Beautiful Chances (The Beautiful Series) by Alicia Rae

some ideas. What did you like to do as a teenager?”
    I laughed at that one. “Most of my teenage years were spent outdoors when I wasn’t studying.”
    “What did you do outdoors?”
    “I used to ride four-wheelers on the trails and in the mud with my cousins. I’d go swimming in lakes and ponds with my sister, or I’d write stories under a tree for hours.” I remembered pleasant times of each of those remembrances.
    “Huh…you used to ride four-wheelers? The same girl who wears expensive dresses and shoes rides four-wheelers and swims in ponds?” he asked.
    “Are you enjoying the visual?”
    He gave me a husky laugh. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely enjoying an image of you with some Daisy Dukes on, covered in mud, riding a four-wheeler.” He let out a sigh. “Yes, that is a very good visual indeed. I’m very thankful that my sophisticated girlie girl, who has sexy black heels, knows how to be a tomboy, too. This gives me many ideas for our next date.”
    Now, I was intrigued, anticipating when I would see him again. I loved how interested he was in learning new things about me.
    “Glad I could be helpful. Well, I’m off to bed. I have a long day of writing tomorrow if I plan to have much of a weekend at all.”
    “Get your work done, and keep the weekend open for me,” he teased. “Date two is in the making.”
    He was careful not to reveal too much information.
    “That will be easy because I don’t have plans anyway.”
    “Very good to know. Sweet dreams, Lily. I’ll be seeing you soon. Good night,” he said soothingly.
    “Good night, Kyle.”
    As soon as I disconnected the call, I realized I was smiling ear to ear once again. The man could make my heart flutter, my brain stutter, and my body shudder all at once. It was an enthralling combination. I drifted off to sleep with my last thoughts of Kyle.

I woke up covered in sweat as I heard someone scream. My heart raced as my body shook with tremors. I quickly realized I was the one who had been screaming. In this dream, I remembered hearing my sister’s horrible cries as I’d pinched my eyes at the bright light, and then the sound of metal grinding and clashing had overtaken me with deafening decibels before I saw black…complete darkness. It was one of the dreams that I had often, but it felt like I only had pieces of the puzzle.
    I was not sure how much I actually wanted to remember from that horrifying night. It was the night my whole world and everyone in it had been altered and shattered…ripped away from me. I would give anything to erase that one day…just that one day.
    As I glanced at the clock, I realized it was only four in the morning. I decided to get up and start my day early. After a nightmare, it never did much good for me to try to sleep again. It was easier to get up and push it out of my mind.
    After a few hours of power cleaning and laundry, I decided to go on a morning jog along the shoreline. Adrenaline pumped through my body as I listened to my music, and I pushed myself to run even faster. I ran harder and harder until my dream felt far enough away from me.
    I waved to Luke before I made one more loop around the cottages and back up the shoreline again. When I circled back, Luke began walking up to me with my breakfast in his hand.
    “Hey, Lil. I saw you were up early for your jog, and I made you a bagel,” he said kindly as we walked up to my patio.
    When I reached for the bagel, he pulled it back. “Only if you say, ‘Luke is awesome!’” he taunted me with the food.
    He had forgotten that I didn’t always fight fair when it came to food. A girl’s gotta eat. I took a step toward him and gave him a light elbow in the ribs. When he bent forward, I quickly grabbed my bagel with a smirk.
    “You don’t fight fair, Lil.” He pretended to be wounded as he shook his head. “Must have been all those cousins of yours. They taught you well.” He laughed and sat down one of my patio chairs. He started digging into his