A second chance at love is all you need.
When Bexley Turner saw the two life-changing pink lines on a pregnancy test, she panicked. She was going to be a young mother at twenty and she didn't want to burden her sweet boyfriend, Hayden with the news...
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BEXLEY TURNER
MY EYES SCAN THE crowded bar that my dad used to own. Since my mother and he moved to Hawaii, he turned Turquoise Pour Pub over to Hayden. Based on the customers, Hayden has been taking good care of the small bar. Turquoise blue lights wrap around the wooden support beams and more of them wrap around the bar's ledge. Many drunk adults grind on each other to the beat of a popular, random pop song.
I clutch a cold beer in my hand, my ring clinking against it as I tap my finger on the cool glass. My curious eyes follow a drunk brunette girl who hangs on Hayden's arm, whispering, more like slurring, something to him that makes him awkwardly clear his throat. A hot spark flares in the pit of my stomach as I watch the girl wrap her hands around Hayden's neck.
Watching this is torture.
Deciding to do something, I slide off of the stool and walk towards Hayden and the brunette. I nudge the girl away, maybe a bit too hard because she stumbles into two people dancing. When she regains balance, her angry eyes land on me and I wrap my arm around Hayden's waist, laying my head on his defined chest after placing my palm on his torso.
"Were you flirting with my boyfriend?" I ask her, biting back a laugh when the girl's eyes go wide. Hayden wraps his arms around my waist, playing along as he places a kiss on my head. Fake or not, it makes my stomach turn into goo.
"I, um, no," she stammers, backing away and joining a group of girls in a booth. I quietly laugh to myself.
"You know, if you wanted to be in my arms, you could've asked," Hayden's deep voice meets my ears, his warm breath touching the back of my neck. My knees almost go weak and I clear my throat. I look up at him, smiling innocently as I run my hand across the material of his navy blue shirt, feeling his muscles as they contract under my teasing touch.
"You know I don't ask for permission when it comes to you, Hayden," I say and grab the front of his shirt in my fist, pulling his face down to mine so I can brush our lips together softly.
"There's that same bad girl from high school," he murmurs, brushing our lips together as he speaks, the familiar wetness pooling between my thighs.
"She never left," I respond, my breathing heavy before I decide to finally kiss the man that has been on my mind ever since I returned to Oregon. Kissing him could never get old. His fingers run through my hair, deepening the kiss.
Suddenly, Hayden breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against mine."Bex, we should stop before we do something we may regret."
"You're right, I'm sorry." I pull out of his arms and breathe heavily as I walk towards my seat at the bar where I grab my black, leather jacket and beer. Hurriedly, I slip on the jacket before walking towards the door that chimes when I open it. Embarrassed, I don't turn to look at Hayden when I leave the bar. I dump my half-filled beer in the snowy bushes in case someone slipped drugs in it while I was with Hayden.
Don't be gullible, kids.
❄︎
"How was your night?" Chrissy asks, joining me on the couch as we watch Jared and Nash strip the Christmas tree of decorations.
"Don't even," I shake my head, memories of Hayden and I making out in the middle of his bar and then him basically rejecting me flashing through my head, making my already bad headache worse.
"That bad," she playfully nudges me as I rub my temples. "Advil is in the bathroom cupboard, Bex."
"Thanks," I groan, laying my head on her shoulder. Chrissy rubs my forehead for me and I close my eyes, telling her what happened last night.
After I left the bar, I called an uber and got drove to Chrissy's, where I drank more alcohol, my choice beverage being some of Chrissy's red wine. Being as vulnerable as I was, I cried and called Hayden, who made me go to bed and threatened to come over if I didn't. I wasn't okay to face him so I laid down and It worked because only a few minutes later, I fell asleep on the couch, listening to his soothing voice. But I hardly remember what I said to him when I called. I only remember the most important parts.
Scrolling through my contacts, I stop at the H's. My finger clicks on Hayden's contact and I lift the phone to my ear, waiting for him to answer as tears roll down my cheeks. I lazily take another sip of my wine before sniffling.
"Bexley, it's four am. Are you okay?"
I stay quiet, closing my eyes as I listen to his voice. "Why don't you love me anymore?" I croak and I hear him sigh quietly on the other end.
When his voice meets my ears again, I bite my lip to keep myself from sobbing into the phone."Bex, you're shitfaced. You need sleep."
"No. Tell me why you don't love me anymore," I protest, taking another sip of wine.
"Fuck, Bexley. You're probably not going to remember, so here it is. I've never stopped loving you, gorgeous. But when you left, you took half of my heart with you and it hurt so fucking bad. Now, I realize that you thought you were doing what you thought was best. I know I said that I didn't want kids, but that changed when I met the child we made together, even if I did miss out on some of his life, I love him so fucking much. And I love you so much too. So much that it hurt to see you leave the bar earlier and not turn back."
He was wrong. I do remember. I remember everything. Every word he spoke to me through the phone. I hurt him again.
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