One More Chance (Chance, Part 2) (7 page)

I look at Rebecca
, because I haven’t heard a thing about him, “Hopefully all good.”

“Definitely all good,” he says with a smile, showing he has a dimple on his left cheek.

“Okay, we are going to go grab some drinks,” Rebecca says pulling Rob away.

“They aren’t very subtle are they?” Jason says laughing
, causing me to laugh, “No, not at all,” I reply.

“Well it’s very nice to meet you; it’s nice to finally be able to put a face to the name.  Rebecca talks about you all the time.”

“She’s never mentioned you to me before,” I admit.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised.”

“Why?”

“I was in a relationship and recently got out of one.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.  It needed to happen, we a
re much better off not together,” he states.

“
Oh, well that’s good then.”

“Do you want to go into the other room so we can actually talk?”

“Sure,” I say as I follow him to the dining room.  The music isn’t as loud and there aren’t as many people.

“Ah that’s better,” he says as he takes a seat on the couch, I follow suit.

For the next hour and a half, I get to learn about Jason.  He’s athletic and loves basketball, though he doesn’t play for the school.  He works part time at a tattoo parlor and attends school full time. He seems like an honest to goodness good guy and for the first time in a long time, I’m excited.

Liam

“Who is Hails talking to?” I ask Brody for the second time.

“I don’t know who he is,” he says sounding frustrated, “Why do you care?  You told her to move on.”

“Because, I still don’t want her to be with a douchebag.”

“She’s a pretty good judge of character.  If he’s feeding her bullshit
, she’ll know.”

“I know, but find out what you can about him.”

“You don’t like him?”

“No.”

“I wonder why that is big bro,” he says with a look.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Sure it isn’t.”

“It’s not.  I told you I’m happy.  I’m engaged.”

“Then you shouldn’t worry about what Haley does or who she talks to.”

“
Why not?”

“Because she’s no longer
your concern,” he reminds me.

“She’ll always be my concern.  I want her happy.”

“Then you could fix that.  You make her happy dipshit.”

“It didn’t work, you know this already.”

“Please, stop trying to bullshit me.  You could work and you know it, you’re fucking scared.”

“Scared of what?”
I ask annoyed.

“Commitment with Haley.”
Brody says calling me out.

“Why would I be afraid?  I wanted to fucking marry her,” I say pissed off.

“Then marry her.”

“No.  I’m marrying Nina.”

“Because she’s the right girl for you?” he asks looking angry.

“We work.”

“Are you even in love with her?”

“
I wouldn’t have proposed to her if I wasn’t.”

“Y
ou were thinking you could have married Meg one day and you weren’t in love with her.  So what…are you settling or what?”

“No
, I’m not fucking settling.”

“Liam, I think you’re afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Haley,” Brody says.

“What?  Why would I be afraid of her?” I ask, not believing what my brother is saying.

“Because
, she’s the one girl who truly hurt you.”

“It wasn’t even like that,” I lie.
  That’s exactly what happened.

“You can lie to me all you want, but I’m telling you now, when she settles down
, it’s you who’s going to kick yourself in the ass because you let her go.”

“What the hell changed in you?”
I ask bitterly.

“
I grew up, which apparently you still need to do.”

“I’m happy.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“You’re pissing me off,” I say annoyed.

“Good.  How do you feel knowing that Haley’s going to London for the summer?”

“Fine,” I lie again.

“No, seriously,” he says calling me out yet again.

“
I’m happy for her.”

“You aren’t going to see her for
month’s dude, are you really okay with that?”

“I haven’t seen her in months,
” I admit.

“I know and tonight you haven’t stopped staring at her or watching her.”

I can’t even deny it, because he’s right, “Fuck.”

“Told you.
  Look, I was wrong for what I did while you were dating her.  I shouldn’t have tried to intervene, but I think you are stupid as fuck for not fighting to get her back.”

“You need to let this go.  I
’ve moved on.”

“No
you didn’t, stop fucking lying,” Brody scolds.

“I’ll always care about her, but we both made choices and now we need to live with them.”

“I hope you can,” he says pissed off.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re going to lose her.  You think Nina’s the one when all she is…is the rebound chick.  You’re trying to use her to replace Haley, but you can’t, Haley is irreplaceable.”

“That’s not true.”

“You’ll see,” he says as he shakes his head.

“I hate you sometimes,” I say before walking away.  I need a beer or a shot or hell something to make me not think about Haley and how she’s probably talking to some douchebag.

Haley

We spend the rest of the evening hanging out and having a good time like Quinn said we would.  I only had two beers
, since I don’t know what’s going on with my body right now.

“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier,” Liam says apologetically.

“For what?” I ask playing dumb.

“You should have heard it from me, not in a group setting like that.”

“It’s fine.”

“No it’s not.  I should have told you and I apologize.”

“Liam you didn’t do anything wrong.  There’s no need to apologize.  You moved on with your life, don’t apologize for that,” I say feeling frustrated.  He looks at me, I know he wants to say something, but he’s not sure what to say.  “I’m glad for you.  I’m glad Nina makes you happy because you deserve it,” I say truthfully.

“Thanks
Hails.”

“Do you guys have a date set?” I ask
, sounding more secure than I feel.

“She’
s thinking either August or September of this year.”

“Oh wow
, that’s soon.”

“Yeah
, it’s going to possibly be right before the season starts, so maybe July, I’m not sure yet.”

“How’s that going to work?” I ask confused.

“Well, we won’t take a honeymoon or anything because it will be during the season, but the ceremony we can fit in before the season gets underway.”

“Is she pregnant?” Quinn asks from behind me. I don’t even know when she snuck up on us.

“No, she’s not pregnant,” he says sounding annoyed.

“I take it you g
et that question a lot?” I ask.

“More than I care to admit.  She’s not though, I love kids, but I don’t want them yet,” he states.

“You have time,” I say.

“Yeah
, definitely have time.  Alright, well I just wanted to apologize, so I’ll let you get back to your friends,” he says before heading off.

“Apology?”
Quinn asks with a look.

“About me finding out he’s engaged.”

“Yeah, that was a shocker.”

“I think I’m going to head home.”

“Tired?” she asks calling me out.

“I am and stressed.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No, you stay and have fun with Brody, talk to him.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Kenzie asks.

“I’m tired
, so I’m going to head home.”

“I’ll come with you. I’m beat from the drive.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say to Quinn as I give her a hug, “Tell the guys we left and they are more than welcome to use the couch and the other guest room.”

“Will do,” she says as she heads in the direction of Brody.

“He likes her,” Kenz says as we walk outside.

“Who?”
I ask confused.

“Brody, he likes Quinn.”

“What?” I ask, shocked that she would make that comment.

“I can see it in the way he looks at her.  It looks like she likes him too, am I wrong?”

“No, she has a crush on him.”

“Does she know that he likes her?”

“No.”

“Well, hopefully tonight they can figure it out,” she says
with a smile.

“You don’t care?”

“No, Brody deserves to be happy.  So do you Hails.  What’s going on with you?”

“Things aren’t how I thought they would be,” I answer honestly.

“What do you mean?”

“I figured Liam and I would have worked things out and be living life together and we aren’t.  We never will and he’s only going to hate me more when I tell him.”

“Tell him what?” she asks confused.

“Shit.”

“What’s going on Hails,” she asks as she stops me in the middle of the sidewalk, and she’s turned facing me, “What happened?”

“Hopefully nothing, I’m not even one hundred percent sure.”

“I won’t tell. I know I was a bitch before, but whatever it is, we can deal with it.”

“I might be pregnant.”

“What?” she shouts causing a few people passing to stop and look our way. “What do you mean you might be pregnant?”

“Exactly that, I don’t know, I’m going to take a test tomorrow.”

“And Liam’s the dad or not the dad? I’m confused.”

“He could be the dad.”

“What do you mean could be?  When did you last sleep with him?”

“That’s the thing; I don’t really remember us sleeping together.  I mean like I do, but I don’t.  I thought it was a dream, but I woke up and I was naked and so was he.”

“When did this happen?”

“The night I drove back to college to move out.”

“I knew he came after you, him and Brody were both pissed that I let you leave, but how did sex come into play?”

“
I’m not sure how it even started.  I know we were both sleep deprived, but he passed out, so did I.  I remember having sex, but I swear it was a dream.”

“But it may have been real
, if you’re pregnant.”

“Yeah and Liam asked me why he was naked the next morning and I said I didn’t know, because I’m
not sure if he even remembered.  God, I’m so stupid.”

“No you aren’t.  It’s not your fault,” she says as she comforts me as we walk home.

“That means he would have cheated on Nina and they are engaged to get married.  Oh my gosh, what have I done?  I can’t tell him, he will hate me if I am,” I say panicking again.

“We’re going to find out tonight, you need to know,” she says as she turns us down a sidewalk where a
Quik-Mart is.  She runs inside and purchases a test.

“I can’t believe you just bought one.”

“It’s not like I never took one before,” she says, like it’s no big deal.

“Wait what?” I ask surprised.

“Brody and I had a few scares.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it was when we weren’t really talking and the other was because I was afraid.  I lucked out though and they were both negative.  Now, let’s just hope yours is negative too,” she says as we make our way home.

I head into my master bathroom and lock the door.  I don’t need anyone busting in on me with this sitting here.

“Let me in,” Kenzie complains as she pounds on the door.

“Sorry,” I say as I let her in and lock the door quickly.

“You do realize no one is here right?”

“I know, but I’m paranoid.  What do I do if it comes out positive?”

“Then we will figure it out.”

I pee on the test and then put the end on and lay it on the counter as I wash my hands.  “This is the longest three minutes of my life,” I complain.

“No matter what, we will figure it out.”

“I can’t tell him if I am.  He’ll think I did it to trick him.”

“Then don’t tell him. It will be okay.  Do you want me to look?” she asks.