Free The Spice of Life (The Transformation #1) by Jake Furie Lapin

now.
     
    Finally, I sent her a text to explain myself and put her mind somewhat at ease.
     
    "Megan, I am upset, but I understand why you did what you did. I've been there before, afraid of the truth. I'll call you when I am at the gate, as I'll probably have 30 minutes or so to kill, OK?"
     
    "OMG, thank you Sir xo," she replied.
     
    As I drove to the airport I thought about the fact that V was texting me. It had to be something major; she usually only reached out to me when she was in significant pain. What could it be? I knew that she had recently been involved with a guy that I knew was a complete player. I had tried to warn V about him, and knew that she might get hurt, but she’d been obsessed with winning him over. I knew that it was really about the chase on both sides, and that it wouldn’t last, but she was determined to pursue the relationship.
     
    I called her and within a few minutes, she had broken down in tears. He had left her, just like I had predicted. I gave her some words of comfort. It really bothered me to see her in pain. I tried to give her the support that she needed, and she eventually calmed down. I told her that when I got back from my Vegas trip that we could get together and talk about things.
     
    After I checked in and got through security at the airport, I decided to give Megan a call. I figured that I would at least give her a chance to explain herself. She was incredibly grateful and told me over and over again how sorry she was for having deceived me. I told her that I liked her a lot but that I needed for us to be completely transparent with one another from this point forward. There could be no room for any lies.
     
    Megan immediately agreed, and I told her that I was going to be very busy on the Vegas trip, particularly as I was planning to participate in several poker tournaments. However, I also told her that I wanted to take her out for dinner when I came back from Vegas, so that we could get to know each other better.
     
    Kelli felt approving. “Good for you!” she said. “I think second chances are important.” She thought of how many times she had given Paul a second, third, and fourth chance. It had been the right thing to do at the time, even if those days were coming to an end.
     
    “So, you still haven’t told me about Vegas! What happened when you got there?”
     
    “Well, I was ready for a swim, so I got my swim trunks on and headed for the pool. A bunch of my poker buddies were already there and having beers, so I joined them. What immediately caught my eye was the fact that all the guys were sitting in a row, and there was one empty chair. Next to the empty chair was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Of course I sat in the empty chair.
     
    I sat for a while making small talk with my buddies, but eventually the woman turned to me and struck up a conversation. She asked about the tournament and we got into a great conversation. I can always tell when a woman is interested or available, and this was definitely one of those situations. We started to talk more intimately, and she told me that her boyfriend was also in the pool bragging up his poker tournament prowess. She confessed to me that she traveled all over the country with him, but that she never actually got to spend time with him.
     
    “What do you mean?” I asked her.
     
    She replied, “Well, it’s just that he’s always gambling or sleeping, or out drinking with his buddies! I hardly ever get to see him.”
     
    I leaned in and gazed into her eyes. “Do you get lonely?”
     
    She nodded, slowly. “Yes, yes I do. I just want to be able to spend quality time with the man I love.”
     
    We talked for a few minutes longer before she turned to me. “Jake, I know this might be a lot to ask and you might be busy, but would you be able to just hang out with me for a while? Just dinner and talking?”
     
    I agreed. I was still thinking of both Megan and V, but it seemed like a little friendly