A Hope and a Chance(92)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Well I like it when she packs her shit and leaves. If you think I’m okay with her sleeping in that pool house you’ve got another thing coming, Chance. I will cut you off. No, I’ll give you back this ring.”

“Jesus, woman. There’s no need for drastic measures. I don’t plan on sleeping in the same place as she does. Once she has enough to drink, she’ll pass out. It’s not going to even be an issue.”

“If you say so. It’s still going to be a while, and she obviously can’t keep her grabby hands off of you. She acts like you’re a piece of freaking meat.”

“I happen to like being referred to as a piece of meat, when you’re hungry.”

I shoved him away from me. “Jerk.”

He shook his head, leaned in, and kissed me on the lips. “They asked me to come get you for dinner. Hope, I am so sorry she’s here. There’s only one woman in this house that I belong to, and it’s always going to be you. Try to calm down enough to have Christmas dinner with me.”

I finally looked up at him. He knew I’d been crying; it was obvious. “She’s not sleeping in the same house as you!” I reiterated.

“The hell she is. No fucking way, Hope. I won’t let that happen, I told you. Please calm down.”

I started to feel better just hearing him say he wouldn’t allow it.

He leaned down and played with the ring on my finger. He brought it to his lips and kissed it. “Nothing will come between us. Please know that.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” It was all I could say.

“Twenty minutes,” he said. Chance leaned down further and pressed his lips against mine. “The only person who’ll be in my arms tonight is you.”

I watched Chance walk out of my room, and I finally got myself out of bed. I ran over to the mirror and started doing my makeup to hide the redness. I decided to change my clothes, for some revengeful attention at the dinner table. I wouldn’t be treated like a child in my own house.

The tight black dress was low cut and accented every curve of my body, especially my large breasts. Susan could kiss my ass. I had one feature that she did not and I was fully prepared to have Chance staring at them during the whole meal. Two could play the seductive game, and I already knew who the winner would be.

I let my hair fall down my back and the natural curls fell right into place.

The voices were coming from the dining room, so I ran into the kitchen. I took two shots of some clear liquor that my father drank with coke. Both went down smooth, and since I hadn’t heard anyone calling me, I took one more.

My hands ran down my dress and I made sure it was sitting perfectly as I sauntered into the room. Everyone stopped talking. Chance was in the middle of taking a drink when he literally started to choke.

“Hope, you look amazing.” Buffy announced. She pointed her hand to sit across the table from Chance. “Sit down. I poured you a glass of red. I hope you like it.”

“Thank you.” I tried not to look at Chance, but I could feel his eyes burning into my body.

When I caught a glimpse of Susan she seemed to also be staring me down.

Most of the dinner discussion was Buffy and Susan reliving their youth through stories. They included Chance in a few, but after the first bottle of wine I noticed Susan getting a bit too open about her and Chance sneaking around when they were younger. At one point he actually got up from the table and got himself a beer.

The liquor was really showing its ugly face by the time dessert was served. Buffy had made some fancy shit that she probably spent hours on. I could barely feel my fingers, so poking at the pretty designed cake was fun. I found myself laughing out for no reason at random times.

“Hope, are you okay?” My father asked.

I was sick of hearing that bitch talk about all the places she had fucked my boyfriend. I looked up and smiled. “Just dandy, daddy.”

Chance’s stare burned into me, and I couldn’t help but laugh at him. In fact, I couldn’t stop laughing at EVERYTHING.

“What is wrong with you?” My father demanded. “You couldn’t be drunk from one glass of wine.”

“Plus some shots!” I said while still giggling.

Chance looked upset with me. I couldn’t have him mad at me. He tried to mouth me the word sit down, but I stood there staring at him.

With no regard for us or our future, my drunk self did something horrible. I pointed across the table at Chance and Susan.

“Do you want to hear about my first time?” My body started swaying and in the corner of my eye I saw my father coming at me. “My boyfriend forced me to sleep with him, and after several attempts he took me while other kids at the Country Club sat there watching us. Then he fucked my best friend the same week.”

My father had come up behind me and grabbed me. He was pulling me out of the room apologizing to everyone for my actions.

“Let go of me,” I screamed.

“You’re embarrassing yourself, Hope. What’s the matter with you? Why would you drink so much? Did Trevor try to call you? This isn’t like you. Did something else happen?” He asked.

I stood on the first step and looked my dad in the eye, by this time Chance and Buffy were standing in the doorway. I looked over at Chance. “I miss my boyfriend. I wish we were together but we aren’t. He is with someone else now.” I cried like a little baby. My dad didn’t know I was talking about Chance, and my drunk self couldn’t even begin to think about what I was saying. He obviously wasn’t really with her.

I ran upstairs to my room and locked my door. Finally, after a few hours, I saw Buffy standing over my bed. “Take these.” She handed me two pills. “Hope, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe she was throwing herself on him like that. I should have known better.”

I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to know if Chance hated me. “Where’s Chance?”

“Downstairs with your dad and Susan,” she explained.

“I can’t watch them, Buff. It hurts too much.” I started to cry again.

She shook her head and hugged me. “I never should have kept this from your father.” As she continued to comfort me she spotted my ring, which in my drunkenness had turned diamond up. “Oh my god, is that?”

“Chance gave it to me. It was his promise to me,” I confessed as tears ran down my face.

“Why are you crying? I should be the one crying.” she admitted.

I let her hug me. “He’ll never forgive me for tonight. I was such an ass.”