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PROLOGUE
CHANCE
Making my way through the crowd at Logan Airport, I dodged fans with the help of my bodyguard, before finally settling at the departure gate. Slumped over in a black faux-leather chair, I did my best to hide from curious onlookers. I quietly thumbed through photos of Amber and me on my cell phone. She was my girlfriend until just before Christmas, and I missed her already. She was truly the most extraordinary woman I’d ever met, which wasn’t a compliment I’d ever given any of the women I dated. What started out as friendly, silly flirting turned into a love deeper than I’d ever experienced. In fact, I wasn’t sure I even knew what love was until she came into my life.
We met through my best friend, Jenna. They’d been working together as dancers at Club Euphoria. I was a frequent customer of the club, but fate didn’t bring Amber to me until much later. It was also there that Jenna met her husband, Ian, the club’s owner.
Amber and I were together for over a year, but breaking up was the best solution for our relationship. At least, I thought it was. Now, I was heading to Los Angeles to film my next movie and direct another immediately following. Sometimes, what we feel is the best decision for us at the time turns out to be our worst nightmare and biggest mistake. Then, we must make another choice that could alter the course of our future.
Today would be the day I found out what being truly alone felt like as I ran away from my past. Instead of going out to California temporarily, I made the tough decision to drop out of college and move to my other residence in Malibu. After things ended with her, I was broken and couldn’t face her again. It was too painful knowing how much I hurt us both, and I just needed to focus on my career now. Not school. Not Amber.
On the outside, I was composed, and normal, if I could ever be considerednormal. I was still sarcastic and joked around, keeping up appearances. However, internally, my entire world was damaged. My heart was shattered as I suffered from nightmares every night. Waking up in a sweat, I’d clutched my chest as a sharp twinge radiated through my upper body.
Now, I was peering down at a photo of us smiling. It reminded me of both the happy moments and the instant I broke both our hearts. Unfortunately, there was no turning back now. Sadly, I’d never admit to anyone how much that woman meant to me, but my heart would never forget my feelings.
“Oh, my gosh!” A peppy female voice wrenched me away from my mental torment. “Chance Hardwin?!”
I sat straight in my chair, adjusting my posture. Nodding to the teenage girl, I feigned a slight smile. Faking a smile in public was something every celebrity learned to master early in their career. You never knew when the media, or an individual, was lurking in the shadows, secretly taking photos of you from angles that told another story.
I used to love the attention, exploiting the interest of the public every opportunity I got. Recently, my need for that altered when my priorities became different. I loved my job. I’d always be grateful for the opportunity, but my life's priorities had since changed.
I didn’t think I was a jerk. I just didn’t like being constantly scrutinized. The breakup occurred in the privacy of my home. However, they aired it on every entertainment news outlet within days after my younger sister, Lizzie, slipped up on a social media post. Since then, it’d been all anyone wanted to gossip about. I couldn’t avoid it. Just when I thought I’d finally escaped it, I turned on the television and there we were. Amber didn’t deserve the negative attention. She wasn’t like me, nor was she raised in the same environment. I felt bad for her, knowing I caused her embarrassment.
I didn’t want to hurt this girl's feelings, so I remained polite. My bodyguard, Dragon, took a step in my direction with his arms crossed, ready to intervene at any sign of a threat. Assuming the girl was harmless, I lifted my hand, stopping him from hauling her away. No one else at the gate was bothering me, so I could spare a few moments to bring a smile to someone’s face.
Glancing around at the crowd, I realized my black baseball cap and Ray-Bans weren’t fooling anyone. Her approaching me only furthered the suspicion of my identity. Stares in my direction and whispers among crowds were never foreign to me. Subtly, I rolled my eyes before cautiously removing my hat and sunglasses. Running my fingers through my hair, I flashed a self-assured smile. An enormous grin spread across her face as she tiptoed a few steps closer.
“I knew it was you!” Her hushed excitement was almost too much for her to contain. “Can I please take a selfie with you?” She suddenly blushed a crimson red. Fiddling nervously with the phone, her strawberry blonde, braided ponytail swung back and forth as she braced herself for rejection.
I nodded, holding out my palm. She unlocked her phone, launching the camera before sitting next to me and handing it to me. Grasping it in the air toward us, I leaned close to her but wouldn’t place my arm around her. I was incredibly careful about touching fans of any age. One mistake or wrong angle could turn into a media fiasco that I didn’t want, especially now. I promptly took the photo. Studying our pose for a moment, she thanked me then ran off to a nearby couple; who I assumed to be her parents.
Hunching again, I pulled out my phone.
Good afternoon, passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 7063 to Los Angeles. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes. Thank you.
Just as I was about to slide my phone into my pocket, Ian's name flashed across the screen. I bit my lower lip, hovering my thumb, debating if I was going to take the call. I’d told no one I was leaving today. I just wanted to slip away. Not wanting Amber and me to have a gut-wrenching goodbye, I left her a note through the mail slot of her front door. I sucked in a deep breath, swiping my thumb across the screen, declining Ian’s call.
“Damn,” I heard a deep voice behind me, “really, Hollywood?”
When Ian and I started hanging out, he began calling meHollywood, playfully mocking my career. The nickname stuck, and he rarely referred to me by my actual name anymore. At first, it annoyed me, but I came to get used to it.
Closing my eyes and expelling a deep breath, I nonchalantly swiveled in my seat to see him holding his phone out to the side with an irritated expression. Slowly, I stood, groaning. He slid his hands into the pockets of his long, black wool coat, shaking his head in disappointment.
“How did you get past security without a—”
He pulled a ticket from his pocket, holding it up in front of his stomach.
“Boarding pass,” I let the word hiss from my lips as the volume of my voice faded. I folded my arms over my chest before dropping my hands to my side, unsure of how to react. “You bought a ticket to L.A. just to tell me bye?”
Smirking confidently, he studied it for a moment before flipping it around, showing me the destination. “Even better, Omaha.”
“Just think of the people you robbed of going to Nebraska because you selfishly wanted to see me again.” Sneering, I shook my head in playful displeasure.
Twisting his lips into a faint smile, he returned his hands to his pockets. “Yeah, I'm guessing passengers will be fighting to get to Nebraska.”
I sighed, finding myself glowering at the plane outside the window. Ian remained silent, knowing I was processing my thoughts. It wasn’t hard to read my mind, but I spoke anyway. “Saying bye to her was too hard, so I had to just slip away,” I finally mumbled as my eyes found his again. “I couldn’t do it, and I knew Jenna would lecture me an—”
“I understand,” he lifted his hand to his chin, stroking it, “but not saying bye to any of us was shitty.”
