AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I left Billy behind and it’s been the hardest thing ever.
Our connection was undeniable.
Now, I just hope he feels the same.
CHAPTER TWENTY
BILLY
PRESENT DAY
“Al!Get them another round on me!” I wink at the table of women sitting to the left of the bar. Teasing them is the best part of the night. I’ve slept with two of the five sitting there. They were a one hit wonder, down for a good time, but it’s been quite some time since I’ve revisited any of that. They flirt when they come in. I was probably a notch on their bedpost, an award, if you will.
All of that is over now. I’m a taken man even though I’m still learning how to be a boyfriend. I mean, I know how to fuck. I know how to make reservations. But the rest of it? I learned from the books I read. Seems to be working for now, but what happens when the words run out?
I had a hard time coming to terms with the idea that I tried to better myself and I still had nothing to show for it. When I came out of rehab, Adley was gone. It made me want to check back in. I couldn’t live in a world where Adley wasn’t mine. And I knew she was meant to be mine the first time I met her. I just didn’t know thatmeant longer than a few hours. At that time, I couldn’t see past a few hours, anyway. I wasn't the guy who planned to settle down. And to find her when I was so young, I did everything I could to avoid it.
Then life came at me at warp speed again. Tom joined the Christmas Police Department and I was ecstatic he was home. But he only moved from active duty to reserves which meant he still deployed every chance he could get. Just when I thought he was back to stay, he’d jump a plane and be gone for twelve months.
My family was being weird as fuck. They’d tiptoe and whisper, but then offer me a beer with the next breath. It was like if they handed it to me, it was okay but if I took it, I was wrong. It was enabling at its finest.
After her boyfriend's infidelity, Francesca came back home from the city. Of course, she didn’t tell us he cheated on her until after we moved her shit out, but I made sure to circle back and pay that fucker a visit.
Jackson suffered a career-ending injury and lost his contract with the Warriors. He was here with no direction either, and I was glad to have him to escape to. He became my partner in crime and if I was with him, everyone seemed to overlook how much I was drinking. But when he and my sister started this whole fake dating scheme, and finally professed their love for each other, I became the odd man out again, despite gaining him as a brother.
I was still pissed at Adam. Chelsea took off shortly after Francesca came home, without a word, and it really fucked Adam up. I knew it would happen. He couldn’t get his shit straight. I know I added to the distraction, but ultimately, I wasn’t the reason she left.
And once Chelsea was gone, so was Adley. Having Chelsea here for a bit made me hopeful Adley would show up one day. But once she left, I knew it was over. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about her, though. Not a single day that I didn’t wear that necklace she left behind. I texted Chelsea a few times. I searched across social media. But they were just gone.
And then everything changed. Almost two years to the day they left, Chelsea suddenly appeared. She came to a game at the HighSchool where Jackson was coaching. It took all I had not to grab hold and ask a thousand questions. I sensed something significant happening, so I welcomed her back and allowed events to unfold.
Chelsea didn’t come back alone, though. She came back with Adam’s son. That little boy turned our world upside down, and I just knew he was going to be the main component in what would eventually lead to her and Adam’s reconciliation.
But the biggest change was Adley. Her arrival in town with her sister had me thinking I was dreaming. I needed to grow up, and fast. Without knowing whether she’d give me a second chance or not, I had to prove it to her, myself and most of all my family. I had a nephew now and I needed to get my shit straight. I was so overcome with emotion and worried about how I was going to maintain a balance, that despite wanting to be better, I also wanted nothing more than to fall onto the one crutch that always got me through.
And not just fall, but crash. I’ve been falling but this new change had me going crazy in my mind.
You would think Adley would stay as far away as possible. But she didn’t. She crashed my world and I let it happen, welcoming whatever chaos she was going to bring me.Thischange didn’t scare me as much as it did before.
I needed her that much.
Change used to set me off. Change gave me anxiety, and I had no idea how to handle it. But now I waslookingfor a change. Waiting for it. I wanted to fight through the feeling that it was going to push me over the edge, as long as she was there to catch me. I just needed her to give me a chance. I had to redeem myself. I was slowly making that progress with my family, and now I needed it for her.
While Adam and Chelsea were trying to figure out their mess, I took that time to get in Adley’s way. And I mean that literally. Every chance I got to get in front of her, I did.
I would bump into her at the grocery store with my cart. I even went as far as spilling coffee on her table while she was sitting to write at Roasted Chestnut. Spending time with my nephew while she was around was an added bonus.
My mind had been spinning with thoughts of her all week, and I needed to get some clarity. I took a walk, which led me to the football field. I climbed to the top of the bleachers; the moon was so round and sitting so low in the sky it was almost as if I could reach out and touch it. I watched as the stars blinked in the sky, rubbing the small book charm that I wore around my neck.
And I made my wish.
In a matter of moments, those stars I had been wishing on, aligned. A noise at the bottom of the bleachers drew my attention. I watched as she climbed each step with precision until she was sitting next to me. I could feel her body heat. I could even remember bits and pieces of how she felt under me. That one and only night I had with her. My hands ached to reach out and grab her, hold her close, never let her get away again.
But tonight? She found me, and I knew this time would be different. No one knew I was there, so she had to have been looking for me. Seekingmeout. Like what I had been doing with her.
“How do you feel about smut writers?”
Dropping my head and giving a slight chuckle, I looked her way when she bumped me with her knee. “I love them.”
