Buzz: A Second Chance Romance Read online

  By Karli Perrin

  Copyright © 2019 Karli Perrin

  All rights reserved.

  Thank you for purchasing this eBook. Please keep this book in its complete original form with the exception of quotes used in reviews. No alteration of content is allowed. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet without the author's permission.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely fictional. The characters and storylines are created from the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  This book is not recommended to anyone under the age of sixteen due to strong language and sexual themes throughout.

  Cover design by Jay Perrin.

  Other books by Karli Perrin

  April Showers (April #1)

  April Fools (April #2)

  The Honey Trap

  Short stories –

  The Gift

  The Book Boyfriend

  The Book Addict

  Dedication

  To Roxy.

  Thank you for having the patience of a saint. This one is for you.

  Author’s note - Although Buzz can be read as a standalone, it is advised to read The Honey Trap first as it provides some background to Buzz and Lori’s story.

  The Honey Trap is currently free in Kindle Unlimited.

  “This isn’t the story of how we met.

  This is the story of how I lost her.

  And how I tried to win her back.”

  - Buzz

  Thursday.

  My favorite day of the week.

  I get to finish work early, the weekend is within touching distance and last but definitely not least; it’s Throwback Thursday, motherfuckers. It’s the one day of the week where I get to sleep with my exes, no strings attached. It even has its own hashtag on social media. People mistakenly use it to post pictures from the past, but I know the real meaning behind it.

  I unlock my phone and scroll down my long list of contacts, considering all of my options.

  Amber – out of town.

  Brittany – has a boyfriend.

  Ellie – too clingy.

  Hailee – married.

  Lacey – pregnant.

  Marissa – talks too much.

  Rebecca – likes to cuddle.

  Stacey – psychopath.

  Victoria – works on Thursdays.

  Decisions, decisions.

  I sigh and tap the call button next to Stacey’s name. She always answers on the sixth ring. When we started dating, if you can even call it that, she answered immediately. It was like she was constantly waiting for me to call. After one month, she would wait one ring before answering. After two months, she waited two rings. We made it to six rings before I ended it. That was over a year ago, but she still acts like it was yesterday. She’s bitter and badmouths me to all of her friends but that still doesn’t stop them from trying to hook up with me.

  She answers on the sixth ring. Even though she’s a psycho, she’s a predictable one. I know exactly what I’m getting with her. Angry hate sex and if she’s in a good mood, a blowjob. “What do you want?”

  “It’s nice to talk to you, too,” I reply sarcastically.

  She sighs. “I’m busy. What do you want?”

  “Busy doing what?”

  “Quit with the small talk, Buzz. Why are you calling me? Do you want to fuck?”

  I laugh. This is why I chose to call Stacey. Straight down to business. “Well if you’re offering...”

  “I know that’s the only reason you’ve called me, douchebag. Give me an hour. I need to get rid of Gary.”

  “Who’s Gary?”

  “The new guy. I’m training him up.”

  “Training him up? At work?” The last time I bothered to listen, she was still working at Sephora.

  “No. I’ve been seeing him for a few weeks but he can’t give me an orgasm. He’s really funny and kind so I don’t want to give up on him just yet.”

  I chuckle. “He’s not that kind if he can’t even give you an orgasm but he’s already made me laugh so I see what you mean about him being funny.”

  She hangs up.

  “See. It’s easy,” I tell Stacey as she stops shuddering after having her second orgasm of the night. I only usually give her the one but tonight I’m trying to prove a point. “Gary must be broken.”

  She sits up and scowls. “Why do you always have to ruin the moment?”

  “Hey, you should be thanking me.”

  “Thanking you for what? Using me?” She looks around for her panties.

  “I’m only using you as much as you’re using me. I can get my orgasms wherever I want but apparently you can’t.”

  She catches the thong that I throw at her. “You’re such an asshole. This won’t be happening again.”

  “Okay.”

  “I mean it.”

  “I’ll see you next week.”

  She narrows her eyes as she buttons up her shirt. “Everything was going great between us. Why did you have to go and ruin it? We could have been happy together.”

  I shudder at the thought of being in a relationship with her. It was never going great. I’ve never wanted a girlfriend. I only agreed to it to shut her up. I was super busy at work and the thought of regular sex appealed to me. Plus, she wasn’t such a psychopath until the end. “Stacey, we’ve been through this at least fifty times. You faked being pregnant. Everything was not going great.”

  “I only did that to get your attention. To get your love.”

  “Well it did the opposite, didn’t it?” I’ve never loved her. I never even came close. I did the right thing by breaking up with her. It was a kind move on my part. She wanted love and commitment and I would never have been able to give her either of those things. Now she’s free to settle down with Mr Nice Guy Gary. It’s called settling down for a reason and that’s something I’ll never do.

  “This won’t be happening again,” she says again, as though she’s trying to convince herself.

  “Then you better hope Gary’s a quick learner.”

  “You’re such a smug bastard.”

  “It was lovely to see you, Stacey.”

  “Shame I can’t say the same thing in return.” She shakes her head. “At least Gary respects women.”

  “Oh, are we talking about respect now? I lost all respect for you when you photoshopped your name onto somebody else’s baby scan then cut all the sleeves off my shirts when I found out you were lying.”

  She walks over to the door. “I’m glad I did that. I hope it taught you a lesson.” It did. It taught me that you’re batshit crazy. “You spend way too much money on material things.”

  Says the girl who refuses to step foot in Target. “I can spend my hard-earned cash on whatever the fuck I want.” I wave her away. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

  Lucky escape, I think to myself as I hear it close behind her. I walk over to the window, just to check that she’s actually left. It wouldn’t surprise me if she pretended to leave so she could kill me in my sleep. I watch as she unlocks her car and just as she’s about to climb in, she looks up and gives me the middle finger. I chuckle and blow her a kiss.

  Five minutes later, I call Marissa.

  I skip into my boss’s office the next morning feeling refreshed which is good considering I only had four hours sleep. “TGIF,” I announce as I close the door behind me. I freeze when I get my first look at him. "Woah, what happened to you?" He didn’t get laid, that’s for sure. “You look like shit." Luckily, my boss is also my best friend.

  "Thanks. You really know how to make a person feel good, d
on't you?"

  I grin. "Oh, believe me, I do. In fact, I made Stacey feel very good last night."

  "Psycho ex-girlfriend Stacey?"

  "Correct."

  "I thought you said you'd rather cut off your balls with a blunt knife than ever see her again? And that you'd rather be celibate for the rest of your life than..."

  "Bro!" I shout, interrupting him. "Don't use the C word." How dare he speak about celibacy in my presence. He knows that’s my number one fear. I even applied to be on the TV show Fear Factor but apparently they don’t class it as a genuine fear. But cotton wool is? Pricks.

  Mason laughs. "I thought you two were over for good this time."

  "We are but it was Thursday yesterday."

  "What's that got to do with anything?"

  He never listens to me. I’ve mentioned it to him hundreds of times but in his defense, he’s been busy dealing with his own psycho ex the past few months. "Throwback Thursday. I'm allowed to sleep with my exes, no strings attached."

  "I'm seriously contemplating firing you for saying that."

  "Why? It's a real thing. Just like today is Follow Friday." I draw a hash tag in the air. "Or what I like to call hash tag FF."

  He pretends to hit his head against the desk. "Please tell me you didn't just do that."

  "As I was saying, Follow Friday is where I allow a hot girl to follow me home."

  "Oh, so you're going to allow them to go home with you rather than spending hours persuading them?"

  "Yep, you'll see exactly how it works tonight. Are we still on for drinks?"

  "Yeah but only if you stop being lame."

  "I will if you will. Anyway, how did it go last night? Is that why you look so rough?" Surely meeting up with his soon-to-be ex-wife and some of her friends who still don’t know about their separation would have that affect.

  "Again, thank you. But yeah, it was bad."

  "Do you wanna talk about it?"

  "Not really."

  "Good, I'm not in the mood to listen to you whine today."

  "Remind me, why are we friends again?" He hands me a piece of paper. "Here, go and make yourself useful."

  "What's this?"

  "A phone number."

  I roll my eyes. "I can see that, Einstein, but whose? Is it your assistant’s? Has she finally fallen for my good looks and boyish charm?" I doubt it. She hates me ever since I kissed her at last year’s Christmas party. Don’t worry, it had nothing to do with my kissing ability. I’m golden in that area. It was because she found me fondling Kirsty from accounting ten minutes later. It’s not my fault that her mom didn’t teach her how to share.

  He ignores me. "I want you to trace it and find out as much as you can."

  I try to look as serious as possible. "The last time you asked me to do this, somebody wound up dead."

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  I laugh. I love playing around with him. He’s too damn serious most of the time. It’s only going to get worse as he goes through the divorce. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I've been watching too much Netflix recently."

  "Just trace the number."

  "Okay but a little more information would be nice."

  "I met somebody last night."

  "What do you mean you met somebody?” I gasp. “A woman?"

  He shrugs. "It's no big deal."

  "So then why are you asking me to trace her number?"

  "I'm not. I'm asking you to trace her friend’s number."

  "You're making no sense. Why have you got her friend’s number?"

  "Because the woman I met used my phone to call her friend."

  A huge grin breaks out across my face. "Dude, why was she using your phone? You fucked her, didn't you?"

  "She borrowed my phone at the restaurant. Nothing else happened."

  "Liar. At least now I know the real reason why you look like shit."

  He points to the door. "Just trace the damn number, Buzz."

  I skip out of the room. It looks like I might be getting the real Mason back.

  I hesitate for about half a second before pressing the call button. Why the hell would I waste an hour of my life hacking into systems and triangulating signals when I could just call the damn number?

  Just when I think it’s about to go to voicemail, somebody picks up. “Hello?”

  I sit up a little straighter. “Hello. Who am I speaking to?”

  “Who am I speaking to?” I imagine her with crossed arms and narrowed eyes.

  I’m probably going to get sacked for what I’m about to do but that’s never stopped me before. “This is Mason Hunter.”

  I’m almost positive I hear a little gasp but when she replies, her voice is cool and composed. “What can I do for you, Mr Hunter?” Cool, composed and shit hot. Breathy, husky, seductive. I could listen to it all day…and night. I don’t usually like it when women talk during sex, unless they’re screaming my name of course, but for her, I’d make an exception.

  “Please call me Mason.”

  “What can I do for you, Mason?”

  Nothing for him. But you can do a lot for me. To me. “I met a woman yesterday at Scoma’s. She used my cell to call this number. Are you her friend? Her roommate?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  I raise my eyebrow. Why is she being so secretive? The air of mystery is making her even hotter. I love a good chase. I’m not used to it seeing as though women can’t help but throw themselves at me. “I’m just trying to find her, that’s all. Can you help?”

  “Why are you trying to find her?”

  I have no fucking idea why Mason is trying to find her. To fuck her, hopefully. He seriously needs to get laid. He’s been celibate for the last six months. Six months. Half a fucking year. I’m surprised his dick hasn’t shriveled up. Hey, maybe it has. It would explain why he’s such a grumpy bastard these days. “I want to invite her out for drinks.” Okay, now I’m definitely going to get sacked.

  “When?” she asks, her interest clearly piqued.

  “Um, tonight.” Shit. Goodbye job. Goodbye best friend.

  “Where? What time?”

  “Pulse. Seven thirty.”

  “I’ll pass the message on.”

  “You should come too,” I tell her. “I’m bringing a friend. He’s a great guy. The best guy. You’ll like him.”

  She laughs and it turns my dick to stone in mere seconds. Well, well, well, it looks like I’ve found myself a dick whisperer, Ladies and Gentlemen. I haven’t even seen what she looks like but apparently I’m the owner of a non-judgmental penis. Who knew?

  “I can decide for myself,” she replies, her voice laced with amusement.

  “So that means you’re coming?” She will be once I get her in my bed. Over and over and…

  “Maybe,” she replies, breaking my train of thought.

  “I’ll see you at seven thirty.” I laugh when she hangs up. It takes me about a minute to recover. It takes my dick much longer.

  I think I might have found my match.

  "Do you want the good news or the bad news?" I ask Mason when we finish eating our lunch.

  "Bad first,” he replies.

  "I traced the number, but I couldn't get a name or address because it's a pay as you go sim card."

  "So what's the good news?"

  Here goes nothing. "Well I could have triangulated the signal, but I decided to save time and just dial the number instead. The good news is that she sounds really fucking hot. Thanks for helping a brother out, I've saved her number for my own personal use."

  He groans. "You called it?"

  "Yep. She's got this husky voice thing going on, she could make a shit ton of money working for one of those sex chat lines." I’d call her every damn day.

  He places his head in his hands. "Why? Why would you do that? I could have just called her if I knew that's what you were going to do."

  "Yeah you could have but you didn't."

  "For fuck sake, Buzz. I asked you to tra
ce the number not call it."

  "You also asked me to find out as much information as possible which is what I was trying to do. What's the problem?"

  He sighs. "The problem is that you never follow instructions. Just tell me what you know. Did she mention her friend?"

  "Yeah, it's her roommate." I think.

  "I thought so. Last night she said something about feeding their dog. Did you get an address or anything?"

  "Let me think about that for a second...oh yeah, she told me her address after giving me her social security number and bank details." I chuckle. “I didn't ask for her address. That would have been weird, even for me." I put on my best creepy voice. "Do you like scary movies? What are you wearing?"

  "Fuck you. What else did you find out?"

  "Nothing. She wouldn't tell me anything, not even her name. It was like talking to the secret service."

  "So let me get this straight, you called the number even though I didn't ask you to and the only thing you found out was that they're roommates?"

  I’m not even sure about that. "Correct."

  "Well thanks for being so helpful."

  "You're welcome," I reply.

  "Did you mention me?"

  "The world doesn't revolve around you, boss."

  "Answer the question."

  I shrug. "No. I didn't mention you."

  He groans. "Oh no, what did you do?"

  "If I tell you, you're not allowed to fire me. I was only trying to help."

  "Just tell me."

  I try not to wince. "I may or may not have pretended to be you."

  He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Get out."

  "Aww come on, it's not that bad. I thought there was more chance of her telling me something if she believed I was you."

  "Well clearly it didn't work, did it?"

  I shrug. "I didn't anticipate her being so guarded. Chicks before dicks and all that crap."

  "Just get out. Go somewhere far away and stay there for a while."

  "Awesome, does that mean I can work from home this afternoon?"

  "No. Now get out before I come over there and kick your ass."