Second Chance Draft Read online

  Table of Contents

  Epilogue

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Touchdown

  One More Kiss

  One More Turn

  About Roxy Sinclaire

  Also by Roxy Sinclaire

  Second Chance Draft

  A Second Chance Sports Romance

  Roxy Sinclaire

  Illustrated by

  Natasha Snow

  Edited by

  Elizabeth A Lance

  Copyright © 2018 by Roxy Sinclaire

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Natasha Snow

  Edited by Elizabeth A Lance

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.

  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Touchdown

  One More Kiss

  One More Turn

  About Roxy Sinclaire

  Also by Roxy Sinclaire

  Sign up for Roxy’s mailing list and find out about her latest releases, giveaways, and more. Plus, get a FREE book! Click here!

  Visit her on the web: www.roxysinclaire.com

  Follow her on Facebook & Twitter

  1

  Alexis

  I sat back on the bed, dressed in a comfortable pair of sweats and shirt. My plan for the evening was to stay in, maybe find something nice to read, or watch.

  I needed to relax for once in my life!

  My friends wanted something completely different, and as much as I loved them, I didn’t want their company. Not tonight.

  “Alexis, you’re not taking this seriously. Why are you still on the bed?” Agnes demanded, turning to me with a frown, fists on her hips. “Get off your ass! We’re going to be late.”

  I sighed again, heavier this time, but she just rolled her eyes.

  “Alexis, seriously. It’s a big party, and everyone’s going to be there.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You mean, all the nurses are going, because they heard that stupid rumor.”

  Caroline came out of my closet with an armful of clothes, crossing over the bed as Agnes dove back in. I didn’t realize that I had so many clothes until they started rummaging in there as if they were going for gold. Caroline dumped them on the bed, then sat down and leveled me with her dark gaze.

  “For your information, Alexis, that ‘stupid rumor’ is true. And who wouldn’t want to go to a party when an all-star quarterback is going to be there? Have you seen him in the flesh? He’s so much hotter than he is on TV!”

  I grimaced and turned my gaze away. Ryder Russ was hot, and I had seen him in the flesh, one too many times, which was why I was avoiding it like the plague. A boring evening was so much more appealing than seeing the man I once admired, but now couldn’t stand to be in the same room with, without my heart feeling as if it was about to go out of control. He made me lose all my senses, and I couldn’t go back down that road. Not again.

  “Get up and get dressed,” Caroline coaxed. “You have too many sexy things to wear, to struggle like this.”

  She wasn’t getting the message; it wasn’t because I had nothing to wear. It was simply because I didn’t want to go.

  “My car’s outside. Just put on anything and let’s get out of here,” Caroline said as if she was talking to one of our patients. I hated the way that she spoke to me at times. Especially when it came to partying. She always said that I was the party pooper which was why I never understood why she always insisted that I tagged along with them.

  “We’re not leaving you behind,” Agnes added, dropping some jackets and shoes next to the clothes Caroline already picked out. I knew that she was saying it more for Caroline’s benefit rather than my own. That was exactly what they did last time, and I was relieved. God, when did I get so old and boring?

  “Guys, I don’t want to go,” I protested weakly. “Maybe another day, another party.”

  “It’s been so long since we went out, though!” Agnes pouted.

  Caroline nodded, then asked, “Why don’t you want to go so badly? Last time you blew us off. But this time too. What’s up with you?”

  I just groaned and tipped my head back, and I hit it against the headboard. Even if I wanted to tell them, I couldn’t, because it was a secret and not just mine.

  I didn’t want to go and meet Ryder Russ because I went to high school with him. I even went to Prom with him. He’d been the bad boy then, and was still a bad boy now. Only this time, I’m smarter. I wasn’t going to get drawn in by him. Not again. Not in this life time.

  Ryder became a star, like I always knew he could be. He’d been sweet to me, at first, on those first few dates. I’d even started falling for him. Then came Prom…and… Do not go there, Alexis.

  Since Prom, there hadn't been any contact with him, and it would be too fucking awkward to just appear at a party I knew he’d be at. Maybe if it happened by accident…though even then, I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t just turn tail and run the moment I saw him.

  “Why don’t the two of you just go ahead?” I said, a little desperate. “It should have started already, right? You don’t want to miss it.”

  Caroline just sighed. “We can stand to be fashionably late. What’s wrong, Alexis, seriously. And don’t tell me you don’t feel well. After the week we’ve had at work, I figured you of all people would be up for relaxing.”

  I gave her an incredulous look. “Exactly how do you see going to a party as relaxing?”

  She shrugged, and Agnes popped down on the bed next to her with a grin.

  “Because,” Agnes answered, “at the party, you get to meet your friends and co-workers outside of a work environment. There will be good music, good beer, and good friends to hang out with. And, if you’re lucky, a hot guy to take you home for a night of fun.”

  I folded my arms over my chest. “Well, I’m not interested in any of that. My idea
of relaxing, is staying at home and doing whatever I want. I can just as easily listen to my own music, than some loud music at some stranger’s house.”

  “It’s not a stranger, though,” Caroline jumped in. “We’ve totally met him! It’s…uh…” She tilted her head with a frown, thinking.

  “You pretty much just proved my point. You don’t know the owner of the house, where this party is taking place.”

  It was Caroline’s time to pout.

  “Don’t look at me like that!” I said, scowling. “Seriously, you guys are right. This party is a big thing, and you guys really want to be there, so I don’t see why you’re both still here trying to drag me after I’ve refused so many times already.”

  Agnes sighed, then moved around the bed to sit beside me and leaned back against the headboard, while Caroline stayed in place at the foot of the bed.

  “If you really want us to just go and leave you, then at least give us a reason. There has to be something holding you back from going to this party, right?”

  I chewed on my bottom lip. They were both just so damn stubborn! I couldn’t fucking tell them, and honestly, I didn’t even want to!

  My relationship with Ryder was something I’d been determined to forget about completely. He’d hurt me back then. Hell, he never even tried to fix things back then. Why would I want to see him again? What would happen if I saw him again? If he saw me again? There was no way we could go back to what we had anyway, not after all that had happened. Starting over would just be wishful thinking. If I saw him again, I would probably just get hurt more, and I was fucking over that.

  Going to that party…would definitely be a mistake.

  “Look,” I said with a heavy sigh. “There’s really nothing I can tell you guys about why I don’t want to go to this party.” It was, technically, a lie. I could tell them, but I didn’t want to. “But I don’t want to ruin your night just because I really feel like staying in tonight.”

  “There’s really nothing we can say to get you to go with us?” Caroline asked, checking.

  I shook my head slowly. I did feel sorry that I couldn’t go. When was the last time we’d even hung out when we weren’t at work, or it wasn’t something work related?

  “I promise we’ll do something later, though,” I said quickly. “I swear, the next time off we have, we will definitely go out partying, and I will keep going even after you guys grow sick of it, and I’ll be the one dragging you off.”

  Agnes snorted while Caroline outright laughed. Instead of getting up and walking around like Agnes did, she got on her knees, and jumped right at me. I squealed and tried to move so she wouldn’t crush me, but I couldn’t move with Agnes in the way. I ended up with them at my sides, caging me in as we all laughed.

  Still, I felt some guilt, because they were my closest friends, and I was keeping things from them.

  It’s for the best, though, I consoled myself. Ryder and I are the past, and things should stay that way.

  I truly believed that, even as my heart ached, just a little, for thinking of him.

  2

  Ryder

  It had been a while since I went to a party, and an even longer while since I was so anxious to be at one. I’d tried to avoid them after the last year. Things had gotten…out of control and I was finally clean and sober. I stepped out of the car and onto the lawn of an unfamiliar house. I wasn’t there for sightseeing, though. I might know a few people that would attend the party, but there was only one person I wanted to see.

  “Hey, man, you look excited,” Craig, my best friend, said with a laugh. “Damn, and I thought I’d have to drag you here!”

  I didn’t say anything, shooting him a dirty look when he gave me a smack on the back that made me stumble.

  “It’s not like my being here matters anyway. I know you, you’re going to find some sexy nurse and take her home with you for the night, won’t you? Or, hell, why go home! There’s a perfect house with plenty of room right here.” I gestured at the house with my hand.

  He just laughed some more, not even trying to deny it.

  “You know me well,” he said shamelessly, grinning. “But, dude! Nurses are the best! And I told you, didn’t I? Some of the nurses that work over at General Hospital will be coming over!”

  “And I’m sure it’s the only reason you came here at all,” I said with a mock sneer.

  He just smirked. “Hey, you never know. You might meet someone you wouldn’t mind taking home with you for once. You’re young, Ryder. Live a little! Find some pretty young lady to fuck, and either see her tomorrow, or you don’t. I brought you with me today because you seriously need to get laid.”

  I rolled my eyes, shoving my hands in my pockets as I picked up my pace. Really that was the last thing I needed. The last pretty girl I hooked up with…well, it just did not go well.

  Craig suddenly called out and jogged until he was walking beside me. He threw an arm over my shoulder, but I just ignored him. Even Craig wouldn’t distract me from this. Though, he and his thing for nurses was the whole reason I was here. He’d told me already that nurses from General Hospital would be at this party. It was the only reason I dragged myself out of my place.

  My heart was beating hard and fast, and it only seemed to get worse as we neared the entrance.

  Craig opened the door, and the muffled noise was suddenly deafening, but I didn’t pay it much mind. “Hey, look,” Craig said, having to yell over the sound of music and people mingling to be heard. “I’m gonna look for some of the guys, and we can hang out for a bit, all right? Don’t disappear on me!”

  I spared him a second, just long enough to scoff at him. “Really? When you know you’re going off on your own the moment we’re inside?”

  He didn’t reply, just winked at me with a smirk, then he disappeared into the crowd.

  I put him out of my mind and looked around. My heart still wasn’t coming down, and my hands were beginning to sweat. I lost count of how many times I’d rubbed my palms on my jeans until I just kept both on my thighs.

  “Hey, Ryder!”

  “Dude, over here!”

  I heard the few people I knew calling me over, but I ignored them with nothing more than a vague wave. I was still looking for someone, but she might not even be there.

  Alexis…where the fuck are you?

  I frowned the longer I looked and didn’t see her. Alexis, the girl I took to the Prom and thought I’d spent the rest of my life with. Well, I was pretty naïve back then, but still, she was the best thing I could remember from my life back then. Back before everything...

  Of course, I managed to screw that up too, though I’m still not sure what happened. Out of nowhere, she just pulled away from me. I hadn’t even realized it was happening. That had always pissed me off.

  She’s got to fucking be here, I thought to myself, growing a little frantic. There’s no way she wouldn’t…right?

  I could just picture it. She’d show up, we’d talk, and I’d find out what happened and maybe we could get together again. Maybe this would be the upswing my life needed. Maybe it was just a crazy illusion, but…fuck! Whatever happened in the end, I just wanted to see her.

  “Ryder, hey! There you are. Why are you still by the door?”

  I looked up at Craig’s yell, easily discernible even over the loud noise. I didn’t bother telling him I was looking for someone in particular. If Alexis wasn’t there, maybe it was because she hadn't arrived yet, and I didn’t want to miss her.

  “Look who I found!” he continued, dragging a few people behind him.

  “Oh, look,” I said without a hint of enthusiasm. “It’s the guys!” I frowned at Craig, but he didn’t seem to notice my sour mood.

  It wasn’t like I had something against them. They were all my friends from high school and college; it was just that Alexis was unfinished business. I'd planned on fixing that tonight. I didn’t have any other way to contact her, so if she didn’t show up…

  Don’t fuck
ing think about that, I told myself with a wince. She’ll come.

  But even as I thought that with complete confidence, I was rubbing my palms against my jeans.

  “Well, don’t just stand around here!” Craig said, grabbing my arm. “Let’s go get some drinks, shoot the shit, just like old times!”

  I was reluctant, drinking really wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I let him drag me. At least we moved to a sofa that wasn’t so out of view of the entrance. As long as people didn’t get in my way, I’d have a clear view of whoever came in through the door. Someone shoved a beer in my hand, and I started drinking without thinking, idly listening to their chatter. I barely noticed when a second bottle, then a third, was shoved into my hands.

  What the fuck, Alexis…

  “The fuck is up with you?”

  I jumped at Craig’s voice, so sudden and way too close to my ear. I shoved him off me with a look or irritation, but he just laughed.

  “The fuck do you mean?” I growled back.

  He shrugged his shoulders, and he must have drunk more than me, but his eyes were looking right at me.

  “I don’t know, man, just…on edge. Like you’re waiting for someone.” His expression froze, then he leered. “No way. You’re checking out the crowd, looking for a specific girl? Maybe one to fuck?” he added suggestively.