sure why you kicked off all this divorce crap—“
“I love her. I never stopped.”
“Why would you do that to her? Why would you ask for a divorce and put her through each and every step if you still loved her?”
“It was… it was stupid, and it got out of hand and—“
“Men are morons,” she mumbled.
“Is there a reason you called?” My patience was quickly running out.
“She’s leaving, Vince.” Her tone softened, and I stilled. What was left of my heart clenched in my chest, and I used my free hand to hold on to the wall as my world shifted under my feet. “Tasha said she’s going after her dream, whatever that means. She broke her lease, bought a one-way ticket, and we packed everything up. She quit working for your sister. She leaves Monday morning.
“She’s going,” I said, knowing exactly where. I knew her. I knew exactly where she was going. The dream we’d both pushed aside as something we’d do one day. Liar. You pushed her dream aside. Had I? Heavy guilt struck my gut.
In the middle of the argument we’d had was when I had asked for a divorce. The list of things I blamed on her was long. But what about her list for letting me go? Had this been one of them? I’d been so busy working, trying to give her everything, had I stopped her from fulfilling a dream? I didn’t have to ask. I knew I had.
“You said that like a statement, not a question,” Ada said. “Do you get what I’m telling you?” She sighed. “If she leaves, we both know she isn’t coming back. Are you really willing to lose her?”
Fuck no. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but Ada didn’t need to know that. Bryce hadn’t been wrong. I needed a do-over with Tasha, but one she wouldn’t see coming.
I needed to man up and win my girl back.
The first time around, it had been easy. I hadn’t had to chase her before. But I was ready to chase and follow her to the ends of the earth. Thankfully, my girl wasn’t going that far. Just one country over.
This time, I wouldn’t fuck shit up.
This do-over was for keeps.
Chapter Three
Tasha
I TOOK A deep breath and exhaled slowly. I’d just taken my seat on the airplane. I was doing this. I was really doing this. I was excited and happy, but I couldn’t shake off the sadness. I might have been doing this, but it was alone. It had always been something Vince and I were going to do. Together.
“Oh! Here is your seat. Need anything else?” I heard the flight attendant cheerfully say and looked up and away from the magazine I’d just been glancing at. Tall and built, the guy had me checking him out. I never checked anyone out. Doing so felt weird. Wrong almost. I shook my head and looked away, quickly popping my earbuds in, but before I could find a playlist, he spoke.
“No. I’m okay. Thank you.” That voice. No way. It couldn’t be. He turned, and an all-too-familiar stare met mine. His serious handsome face melted away, giving me a cocky smirk. A smirk that said gotcha!
“Tasha.” He nodded, moving into my row, taking the seat right next to mine. Trapping me between him and the window.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed quietly, not wanting to stir any attention in our direction.
“Going on a trip. You?” He leaned in closer to me. His arm flush against mine, his scent… god, his scent enveloped me, and I quickly realized how much I missed his smell.
“I should probably try and find a different seat.” I looked away from him, but there was no ignoring the reaction I had to him and his body near mine.
“The flight’s sold out,” he shared, and I slumped in my chair, scooting as close as I could to the window. “Surprised to see me?”
“Let me guess, Amaris told you.”
“Nope,” he said with the ‘p’ popping too loudly. “Ada, actually.”
“Traitor.”
“Were you going to tell me?”
“Why would I, Vince? Last time I checked, we’re divorced.”
“Are we though?” he asked. I stilled and turned to look at him.
“What are you talking about?” I quipped. “We signed the paperwork.”
“We did, but did it get filed?”
“You’re not funny.”
“Give me a chance.”
“Are you insane?” I asked with a glare.
“Tash—“
“Did you really think I’d be that stupid? That easy?” I asked. My mind wasn’t the one in control—it all came from the heart. “Is this some kind of grand gesture?”
“Bab—“ I leaned in close, so close we were sharing the same air.
“Did you think I’d say okay, forget the fact you put me through hell these last couple of months and just keep going on like nothing happened? Go back to our lives and ignore the fact you pushed me away, you…” My voice cracked, my nose stung, and my throat felt too thick, like it was closing. I shook my head, putting space between us. “Go to hell, Vince.”
“I’m there, Tash. Without you in my life, I’m in hell.”
“As shitty as this is going to sound,” I said, looking straight into the eyes I thought, I’d prayed I would look into till the day I died, “it’s not my problem,” I muttered under my breath and crossed my arms.
I put all my attention out the window. Every moment of every minute during the flight, I ignored him. Pretending he wasn’t sitting next to me, that the scent of his skin and soap didn’t call me like a lighthouse on a dark night.
We’d arrive in Tulum, and I’d go on my way, and he would… I don’t know. He would probably catch the first flight back because if I had learned something through all this, it was that he sure as hell wasn’t going to fight for me.
_______________
“Tasha?” A gentle nudge, but I wasn’t ready to wake up. Not when I was cozy and comfortable. “Tash…” a deep voice roused me carefully from the deep, sound sleep I was in.
“Mmm. Not yet,” I whispered to myself. I wasn’t ready to lose the feeling of the dream.
In my dreams, I could pretend my life wasn’t a mess. In my dreams, I could pretend Vince was next to me, his shoulder strong and sturdy as I slept. Shoulder. Vince. My body stiffened when it all came back to me. The divorce, my plans, the plane. Vince sitting next to me trying to talk me into giving him a chance and going back.
“I know you’re awake,” his deep voice vibrated, and I felt his lips at the top of my head. I forced my eyes to open only to be met with the back of the headrest of the seat in front of me. Biting my lower lip, I looked up at the tower of heat his body emanated and met his warm caramel gaze. “Morning, sleepy head,” he said calmly, his hand cupping my cheek.
“Sorry,” my voice rasped before I went to wipe my mouth, hoping I didn’t drool.
“It’s fine.” He smi
led, giving me a glimpse of his sexy dimple. “You slept pretty heavily,” he pointed out, and that fully woke me up. What was I doing?
“Yeah, well, sorry about that.” I straightened up sitting in my seat, taking notice of everyone moving through the aisle to exit the plane. I couldn’t believe I’d slept through that.
“Nothing to be sorry about. Drool drys.” My head popped up, and I could see his dark eyes twinkle with humor. I wiped my mouth again and saw the way his lips started to twitch like he was trying to stop himself from laughing at me.
He was teasing.
Teasing me.
There was a time he used to do that all the time and I would laugh with him. How long ago had that been? When had I stopped laughing at his dorky teasing?
“I was just joking around, Tash.” The humor disappeared, and I hated that. How long ago had we started being those people?
“What?” I asked, shaking my head trying to sweep away all the thoughts. “Well, we’re here. Thanks for your shoulder to sleep on.”
“Of course.” He nodded and stood, moving back silently, letting me go through. We both reached for the overhead compartment at the same time, and when his eyes met mine, my arms went down. He grabbed our bags, and we walked off the plane together.
“Well, thank you,” I said, turning after I took my carry-on from him, and his head tilted like he didn’t know what to make of me. “See ya.” I waved and walked away with my head held high, trying everything I could not to turn around and catch one last look.
I moved around the crowds of people as I made my way toward baggage claim. I stood there with my arms crossed trying not to let my emotions get the better of me. It felt like I was losing him again. All over. Saying goodbye sucked.
“I think that one’s yours,” a deep voice spoke behind me.
“It is, thanks.” I started to move toward the bright blue luggage and stopped. The voice was too familiar. I quickly turned to look at the man behind me. “What… what are you doing?”
“Claiming luggage at the baggage claim.”
“Oh.” I nodded, turning to go after my bag, but he put a hand on my shoulder. “What?”
“I got it,” he said, heading over and reaching for my bag and then another that was coincidently next to mine. Both our bags in his hands, I tried not to look down toward the way the muscles on his arms and shoulders seemed to bunch up. Vince’s body was a work of art. It was the culmination of working with his hands and time at the gym.
The Do-Over Page 2
