Second Chances Read Online Free PDF Page B

you and making sure you’re okay. So just drop it. I’ll see you later.”
    Dustin placed a kiss on her forehead, and maybe he lingered a tad longer than he should’ve, but the soft sigh that left her lips made him want to kiss her the way he really wanted to.
    “I’ll see you later.” He walked out the door and stood there listening until he heard the snick of the lock.
    Dustin got back in Luke’s truck and they headed back towards the office.
    As he sat there, Dustin could tell Luke wanted to say something. “All right, man, just say whatever it is that you are dying to say.”
    Luke gave him an evil-looking grin. “So, you and Stacy, huh?”
    “What do you mean, me and Stacy?” Dustin didn’t know how much Luke knew about what happened between them last year, but he was sure his big-mouthed sister spilled her guts.
    “Well, it’s no secret that you guys had a thing last year, but are you going to try to start something with her now?”
    “Considering she just broke up with that dickhead, I’m not gonna rush her into anything. Plus I don’t even think she thinks of me like that anymore.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
     
    Dustin had been more of the romantic when he and Dylan were younger. Emily Peters was his girlfriend from the time they were sixteen until their freshman year in college. His family never knew that he had chosen to go to Tulane so he could be close to her.
    They’d made plans to get married after their sophomore year, with or without their families’ blessing. He’d gone down to surprise her, which he did when he went to her dorm room and found her with her roommate and her roommate’s boyfriend. He’d beaten the fuck out of the guy and damn near got himself arrested.
    Emily claimed that she never had any intention of marrying him. That she was learning so much more sexually than she ever could with him. That he was boring and too sappy. She wanted someone who took charge and made her feel like a woman. She’d destroyed him that day.
    He left her there and swore he’d never be serious about anyone ever again. Dustin knew after that he became a man whore, but that way he never let himself get close to any woman ever again.
    Stacy was the first woman that made him even want to consider it, but the timing couldn’t be more wrong. What kind of guy would he be if he took advantage of the situation she was in?
    Dustin didn’t want to be her rebound either. He wanted her to be with him because she cared about him just as much as he did her. Dustin knew he sounded like a chick, at least to himself, but she was the total package. She was beautiful inside and out, she was funny and she made him want to be better man.
    He scrubbed his hands over his face and asked Luke to just drop it for now. Bellamy told him that if it was meant to be it would.
     
    ***
     
    Later that night Dustin pulled up behind Stacy’s truck in front of his mom’s dance studio. Dustin, Dylan and Bellamy all spent a lot of time there when they were younger.
    Dancing was something they all came by naturally. He’d never admit it, but he enjoyed those times when he’d swing his mom or his sister around the studio floor. It didn’t hurt his chances with the ladies back in the day that he knew how to dance, too.
    He pulled open the front door and stepped inside. The front wall was covered with pictures of students of his mom’s through the years. Dustin felt a smile tug at his lips when he saw a picture of Dylan, Bellamy and himself. He and his brother were probably seven or eight and Bellamy was maybe a year old.
    The boys sat side by side with Bellamy sitting on both of their laps. Dustin and Dylan both had gaps up top from where their teeth had fallen out. Bellamy was in a little baby leotard and had a mass of dark hair and tiny baby teeth poking out from the bottom of her mouth.
    He moved on to a picture that was behind the front desk. It was during his parents’ wedding reception because