Third Chances

by Smoak, Ivy

  "You're so ridiculous." I thought about the fact that Rick said his son had a crush on me. Was it normal for teachers to get birthday presents from students? And being Facebook friends wasn't weird, was it? Was I already crossing so many lines and didn't even know it? Fuck, do lots of my students have crushes on me?

  Alina laughed. "Kristen would know. She's an expert on this subject."

  "Why? Because she stalked Professor Hunter?" I asked.

  "Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I did not stalk Professor Hunter. Stalking is such a harsh word."

  Layla laughed. "That's true. Stalking is creepy. And from everything I've heard about Kristen's behavior, she was just being a silly, flirtatious college student."

  "See. And Layla's had to file restraining orders against stalkers. She knows her stuff. I was just totally in love with Professor Hunter for that one semester. And I wish I knew how that other student slept with him when I made it so obvious that I wanted him. Like...so obvious. I mean, I could have fulfilled all his needs. All of them. Especially the really kinky sexual ones. And I guess sometimes I still think about what he's doing at night. And obviously I'd still like to fulfill all his dirty, dirty needs."

  "Stalker," I coughed into my hand.

  "I'm not. And besides, I'm in love with Tim now. You know that. But none of you can seriously deny the fact that you think Professor Hunter is hot. He's like, the perfect male specimen. Plus he's so smart. I could listen to one of his lectures all day."

  Alina shrugged. "I didn't realize that you were still in love with him."

  "I'm not. But when we're all talking about him, it makes my mouth water."

  "So, tell me this, Layla," Alina said. "Is finding out where Professor Hunter lived and hanging out outside his building hoping to run into him stalking?"

  "Um..."

  "And going to his office hours all the time, making up stupid questions to ask him, and always working in the phrase, 'I'm very mature for my age,' into every assignment?"

  Layla looked at Kristen. "You didn't tell me all that, crazy."

  Kristen laughed. "Fine. I stalked Professor Hunter. Whatever. Gosh, if I knew I was a stalker, I would have broken into his apartment or done something even crazier. I feel like I wasted an opportunity."

  "So what if you saw him again? What would you do?" Layla asked.

  "Kiss his beautiful face. I just want to taste his skin."

  I started laughing. "Kristen, he's engaged."

  "So?"

  "That would be like some maniac trying to make out with Alina."

  "And if someone other than Bryce tried to kiss me, I'd totally punch them in the face," Alina said.

  Kristen laughed. "Well, I definitely wouldn't want to be punched by Professor Hunter. He has such sexy, defined muscles." She bit her lip.

  "Yup, she's a stalker. That poor professor should totally get a restraining order." Layla picked up the pamphlet that showed the movie selections. "Anyone want to watch a movie?"

  "Bride's choice," Alina said and grabbed the pamphlet out of Layla's hand. "What?" she said when we all stared at her. "I've been so well behaved during all the wedding planning. But there's only three weeks until I get married. It's about time I went all Bridezilla on all of you."

  Chapter 4

  Daphne

  "Look!" Kristen said and elbowed me in the ribs. "There's a monkey over there!" I slowly opened my eyes and looked to where she was pointing. We were in the middle of a rainforest. I must have fallen asleep. I wiped the drool off the side of my face.

  "Awesome. How much longer until we get to the hotel?" A layover and seven hours in the air was plenty of travel. But now we had been in this stupid car for hours too. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed.

  "Seriously," Alina said. "Where the heck is this place?"

  "We're almost there, ladies," the driver said from the front of the town car.

  "See, we're almost there." Kristen pointed out the window again. "Another monkey!"

  Layla groaned in her sleep.

  "We should draw a mustache on her face," Kristen said. "I think I have a pen somewhere." She grabbed her purse.

  "No." Alina grabbed Kristen's purse. "Don't be mean. You know how much Layla helped me after what happened at the ITAs. I don't think I could have survived all the backlash without her."

  "You mean all the publicity? We were there for you too. And besides, I'm not being mean. I'm just pulling a classic bachelorette party prank."

  "That's not a thing and you know it. Back me up, Momma Bear."

  I stared out the window. I actually thought it would be kind of funny to draw mustache on Layla's perfect face. But I knew if I didn't put my foot down, I'd eventually wake up with a mustache drawn on my face at some point during the week. And I wouldn't be able to pull it off nearly as well as Layla could. "Stop your bickering, you two. No mustaches."

  Kristen sighed. "Fine. Ah look!"

  The rainforest had suddenly parted and a high rise building appeared in its place. We pulled up under the porte-cochère. In the lobby, I could see a group of women in heels and tiny bikinis. Who wears heels with a bathing suit? I rolled my eyes. Alina, Kristen, and Layla were all going to fit in fine here. But it was pretty clear I was going to stick out like a sore thumb. Especially in the one-piece bathing suit I brought. It wasn't even one of those monokinis with sexy cutouts. It was just a straight up one-piece that an old lady would wear.

  I nudged Layla. "We're here."

  She immediately opened her eyes. "Thanks for preventing the mustache drawing," she whispered. "I owe you one."

  "Wait, you were awake?"

  "Yeah. I just wanted to see if Kristen would actually try it. I was going to titty punch her in the other boob if she did."

  I laughed. I didn't know Layla that well, but she definitely fit in with us just fine. "As long as you don't draw one on me, we're even."

  "You got it. Wow, this place looks amazing."

  The driver opened the door and Layla stepped out. I quickly followed her as Alina and Kristen got out the other side of the car.

  "I'm so sad that Em couldn't come," Alina said as she came up beside me. "She's always wanted to leave the country." Em was Bryce's little sister. We had all grown really close to her too.

  "She could either get the time off for the wedding or this," I said. "I think she made the right call."

  Alina laughed. "Still. She would have loved it here."

  "Yeah." My stomach seemed to churn as I looked up at the hotel. I folded my arms across my chest. It was hot and humid, but I suddenly felt cold.

  "Hey," Alina said. "I'm sorry, I could have worded that better. I wasn't thinking."

  "What?" I laughed awkwardly. "I'm fine. It's fine." I shook my head. A good night's sleep would make me feel better. I just needed to clear my head and focus on having Kristen's kind of fun.

  "We'll all have to take a shot for Em tonight then," Kristen said and grabbed Alina's arm.

  "Wait, aren't we just going to call it a night?" I was exhausted.

  "It's only 8 o'clock! This place is known for their awesome clubs. Let's get checked in and get this party started!"

  Everyone else looked excited as they followed Kristen into the hotel. I slowly followed them with my arms crossed. We were going to be here for a week. If I didn't get enough sleep I'd just be a grumpy Gus the whole time.

  "Welcome to the Blue Parrot Resort," said the man at the front desk. "My name is Javier. How may I help you?" He was several years older than us and wearing a black tuxedo. I had never seen a concierge dressed so fancy.

  "Hi, we have a reservation for four under Kristen Dwyer," Kristen said.

  "One moment please, Ms. Dwyer." Javier typed a few things into his computer and scanned the screen. "Ah, there you are. It says here that you'll be staying with us for seven nights in two queen beds. Is that correct?"

  "Yes."

  "Excellent. Have any of you ladies ever been here before?"

  "No."

  "T
hen let me give you a quick overview of what we have to offer." Javier grabbed a pamphlet and slid it across the counter towards us. "We have three onsite restaurants that are open every day from 6 a.m. to 2 in the morning. Or if you'd just like a quick snack, there's a mini bar in your room and we also have a snack bar here at the front desk to my left." He gestured with his hand to the left.

  I glanced over and saw that the snack bar was fully stocked with everything from potato chips to ice cream to bottles of wine. I suddenly realized how hungry I was. My stomach actually growled while I was examining the choices.

  "We also have four pools, including an infinity pool on the roof that provides spectacular views of the rainforest, especially during the sunset. And then we have activities every day. You can sign up on that board over there, but just to whet your appetite, we have tours of the rainforest, zip lining through the canopy, ropes courses, and more." Javier pointed to impressive pictures in the pamphlet of happy people zip lining through the trees.

  "Wow, that looks awesome," Alina said.

  "Yes, the zip lining is one of our most popular activities. Just make sure you sign up for it soon so that you don't miss out. The spots go very quickly."

  "We'll definitely do that," Kristen said and leaned against the counter. "Is there dancing in the restaurants in the evening?"

  Javier pointed down a hallway to our left. "The Jaguar's Den is right down there. They have excellent steak and even better dance music."

  "Perfect."

  "I don't want to keep you much longer, but the last thing I have to tell you about is our bracelet game. Are you familiar with it?"

  The four of us looked at each other and we all shook our heads.

  "No problem," said Javier as he pulled out four beautiful gold bracelets and fastened one to each of our wrists. "These will be yours for the week."

  It made the other bracelet on my wrist look a little dingy. I tried to unhook the bracelet Javier had just given me, but there didn't seem to be any visible clasp. Maybe it was broken. I didn't need a new bracelet. The one I had was the only one I wanted. "Do we have to wear them?" I asked. "I think mine might be broken."

  Javier laughed and pulled out some sort of credit card. "Every woman who stays with us gets one of these bracelets that they must put on each morning. And every man gets one of these cards. While you're wearing the bracelet, any guy can come up to you and ask you to follow the directions on his card. Once you've done so, he can wave his card over your bracelet to activate the RFID chip and allow you to take the bracelet off."

  "What sorts of directions do the cards have on them?" I asked.

  "A wide variety of things." Javier flipped the card over he was holding. "Give a massage."

  Alina laughed. "That's not too bad. For a second, I thought they were going to be sexual things."

  Javier didn't laugh. He simply shrugged his shoulders. His reaction gave me an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  "What if we don't want to play the bracelet game?" I asked.

  "Stop being lame, Momma Bear," Kristen said. "It'll be fun. They're just silly little tasks. It's perfect for a bachelorette party."

  I guess.

  Javier nodded. "Yes indeed, Ms. Dwyer."

  Maybe Kristen was right. The example Javier had given seemed pretty harmless. Giving a massage to a stranger would be awkward, but not horrible. Before I could ask any more questions about the game, Javier handed us each a keycard.

  "You'll be staying in room 510. Just take those elevators and then go left when you get to the fifth floor. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"

  "In the instance of the massage, how long would I have to give the massage? Does it have a specified time?" I asked.

  Kristen grabbed my arm. "Nope, there's nothing else you can help us with."

  Javier smiled at me. "Very well. I hope you enjoy your stay. If you need anything, I'll be here at the front desk."

  Chapter 5

  Daphne

  I collapsed on the queen bed as soon as we entered our room. It was so plush and comfortable. It felt like I was in heaven.

  Layla plopped down next to me. "This is the most comfortable bed I've ever lain in."

  "Me too," I said through a huge yawn.

  "Get up, you two. We're going out!" Kristen was already rummaging through her suitcase. She pulled out a short blue dress and started changing.

  I groaned. "Kristen, it's 10 o'clock back home. And we've been traveling all day. Aren't you exhausted? Maybe we could rent a movie or something?" I looked over at Alina. She was usually on board with renting movies and staying in.

  "Don't look at me," she said. "I want to go exploring."

  Layla sat up. "Just so we're all on the same page, if I'm not in bed by midnight I'll probably turn into a pumpkin." She slid off the bed and opened up her suitcase.

  Maybe I'd be able to get her on my side later to stage a coup. But right now, I was really hungry. I sat up and stretched. Everyone else was changing into skintight dresses and heels. I think I had packed a few sundresses. One of those would have to do. I grabbed the first one I found and pulled it on.

  "What the hell is that?"

  I looked over at Kristen staring at me.

  "A sundress. I just bought it. It's the perfect combination of cute and sophisticated, don't you think?"

  "You're a grown ass women. You have no business dressing cute. Fortunately, I packed way too many clothes, knowing you were going to be lame." She tossed me a dress from her suitcase.

  I had feared she was going to do exactly that. All throughout college Kristen had insisted on dressing me. I thought I was finally free of her tyrannical fashion advice. The only positive was that Kristen was so much taller than me that the dresses that were super inappropriate on her weren't so bad on me. They'd probably go down to mid-thigh instead of right below my ass. And it wasn't worth fighting her on this. I just wanted food in my mouth immediately.

  I pulled on the dress and grabbed the only pair of heels I brought. They were fancy sandals that worked with everything. Kristen seemed to agree because she didn't say anything. I sat down on the edge of the bed while they finished getting ready. Last minute touches of makeup and hair primping. Not that they needed it. My friends were basically all models. Alina looked like a perfect blonde Barbie doll, except short. Layla looked like a younger Sofia Vergara. Actually, Alina and Layla had both done some modeling after their scandalous TV appearances. And Kristen fit right in with them. She had dark hair and was super tall like a model, but not sickly skinny. She was thin but somehow still had big breasts and a great ass. I'm surprised a modeling agency hadn't picked her up.

  And me? I looked down at the dress I was wearing. I wasn't tall and I wasn't short. I had mousy brown hair. I was so average. Not that I was complaining. I liked being average. I liked that when guys liked me they got to know my personality first. It was important to me. Kristen had said that cute wasn't something I should be aiming for. But that's what I always ended up looking like. I had one of those baby faces that made me look a lot younger than I was. And I was used to wearing sophisticated clothes to work, trying hard not to accentuate my breasts or ass. I never aimed for cute, but that's what I tended to look like every day. And I thought it was a good look for a teacher. I liked it. No one ever called me sexy. That wasn't me. That was a word reserved for my friends.

  I pulled the neckline of my dress up. I had forgotten the fact that it would be a little lower due to Kristen's height. I stood up and looked in the mirror. My hair didn't seem to agree with the Costa Rican humidity. I ran my palms over it, trying to get rid of some of the frizz.

  "You look great," Alina said. "You can borrow one of my dresses tomorrow if you want. I know how anal you are about showing off your tits."

  She was right, my boobs were everywhere. "Thanks. But I don't even care right now. I just need food and sleep."

  "And...dancing?"

  "If that's the price I have to pay for wh
at I want."

  Alina smiled. "This is going to be so much fun!"

  ***

  The Jaguar's Den was decorated with fake foliage everywhere, which made it look like we were in the middle of the rainforest. I couldn't help but think that they should have just made it an outdoor restaurant since we were actually in the rainforest. The music was blaring into the hall of the hotel. There was definitely quite a dance party going on inside. I looked around at the decorations as we entered the restaurant.

  "Good evening," the host said in a sexy accent.

  I turned toward the voice and put my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't burst out laughing. Who dresses like that? He was wearing only tight black shorts and a jaguar-pelt headdress that left his muscular torso completely exposed.

  The host didn't seem to notice my reaction. "Four?" he asked.

  I dropped my hand and nodded. I wasn't sure why my first reaction was to laugh. He was gorgeous. He had a perfect six pack and his skin was tan and smooth looking. The longer I stared, the more I appreciate his attire. And it made me start to wonder when was the last time I had seen a man naked. Was it really during college? Had I not had sex in over a year?

  The host grabbed four menus and held out his arm to escort me to the table.

  I looked behind me. I was sure Kristen would be all over linking arms with this half naked man. But three more men dressed just like him had appeared to escort my friends.

  "Oh, okay then," I said awkwardly and linked my arm with his as he led us to our table. I couldn't help but feel how strong his arm was. Stop squeezing his arm, psychopath.

  I immediately released his arm when we got to our table. "Thanks," I mumbled and slid into the booth.

  He smiled at me. "Pablo will be your server this evening. He'll be right with you."

  Kristen slid into the booth beside me. As soon as the host was out of earshot, she said, "I love this place."

  "I think men should always dress like this in restaurants," Layla said.

  "Here's to that," Alina agreed.