Hope's Chance

by Jennifer Foor

  I smacked her in the side. “I wanted a soda.”

  “Lighten up princess. If you want to puss out, I will drink the shots myself.”

  She stuck a twenty on the bar while she watched him making the drinks. Another man gave him an order while he was filling ours. When he slid the shots in our direction he pushed the twenty back to Rylee. “These are taken care of already.” He said while nudging his head to the man who had spoken to him just seconds ago.

  I watched Rylee looking the guy over. She stared right into his eyes as she downed the first shot. “He is kinda cute don’t you think?”

  “I guess. How old do you think he is?”

  She grabbed the second shot and licked her lips before she downed it. “He can’t be older than twenty five. Are you going to drink those?” She pointed to the last two shots.

  I rolled my eyes and grabbed one. When that awful taste hit my mouth I wanted to gag. Knowing we were in a bar full of adults, I manage to regain composure quickly. Rylee had a big smile on her face. “Now do the other one and follow me.” She ordered.

  I hated the first one, but the second one wasn’t as horrible. Possibly the shock of the taste was over with. As I swallowed the last shot, I watched as she made her way over to the guy that had bought her a shot. The guy seemed normal enough. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of khakis. He smiled as we approached and pulled out a chair for her to sit. I looked around the room and spotted the ladies room, finally hoping for a quiet moment to reassess what the hell I was doing here in the first place.

  I signaled to Rylee where I was going and she smiled at me before giving the new guy all of her attention. I pushed past a group of people mingling and made my way to the bathroom. When I got in there, the liquor was burning in my chest. I leaned over the sink and looked at myself in the mirror.

  It had felt like Rylee put all kinds of makeup on me, but I really wasn’t wearing much. She had made my eyes look more enhanced and my hair had settled down from the heat, making it look a lot more relaxed. It was the dress that I couldn’t stand. It was so tight against my skin, and I never thought of myself as fat, but my curves were so enhanced. I was used to wearing free flowing summer dresses that did nothing for a figure.

  By the time I made it out of the bathroom, the dance floor had filled up. I looked in the center and noticed Rylee grinding all over her new friend. I rolled my eyes and made my way through the people dancing. Since she was my ride I had to at least appease her. The guy handed me a beer, and I noticed they each had one for themselves. I hated the taste of beer, but after the two shots I managed to drink half the bottle before the first song finished.

  It was so crowded now, that my dress issue became non-existent. We were surrounded by a crowd of people and there wasn’t exactly room for anyone to stare.

  Rylee and I had been dancing around together for years. We would dance in our pajamas until we literally passed out. As we got older our practice paid off. We were always admired at the school dances and our boyfriends loved it. This new guy could be added to Rylee’s list of admirers he was clearly into her, and she grinded her ass into his legs.

  I started to relax and just let the music take over my senses. We were here and it wasn’t so bad. I could handle this. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared it would be.

  Chance

  I followed Mark and Buffy to the bar on my motorcycle. The drive sucked because Mark drove that SUV slow as hell. If I had known where I was going I would have passed them once we got out of the development.

  I was surprised how packed the little establishment was. Maybe everyone in the entire town had come out tonight. I pulled out my driver’s license even before it was my turn. I had just turned twenty one a few months back and it made me proud that I didn’t need a fake I.D. to get in anywhere. The bouncer at the door looked at my I.D. twice until he noticed my sister. She gave one of her million dollar smiles and he forgot about little me. Once she and Mark made it inside we got a table in the back and started looking at menus. We probably should have got here sooner, if we wanted to eat without loud music.

  We each ordered something small and watched everyone dancing as we waited for our food. I was surprised how much my sister’s clothes fit in here. It seemed all of the women were dressed pretty hot. I had stopped being protective of my sister.

  One night a guy followed her out of the club. Before she could even scream, he had managed to corner her in an alley. She said it only took her a few seconds to realize it and free herself. By the time she had screamed for the first time, the guy was on the ground. She had kicked him so hard in the balls that he fell to the ground. Once he was down she used her stilettos as a weapon and beat him to a pulp.

  Before the police could come he begged her to not press charges, claiming he was married and it would ruin his life. She told him if she ever saw him again she would rip out his balls and nail them to his front door.

  She never saw him again.

  And I stopped worrying.

  She had always been able to handle herself. Guys had been coming on to her since kindergarten. For as long as I could remember she always had a boyfriend. Once she got into high school she started dating older guys and now she preferred them much older. I couldn’t complain, she was in a happy place and Mark adored her.

  When we had finished eating, my sister yanked us both out to the dance floor. She and Mark immediately began grinding all over each other, while I was left to shake around alone. After a few minutes Mark held up his hand and we were brought another round of beers.

  I took my first sip and stopped dancing. In the center of the dance floor was something familiar. Two girls were dancing and grinding all over this one dude and they were wearing my sister’s dresses, that Mark and I had secretly thrown away when my sister wasn’t home. They were dresses she wore when she had been working as a dancer and Mark wanted them gone. I had gathered them up and taken them to a second hand store in town, figuring my sister would never know the difference.

  Thankfully, Mark and Buffy were so caught up in each other, neither of them noticed. As I finished my beer, I found myself watching the two girls occasionally. They both filled them out, one of them even better than my sister had. They were really good dancers and it reminded me of a couple wild parties I had attended back at school.

  When the song ended and a slow one came on, the couples started grouping together. I stood there alone and Mark and Buffy, as well as everyone else on the dance floor, grabbed their partners and began to slow dance.

  That is when I realized the girl with the awesome body making her way off the dance floor. I followed the back of her with my eyes and realized I was unconsciously heading in her direction.

  I leaned in behind her. “Hey beautiful, can I get you something to drink?” I asked.

  She never turned around. “Sure. I guess I will have a Bud Light.”

  I reached a ten over to the bartender. “Two Bud Lights please.”

  When the bartender handed us the beers she finally turned around to hand me mine. Both of our faces froze.

  “What are you doing here?” We said at the same time.

  I took a big swig of beer. I couldn’t believe Hope was standing here in front of me.

  “I came here with a friend. Please don’t tell my father?”

  I gave her a quick smile and got closer to her. “I don’t have to tell him anything, if he sees you for himself.”

  The color from her face left. “Oh God! He’s here?” She pointed to the floor.

  “Yeah, he and Buff are out there dancing. I’m sure he didn’t see you. What is the big deal anyway?”

  I looked up to see her downing the entire beer. She took the bottle and sat it back on the bar. It was empty. “I need to get out of here.”

  “Why, what’s wrong?” I asked.

  She ignored me. “Do you see my friend anywhere? She is wearing a platinum dress.”

  “I know the dress well.” I whispered in her ear.
r />   “I bet you do.” She said. I had to laugh. She thought I had been checking out her friend.

  “I recognize the dress because it used to be my sisters, not because of who is wearing it.”

  Her beautiful light blue eyes stared into mine. “Chance, you have to help me find my friend. I can’t be here. He can’t see me.”

  I grabbed her by the arm gently. “Stay right here. I will be right back. Don’t leave.”

  I headed toward the dance floor and found her friend. I had no idea what the girls name was. “Hey, um your friend said she needs to go home.”

  She never stopped dancing or leaning on the guy she was dancing with. “I am not ready to leave. Tell her she has to wait.”

  “She needs to leave now.”

  “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I am in the middle of having a great time. Tell her to go out to the car if she wants to pout and act like a baby.”

  Hearing her talk like that when her friend needed her really pissed me off. As I walked away from her I yelled “Bitch!”.

  I found Mark and Buffy in a slow embrace. I kissed my sister on the cheek. “Thanks for dinner, but I think I am going to call it an early night.”

  She pulled away from Mark. “No! Why? Did something happen? We weren’t ignoring you. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing, really I am fine. I will see you in the morning. Thanks again.” I said as I walked off the dance floor and headed toward where Hope was hiding. I looked back to make sure they weren’t watching me, as I grabbed her by the hand and led her out of the bar.

  Once we made it outside, I stood her in front of my bike and handed her my only helmet. “Put this on.”

  “I can’t get on that thing. I hate motorcycles.” She admitted.

  I climbed on my bike and put the key into the ignition. “You can get on, or go ask your father for a ride. You choose.”

  I watched as she pulled her skirt up in order to climb behind me on my bike. I grabbed her hands and wrapped them around my waist. “Hold on tight.”

  Chapter 7

  Hope

  I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I was going to kill Rylee tomorrow. Well that was if I made it off of this bike alive.

  Chance managed to drive us a few miles away before pulling over at a gas station. He lifted the tinted shield away from my helmet. “Do you want anything inside?”

  I shook my head no, realizing how stupid I must look in the helmet. He gave me a quick smile before heading into the store. I sat on the bike. My body was shaking even though I knew I was tipsy. The alcohol was supposed to calm my nerves, but they must have been on overdrive because I couldn’t calm myself down.

  When Chance came back he had a brown bag in his hand. “Scoot off for a second so I can put this under my seat. I was shocked that the whole bag fit under the seat of his motorcycle, but he obviously knew what would fit, since this was his bike.

  “So where do you live?” He asked.

  “Um, I can’t go home.”

  “What do you mean? Why can’t you?”

  “I told my mother I was staying at Rylee’s house. She is super strict and if she found out I wasn’t where I was supposed to be than I will be punished all summer.”

  “Where the Hell am I supposed to take you?” He asked.

  “Well, can we just go back to your place?” She held her hand up. “Wait, before you say no…I promise I just need a place to crash. In the morning I will have someone pick me up and you won’t have to even see me. Please Chance. I know that we don’t know each other, but you know my father, and he would want me to be safe.” I hated throwing the dad card in there, but I was panicking. There was no way I could talk my way out of this to my mother, or my father. Not in these clothes…

  “I don’t think your father would approve of you staying the night with me Hope.”

  “Would you rather I hitchhiked my way somewhere else?” I asked as I started handing him the helmet.

  This had to work. Please work. I just can’t go home.

  “Please Chance. You won’t even know I am there. I promise.” I added.

  “Fine, but you need to be gone before your father wakes up. I can’t afford to be kicked out because I was trying to be a good person. He won’t see it that way. I have too much history for him to be okay with me helping you.”

  We both climbed on the bike and once I wrapped my arms back around Chance’s waist we took off. I couldn’t understand what he meant, but I knew shortly I could relax and be safe for the night.

  The fifteen minute ride to my father’s community seemed to fly by. The night air felt good, even though I had a problem admitting to myself that I actually enjoyed the ride. I felt safe with Chance, even though I knew nothing about him.

  When we finally pulled up to the house, he helped me climb off the bike and removed my helmet. He reached in and got the brown bag and led me to the pool house. When the door opened he headed in front of me and started cleaning a large pile of laundry off of the couch. “Sit here.”

  He went into the kitchen and started turning on a bunch of lights. “Want a beer?”

  I smiled and folded my hands in my lap. “Sure.”

  I heard the caps hitting the countertop, before I saw him coming toward me. He handed me the beer and sat down on the chair across from me.

  “Thanks for saving me tonight. Sorry if I ruined your night. I didn’t mean to be a cock block or anything.”

  He smiled before taking a long drink of beer. I watched as his lips made contact with the bottle. When he pulled it away he licked his lips. I started licking mine, and I hadn’t realized until he started talking again. “Did you hear me?” He asked.

  “No, sorry. What did you say?”

  “So, I can only assume that you aren’t twenty one yet. It’s cool. I snuck into a lot of bars when I was at college. I’m not judging you. It just sucks your dad was in the same bar tonight.”

  “Yeah, I’m not legal yet. It sucks. Tonight was my friend’s idea. She even forced me to wear this dress. Look at me….I look so stupid.” I stood and pointed to the dress.

  He took another long sip of beer and held the bottle on his lips. His eyes were burning a hole on my dress. “You don’t look stupid. It’s quite the opposite actually.”

  I started to blush and sat down quickly. “Thanks. So, um, why don’t you have a girlfriend, or do you?”

  “I did. Things didn’t work out.” He said as he grabbed the remote.

  I looked at the large pile of clothes. “Can I borrow something to change in to? This dress is really uncomfortable.”

  Chance gave me one more once over, before looking through the pile. He handed me a t-shirt and a pair of boxers. They smelled good, and I wondered if he did his own laundry. “Thanks.”

  “The bathroom is right down the hall if you want to change in there.” He said.

  I headed in that direction. I have no idea why I did it, but I looked behind me and caught him checking me out. I couldn’t control what came out of my mouth next. “Do you like what you see?”

  Chance

  I just wanted tonight to be a new start. I didn’t intend on making friends, or especially bringing someone home with me. This was my boss’s daughter, and although it was wrong in so many ways, I couldn’t help but stare at her perfect ass as she walked in the direction of my bathroom.

  I was shocked when she had caught me, but instead of getting mad, she smiled and kept walking. It had been so long since I touched someone. Part of me was afraid what would happen if I did. I had managed to keep myself out of trouble since I moved here, but this was torture.

  This girl was stacked like someone in Maxim magazine. To make matters worse, she seemed to want to be around me. If she only knew the truth. I had to tell her. She had to know that being around me was a dangerous mistake and all I could do was bring her pain.

  When she came out of the bathroom, I gasped. I had already ran and got another beer, but not even the beer could hide my r
eaction. She looked so sexy in my clothes. I wanted to close my eyes and beg her to leave, but I couldn’t do it.

  She sat back down on the couch and stretched her tanned legs out on the table, rubbing them with her hands. “Thanks again for the clothes, and the beer.”

  “Sure.”

  “I feel so good right now. I usually don’t drink this much. In fact, that last time I got drunk I was sick all night and swore I would never drink again.” She confessed.

  “It happens. I’ve had a bunch of those nights, but for some reason it always calls me back.”

  “Can I smell you?” She asked.

  Okay that was weird. “Come again?”

  “Well, your clothes smell so good. I am just wondering what they smell like on you?” She asked.

  I knew my clothes I was wearing came out of a box, but I had on cologne, so they didn’t stink. “It’s kind of a weird request though. I don’t think you should be getting that close to me tonight. We both have had a lot to drink.” I knew I hadn’t drank that much. I could feel a slight buzz, but I didn’t want her to know that. I needed to keep her away from me. I couldn’t let her get involved with someone like me. I couldn’t let myself have a relationship. It would never work.

  She shocked me when she sat her beer down and climbed over to the large chair I sat in. Her face came so close to my neck that I could feel her breathing. When she spoke I got chills all over my body. “I knew you would smell even better than your clothes.”

  I went to push her away, but she lost her balance and fell into my lap. Her giggles filled the room. Before I could react she sat up and placed her forehead against mine. “Am I pretty?”

  If she only knew how pretty she was. I closed my eyes, refusing to look her in the eye. “Yes. You. Are.”

  Her lips brushed against mine slowly and then I felt her warm tongue stroking my bottom lip. I wanted to resist it, to push her away and lock myself in my room, but it felt so good. My mind told me this couldn’t happen, but my body wouldn’t let me make that decision.