CHAPTER FOUR – CHANCE
I felt my irritation at Ethan welling up in my body. The way he grated against my nerves was insane, and there were moments where I just wanted to smash his face in. He always acted like the top dog without ever putting any kind of action behind it, and it pissed me off. He was always butting heads with someone, and he was always trying to make sure his voice was heard above everyone else’s.
It was annoying as fuck.
But there was now a beautiful woman at my side; a grown woman we’d all come to know and love dearly. She’d grown even more lovely in the year she’d been gone, and now that I was out of the military, I finally felt like I had my shot. The military lifestyle wasn’t good enough for someone like Kyra. I bounced around a lot and wasn’t home much. I was deployed more times than I wanted to count and came back with new scars and tattoos every single time. I was fucked in the head more than I ever wanted to show her, but there was something about the light in her eyes that made me want to bed down next to her and soak up her warmth.
Her goodness.
Her exotic innocence.
I came back from the military and saw how she had grown into a wonderful, delectable treat. She had been a senior in high school, and I had made the decision to reenlist one last time, but seeing her with her beautiful, honey-blonde hair and the curves she filled out perfectly made me regret my decision. I spent the four years she was in college regretting ever having signed up, especially the moment she announced she was engaged.
But that fucker missed his chance, and I had plans to show Kyra exactly how he should’ve treated her.
I hated myself for having thoughts about her while she was so young. I punished myself in the military by doubling up on physical training just to get her barely-legal body out of my mind. I ran until I couldn’t run and lifted weights until my bones gave out. I stacked on muscle after muscle and trained until I couldn’t train anymore, and all the while, her beautiful curves and her innocent brown eyes haunted me at night.
But the moment she graduated high school and I visited home, I realized what true torture felt like.
All that summer, I had to ignore how fucking sexy she looked. I had to ignore the fact that she sunbathed in bikinis in her backyard. I had to ignore the crop tops she wore and the low-waisted jeans she bent over in. Every day we went to the swimming hole was a new and innovative torture I knew the military could never compete with.
Kyra had been too good for me then, and she sure as hell was too good for me now.
“You’re too good for him, you know,” I said.
“Why is everyone so intent on me talking about this?” she asked.
“Because we give a shit about you, unlike him.”
I saw her bow her head and sigh, and I quickly wrapped my arms around her and folded her into my body.
“Talk to me, Tinkerbell,” I said. “Tell me what happened.”
That was when I felt her snake her arms around my waist, and for a moment, I allowed myself to get lost in the touch of the woman who tortured me and haunted me for years.
“I just don’t wanna talk about it,” she said into my chest.
“Want me to still kick his ass?” I asked. “Because I’ll still kick his ass, even without a reason.”
She giggled into my chest, and I could’ve sworn I’d died on the battlefield and gone to heaven. Not that a man like me, who’d done the things I’d done, would ever get to those pearly gates, but I sure as hell was holding the closest thing to it in my arms.
“Thanks for always being there to fight my battles, Chance, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes,” I said, chuckling. “But you’re not just a big girl. You’re a big, beautiful girl.”
I looked down into her face and saw her blush as her eyes flickered up to me from my chest. She pulled away from me and shook her head, swatting me on the arm as her smile grew into that gorgeous little giggle. Her blush ricocheted down her neck and into her shirt, and I began imagining what her body would look like covered in that same reddish hue.
Maybe with a bit of sweat to make it glisten.
“You dirty old man,” she said.
“No matter my age, I’m a Lost Boy for life. You, however, are our tiny, magical creature.”
“I’m not so tiny anymore,” she said, grinning. “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
All I could do was smile at her cheekiness and nod in agreement because if I didn’t keep my mouth shut, I’d want to ask her to show me those tricks.
Her brown eyes locked onto my blue ones, and suddenly, the intensity in the room shifted. Kyra stepped back toward me, her body heat radiating outward as I craned my neck to keep her in my view. I could see her lips parting slightly, like she was about to tell me something but didn’t know how to start.
For a split second, I thought she was going to talk to me about her ex. Then, her face was inching closer to mine.
I felt our bodies magnetizing toward each other, pulling one another in as our lips got closer and closer. I could feel her breath against my skin, and I watched while her eyes fluttered closed. The blood in my veins was pulsing in my ears, and I could hear my heart screaming out into my mind.
This was happening.
I was about to feel this perfect woman’s lips against mine.
But just before our lips connected, a voice boomed out into the hallway. Kyra sprang away from me, like a toy wound too tightly, and shot in the other direction. I clenched my jaw and tried to bury my anger as Mark came barging through the damn door, and the second her father’s eyes landed onto me, I felt my entire body tense up.
“I swear, kids can’t do shit right,” he said.
His eyes landed on the beer bottles still on the kitchen counter, and that was when I realized what was going on.
Everyone expected us to bring them their second round.
And like a cork that had been popped, the rest of my brothers spilled in after her dad. They filled the kitchen of the Lancaster home, and I opened the fridge to hand everyone else a beer. We all stared at Owen as he popped the top off with his hand, chuckling and shaking our heads as Kyra’s giggle wafted above the rest of us.
There was no denying that Owen was a monster of a man, no matter how quiet he was in real life.
“I propose a toast,” Rowan said.
“Make it quick,” Ethan said. “I got a beer to chug.”
“To the gang being back together,” Rowan said. “May it make memories for us all.”
“Sappy as hell, just like you,” I said.
“I thought it was nice,” Kyra said.
“Thank you, Tinkerbell,” Rowan said.
“What did you just call my daughter?” Mark asked.
The room fell silent, and I couldn’t help but allow a smirk to crawl across my face.
“Dad, they’ve been calling me that for years. You and Mom called them the gaggle of gossips, but everyone else called them the Lost Boys.”
“Because they’re airheads?” Mark asked.
“No, because they were wild, untamable, and always broke shit,” Kyra said, grinning.
The laughter rose from all of us again before we all took sips from our newly-refreshed drinks. But then my eyes grazed along the oven clock, which was showing a time way later than I thought it was.
“Uh, guys?” I said. “Hate to break up the party, but that stuff down at the Grange tonight starts in twenty minutes. And we’re forty minutes away.”
“What’s going on at the Grange?” Kyra said.
We all looked at Mark, who was sighing and groaning to himself.
“Shit, I forgot,” Mark said. “There’s some party or something happening down there tonight.”
“Oh, well, you guys have fun,” Kyra said.
“Oh, no,” Rowan said. “You’re coming with us. Memories, remember?”
“Yeah, you really should come,” Ethan said. “It’ll be on us.”
“You can ride with me,” I said. “It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t know,” Kyra said. “I just got in, and I don’t really wanna change.”
“Why would you change?” I asked. “You look just fine. You’ll need a coat, though. Snow’s cold tonight.”
“Ha, ha, ha,” Kyra said, grinning. “So funny.”
“He tries,” Owen said.
“Fine, fine,” Kyra said. “I’ll go. Under one condition.”
“Name it,” Owen said.
“No one leaves me by myself. I used to hate it when you guys ditched me like that.”
“When did we ever ditch you?” Ethan asked.
“Multiple times at the waterhole, right in the middle of football games, after school when I’d be waiting for you guys to come outside.”
“Was there food involved in those moments?” Ethan asked. “Because if food’s involved, then heaven help you.”
“Yeah, food’s a pretty big thing in our house,” Rowan said.
“Whatever,” Kyra said. “As long as I’m not ditched, I’m game.”
“Yeah, no ditching my daughter, or her complaining will be the least of your worries,” Mark said.
“I don’t even know how I’m supposed to react to that,” Kyra said.
“Wonderful,” I said. “Then it’s settled. You come. We don’t ditch you. It’s all on Owen.”
“Hey, that wasn’t the agreement,” Owen said.
“That’s what you get for being the quiet one, Mr. I.T. Consultant,” I said.
“You run your own security consulting company, and Ethan over there makes more money turning cycles than I’ve ever seen,” Owen said.
“I’ll pay for myself, thank you very much,” Kyra said. “I’m more than capable of doing it. I have a job, you know?”
“Well, throw on a coat, or you’ll be late,” Mark said.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to get rid of me, Dad,” she said.
“I just want you to remember what it’s like to smile, sweetheart.”
The room fell silent while Mark and Kyra had their moment together.
She nodded her head and quietly left the room, silently acknowledging me with a small smile before she dipped out of the room. I watched her leave, trying to keep my eyes off the swaying of her lovely hips while she walked down the hallway. I already missed my time alone with her, especially with where it had all been heading. Never in my life did I ever think Kyra would initiate something like that with me.
But now that I knew where her head was at, it would be the only time she’d ever have to take the reins herself.