Second Chances Read Online Free Page A

hit the home screen to answer.
                  “Hello,” she mumbled, finally able to speak without sounding like a frog.  The fog and smoke that filled the club last night kept her from sounding normal, but she tried anyway. 
                  “Paige?” Her baby sister’s concern shone through the line, giving Paige pause.  She groaned and reached for a bottle of water on her nightstand.
                  Even after a sip, her mouth still felt like cotton, but that didn't stop her from trying to one-hundred percent.  She almost sang into the phone, faking sobriety. “Hey, Maya.”
                  “Are you okay?”  Maya anxiously leaned forward in her chair, worried at the sound of her voice.  With all her sister had been going through, all sorts of scenarios ran through her mind.
                  “Yeah, great!  Just …” 
                  At that moment, what Paige had been trying to keep down started pushing its way up her esophagus.  She dropped the phone and ran to the bathroom, thankful to make it to the toilet before letting everything from last night come out.
                  Maya heard the gagging in the background and bit her bottom lip.  If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought her sister had tied a few on.  Chances were slim that she was sick, as she and her family weren’t prone to the flu and never threw up.  She patiently waited until she heard rustling noises increasing through the earpiece of her phone. 
    As Paige picked the phone back up, Maya asked, “Um, everything okay?” She sat and waited patiently for her sister.
                  “Yeah, it is now,” Paige said, truthfully.  She felt much better.
                  “Do I need to text Skylar, and ask her to bring you some chicken noodle soup?” Maya fished, to confirm her suspicions.
                  Paige stared at the ceiling, wondering if her friend was feeling as bad as she was or if she was more accustomed to this sort of thing.             
                  “No, I think she’s probably still asleep.”
                  “Paige, it’s noon!”
                  “Is it?”  Her voice rose, as she looked at her clock.
                  “Are you hung over?”
                  “Maybe a little.  Don’t tell mom.”  Paige heard Maya giggle.  “Seriously, don’t tell mom.”
                  “I won’t.  Besides, you’re a grown woman.  Where did you two go last night?”
                  “Skylar convinced me it would be good for me to get out, so she dragged me down to Old Town, near her place.  Oh, man,” she groaned.  “I’ve been out with her a lot in the past, but that was when I was committed to someone else.  I didn’t have to worry about what other people thought of me.  And Skylar was like a … well, let’s just say that’s when I realized that I’m so out of the loop. I don’t know how to be single.” 
    Paige sighed remembering the events that led up to her slow descent, and the image of Davis with a tiny blonde woman flashed through her mind.
    “And then I saw them.”  She rolled on her side and closed her eyes.
    “Who?”
    “Davis and … her.”  Paige felt a tear slide down her face.
    “So you finally caught a glimpse of her.  I’m so sorry, sis.”
    “I didn’t see her face.  I saw them from across the dance floor.  Her back was to me.  But I saw enough that I knew I wasn’t brave enough to run into them yet, so I had a few drinks to drown my sorrows.  Before I knew it, I’d had one more.”
                  Maya chimed in.  “Then one more …”
                  “Yup.”  Paige blew a few strands of hair away that flopped in her face.  “I got pretty sloppy, so I called a cab.”