Second Chance Summer (Chance #1)(48)
Author: Emma Hart

Slowly, she drags herself off the bed and pulls the sweatshirt over her head. There’s a slight slump to her shoulders, and I know she’s regretting what happened with Adam. Hadn’t she said only hours before that she didn’t want a one night stand with him?

But that’s Luce. When she’s drunk she’s impulsive and erratic. She thinks she’s invincible, and she doesn’t stop for a minute to think about the consequences of her actions. That’s the problem here.

She never stopped to consider what could happen if she slept with Adam.

And even though I shouldn’t be, as we pull away from her house, I’m hit by a pang of guilt. ‘Cause goddamn, I know her better than anyone, and I could tell she was on a mission to get rip-roaring drunk last night, but I still left with Reese. I left her there without a voice of reason.

I trusted Adam not to take advantage of her. I trusted him to look after her.

Apparently, I was wrong.

“I don’t want… I’m scared,” Luce says softly, staring out the window.

“The pill will sort it, Lu. It’s supposed to be ninety-five percent effective if you take it right away,” I spout off what we had drummed into us in high school. “You’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.”

“But didn’t Shelly Cooper get pregnant after taking the morning after pill?”

“Yes,” I answer slowly. “But she thought you had three weeks to take it, not three days.”

“How can you even get that confused? There’s a big damn difference.”

I bite my tongue to refrain from mentioning there’s a big damn difference between drunk and sober, and protected and unprotected sex.

“Well, she never was the brightest crayon in the box.” I pull into the parking lot of the drugstore and look at Luce expectantly. She gnaws on her thumbnail, eyeing the store. “Well?”

“I’m scared.”

“I’m scared for you, but you have a choice.”

“Mmph.”

“Pill or pregnancy test. That’s your choice.” I shrug. She snaps her teeth together and storms out of the car.

Maybe that was a bit harsh…

Maybe I’m being harsh to her, but I’m not gonna sit and sugarcoat it. She f**ked up and now she has to deal with it. It’s because I care – and because a part of me feels like if I do the “best friend in the movies” thing and get it for her, I’m almost excusing it. I’m almost making it okay that she wasn’t clear-headed enough to make sure they used protection.

Even if it isn’t just her fault. I mean, Adam might have used it and she’s genuinely forgotten, meaning all her freakout is for nothing… But then Adam might not have or assumed she was using it. So they’re both guilty of it. Although she won’t tell him through her own pride. Which means I can’t go and kick his ass. Which means she gets the brunt of my annoyance at them.

Because I am annoyed. I’m annoyed at her blatant f**king stupidity.

“I am never doing that again,” she groans, climbing into the car. I glance over at her. Her cheeks are as red as her hair, and I crack a small smile.

“Well, you know the solution. Use a condom next time.” My eyes fall to the long, rectangular box in the bag she carried out, and I raise my eyebrows when she meets my eyes.

“Just in case,” she mutters with a heavy sigh. “Just in case.”

~

The lake really is one of my most favorite places. Ever. And if anywhere is gonna stop me running back to New York – especially after Luce’s drama yesterday – then its here. And if anything is gonna root me to this town for another three weeks, its Reese and the thought that, though he has plans to come to New York with me, we’ve never actually discussed it. It makes me want to stay even if it’s only long enough to talk to him about it.

My feet dip in the cool water and send mini waves across the surface as I contemplate the fact it hasn’t been mentioned. Despite his one-time protest about me living with Jay, he hasn’t acknowledged any of the issues that come with moving to a big city.

Like where he’s going to live, where he’s going to work, and how he’s even gonna cope in the city. Compared to here, New York may as well be on a parallel dimension. It’s not called the city that never sleeps for no reason, and in ten minutes you’ll hear more horns beeping and sirens than you’ll hear in six months here.

Maybe that’s why Dad moved there when he left us; because it’s a world away from the life he knew. From the life that was destroyed for him by the person that was supposed to care more than anyone.

Gentle footsteps on the dock behind me pull me from my never-ending, circling thoughts, and I peer over my shoulder. Reese drops next to me, pulls his shoes off, and holds his arm out to me. I shift up and curl into his body with my head resting on his shoulder. His lips press to the top of my head, and I relax a little.

Sometimes all you need is a big cuddle.

“Mom said you were out here,” he says softly.

“She doesn’t mind, does she?”

He laughs. “Of course she doesn’t. It’s you. I’m pretty damn sure you could have been waiting on the sofa, watching TV, and she wouldn’t have minded.”

I smile. “I’m good with the lake.”

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Who said I was thinking?”

“I know you, Kia. Your treehouse is your safe place, but the lake is your freedom.”

I sigh. “Just… Everything. You know I go back in a couple of weeks, right?”

“But summer isn’t over for another month.” He sits up straight and looks at me.

“I have to get sorted for the start of the semester. And… Move into Jay’s,” I finish quietly. His jaw tightens but he says nothing. “It’s gonna take me a while to get settled. I don’t wanna be battlin’ first classes, schedules, and a new place to live.”

“Can’t you stay in a dorm? At least until I get there?”

“We don’t know when that is, Reese. Neither of us has any idea when you’re gonna be able to come to New York. It’s not the kind of place you drop in on unannounced – you have to be one hundred percent certain you want to be there.”

“Doubtin’ me, Kia?”

I stand up and shake my head, wrapping my arms around my stomach. “No. Not doubtin’ you, Reese, just the likelihood of you actually being able to move as quickly as you think you can.”