Page 35 of Irresistible Second Chance

He laughed as I turned around and narrowed my eyes. “You’re not funny.”

“I am. You should have seen the look on your face.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around me bringing me near him. I was mindful of the girls and was about to pull away when he said, “You know I’ve seen you asleep a million times...a little drool wouldn’t send me running for the hills. You’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not.”

His tone was playful, but his eyes were serious. I felt my breath catch. And that’s how the girls found us, me in Chris’ arms staring at him as if there were only the two of us in the world.

“Oh my gosh! They’re about to kiss!” TJ gushed.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” The two of them started to chant together, growing louder and louder. How could two little children be so loud.

Laughing, Chris placed a chaste kiss on my forehead and the girls started cheering. I knew I was blushing. Letting go of me, he turned to the girls and said, “How about we all go out for ice cream?”

“Ice cream!” Johnna said clapping her hands. “I love ice cream! Can we go to the ice cream shop across the street from the library? It’s my favorite. There’s this little park over there with the most fantastic fountain!” She was practically jumping with emotion.

“No, it’s getting late, shouldn’t you guys head to bed?” I wasn’t sure what time kids went to bed. After seven sounded reasonable and it would give me time to mindlessly play on my phone before passing out at 9. I wasn’t old, but I did require at least 8 hours of sleep to function properly, no matter what I told myself.

“It’s the weekend. Mom always lets us stay up a little longer on the weekend.”

“Come on, Auntie,” TJ said putting her hands together tightly as if she were begging me.

“Yeah, don’t be lame, Auntie,” Johnna said.

Chris laughed, “Yeah, Syd, don’t be so lame.”

I rolled my eyes at him and turned to the girls, saying, “You win! Let’s get ice cream!”

“Yeah!” they jumped up and high-fived each other before scrambling off to find their shoes.

“I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” I said turning to Chris.

He smiled, took my hand, and said, “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

I wanted to wipe the smug look off his face. I knew in a few minutes after listening to nonstop talking and the kid’s version of every adult song on the radio, he’d be ready to rip his hair out and run away screaming. I smiled like a cartoon villain and said, “Famous last words.”

Chapter 10

“On your mark,” I grimaced at my ex-husband’s name, “Get set....Go!”

Johnna, TJ and Chris ran towards me as fast as they possibly could. I laughed out loud to my surprise as Chris attempted to win, slowing down at the end to let the girls pass him. It was hilarious to me that he actually had to try to win.

I high fived the girls and Johnna quickly turned to Chris and said, “Better luck next time, old man.”

The laughter erupted from me before I could stop it. And his expression! He was shocked and confused...it was so funny. I couldn’t stop laughing at the expression on Chris’ face. “Hey, I’m not old!” His outrage made me laugh harder, and so did the girls.

“Ok, ok...” I said when I could breathe again. “After that win, I think you girls deserve another scoop of ice cream.” They cheered as we walked away from the greenspace near the library and headed back across the street.

“I feel like you set me up,” Chris said taking Johnna’s hand, and my own, and I grabbed TJ’s.

“Hey, I suggested that they race, you volunteered to be a competitor.”

“You know I can’t resist competition. It’s the athlete in me.”

“The athlete in you was just smoked by two little girls,”I said with a giggle. I looked at him and he looked at me. I liked having him around more than I wanted to admit. He was fun, easy-going, and dare I say, responsible. I would miss him so much when he left.

I turned away from him and let go of his hand. I could feel him looking at me curiously and ignored it. I opened the door to the ice cream shop and avoided his eyes. Luckily, he walked the girls to the counter and ordered more ice cream for them, giving me time to focus on something other than how good I felt when he was around.

I sat down at the table and pulled out my phone and pretended to be engrossed in a stupid social media reel I was watching. I was just mindlessly scrolling trying not to think about my earlier thoughts, but they kept intruding. I would miss Chris, probably too much. And then what would happen next? I would go back to my boring existence. He would go back to his house abroad and we would see each other every now and then. That thought made me sad and that made me feel conflicted. What else did I want from him? Did I want some sort of relationship? If so, long-distance wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. We’d broken up before because I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from him. Part of me felt that I was getting ahead of myself. I didn’t even know what I wanted. Was this casual? I wasn’t ready for anything serious. We were just having fun, right? I knew how to have fun. It had been awhile since I’d had fun, admittedly. I told myself to lighten up, live a little in the moment. The last time I had lived in the moment, I had ended up with a cast on one leg.

“Have you tried their pistachio gelato?” Chris asked, coming up next to me with a little sample spoon. “It tastes just like the one I had in Italy.” He sat down across from me while the girls talked to the cashier about their favorite ice cream toppings.

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