Third Chances

by Smoak, Ivy

  "Enough to realize that you were upset by me and not him."

  "I wasn't upset with you."

  "It's okay. I understand why you would jump to conclusions about me. I think I've done enough to earn people's skepticism."

  "That's not why I said what I did." I didn't want James to think I was a judgmental monster for no reason. Why was this still so hard to talk about? "I lost someone close to me because of an overdose. I just...I was worried."

  "I'm sorry."

  "And I was scared that if I got close to Rob and something happened to you..." my voice caught in my throat.

  "If I've learned one thing in my life it's that you need to stop living in the past. It'll eat you up until nothing is left."

  "I wish I had you in class. I feel like you were probably a really good professor."

  He laughed. "Yeah, maybe."

  "Do you ever think about teaching again?"

  "I've made my choices and I'm happy with them."

  He was too obliterated to remember last night. Which meant he didn't remember confessing that he missed being a professor. But his answer about being happy with his choices seemed so honest. Maybe he wasn't even aware of what he really wanted.

  "You don't ever miss it?" I asked.

  He lowered his eyebrows slightly. When he did that, he looked so much like Rob. "Sometimes. It was always going to be temporary, though."

  I wasn't sure what he meant by that. I shrugged my shoulders. "If you say so. I should probably go find your brother. Any ideas of where he might be?"

  "I love him to death, but patience isn't one of his virtues. If he hasn't found you yet, he's probably admitted defeat. Check our room or take a look in some of the bars here."

  I laughed. Maybe that was why Rob seemed so surprised when I said love grew from patience. "Okay." I stood up. "Thanks for being so understanding."

  "Of course I understand. Like I said, I don't blame you for thinking what you did."

  He carried a lot on his shoulders. Why wouldn't he let anyone else help with his burden? He said he was at peace with his past, so why did it seem like he hadn't let it go? At the same time, he didn't appear upset about the conclusions I had jumped to. He just accepted it, adding to the weight on his shoulders, like he could take anything at all. He seemed so invulnerable, the complete opposite of what he was like last night. I can't believe I didn't think he had his life together. He was nothing like Derek. "Penny's a lucky girl."

  "I'm the lucky one." The way he said it made it sound like there was no room for doubt. He lifted his book back up, and picked up where he had left off.

  Chapter 28

  Rob

  I didn't want to be in Costa Rica anymore. I wanted to go home. Not to Newark, or my horrible parents, or the guest room at Penny and James' apartment that was actually just my room. I needed to get my own place in New York. The city had always truly been my home, and that was where I needed to be. And I needed to get my shit together. I was sick of fucking easy college chicks. I was sick of having my life up in the air. I needed roots. And I could do that without a girl.

  I grabbed a beer from the fridge and kicked it closed with my foot. I was almost relieved that I hadn't found Daphne. Yeah, she was upset and needed someone to comfort her, but that someone wasn't me. Despite what she might think, I didn't do anything wrong. I defended my brother. She was in the wrong. She should be apologizing to me, not the other way around. And if I had found her crying, I would have tried to comfort her like an idiot. She probably would have just thrown more insults at me.

  After switching my wet swim trunks for sweatpants, I lay down in the bed. This weekend was supposed to be fun. Instead, it left me questioning how I was living my life. And no matter how much I told myself I hated her, I couldn't seem to stop thinking about Daphne. Just picturing her face and her perfect tits made my blood boil. But it also made me hard as a rock. What was going on with me? Was this a failed conquest thing? Maybe if I could just fuck her, I could forget all about her and this awful vacation.

  I downed the rest of my beer and tossed the bottle in the recycling bin. One thing was for sure, I needed to stop moping around in my room. There were tons of single women here. I was just horny, that was it. I didn't need Daphne. I'd find another dime and call it quits on paradise. Or maybe I should just use the magazine I bought James.

  The magazine was sitting untouched on the nightstand. But I didn't need it. I thought about my hands on Daphne's ass and her moaning in my mouth. She had gripped my hair in her hand, trying to deepen our kiss. I could easily imagine her falling to her knees and putting her soft lips around my cock.

  A knock on the door made me groan. It was not easy to hide a boner in sweatpants. I readjusted myself and walked over to the door. After I got rid of whoever it was, I'd take a nice long shower. I opened up the door and Daphne was standing there staring at me with her big green eyes. Well, if staring at my abs counted as staring at me. Strands of hair had fallen from her ponytail and curled in the humidity. She had mud all over her sneakers and shins and her shirt was sticking to her chest from sweat. Her face was flushed, either from being perpetually embarrassed from all the stupid shit that came out of her mouth or from being incredibly turned on by the site of me without a shirt. Probably both. Either way, she didn't look like she was crying anymore. Which meant I had no obligation to try to console her, something which she really didn't deserve anyway.

  "Can I help you with something?" I didn't even try to hide the acid in my tone.

  Her eyes immediately met mine. "Yeah, sorry. Can I come in?"

  Why the fuck do you want to come in my room?

  She didn't wait for my answer, she just walked right in like she owned the place.

  I put my arm out, not letting her walk past the small entranceway.

  Daphne stopped and almost jumped as the door closed behind her with a thud. She looked behind her at the door, and then back at me. Her voice made a small squeaking sound when she tried to clear her throat.

  Don't worry princess, I'm not sandwiching you here so I can fuck you. I'm not letting you walk past me into my bedroom so that I won't be tempted to fuck you. Seeing her by my bed would probably be too hard to pass up. Especially since I was already hard. "Did you want something?"

  She folded her arms in front of her chest. "Yes, actually. I came here to apologize." It didn't sound like an apology. She sounded angry and snooty.

  "Fine. Apology accepted. You can go now."

  She frowned. "You don't sound like you accept it. I know I was out of line last night..."

  "Why are you here, Daphne?"

  "To apologize. If you would let me get two words out..."

  "No, I mean why the fuck are you even here? I didn't go on the zip lining tour to purposely avoid you. That's where you're supposed to be right now. So how about you go run back to your friends?"

  "I can't."

  "You can. Here, let me get the door for you."

  She stepped in front of me when I reached for the doorknob.

  "Jesus Christ, Daphne. What do you want from me? I tried to be a good guy. I tried to take things slowly with you. And you just freaked out on me for no reason. I doubt you've actually changed your mind about anything you said last night, so I don't know why you're here. And even if you did, I don't give a shit about your apology. If anything you should be apologizing to my brother."

  "I already apologized to him."

  I couldn't pretend to not be surprised. That didn't fix what had happened, but it was still nice to know that she wasn't a complete asshole. "Really? And what did he say?"

  "He was certainly a lot nicer than you." She looked so fucking sexy when she was angry. Her cheeks were even rosier and her hands were balled into fists like she wanted to fight me.

  "I'm sure he was. Look, I'm not my brother. I'm not a nice guy." I wanted to take her right against this wall. I barely knew her and I wanted to fuck her brains out. She had no idea what kind of man I was.

 
"What, do you like the idea of being a bad boy or something? You give off this air like you don't give a shit about anything. But guess what? You do. You're upset with me because you care so much about your brother. You told me that story about getting arrested in Costa Rica. Guess what, tough guy? You got arrested because you cared." She poked me in the center of my chest.

  I looked down at her hand as she slowly splayed her fingers and pressed her palm to my chest. There was still fire in her eyes, but it didn't look like she wanted to kill my anymore. And it definitely didn't seem like she was here to apologize anymore. But she had been so persistent about not wanting sex. So what was she getting at exactly? "Why aren't you zip lining right now?"

  "Because I was scared."

  "Scared of what?"

  "Dying before I knew what living really was."

  I didn't care that I was angry. I didn't care that a small piece of me wanted this girl to grovel at my feet for forgiveness. Because a much bigger part of me wanted my cock so deep inside of her that she'd scream my name at the top of her lungs.

  Her hand slowly slid down my chest, stopping right above the waistline of my pants.

  I promised her that we wouldn't have sex this weekend. What was she trying to do to me? If she was trying to prove that I still wanted her even though I was pissed, then she was doing a fantastic job. "Are you trying to make me break my word?"

  "I want you to break it. I want you to show me what it's like to truly live."

  Fuck it. I stepped forward, pressing her back against the door.

  Her hands immediately clasped behind my neck, drawing my lips toward hers. I could taste her lust. I could feel the passion that she so badly wanted to downplay. It mirrored my own.

  I made short work of unbuttoning her shorts and pushing them and her thong down her hips. I lightly pressed the pad of my thumb against her clit and relished the moan she made. God, this girl was even hornier than me. I slipped the tip of my index finger inside of her. She was absolutely dripping.

  She moaned again.

  "You're so wet for me, baby." I encircled her wetness with my finger. "If you were a good girl, I'd go down on you. I'd eat your pussy until you came all over my tongue. I'd fuck you with my fingers nice and slow until you unraveled on my hand. But you're not a good girl, Daphne."

  Chapter 29

  Daphne

  He thrust his finger deep inside of me.

  Holy shit. I had never been this turned on in my life. I hadn't come here for this. I just wanted to apologize. Why did I want him so badly when he was angry?

  "And if you want those things, you're going to have to beg for them. Because all I want to do is punish you." He slipped another finger inside of me. "God, you're so fucking tight."

  That was why I wanted this. I wanted him to punish me. Yes, he was a good guy, but he certainly knew how to be bad.

  He pumped his fingers in and out of me. "What's it going to be, Daphne? Do you want my tongue or my cock? I'm making you come either way." He pulled his fingers out of me and slid them into his mouth, sucking off my juices.

  Everything he did was so sexy. He was an arrogant, cocky asshole, and I loved it. I didn't even know what to say. I just wanted him to do whatever he wanted to me.

  "Get down on your knees and start begging for my tongue." He pulled a condom out of his wallet. "Or spread your legs for me." He ripped open the foil and shoved his sweat pants to the ground, revealing the biggest erection I had ever seen. "You have five seconds to decide before I fuck you without one." He handed me the open condom.

  As much as I wanted this, I did not want to get pregnant or get any diseases he might have. "That's incredibly irresponsible, Rob." Why did him being irresponsible make me want him even more?

  He smiled. "Put the condom on me then, sweetheart. The clock is ticking."

  I wanted him. I didn't care that we barely knew each other. I didn't care that we were in the middle of an argument. I rolled the condom onto his length and looked up into his dark brown eyes. "I want you to punish me."

  "Right answer." He grabbed my ass, lifted my legs around him, and thrust deep inside of me, slamming my back against the door again. "Fuck you're so tight."

  "Oh God," I moaned at the same time. He was so big. Now I wished he had taken his time teasing me, making sure I was ready for him. My fingernails dug into his shoulders and I tightened my legs around his waist.

  "You okay, baby?" He kissed my neck as he moved his hips slowly. "Let me take it slow for a second."

  I instantly felt more relaxed and the pain of stretching to accommodate him was quickly replaced with pleasure. "I thought you were supposed to be punishing me?"

  "I don't actually want to hurt you, Daphne." He pressed his forehead against mine.

  The gesture made my chest feel tight. The only problem was that he was going to hurt me. Because there was no way this meant as much to him as it did to me. I moved my hands to the side of his face. "See, you are a good guy." Please be a good guy.

  He stared into my eyes for a second. The anger was gone. There was something softer there. And I felt a connection that I wasn't sure I had ever felt before as he slowly moved in and out of me while looking deep into my eyes. I usually looked away during sex, embarrassed by the noises I made and my surely crazy looking facial expressions. But I didn't want to look away from him.

  "As much as I'd like to tie you up and spank you, this right here is all I really wanted."

  He was so sweet.

  His fingertips dug into my thighs as he picked up his pace again. "And I'll be whatever the fuck you want me to be as long as I get to keep doing this."

  That wasn't what I wanted to hear at all.

  He leaned forward and kissed me, softly at first and then more passionately. But the way he looked at me and the way he kissed me somehow canceled out his brash words. This kiss made it seem like it was more to him too.

  I ran my fingers down his neck and the strong muscles of his back, memorizing the feeling of his skin against mine. Even though we weren't doing anything super crazy, this will still the best sex of my life. I had never had sex anywhere but the bed before. And Rob was the most handsome man I had ever seen. I wanted to remember every second of it.

  He tilted his hips, hitting a spot I didn't even know existed.

  "Rob!" I let the back of my head rest against the door as he ravished my collarbone with kisses.

  "I love hearing you say my name like that." His voice was seductive and husky.

  I wanted him to look in my eyes again. I moved my hands to his face, but he immediately grabbed them in his and pressed them against the door, pinning me exactly where he wanted me. He started to thrust even faster and harder. I tightened my legs around his waist.

  "I want to feel your tight pussy clench around me, baby. I want to hear you scream my name again."

  He had such a dirty mouth. And he was in complete control of my body. He slammed into me hard. I could already feel myself tightening around him. This was living. This feeling right now, I wanted to experience this for the rest of my life.

  A beeping noise made Rob freeze. The door pushed forward, pressing him even deeper inside me.

  "Fuck," Rob groaned.

  Oh my God. I didn't know whether to focus on how amazing this felt, or the fact that someone was trying to walk in on us.

  "Dude stop blocking the door," a man's voice said from outside. "What are you doing in there?"

  "Not now, Matt," Rob let go of one of my hands and shoved the door closed. "You're going to want to come now, beautiful."

  "We have to stop before he comes in," I said breathlessly. But I didn't want to stop. I was so close to the edge.

  Rob reached down with his free hand and massaged my clit. "I don't want to stop, do you?"

  Matt banged on the door.

  Rob completely ignored it and leaned forward. His breath was hot in my ear. "Remember how you wound up with my dick inside of you in the first place? Because you're not a good girl,
Daphne. You like it rough. You like the idea of getting caught." He continued to massage my clit, making me tremble. "I bet you want someone to walk in here and see you with my cock deep inside of you. Because you're kinkier than you let on. You're dripping wet for me, baby."

  I began to tighten around him again.

  "That's right, baby. Now how about you scream my name when you come around my cock, and let the whole floor know that you're mine?"

  His? Does he mean that? I wanted to be his. I wanted him to do this to me every day.

  "Come for me, Daphne." He bit down on my earlobe at the same time as he thrust forwards, deeper than he had before.

  "Rob!" I screamed as my orgasm washed over me.

  He kept fucking me, hard, pinned against the door until he groaned my name.

  I felt his dick pulse inside of me and he released my hand. I immediately ran it through his shaggy hair and across the scruff on his jaw line. He was so handsome. I never wanted to stop looking at his perfect face.

  He turned his head and kissed my palm. "Now if that's not living, I don't know what is." He kissed my palm again, slowly pulled out of me, and set my feet on the ground.

  If I wasn't leaning against the door, I probably would have sunk to the ground.

  He pulled off the condom and tossed it in the trash. "You might want to put your shorts on, beautiful." He winked at me as he pulled his sweatpants back on. Rob tapped on the door twice and leaned against the wall as he watched me grab my shorts and thong off the floor.

  The door immediately started to open. "Sorry, man, I didn't realize you were having sex. I'm excited to meet the girl that has got you to stop moping around the resort like a little bitch." Matt stepped through the door just as I finished buttoning my shorts.

  I was a mess before I had even gotten here, and I'm sure my outfit and hair were even more askew now. I put my bottom lip out and blew my hair out of my face.

  "And just for the record, the whole floor could hear you two finishing." Matt laughed when he saw me. "Oh, hey, Daphne. I didn't expect to see you."

  I was so embarrassed.