Taking Chances by Ann Omasta (best motivational books txt) 📖

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between Sam and Seth. Sam’s hands were smooth and soft, while Seth’s were rougher, no doubt from manual labor. I savored the physical connection of our entwined hands, knowing we would soon be apart and worrying about how long it would be before I saw him again.

Sam seemed to know the way to my house, which I didn’t question. After he turned onto my street, he looked at me with those gorgeous green eyes and said, “Please go get a new cell phone today. I doubt yours is fixable, and I need a way to get ahold of you.”

I was overjoyed by his request, which I made no attempt to mask. “Yes, Sir!” I said jokingly, beaming at him. My mind silently added that he could get ahold of me any time, any place, and any way that he wanted.

The suddenly serious look on Sam’s face caught my attention. “What the hell is Seth doing here?” he asked me.

All of the color drained from my cheeks as I turned to look. Sure enough, Seth’s green Jeep Wrangler was sitting in my driveway.

Chapter 31

“I… I don’t know,” I stammered. There was a ball the size of a cantaloupe in the pit of my stomach. What was Seth doing here?

Even if he had come to do the decent thing to give our relationship closure and apologize for blowing me off the way he had, I didn’t know if I could face him after spending the night banging his twin brother’s balls off. I was suddenly ashamed of my carnal behavior with Sam as the cantaloupe-sized ball made its way up into my throat.

I hadn’t thought through what it would be like to face Seth after being with Sam. What Seth had done to me had been wrong, but nothing compared to what I had just spent the night doing. And doing. And doing.

Sam was glaring at me, watching the emotions roll over my face. “I guess things aren’t quite as done with my brother as you thought?” It was more accusation than question, so I didn’t answer.

“It’s probably best if I don’t go in,” he decided. “He and I will have it out later.” I briefly wondered what ‘have it out’ meant, but my mind quickly turned back to the unpleasant confrontation I was about to be forced into.

I completely abhor any kind of conflict, and even if this went well, it was bound to be one of the most awkward discussions I would ever have.

Maybe I don’t have to tell him. I can just let him say what he came to say and then show him to the door. My mind was searching for any way out of the hideousness that was about to ensue.

If Sam and I were going to have any kind of relationship going forward, I knew that I would have to address it with his brother. Why hadn’t I planned this out better or at least waited a decent amount of time? Who was I kidding? What exactly was a ‘decent amount of time’ to wait before bedding your lover’s identical twin brother? I doubted there was one, but even if there was, I definitely hadn’t reached it.

I finally said, “I guess I should go in,” but I made no move to do so. I just wanted to rewind to last night and live the rest of my life in that state of oblivious-to-the-rest-of-the-world sexual euphoria.

Sam’s look finally softened. He reached out to touch my cheek as he said, “It will be okay. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy, right?”

I didn’t want to admit that I hadn’t even thought about what it would be like to face his brother. I had assumed that I was another of Sam’s progression of one-night-stands, so the need to tell Seth would never arise. It made me feel fantastic, though, that Sam felt that we meant enough to each other that we would have to address it with Seth.

After our tender night of lovemaking and the sweet kisses on the lips we had shared, I dared to hope that I might be more than his typical fling. If we were going to be more, I knew that I would have to face his brother. I blew out a breath before saying, “No time like the present,” and moved to get out of Sam’s Porsche.

Sam pulled me back and dotted gentle kisses along my cheek and temple before saying, “Don’t be too hard on him. I’ll give you a call later to see how it went.”

I nodded quickly and moved to get out of the vehicle before I lost my resolve. Like a true gentleman, Sam waited until I had the front door open before backing out of our driveway. I gave him a quick wave before taking a deep, calming breath and stepping inside.

Chapter 32

I could hear voices in the kitchen, so I slowly headed that way. I didn’t want to face Seth, but knew that I had no choice. When I peeked in, I saw him sitting at our small kitchen table with his back to me. Tabitha, the cat who hated everyone except Courtney, was sprawled on his lap, purring loudly. She turned to glare at me in the doorway, then jumped off his lap and sauntered away.

Courtney looked up, “Oh good, you’re back from Annie’s.” She used the opportunity when Seth turned to look at me to give me a big, over-obvious wink to let me know that she was covering for where I had been.

I smiled to thank her for attempting to be discreet, and then I turned to look at Seth. That was the only hint that Court needed. She muttered something about heading out to get some exercise, which I knew that she never did, and quickly exited the kitchen.

“Hello,” I finally said to Seth. He rose and walked over to stand directly in front of me.

He ran his hand through his dark hair. “I’ve practiced this a thousand times, and now that I’m here, I don’t know where to start.”

I nodded, but remained silent. I couldn’t think of a kind way to communicate what I needed to say. Maybe if I just let him break up with me, Sam and I can stay on the down-low for a while. My brain was working frantically, trying to come up with a way to avoid admitting the truth to Seth.

It had been so easy to villainize him over the way he had dumped me, but now that he was standing here in front of me, I was feeling really guilty. He was clearly struggling with how to let me down easily, even if it was over a week later than it should have been.

He finally broke the silence. “I’m so sorry I didn’t call you sooner.” I nodded. It had been a shitty thing to do, but he seemed sincere in his apology. “When I got your message last night, I was frantic to find you.”

I tried to remember what I had said on the voicemail I had left him. Had I sounded suicidal or something? I only remembered being annoyed that he hadn’t given me any closure and telling him that I deserved better. I hoped that I didn’t sound too desperate on the message.

“I shouldn’t have left things the way I did for so long.” I nodded in agreement, and he continued. “When you said that you loved me, it freaked me out a little.”

“I noticed,” was all I said, so he went on.

“I shouldn’t have ran like I did, and I’m sorry for leaving you that way. I just needed time to think.”

I decided to put him out of his misery. After all, it hadn’t been completely his fault, and I’d been far from an angel last night. “Look, I shouldn’t have said what I did so soon. It scared you off.” He shook his head, so I clarified what I meant. “It would have scared off most men. We hadn’t been dating long, and it was too soon for me to be making declarations of love.” Unwilling to let him completely off the hook, I continued. “You should have officially broken things off with me, though.”

“No, Abby, you don’t understand.” He grabbed my hand as he said the words. “I needed time to think because things were moving so fast. I have never been in a relationship where I felt so strongly that quickly, so I wanted to be positive that it wasn’t just lust before I responded. I don’t say those words lightly, and I wanted to be sure that they were true. Abby, I love you, too.”

His words stunned me. I hadn’t been expecting this at all. The cantaloupe-sized lump in my throat now felt like it was the size of a watermelon, a burning watermelon. I could barely breathe around it. Tears welled in my eyes.

Seth misunderstood my reaction and pulled me in for a hug. The tears started spilling over. I stood there stiffly as Seth pulled back to look at me. He bent to gently kiss one of the tears trailing down my cheek and a sob escaped. What had I done?