Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5)
Copyright © 2014 Maureen Mayer
***Unedited and subject to change***
Prologue
Two Years Earlier
I awoke to the sound of waves crashing and gulls squawking, and the first thought that crossed my mind was…what the fuck happened last night? My head was pounding, gradually getting worse by the second, and when I rolled over to look at the clock and saw it five in the fucking morning, there was no need to tell me I was already off to a bad start. I didn’t have to be up for work for another two hours, but I knew attempting to get any more sleep would be useless.
Fuck it.
I crawled out of bed, regretting it immediately. The echo of my feet slapping against the hardwood floors resonated through my head like a cannon, and I could feel the bile steadily rising up my throat. Christ, how much did I drink? I ran my hand sloppily over my face and tried to recall what had happened the night before. The only thing I could remember was heading to The Red Light District to grab a drink and… Shit, I guess that turned into a couple of drinks because now I now had the hangover from hell, and if those damn seagulls didn’t shut the fuck up I was going to murder every last one of them!
I had to stop doing this. Beating myself up for something I had no control over. Thoughts of Wade had been weighing heavily on my mind over last few months, which in and of itself was never a good thing because I often found myself resorting to alcohol to numb the pain since my best friend’s suicide. The only other remedy was a good, quick fuck, but I guess I was still too sober when the opportunity presented itself halfway through the night. An image flashed through my mind of Vanessa on her knees in the men’s room, tugging on my zipper and begging to take me in her mouth…and then I remembered I turned her down. A perfectly good blowjob wasted, and for what? God, what the hell was wrong with me? Had I suddenly grown a vagina overnight?
Considering I still felt like shit, even more so than before I headed out to the bar last night, I knew my problems still went unresolved. Let’s see: Wade’s still gone, mom’s still gone, I’m still alone…yup, nothing’s changed. I had to clear my head of these dismal thoughts, so I grabbed my fishing gear and made my way down to the beach laid out behind my house; it was my only other safe haven…my personal refuge.
An hour passed before any signs of life appeared out there on the beach. The fish weren’t biting, the bastard gulls had flown out and I was left with nothing more than a few ripples of waves lapping around my ankles. I rolled my pants up, exposing my calves to the brisk morning air and sunk my feet into the loose, wet sand. I loved it here. This was one of the few places I could find peace when it seemed like everything else was caving in around me. My father refused to step foot anywhere near the house since my mother died, but I found it was the one place I could still connect with her. It had been nearly sixteen years since she’d passed, and yet I could still feel her presence surrounding me as though she had never left.
A few moments later, the gentle pounding of footsteps as they connected with the sand brought my attention to the most breathtaking sight my eyes have ever taken in. Fuck me, where did she come from and why am I just discovering her existence now? She didn’t notice that my gaze had remained glued to her as she quickly approached me. Her eyes were closed, and a hint of a smile turned up the corners of her mouth, lighting up her beautiful face. She had this peaceful tranquility emanating from her, and I wished that I could just share in one ounce of it, even just for a moment. The sun was just barely coming up and the way it highlighted all of her gorgeous curves, it made her appear as though she were an angel flying straight towards me. Oh shit, she really was about to fly straight into me!
I felt the full impact of her colliding against me, but it wasn’t enough to knock me down. Her eyes slowly rose up, and the second they connected with mine, it felt as though all of the air had been sucked straight out of my lungs.
My hands landed on the warm, soft skin at the swell of her hips where her shirt had ridden up. I didn’t know if I was afraid to move or if I just wasn’t ready to let her go, but we both remained frozen in place until she stumbled a bit, causing my hands to slide higher up along her ribs. When she finally caught her balance, my hands were just at the edge of her sports bra, and I could feel the weight of her breasts as they grazed against my thumbs. This was dangerous territory. I was quickly getting hard, the scorching heat of her skin driving me absolutely insane, and I knew Shayne Jr. was about to make an unwelcomed appearance. I had to think of something else and fast! Cold showers, kittens, little baby Jesus, grandma naked…yup that did the trick!
When I was sure she was steady enough to stand on her own, I removed my hands and brushed away the few strands of hair that had fallen in front of my eyes. Her gorgeous brown eyes widened as she looked into mine, and she staggered back a bit before regaining her composure.
“Whoa, are you okay there?” I looked down as she stared up at my lips. God, she was so fucking beautiful. I just wanted to pick her up and carry off into my house so I could fuck her senseless.
“I-I’m good,” she said, brushing off some of the sand that coated her skin-tight yoga pants. I loved yoga pants. Fucking loved them. They left nothing to the imagination and made me want to tear them clean away from that sweet ass of hers.
I could tell she seemed a little embarrassed, but she had no reason to be. She just made my goddamned morning! “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you standing there. I swear I only closed my eyes for a second.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Was she serious? “It was a little more than a second there, sweetheart. You had your eyes closed for a good minute before you plowed into me. Must’ve really been in the zone, huh?”
She turned away, but there was no hiding that ambrosial blush that spread across her cheeks. “Yeah, I guess I was. Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Nope, not a scratch, babe. Don’t worry. I’m like a brick house…can’t blow me down.” I shot her a smug grin and threw in a wink for good measure. Okay, so that might have been a bit cocky on my part, but the bashful smile that reddened her cheeks even more made it well worth it.
Her eyes roamed over me, leisurely taking me in as I towered over her tiny frame. But something about the way her eyes drank me in was different. Like she wasn’t just seeing me as a hard body to have her dirty way with, but rather she saw straight through to the core of me. It wasn’t until she finally blinked a few times, that she peeled her eyes away from me and spoke.
“Well I-I’ll let you get back to fishing. Sorry again.”
I reached my arm out and tried to stop her, but before I had the chance to get any words out, she spun on her heel and sprinted back down the beach in the opposite direction. I couldn’t do anything other than watch as this beautiful stranger quickly bolted away from me. Fuck, I didn’t even know her name, but I prayed that I would find her again. I had to find her.
Her hair whipped around as she turned her head for just a mere second, and I bore my eyes into her, silently begging her to come back. Her gaze slipped away from me, and she continued to run alongside the waves bubbling up the sand until her slender figure faded into the distance and out of my life. Some way, somehow, I knew I’d be seeing her again, and I’d make damn sure of that.
I might’ve given up on a lot of things in my life, but of one thing I was sure…
I wasn’t ready to give up on her.
