Page 87 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Well, let’s get dressed and head out,” I said. “Reservation is in forty minutes, but it’ll be about a twenty-minute drive with traffic.”

An hour later, we sat at a white-tableclothed table, a plate of iced oysters and a couple glasses of wine before us. The strain of earlier had faded, and Avery and I were back in a good place, laughing and chatting as we slurped the oysters.

“God, this is amazing,” Avery said, setting aside an empty oyster shell.

“Glad you approve.” I took a sip of wine. “So, what have you been up to in the last sixteen years?”

Avery chuckled at that and pulled her phone out. “Raising this little psycho. Wanna see pictures of Ashton when he was little?”

Did I? Of course. I leaned forward as she turned her phone around to swipe through the pictures.

“This was the day I came home from the hospital with him.”

A much younger but no less beautiful Avery held a small, tightly bundled Ashton in her arms. She was gazing down at the baby with the most intense love I’d ever seen in my life.

“This was his first day of kindergarten. That’s the day he learned to ride a bike. Oh, this was when he was ten, and I took him to Disney World.”

A gap-toothed Ashton smiled at the camera, a pair of Mickey Mouse ears on his head as he pointed up at the massive castle. A deep, painful ache filled my chest as years passed by with the flick of a finger. A life snapping by, frame by frame, like a flip book. All the things I missed. I imagined myself holding Ashton’s hand and walking down Disney Main Street or going on Space Mountain with him. Things I would never do. Christmases of pretending to be Santa and seeing the wonder in his eyes as he saw the gifts beneath the tree.

That magic of childhood was mostly gone now. Vanished. A lifetime I missed because I was fucking stupid. Without my father’s meddling, things might have turned out differently.

Avery must have seen the look on my face, because she pulled the phone away. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No,” I said. “I want to see. It just makes me regret I wasn’t there for any of it. It makes me angry. Not at you. At myself, at myfather, at Farrah, even though it wasn’t her fault. I’m mad at the whole world.”

Avery tucked her phone away, then took my hand. “The past is important, but so is the future. You can’t live your life for the past. That’s done. Gone and finished, as sad as it is to say. What you can do is live for the future. That hasn’t happened yet, and you can help create that. Right?”

A smile spread across my lips, and I nodded. “When did you get so philosophical?”

The server appeared with our food, and we released our hands.

“I’ve changed a lot,” she replied, and winked at me.

Avery had a lobster tail, and since I told her I’d splurge, she also got seared scallops. I ordered steak. I liked seafood, but I wasn’t a fiend for it like Avery was. After the staff cleared our entrée plates, I checked my watch as we waited for dessert.

“You have somewhere to be?” Avery asked, then drained her wine glass.

“Not really. A little surprise for after dinner.”

“More surprises? What am I going to do with you?”

“I have some ideas,” I said with a sly smile.

Avery grinned back at me, and I thought I saw a red hue color her cheeks. Before I could further that line of conversation, the server returned with a key lime pie for Avery and a chocolate torte for me.

“So, what’s this surprise?” Avery asked when we left the restaurant.

In the distance, I heard the familiarclip-clopof horseshoes striking pavement. A moment later, a carriage pulled up in front of us.

Avery gasped. “I didn’t even know they had these in Atlanta.”

Shrugging, I helped her into the carriage. “Crazy tourists will pay for anything.”

The carriage driver proceeded to take us on a tour of the city. The warm summer night air blew in through the windows, and the sparkling lights of the high-rise buildings illuminated the streets.

Avery snuggled against me as the carriage made its way through the streets. We sat mostly in silence, enjoying the ride and each other’s company. It was a beautiful night.

After the ride, the carriage took us back to the restaurant where the valet had my car waiting. Upon returning to the hotel, we found our room had been turned down, and my next surprise awaited us on the bed. A bucket of champagne and a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries.

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