A Hope and a Chance

by Jennifer Foor

  This morning seemed like all the other mornings, except Chance was already in the kitchen. His ornery smile was flashing across his face, making me want to burst out in laughter. “Good morning, sunshine,” he said while still grinning.

  “What’s with you, and where is everyone else?” I asked.

  Chance leaned into me and gently rubbed his nose against mine, before pressing his lips over mine. “They had to go Christmas shopping. We’re all alone.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again. “Well I wonder what we could do all day.”

  Chance picked me up and sat me on top of the counter. He moved toward the fridge and started gathering items. “I am going to make you breakfast first. Then I plan on spending the rest of our day helping you study, in bed of course.”

  “I don’t know how much I can learn if we’re in bed, Chance. To be perfectly honest with you I don’t think I can concentrate on anything other than you.”

  He continued to gather ingredients for our breakfast. “Oh, we will study. I promise you’ll be fully prepared for those finals. I have a plan.” He seemed sure of himself.

  “A study plan? You’ve really thought about this haven’t you?” I asked.

  “Buffy sent me a text this morning saying that she and Mark decided to go out shopping last minute. I knew you had to study, but I miss you, so I implemented a plan so we could be together and study at the same time. Aren’t you curious about the plan?” He asked.

  I started swinging my feet while sitting on the counter. Chance didn’t have his face to me, but I knew he was smiling. He was dancing around as something fried in the pan in front of him.

  “Okay fine! What is the plan, since I can tell that you’re busting to tell me?”

  Chance spun around, caging me in with his hands on either side. “So this is how it works. You will be thoroughly quizzed on all courses. When you pass all of the questions on each subject, I will remove one article of clothing. If you fail a topic, the clothes go back on. So, in order for you to have some of me today, you have to be prepared for all of your finals.” Chance had a huge grin on his face. He bit down on his lip while he waited for my response, still only inches from my face.

  “What if I cheat?” I taunted.

  “Not possible! This study proposition is fool proof. When you get your answers right you can have me, otherwise you get none of this.” He laughed as he pointed from his head to his feet.

  I rolled my eyes. It sounded like a good plan and it was possible it would motivate me to try hard. I was in. “Alright. We can study your way.”

  “Perfect.” Chance turned around and put two pieces of toast and some eggs on a plate. “Here, you need to eat before we get started.”

  I took a fork and put my eggs inside of the toast to make a sandwich. I loved watching the yolk run out of the sides then later dipping it. Chance curled his lip up as he held his toast up and gently dipped it into his egg.

  “You do realize that mine tastes exactly the same as yours does?” I asked.

  “Whatever. It’s just weird. I prefer to dip. It seems more classy.”

  I laughed. “Oh yeah, because eating an egg with toast is so classy. You’re ridiculous.”

  “You love my quirks, Hope.” He stuck out his tongue at me then put his plate in the dishwasher. “When you’re ready to be schooled by all of my wisdom, head on over, baby.”

  “Maybe I will, or maybe I won’t.” I teased.

  “Oh, I know you will. You can’t resist this.” He lifted his shirt revealing his rock hard abdomen. I felt like licking my lips, but would have only let him know he was right about me not resisting. “See you soon.” I watched him walk toward the pool house.

  I grabbed my plate and cleaned it before heading up to my room to change my clothes. Chance had acted so cocky about me not being able to resist that I decided to get a shower. The longer I took, the more impatient he would become. I knew that he was ultimately helping me, but I wanted to be the one who was irresistible.

  When I got out of the shower I looked out the window toward the pool house. I could see Chance standing at the door. Just as I went to turn away, he waved to me.

  “Son of a bitch! How did he know?” I said to myself.

  Obviously, he knew me too well. I took the towel off my head to brush my hair before heading in my room and putting on a cotton sweat suit. By the time I finally made it to the pool house Chance was sprawled out on the couch. The textbooks were in front of him with paper surrounding them.

  “There she is….Mrs. I always know what Chance is thinking and there is no way he has the upper hand on me,” he cackled out.

  “Shut up!” I said as I ran over and jumped on top of him. “You still want me, so who cares?”

  “True. How about you hop off of me so we can get serious up in here.” He put on a game face, avoiding eye contact with me.

  I rolled my eyes again. “Fine.” I removed myself from Chance’s magnificent body and sat down next to him. He pointed to the chair across from where he was; the chair where it all started.

  “Get over there and do not get up until we’re finished. Got it?”

  I shook my head and laughed as I headed over to the chair, as if he were punishing me.

  A friend of mine at Penn State used to use this study plan with his girlfriend, except she was the one testing him. He said she never let him tease his way out of studying. Hope hated to study, and she would be the first person to admit it.

  Once she sat down and stopped trying to argue her way out of it, I grabbed the first book and began with the questions.

  For her math class she did all right, but didn’t answer enough questions correctly on the first time around. She got frustrated a few times, so I grabbed the notes that she’d taken and taught her little things to remember the answers easier. When she appeared like she understood it better, I quizzed her again. This time she only missed one question, which in turn required me to remove one article of clothing. It was a wise choice for me to layer up too. When I removed the t-shirt to show that I had an undershirt underneath, she wasn’t pleased.

  “Seriously? When have you ever worn one of those? Did you steal that from my father’s laundry basket?” She asked, frustrated.

  When we got to her next course, which happened to be chemistry, she tried to distract me. She unzipped her sweat jacket revealing only a bra underneath. “It is really hot in here today.” She said as she fanned herself. “I feel like I can’t breathe. Maybe it’s best if I strip down to my underwear.”

  I stared into the book and refused to look at her. Finally, after a few minutes she focused her attention on me only being one shirt away from a naked chest.

  Hope must have enjoyed Chemistry class because she did well on my quiz the first time around. I stood up and acted like a sexy male stripper, as I removed my undershirt.

  Before I could turn around, I heard catcalls coming from Hope’s chair. I sat down on the couch, like it never happened. The key to this study session was keeping my ground. If I gave her an inch, she’d take a mile and we’d end up in my bed.

  “There should be a rule that states you can’t act all sexy when removing your clothes. That is so not fair!” She wasn’t angry. I knew that look she was giving me. It had nothing to do with emotions. Hope was hungry for attention, and I refused to give it to her until we completed every course.

  I held the next textbook high enough that Hope could not see me smiling from behind it. I love when she got frustrated. Her face became red and she gritted her teeth when she spoke.

  Her next course was psychology. She did horrible on the first quiz, so I decided to take a break for lunch. I headed into the kitchen to make us something to eat. When I felt Hope’s arms wrapping around me, I welcomed them in, but realized immediately what was happening. I grabbed her hands and removed them. “Hold up. Just because we’re breaking for a bit doesn’t mean you can sample the merchandise.”

  “But, Chance, I want you
,” she said with a pouty face. “We’re all alone.”

  “Get back in there and go over your notes. We still have two subjects to pass before you can have some of this goodness,” I teased.

  “You suck,” she said as she strolled back into the living room.

  “That’s you later!” I yelled back.

  I made us both a sandwich and took them into the living room. Hope grabbed the plate and started eating, while she gave me dirty looks. I knew this was all her game to try and sway me from letting her off the hook from studying.

  When we finished eating I dove right back in. Eventually I taught her a jingle to enable her to remember her questions easier. After the third attempt, she passed. I didn’t hesitate when I removed my jeans and let them fall to the floor.

  Hope sat back and watched me. She bit down on her lip and it took everything in me not to march over to her, pick her up, and carry her to my bedroom.

  The last subject was a business management class she was taking. She managed to enroll in the class late to gain an extra credit for the semester. Hope seemed focused and within thirty minutes had answered almost every question correctly. She did a silent clap with her hands and pointed to my boxers. I gave her a big smile as I grabbed the elastic band on them and played with it. I pulled them down just enough so that she still couldn’t see anything that was hiding inside of them.

  “I don’t know. Maybe I should have made that last test harder,” I teased.

  Her body language was effortlessly letting me know that we were done with this game I’d been playing. Hope wanted to get down to business, and I wasn’t about to stop her.

  44

  I was determined to ace that last test, not only because I couldn’t wait any longer to see Chance without clothes, but also because I’d never studied that much in my entire life. It was already three in the afternoon and it felt like Chance and I hadn’t had alone time, even though we’d been together all day. Chance gave me a big smile before leading me into the bedroom. He was never forceful with me, and I appreciated it since my history with Trevor had been so violent.

  His gentle touch gave me butterflies, each and every time. I enjoyed being with him and feeling him so close. His arms wrapped around me even before he took off his boxers.

  “I think I just need one hug before you seduce me.” He tantalized me with his sense of humor.

  “Let’s stop beating around the bush, Chance. Drop em!” I demanded.

  “I plan on beating around your bush for the next couple of hours.” His cackle was deep.

  “Seriously, I don’t even have a bush.”

  “You know what I meant.” Chance sat me down on the bed and he knelt between my legs. “Actually, I need to talk to you about something important, Hope,” he said in a serious tone.

  I studied his face and all of the humor was gone from it. He put his hands on both of my knees and looked directly into my eyes.

  “Whatever it is, you can say it.” I trusted this man. There was nothing he could say that would make me think otherwise.

  “Has Buffy talked to you about any of her friends?” He asked.

  I had no idea what he was getting at. “No. Well not really. She said some of their names and talked about fun things that she did when she was my age, but nothing in particular. Why? What’s wrong with her friends?” I asked.

  Chance’s face was indescribable. I couldn’t read him like I normally could. “There’s something that you need to know before they start getting here for the wedding; something that I need to fill you in about.”

  “Why does it seem like this is really serious all of the sudden? You’re scaring me.” Chance stood up and started pacing around the room. “You’re making me nervous, Chance. Just spill. I can’t take this weirdness with you. We just had a fun day, and all of a sudden you look like you just saw a ghost.” It bothered me.

  “Buffy has this friend named Susan. They did everything together when they were younger, but things changed and they grew apart, I guess.”

  “You aren’t making any sense. Susan is in Buffy’s wedding. Why are you telling me they grew apart?” I asked.

  He put his hands up to his face. “Ugh! This is harder than I thought it would be,” he admitted.

  “What is? Dammit, Chance, just tell me.”

  “Susan and I had a thing,” he confessed.

  I froze. Not because it shocked me that he was with another woman. That was obviously something I knew about, but I was shocked that, number one, I didn’t know, and number two it was Buffy’s so-called best friend. Before I could say anything, Chance interrupted me.

  “Hope, Susan and I had a weird kind of relationship. We were never exclusive. It was more of a mutual agreement. We would hook up every once in a while, but that’s all it was, just a hook up for me.”

  I could hear the words coming out of his mouth, but I just couldn’t believe he was telling me. I never imagined him being that type of person; the kind that had a fuck buddy, per se. Then again, I could see why he’d go along with it. He was strappingly handsome, and she was obviously older. My question was why he’d be so weird about explaining. Something was going on, and I was afraid to ask what it was.

  “Chance, do you have feelings for her?”

  “No! Of course not, but when things went wrong in Pennsylvania, she was there for me. It only stopped when we moved here. I hadn’t spoken to her in over a month before I met you and I haven’t talked to her since. I swear. It never meant anything to me except a good time.”

  “I still don’t understand. Are you telling me this because you think she might still want you?” I’d already accused him of cheating on me in the past. I couldn’t feel this jealous without him getting upset. I had to trust that he was being honest with me, because I knew in my heart that we were on the same page.

  He sat down beside me and took my hand into his. His eyes turned to me. Right away I could see the worry in his eyes. “I’m telling you this because we’re hiding our relationship. When Susan gets here, she’ll just assume I’m single. Hope, I can’t tell her about us, unless you want your father to know. I’m not saying that I know for sure she would tell, but I know that she would be jealous that I’m in love with you. I never felt that way about her. I’m just concerned that things could get awkward while she is here. I don’t want you to ever doubt how devoted I am to us. You need to keep that in mind.”

  “I’ll be eighteen on the thirty-first of December. As much as I’d like to make an official announcement about us, I know I can’t ruin the wedding. If you tell me that I have nothing to worry about, I believe you.” I couldn’t imagine seeing him with another woman. It would tear me apart inside, even if he was rejecting her. It was the fact that she could touch him in front of everyone when I still couldn’t.

  I squeezed his hand. “You’re right about not telling her. I don’t want to risk our family going into turmoil, because of something we have been doing behind all of their backs.”

  “Hope, I promise you that I have no interest in being with her ever again.”

  “You had to like her a little to want to sleep with her. What does she look like?”

  He shook his head. “No. We’re not even going to talk about this. It’s irrelevant, and we’re wasting time on each other talking about it.”

  “Fine.” I smiled, realizing that we were in fact alone with nothing but time to spend naked. “Are you going to take off your drawers or do I have to beg?” I was certain that we could get back to where we’d left off quite quickly.

  As Chance began to remove his boxers, I thought about how much I hated someone I hadn’t even met yet. He may think that everything was okay, but I was definitely worried. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered what this woman could be thinking about seeing him again. Perhaps she had hope they’d hook up again. I didn’t know how I’d be able to sit there watching her flirt with him. It was definitely going to be difficult.

  I’d finally told her about Susan. She di
dn’t need me to go into any specific details; it would have just made her more upset. I knew that I had to tell her. Susan was going to come here and assume I was free to hook up with, and I had no way of telling her anything different.

  She was a free spirited girl who didn’t like taking no for an answer. That mixed with the simple fact that we already had history together was a bad thing. She was going to try to get me alone, and Hope would probably flip out about it.

  I dropped my boxers and climbed into bed with my sexy girlfriend, who was already removing the rest of her clothes. I loved the way that her sweat suit fit her body, but when she took it off, I liked her new appearance better.

  As much as I wanted to be intimate, I knew it was just as fun to sit there admiring just how perfect she was to me. Her smooth skin had a glow as the light came in through the mini-blinds. She lowered her chin and looked over at me watching her. When her lips separated I immediately licked mine. She was feet away from me, but I could recall exactly what it tasted like to have her tongue in my mouth. Her long eyelashes batted as she blinked, and a half-smile formed as she intently gazed at my naked physique. “See something you want, baby?”

  “Oh, I think you know I want it all.” She seemed confident with her reply, and I knew it was because she knew exactly what was about to happen. The anticipation alone was making my dick hard. I pulled Hope on top of me and all of my current worries vanished. She had that effect on me. The way her hands touched me, or the way her body connected with mine, made every other sexual partner weak in comparison. We were in sync with one another, and though she lacked the experience that other’s carried with them, Hope knew me. She understood me in a way that none of them had before. For that reason alone I knew she was the one.

  I’d never kissed anyone and felt the passion that I did with her. She had this electrifying demeanor with everything she set out to do. Hope left me in awe, and I craved the attention she gave me. She’d given me a second chance, and I would never take her for granted.