Page 1 of Betting on Blaze


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Blaze

Blaze Hallman had very few regrets, but what happened between him and his ex, Blair Castella was one of them. He didn’t know how he was going to face her down, but his time for figuring that out was up since she was standing in front of him, waiting for her turn to wish the happy couple well. He had to go and reply “yes” on the reception card for his old college buddy’s wedding invitation, and now, he was paying for it.

What he really wanted to do was bow out of line and go find the bar, have a few beers and pick up a bridesmaid or two to take home. He could do it too. Blair had acted as though she hadn’t seen him, so why not sneak out now? Because he was a masochist who knew the pain that she would cause him, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t a pussy who’d skip out of his friend’s wedding to avoid a little bit of pain.

He met Blair at his local MC—the Smokey Bandits. When he moved to Gatlinburg, he was looking for someplace to hang out and when he found the bar, he knew that he'd found his place. The guys were all so welcoming there, and when he patched in, he truly felt like they were his brothers. He’d go into the bar to hang out just about every night and when he saw the sexiest blond, he’d ever seen in his life walk into that place, he damn near swallowed his tongue. From the moment he asked Blair to dance until the night she broke his heart, they were inseparable.

For six months, she practically lived at his place, and having her around twenty-four, seven felt right. After he realized that, he decided to ask Blair to move in with him on a more permanent basis, and that’s when she told him that she didn’t see the two of them being together long-term. He asked her what the hell they were doing then, and she basically told him that she was just killing time with him. Yeah—that hurt like a bitch, but he moved on. At least, he thought that he had until he saw her again at this damn wedding.

They were just about up to the happy couple when the person behind him bumped into his back, propelling him right into Blair. “Oh, excuse me,” Blair said, turning around and when she realized it was him, her eyes did that weird, squinty thing that they usually did when she was around him. “You,” she breathed.

“Hey, Blair,” he said, trying for casual, but feeling anything but. “How’s it going?”

“You bumped into me,” she spat. He wanted to assure her that he hadn’t done it on purpose, but the way she was staring him down, she wasn’t about to listen to reason.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said.

“It was my fault,” the older man behind him said. “I bumped into this young man and well, it seemed to have a domino effect. My apologies,” he said to them both.

“No worries,” Blaze said.

“Yes,” Blair agreed, “no harm, no foul.” The gentleman nodded and Blair turned around as if anxiously waiting for her turn to greet the happy couple. Blaze thought about bolting once again until Jordon spotted him. His newly married friend looked so happy, that he couldn’t take off now.

“Wow,” Jordon said. “You and Blair are back together. That’s great guys,” Jordon said, hugging them both. His new wife, Brenda did the same, gushing on about how good it was to see them both together again.

“We’re not together,” Blair insisted. Blaze introduced Brenda to Blair when they were practically living together. The four of them did all of the couple’s things that they could come up with, and the women became close friends. Of course, Blair would be invited to their wedding, and it was just his dumb luck that they ended up standing next to each other in the receiving line.

“No, we’re not together,” he agreed. “We just got stuck standing next to each other in line. But it’s nice that you invited both of us to your wedding,” he said, hoping that he didn’t sound too sarcastic. “I mean, I’m happy to be here, and we’re all adults, right?”

“Some of us, at least,” Blair mumbled under her breath. He had heard her though and wasn’t about to give her the response she was hoping for. Instead, he chuckled as if she wasn’t talking about him, hoping to keep the conversation lite.

“Well, on that note, I’m going to head over to the bar and grab a beer. I’m so happy for both of you guys,” he said, giving them one more quick hug. Blaze planned on staying for another hour—tops, and then, he’d take off. He would head over to the Smokey Bandits and hang out with his brothers. They wouldn’t look at him with judgey eyes or make fun of him for trying to keep the peace. He’d leave all those things up to the woman boring holes in his back with the death daggers she was shooting him from across the room. He didn’t even bother to look back at Blair as he breezed by her, knowing that her eyes were still on him. He could feel them on his back, and yep—she was still pissed about the whole encounter.

Blair

Blair Castella wasn’t one to mince words, but when it came to Blaze, she had nothing more to say. That man infuriated her, and she wasn’t sure why. She had spent six months with him before she realized that she felt trapped. It only took her three more months, after she moved out of his place, to realize that she had given up the best thing to ever happen to her. Of course, her therapist came up with that realization and Blair hated to admit it, but she was right. She had given up on Blaze when he pushed her for more because she was afraid of turning out like her mother.

Her mom had been trapped in a loveless marriage, and she stayed with her husband for the kid’s sake. That’s what she used to tell Blair and her older brother when they’d ask her why she put up with their father’s bullshit. She tried to tell her mom that she was fine with being from a broken family. Hell, she’d probably be happier if her parents split—they all would be, except for her miserable father. He would have been unhappy no matter what happened, so why did her mom seem to care so much?

Her mother got married right out of high school because it was what women did back then. She could have gone to college or followed her dream to go to beauty school, but that wasn’t what her parents wanted for her. So, her mother did as was expected of her and married the first man who asked her. Blair wasn’t sure if her mother ever loved her father. She never heard either of them say those words to each other, and there was no way that she was going to fall into the same trap as her mother. That’s why, when Blaze asked her to move in with him, she freaked out and said awful things to him. Blair told him that she didn’t see herself long-term with him, and that was the furthest from the truth. She wanted everything that he was asking her for, but she was too afraid to tell him yes.

And now, she was facing down the man she had been purposely avoiding for three months, at their friend’s wedding. She knew that there would be a good chance that she’d have to see him, but she never planned on having a conversation with Blaze. She was going to avoid that happening, but sometimes, best-laid plans didn’t work out.

It would have helped if he didn’t look so good. The wedding was the first time she saw him since walking out on him. She had even stopped going to the Smokey Bandits bar, not wanting to crowd his space. That was his place, with his brothers, and there was no way that she’d go back there. Seeing him now though only made her realize what she was missing out on.

“He looks good, doesn’t he?” Brenda asked. She had snuck up on Blair when she was pretending not to look at Blaze.

“Who looks good?” Blair asked. Brenda’s giggle told her that she knew exactly who they were discussing.

“You can’t pretend with me, Blair,” she said. “You know, when we invited you both to the wedding, you were together. I’m sorry that this is so awkward for you.”

“Brenda,” Blair said. “It’s your wedding day, and the last thing you should be worrying about is me. Besides, it’s not awkward at all,” she lied. “In fact, it was good to see Blaze today.”

“Well, I’m glad that you feel that way because I’ve convinced him to ask you to dance, and I’ll consider it an insult if you don’t tell him yes,” Brenda insisted. Blair knew that her friend meant well, but the last thing she wanted to do was dance with her ex.

“Um, I got you a really good wedding gift and I also helped your new husband plan your honeymoon,” she said. As a travel consultant, she jumped at the chance to help Jordon plan the perfect honeymoon for his new bride. It was the least she could do for Brenda. They were relatively new friends, but she felt this crazy connection to Brenda that she couldn’t explain. She loved her, and when Jordon asked her to help plan a surprise trip to Greece for his fiancée, she quickly agreed.

“You can give me this last thing,” Brenda said, “if you really love me.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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