SCORE (A Stepbrother Sports Romance)(59)

“Great,” Bryan said with a sigh of relief. “I think it’ll be a good idea for all of us to be together for a time just to get to know each other better.”

“Okay, so now that that’s settled, let’s enjoy this day. Why don’t we go on a little excursion together?”

“Oh, no,” Chance said and got up. “That’s too much family for me.”

“I have to agree,” Claire commented. “Too much, too early.”

“That’s okay,” Willow chimed in. “Completely understandable. Baby steps.”

“Alright,” Chance said and wiped his lips. “I will see you folks later.”

“I’m coming with you, Chance,” Claire said as she finished the last morsel of food on her plate. Anywhere but right there with their crazy love struck parents.





CHAPTER 14


Claire sat on the balcony looking across at the one similar to hers. She could see his silhouette, and she smiled as she thought about his hands on her body. Her mind circled around to their parents. By all indications, she and Chance wouldn’t see each other much, at least not openly. She wasn’t yet sure how they would keep their relationship a secret, but at present it was a necessary evil.

She didn’t want to spend time with Chance so soon after their parents’ announcement and their apparent accord, and she didn’t want to run into her mother or Bryan, either. She was, therefore, left with her wayward mind for company. Claire spent a majority of the day in her room with her tablet, catching up on a novel she had begun reading a month ago but had not finished. Back then she’d had a wedding to plan, and most of her time had been consumed with the preparation of it. Right now she should have been parasailing with Trent or biking along the coast like they had planned to do. They were supposed to have children and spend the rest of their lives together. So much was supposed to happen that didn’t and wouldn’t happen again, and even more was happening that she had not planned for.

She had taken the advice of her mother and best friend and had come to St. Lucia to unwind and get away from the stress of a broken heart. But how does one do that while carrying the heart inside? She had brought her broken heart with her, and instead of nursing it to keep it from being wounded again, it had decided to latch itself on to the first moving target. She had not planned on Chance, and in some ways she wasn’t sure she was ready for him. And even while she was trying to figure it out, her mother had made sure he would be in her life forever. Such was her tragedy, she thought as she tried to focus on her tablet.

It was at page 184 where she had left it, but she saw nothing but white. Her mind was a maze of confusion.

“Claire?” she heard Amy call from the other side of the door.

“It’s open,” she replied.

Amy walked in and saw Claire in bed, and the expression on her face made her smile disappear. “Claire, are you all right?” she asked as she climbed into bed next to her.

“That’s a good question,” Claire responded. “I don’t know how I feel about anything. Two weeks ago I was happy. A week ago I was confused and hurt, and three days ago I was happy again. Now I just don’t know. Chance was supposed to be nothing but a fling, and even that turned into something else,” she said and threw her hands up in the air. “And my mom had to go and marry his dad. What are the odds?”

“I know,” Amy said. “I’m pretty speechless about the whole thing. I knew they were seeing each other, but I didn’t see this coming. I thought we would have a great time here and go back to our lives. Now it seems I’m the only one leaving the guy behind.”

For the first time that morning, Claire smiled. “Maybe you should invite Mario along. At this rate, why leave here without a man?”

“Hold on, let me get my cell,” she said and attempted to move.

“Get back here, silly,” Claire laughed.

“So, what are you going to do about Chance? You can’t see him anymore.”

“I don’t know,” Claire said. She couldn’t mention she was still involved with Chance; it would make it a lot easier and less uncomfortable for everyone.

“So,” Amy began. “Will you have to move again?”

“I have been thinking of getting my own place. I was really supposed to leave home after the wedding that never happened,” she told her. “Mom asked me to go with her. I guess she needs my company to settle down.”

“Maybe Chance won’t be there at all,” Amy suggested.

“Perhaps he won’t,” Claire repeated and sighed. “He probably has his own island, too.”

Amy laughed at her words. “That’s a genuine possibility. Don’t worry about it, Claire,” she said. “In time, this will all seem more and more like a dream.”

“I hope so.”

“I can’t say I’m happy about any of this; it doesn’t seem right that you have been shafted twice in two weeks,” Amy pouted. “What about you and Chance and you know…sleeping together and stuff?”

Claire blushed at Amy’s words. She hadn’t mentioned they had slept together, but anyone who had hung around them would see that they had. Plus, Amy knew he slept over in her room that first night.

Claire placed her tablet on the bed and got up then. “Okay, now I need a distraction; let’s go get some sun before we go back. Goodness knows when we will get to see a beach like this again. Chance is really in the past. Whatever we had between us was fleeting and is over. Tomorrow is our last day on the island, and I want to make the best of it.”