Hope for Him (Hope Series Book #2)

by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle

  I shrugged and grabbed a couple of beers out of the refrigerator.

  "She looks different in the photo. She's not nearly as fragile as you make her out to be."

  "I never said she was fragile."

  "Her and Richard seem to be getting along."

  Richard had not left Carrington's side since he arrived. They sat next to each other on the couch, and I tried to ignore how close they were sitting. Every time she touched his arm or leaned into him, my body grew hot, and I wanted to hit something.

  I carried the beers out to the living room. Tiffany attempted to follow, but Kayla walked into the kitchen and stopped her.

  "Oh my God, that spinach dip is amazing. How do you make it?"

  I didn't wait to hear the answer. I took Jeff his beer. Jeff stood up behind the couch surveying. He liked to do that.

  "What is Richard doing?"

  "Dude, looks like he's flirting with Carrington."

  "He told me to stay away from her."

  "Now we know why." Jeff took a swig of his beer. "J, dude, are you jealous?"

  "Shut the fuck up." I pushed him away and walked over to Carrington.

  "Hey, you want to see the rest of the apartment?"

  "Okay. Excuse me, Richard."

  "I'll save you a seat." He smiled and Carrington hesitated.

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her up, but Tiffany's voice rang out from the kitchen.

  "Baby, I need you to check on the chicken. I never know when it's done."

  "Maybe later," Carrington said. I dropped her hand. I rubbed the back of my neck and headed back into the kitchen.

  I shouldn't have been so obvious, especially with Tiffany watching, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't stand watching her flirt with another guy. I couldn't bear to watch her for another second waste those flirty glances, touches and giggles on someone else. Those gestures were meant for me.

  #

  Carrington Olivia Butler

  Between Jackson, Kayla, and Jeff playing catch with Jack, he wore himself out. He never made it to dinner.

  "Where can I put him down?" I asked Jackson.

  "Oh, you can put him in our room," Tiffany answered. "Follow me."

  I tried not to choke on the our room reference and followed her.

  Jackson and I avoided each other's gaze all night, but I locked eyes with him and took in a breath. He had no expression. I turned toward Tiffany waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs and shrugged my shoulders. I followed her and ignored the lump growing in my throat.

  Jackson’s room was how I pictured it. I kneeled on his king-size bed that was centered on the far wall. The sunlight from the picture window over the bed shot rays across the bed. The sun would feel amazing on my skin as I lounged on his deep garnet comforter and drifted off to sleep. Tiffany watched me. I should feel guilty, but I didn't.

  An entertainment center sat in the corner with a desk and chair in front of it. Jackson's computer and several remotes sat on the table. I glimpsed the bathroom decorated in all white tiles on the far side of the room.

  I laid Jack in the middle of the bed, took a few pillows and placed them around his little frame. He wouldn't roll off the bed, but better safe than sorry. He'd yell before moving too far.

  "He's really cute."

  "Thank you." I brushed his sandy blond hair off his face and leaned over and kissed him before exiting the room.

  "I'm happy we finally got a chance to meet. I know how important you and Jack are to Jackson. I hope we can become friends."

  "Sure." Why the hell not.

  "Jackson said we needed to help you in any way we can."

  "I'm sorry? Help me?"

  "You know, I mean. I know about what happened, and it might be hard for you coming back to school with no friends. Jackson explained to me how it would be good for us to help you meet new people and have as much of a normal college life as you can. You know, considering."

  My stomach clenched, and I stared at her.

  "Well, I need to check on dinner." Tiffany backed out of the room and turned at the last minute.

  Was I Jackson's charity case? Was that what he thought of me? My chest tightened, and I sat down. I placed my hand on Jack's back. My heart rate returned to normal.

  Jackson didn't need to take care of me. I was more than capable of taking care of myself. I wasn't starting all over again. I had Kayla.

  I leaned over and kissed Jack and felt centered. I walked back to the living room, and my eyes locked with Richard.

  I could have Richard, too.

  I smiled as I entered the living room.

  I ignored Jackson but felt his eyes on me as I sat next to Richard on the couch.

  "Little guy conked out already," Richard said.

  "Yeah, he's not really into the dinner party scene."

  "Neither am I. I heard we got three courses," Richard whispered. "I'm sorry, when did we become forty-year-old suburbanites."

  I laughed and found the entire house staring at us.

  "Dinner is ready, Tiffany said.

  Richard stood up and grabbed my hand to help me up and held on to it as we walked to the table.

  "Sweetie, at the head of the table, and Richard, you sit at the other end," Tiffany directed.

  Kayla and Jeff sat on the other side and Tiffany positioned herself between Jackson and me.

  As we sat, a mixed green salad with dark purple dressing and cheese crumbles was placed before each of us. Tiffany stood near the table and described what we were eating.

  "This is a mixed green salad with beet dressing and blue cheese crumbles. Enjoy," she said in a Top Chef cheftestant voice.

  I suppressed a giggle when Jeff made a face.

  "Honey, can you make sure everyone has wine." She handed him a bottle and he got up and poured a glass for each of us.

  Tiffany slipped into her seat as Kayla said, "I'm sorry, I'm not drinking at the moment. Do you have any club soda?"

  I sipped the dry red wine and smiled at Kayla as Tiffany sighed and she headed back in the kitchen. Everyone sampled their salad. After Tiffany returned with water, Kayla spoke up.

  "I'm sorry. I've never been to a dinner party where they dress the salad without asking first. I hate to be annoying, but I'm allergic to beets."

  "Oh." Tiffany's face turned red. She got up and removed the plate and came back with an undressed salad and a bottle of ranch. "Is this okay?"

  "Sure." Kayla took the bottle and banged on it to get the dressing to come out.

  "Oh, hey, can I have some of that." Jeff grabbed the bottle and dumped it on his salad. He took a big bite and licked the ranch dressing from his lips. "Now that's good."

  The rest of us pushed the salad around the plates. We took small bites and tried not to react to the rank combination of blue cheese and beets.

  Tiffany allowed the NFL game to play in the background, and every two minutes, Jeff leaned over to check the game’s progress and report back to the table. Other than that, we had no other conversation until Tiffany went into the kitchen to get the second course.

  "Dude, are we allowed to talk about the game?"

  "Yeah, was it as close as the score said?" I asked.

  "It shouldn't have been. D made stupid mistakes," Richard said.

  "You did your part," I said to Richard and smiled at him. His ears turned the cutest shade of red, and he smiled back. He scored two touchdowns, one a sixty-yard bomb in the end zone.

  I grabbed the glass in front of me and took a sip as Kayla and Jackson stared at me.

  "Don't forget about my stellar debut," Jeff said.

  "It was all right, but you missed two blocks," Richard said.

  "What blocks?"

  "The ones where I got sacked."

  "That wasn't my block," Jeff said and took a drag of his beer. "Was it?" He wrinkled his nose as if the answer was inside his head.

  "Get the tape," Richard said.

  Jackson got up and headed to his room as Tiffany walked back in
to to the dining room.

  "Hey, where are you going?"

  Jackson didn't answer her; he came right back with his iPad in his hand.

  The team trainers downloaded game film onto the player’s iPads seconds after the game.

  He squatted between Jeff and Richard and swiped until he found the play.

  When he found it, he played it about six times for Jeff to see.

  "Okay. I admit I missed the block."

  "Don't worry, Jeff. I know it won't happen again," Jackson said.

  Jeff settled in his seat. "Bet it won't happen again."

  "Now, that's what I'm talking about."

  They bumped fist and both turned to face Tiffany, who stood with two plates in her hands and thin lips stretched in a grimace across her face.

  Jackson sat the iPad on the counter and took his seat without another word. I stared straight ahead but nudged Richard under the table to try and get him to stop giggling.

  I turned to look at Jackson, and he didn't bother to hide the hurt look on his face.

  Chapter Eleven

  Carrington Olivia Butler

  A week went by and besides a few random texts, Jackson stayed away. I wasn't sure if he was mad at me or embarrassed about the other night. I figured I could dwell on it and waste more time on Jackson, or I could move on.

  After two weeks with no real contact with Jackson except for more text messages and our game day talks, we made no plans to see each other. With only two classes, I never saw Jackson on campus. He seemed to remove himself from my life, and it made my heart hurt.

  On the other hand, Richard made it his second major to keep an eye on me.

  He called me after the dinner party, and we recounted the entire evening, adding our own commentary to the event. We avoided personal topics—like the tension between Tiffany and me and Jackson’s strange reaction to our flirting.

  The topic of our actual flirting went undiscussed, too. Although, we continued the activity, with enthusiasm over the phone.

  Richard asked me out the day after the dinner party. I declined, using my little guy as the perfect excuse. His sincerity and persistence touched me. Maybe I was just hard up for male attention because after two weeks of asking, I finally agreed to have dinner with him.

  He picked me up in his black Jeep. Richard's clean cut and polished look contrasted with the grimy truck. I watched as he walked to my door in a pair of khaki slacks and an off-white button-down shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up and he had tucked his damp shoulder-length hair behind his ears. As he approached, I thought of a rugged male model in a commercial emerging from a day of off-roading, stepping out of his dirty truck, ready for an intimate dinner with a beautiful woman. It would be a commercial about deodorant or men’s body spray.

  I looked down at my black leggings, oversized black shirt, and flats and felt underdressed.

  "Hey." He leaned over and hugged me around my shoulders. His hesitation to touch me was evident, but I followed his lead. "God, you look beautiful. You ready?"

  "Yeah." I blushed while I closed and locked the door behind me.

  "Where's Jack?"

  "Kayla has him at her place for the night."

  "Really." He smirked and placed a hand behind me, but he never touched my back. When we approached the car, he opened my door.

  "Be careful. I didn't have a chance to clean the truck. I didn't expect you to say yes so soon."

  I climbed into the Jeep. I hoped my declaration of where Jack was didn't give him any thoughts of what we were doing after dinner.

  "Where do you want to eat?" Richard asked. He drove out of the complex and on to the main road. "Why don't we head out toward the highway? Have you been to Buckhead Brewery?"

  "No."

  "Cool. They have great food,” Richard said.

  Richard plugged his iPhone into the car radio and scrolled through until he found the song he wanted. When he turned the radio on, country/hip-hop music blasted through the speakers. I laughed and he reached to turn it down a little.

  "What's so funny?"

  "Nothing."

  "You don't like Florida Georgia Line?"

  "No, it’s okay."

  "What?"

  "Did you play it for me because it’s the only hip-hop related song on your iPhone?"

  "No, actually it’s the most respectable song on my iPhone. My playlist is full of gangsta rap. I didn't think all that sexism and degradation of women was appropriate for our first date."

  I grabbed his phone and scrolled through the music. It was full of Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Young Jeezy. I selected my favorite Lil Wayne song, "How to Love" and I handed his phone back to him.

  "That's better."

  "Nice."

  We rode the rest of the way in silence. I swayed to the music and caught Richard staring. I stopped, and his smile went away. I wasn't quite sure why I agreed to go out with him, considering Jackson and Richard were friends.

  Was I going out with Richard to make Jackson jealous? I saw the way he stared at me when he caught us laughing or whispering to each other, but I had no reason to feel bad.

  We arrived at the restaurant and the waitress knew Richard by name. Tallahassee was a small town and the FSU football players were local celebrities.

  Richard walked through the place, nodding at many people and stopping to speak to others. The Buckhead Brewery was decorated in dark wood and plaid with animal skins on the wall. It was a ski lodge, minus the mountain, cold temperatures, and snow. The restaurant was packed on a Thursday, and we walked to the far side of the restaurant to reach our table.

  Everyone wanted to talk to or be acknowledged by Richard. Jackson said he dealt with the same thing when he went around town. He was the highest-profile person to come out of FSU in years. When we stopped to talk to everyone, Richard introduced me, and they all greeted me. One older woman told me how beautiful I was and squeezed my arm and nodded her head at Richard and me.

  Was she giving us her approval?

  When we reached our table, Richard pulled out the oversized mahogany wood chair and I jumped up into it, my feet barely reaching the ground.

  He sat across from me and his broad shoulders filled the width of the back of the chair.

  The waitress handed us menus written on a two-foot wooden panel. Mine fell to the table with a slap and I leaned on my elbow and hoped no one saw me drop the menu.

  I met Richard's eyes and an amused expression spread across his face. I tucked my hair behind my ear and attempted to pick up the massive menu, with both hands this time.

  I didn't read the menu. My mind wandered to what I was doing here, and I ignored the way Richard looked at me. Like he wanted me for dinner. He wasn't aggressive about it. He was a perfect gentleman, but the looks he threw my way made my heart skip a beat. That would be fine if that same heart didn't belong to someone else.

  "What do you want?" he asked. I sat up straight.

  "What?"

  "For dinner, what you want? What looks good?"

  I relaxed and concentrated on the menu. When the waitress returned, I ordered a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. Richard ordered a steak and baked potato.

  My eyes scanned the restaurant. It was filled with couples and families. The kids at the table next to us had their head down and drew on paper provided by the restaurant. The parents were deep in discussion, but they seemed so happy and relaxed. The woman's eyes lit up and she laughed at something her husband said. He reached for her hand and kissed it before he continued his story.

  The scene made me think of Jackson. How could it not? I was on a date with Richard, but it didn't change how I felt about Jackson. It didn't change the real reason I came back to FSU.

  I found Richard staring at me.

  "You look so beautiful when you smile like that," he said.

  "Thank you." I looked down and prayed he wouldn't ask me what I was smiling about.

  #

  Jackson Latre Mitchell

  I told Ti
ffany I was going to a teammate’s house to watch Thursday night football and hang out. She insisted on coming along. In fact, she insisted on coming with me everywhere she figured Carrington would show up. She didn't want me to have to deal with Carrington without her, in case I forgot how to deal with Carrington. She was thoughtful like that.

  She didn't have anything to worry about. After the dinner party from hell, Carrington had ignored me. Well, not ignored, but when I texted her, it was one-word responses. We talked on game day, but that was more scripted than any true feelings, and we never saw each other.

  When she walked into the house party, with Richard following close behind, I knew why I hadn't seen or talked to her. She was busy ... with my wide receiver.

  If she was surprised to see me, she played it off well. She caught my eye for a split second but turned and walked into the kitchen. Richard didn't hide his surprise. He froze when he saw me sitting on the couch as if he were caught. Fuck, he was caught. He didn't have my permission to date Carrington.

  I tried with all I had not to react. I sat down and remained silent, although, under my shirt, I was sweating bullets. He shrugged his shoulders, saluted me, and followed Carrington into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets.

  I stood up to have a better vantage point. I headed across the room as if locating a better angle to catch the game, but I lingered behind the couch to keep my eye on Carrington standing in the kitchen.

  Tiffany and her girls had headed into the back room to watch her favorite show. I didn't have to worry about her. Carrington laughed and my heart beat speed up. A teammate walked by with two beers in red cups, and I took one and downed it in one gulp.

  "Damn, J. You want another one." I took the other beer from his outstretched hand and downed that one, too.

  I walked around the room, to get a better look at Carrington and Richard. He had his arm around her shoulder and they were laughing at the antics of another teammate.

  Carrington stood inside the kitchen but next to a hallway that ran the length of the house. It led to a few other bedrooms, including the room Tiffany was in. I knew this was a bad idea before I took the first step, but I had to do it. I couldn't stand to watch as he put his hands all over her. I couldn't sit back and watch her laugh and have the time of her life. I couldn't sit by for another second. I needed to talk to her, but I hesitated because I didn't know what I was going to say to her. Something along the lines of I want you, but I can't have you, but you can't have anyone else.