Second Chances

forty-three

a l e x

I had a pretty solid routine everyday at work. By routine, I meant I went to meetings and signed contracts. That's my job. Honestly, it's not all that exciting.

It took everything in me not to fall asleep in boring meetings and have Janet read all the contracts I had to sign for me, but I somehow managed.

So you'd see why I was so ecstatic that the long-awaited trip to Ashton's beach house was finally here. Finally some fun in my life. Work at the office had been stressful as usual, so I was really happy to just get away from all that.

Lexi and Ashton were already there, and Luke and I were only about ten minutes away. We decided to go a week before spring break hit, so the beach wouldn't be so crowded, and even then, Lexi said there were still quite a few people.

I shut my eyes for a second, or at least I thought it was, and when Luke shook me awake from my little nap, we were already there.

We got out of my car and brought our bags in, met by a shirtless Ashton enjoying the burrito in his hand. "Welcome to Casa Brooks."

"Finally, I got to see the infamous beach house of the Ashton Brooks," I exaggerated my reaction. "I can't believe it. I'm such a big fan! I heard his girlfriend's really pretty too!"

"Shut up," he laughed, reaching for the bag in my hand. "Here, give me that, I'll bring it up to your room for you."

"Oh, okay," I handed the bag to him. "Thanks."

He took it and smiled. "Yeah, no worries. Luke and I will go put this upstairs. Lexi's just through there in the kitchen."

I nodded at what he said and made my way through the short hallway to see my sister happily munching on the burrito she had.

"Miss me?"

"Eh, could be okay for a couple more days," she shrugged before laughing. "I was wondering when you'd finally get here."

Lexi got up from her seat and went to hug me. "Want a bite?"

I shook my head. "No thanks. Luke and I ate on the way here."

"Oh okay. Have you gone to your room yet? It has a really good view," she questioned.

"No, Ashton told me to come here when he and Luke went to put our stuff in the room. I wanna see the view though," I told her, following immediately when she motioned for me to go with her upstairs.

"That one in the end is where Ash and I are staying," she pointed at a room at the end of the hall once we turned a corner at the top of the stairs. "This one's your room."

She opened the door, revealing a huge room. It looked like a master bedroom, and it was just a guest room. The bed was definitely a California King, and the view from the balcony was so breathtaking, even from the other side of the room.

When Ashton said beach house, he really meant beach house.

The boys were outside on the balcony, talking about something while staring at the beach when Lexi and I got in the room, so they didn't even notice we were there.

My sister signaled for me to be quiet as we snuck up behind them. We had the exact same idea. Luckily, the balcony doors were open, so it wasn't hard for us to get close before saying, "Boo."

It wasn't even a loud "boo" like how kids do it, but it was enough to surprise the two and make them jump a little.

Lexi and I laughed at their reaction, Ashton tensing up and Luke accidentally hitting his best friend in the face.