Free Last Chance: A Second Chances Novel by L. P. Dover Page A

stable and resting. You can go in and see her now.” He gave us the room number, and Summer and Grayson headed out the door. I started to follow them out, but Evan stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
    “Wait,” he said.
    I was desperate to see Lara. “Why?”
    “I want you to tell me what happened with you and Lara. You never got the chance to explain.”
    Eyes burning, I could still hear Lara’s scream when she was hit. “I was on the phone with her when it happened. I heard the crash, the sound of her screams. It’s a sound I don’t ever want to hear again.”
    Evan closed his eyes. “Holy fuck, that had to be terrifying.”
    Tears fell down my cheeks and I let them stay there. I’d never cried so much in my fucking life. “After that happened, I jumped on my bike to find her. She was on her way to my house so I knew she couldn’t be far away.” Fists clenched, I slammed them against the seat arms. “She was so close to my house. If that son of a bitch hadn’t hit her, she’d be with me, instead of on her deathbed in this damn hospital.” I lowered my head. “We would be happy.”
    “I’m assuming she chose you?” he asked, his voice just above a whisper.
    “Yes.” I lifted my teary gaze to his. “She told me she’d ended things with Grayson, that I had one last chance to make it right between us, to not let her down. I told her I loved her . . . and then everything happened.”
    Evan’s face grew pale. “I can’t believe this.”
    I nodded. “Tell me about it. Just as I was about to get her back, she’s taken away from me.”
    He gripped my shoulder and squeezed. “Not for long. As soon as she recovers, she’ll be all yours.”
    “Not without complications,” I stated. “Grayson doesn’t look like he’s going to bow out gracefully.”
    Evan snorted. “He’s not going to have a choice. If Lara chose you, there’s nothing he can do about it.”
    Unfortunately, it hadn’t stopped me from trying to win her back when she was with him. I had a feeling he was going to pay me back, with interest. Taking a deep breath, I headed for the door and Evan followed me to her room. The door was shut and I opened it quietly, the sound of beeping machines and Summer’s soft cries were all I could hear.
    Swallowing hard, I walked into the room and felt my sanity hanging on by a thread. Lara didn’t look like herself. Instead, she had a bandage wrapped around the entirety of her head and her eyes were blue and swollen. If I’d have walked by her, I wouldn’t have known who she was.
    Grayson sat on one side of her while Summer was on the other, both holding her hands. I wanted to grab Grayson by the neck and throw him out. He shouldn’t be the one touching her; it was my job now.
    Evan gripped my elbow and whispered a warning in my ear. “You need to calm down. No matter the outcome, he loves her just as much as you do.” He stepped past me and murmured something in Summer’s ear. She nodded and got up, exiting the room.
    Taking Summer’s empty seat, I gently clasped Lara’s hand. They were small and delicate-looking, but we all knew Lara had a temper and could hurt someone with those hands. That was one of the things I loved about her—her fiery temper.
    “If she wasn’t on her way to see you, none of this would’ve happened,” Grayson hissed.
    If we weren’t in a hospital room, with Lara between us, I would’ve punched the shit out of him. “Does placing the blame on me make you feel better? I can’t help it she chose me over you.”
    He scoffed. “She’s infatuated with you, but she loves me. What we had was real.”
    I hated the fact she’d been with him, that they were intimate. I couldn’t blame her for moving on, but the thought still stung. “And now it’s over,” I said. “She told me what happened between you two.”
    He shook his head. “She was confused. When she wakes up, it’ll all be cleared up. It was just a misunderstanding.”
    Clenching my teeth, I