Free A Fighting Chance by Annalisa Nicole Page A

never be equal with Kyle. I’ll never be good enough for Max. I’m just, never enough. I decide to go out with them. It will satisfy everyone’s need to see me for a while. Then I can go back to everyone just leaving me the hell alone.
    I change out of my scrubs and head downstairs. Ava, true to her word, is parked in an illegal loading zone waiting for me. I get in and don’t say a word to her. She glances at me out of the corner of her eye and smirks.
    We pull up to the new restaurant and make our way inside. Didn’t this used to be a Sushi place?
    All of the Wellington family siblings and their parents are sitting at a large, rectangular table. Kyle eyes me with disappointment as I take my seat. What’s new? I can’t seem to please anyone anymore. My nephew, Noah, is giggling while being bounced on Amelia’s knee. Gosh, he’s gotten so big. When did that happen? He looks just like Kyle.
    Everyone is having an animated conversation. Their lives seem so uncomplicated and easy going. Every single one of them seems to have their good fortune handed to them on a silver platter. They’re not tarnished and tainted by life’s cruel and inhumane sense of punishment that only I seem to have bestowed on me. Asher is on the phone, and the second I look at him, he smirks and darts his eyes away.
    Just as I take a sip of water, the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. A chill races down the back of my spine. I don’t even need to look. I know this feeling. Max has entered the room. Without even checking it’s true, I stand up and grab my purse. I was willing to play along and appease them by being here, but there’s no way in hell I can stay with Max here too.
    “No, you sit, it’s alright. I’ll leave. You don’t need to go. I’m sorry, I was told you weren’t going to be here,” his voice says just behind me. Every word is like a dagger to my heart. His voice, as much as I hate myself for thinking it, is something that I’ve missed.
    “You’re both here now, there’s no reason you both can’t stay,” Asher says with a smirk.
    All of these people are wasting their time by playing silly games to try and get Max and I back together. It’s not that I can’t or don’t want to give Max a second chance. I physically and mentally cannot. You can’t give nothing to someone. That’s what I am. Nothing.
    I slowly sit back down with a nod. What does it matter if he’s here? I feel his scrutinizing stare. Everyone places their order and goes back to their conversations, spewing about all the good things that happen to them.
    A waitress and a man wearing a chef hat appear with arm loads of food. It doesn’t even smell good. I don’t know who ordered everything, but it smells like vile dog food. I glance up as he begins to speak.
    “My name is Jaxon Landry, and I’d like to personally welcome you all to Jax. I hope you all find your meals enjoyable. After dinner, I’d like to offer you all a complimentary dessert, I hear there is reason to celebrate,” he says looking at each family member in the eye. When he gets to Ava, his pupils dilate and his whole demeanor softens. Great, I’ve seen that look before. These people can’t go anywhere without something good happening to them.
    Ava brushes it off like it was nothing, but not before I saw the glimmer of attraction in her eyes. She shut it down so fast, I’m sure no one else noticed it.
    The Chef served a special cheesecake for dessert, which the family seems to really enjoy. I didn’t eat my dinner, and I just push my dessert around the plate. I can feel Max still staring at me. As the dishes are cleared away, Samuel stands and raises his glass.
    “We have no control over destiny. It has been written in the stars, each and every member of this family. We cannot see each star yet, but we welcome each and every one of them with love and open arms. A family is not limited to the blood that runs through their veins, but by the love that invisibly