Second Chances

Brian got to the motel at 2:30 the next afternoon.

Jenn had left a voice message on his cell phone, asking him to meet her there. “Hi, come on in.”

“Actually, can we go for a walk? I’ve been feeling really antsy all day. I think the fresh air will do me some good.”

“Sure,” she replied. “Just let me grab a jacket.”

Brian was silent, walking alongside her. He still felt guilty about talking to Jennifer last night. He just hoped that he hadn’t royally fucked things up.

“So, how did the concert go last night? Not that I don’t already know myself.” Jenn stated matter of factly.

Last night, she’d bought a ticket to a movie whose name she couldn’t even remember now, and halfway through she’d been flooded with memories—new memories, double memories---of meeting Brian Littrell for the first time not at the Labor day party at the Hard Rock Café, but at the concert.

The memory was fuzzy at first, and she really had to work to recall the incident. Even then, it didn’t seem to gel until she remembered that kiss. Somehow that sweet sensation brought the entire encounter into sharp focus. Then she remembered the conversation she and Brian had had almost word for word.

She hadn’t bothered to watch the rest of the movie. She’d spent the time instead sitting there in the darkened theater with her eyes closed, replaying that second incredible kiss over and over in her mind, trying to make that memory stronger, willing herself to recall something that had happened five years ago.

Something that had happened just last night.

But now Brian was here, inches away from her, and she didn’t have to rely on memories. His gaze flicked down to her mouth before he looked searchingly into her eyes. He smiled then, very slightly, and she knew he was thinking about the incredible kiss too.

“That WAS you, wasn’t it?” he whispered.

Jenn nodded. “Yeah. That was me.”

Brian was entranced by the way, once again, just like last night, she took her time leaning closer and closer until her mouth covered his. She kissed him, slowly, sweetly, almost reverently.

He reached for her, pulling her tightly against him.

“I’ve been dying to do that again for the past five years.”

“Jenn……”Brian lifted his head to look at her, but instantly forgot whatever it was he’d intended to say. The heat in her eyes seemed to magnify all of the secrets revealed by the intimacy of their embrace. He wanted her. Badly. She couldn’t help but know that.

And when he lowered his head to kiss her again, she kissed him back hungrily, desperately. She pulled him even more tightly against her, running her fingers through the unbearable softness of his hair. All of her senses seemed to explode as she kissed him harder, deeper, as if all of the emotions of the past five years stood up in unison and cried out to be heard.

Brian had had complete sexual encounters that were far less powerful, and far less meaningful, than this single kiss.

“Dear God,” he breathed, pulling back.

As Jenn gazed into his eyes she knew that with that kiss, she had given far too much away—she had revealed way too much of her feelings. She took no comfort from knowing that Brian had done the same.

“That was a mistake,” she told him.

He pushed her away to arm’s length so that she wouldn’t see the disappointment he knew was on his face. “Yeah. You’re probably right. A big mistake.”

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