A Hope and a Chance(93)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“That man is in love with you, Hope. Nothing will change that. Please calm down. I’ll make sure he comes upstairs. Just give me a few minutes.”

I watched Buffy leave the room. The laughing had finally stopped downstairs and I wondered if everyone had just gone to bed. Not knowing where Susan was, I snuck down the steps. They were in the kitchen except for Chance. Before I could turn around to walk into the living room, I felt his arms around me.

“I am so sorry, baby,” he said as he cupped his hands over my face.

“I can’t do this anymore, Chance. They all need to know the truth.”

He wiped a tear from my cheek. “Come to the pool house tonight. Spend the night in my arms and we’ll talk about telling him.”

“Okay.”

He kissed me one more time before going back into the kitchen. I sat down on the step and listened for a moment.

Chance didn’t waste any time. “I am going to call it an early night. I have a headache, and just want to lay down.”

I heard some commotion, but when I ran upstairs I noticed him going into the pool house alone. He looked up and blew me a kiss before turning off his light, so that I could sneak in undetected.

When I started getting my clothes together I heard a knock on my door. I hid the evidence and opened it to find my dad.

“How are you doing, Hope?” He asked kindly.

I shrugged and held my head down embarrassed. “I’m fine, just really sorry.”

“I’ve been drunk many times, sweetie. I am not really mad at you, just concerned about things you said. Do you miss Trevor?”

“No way! I hate him, dad, I swear.”

He put his arm around me. “I want you to be with a good guy, Hope; someone that will love you and treat you with respect.”

“I want that too.”

“We can start over in the morning, okay?” He asked.

I nodded. “Sure.”

When I heard he and Buffy talking to Susan down the hall I locked my bedroom door, and ran down the stairs. Once outside, I made my way to the pool house in no time at all. Chance was sitting there waiting for me.

I flew into his arms squeezing him so tight. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t handle it. She wouldn’t shut up.”

“I should have left the table. She was just trying to get a rouse out of me. You have to know I hated it too,” he said.

Chance picked me up and carried me from the living room to his bedroom without releasing my lips from his.

We lay on the bed on our sides just staring at each other for a long period of time.

“You looked beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“I like it when you’re jealous. You’re scary, and unpredictable.”

“Don’t mess with me. You never know when I’ll snap,” I teased.

“Just as long as you take it out on me, you little tiger.”

We both laughed before getting comfortable again. My Christmas may have suffered a bump in the road, but it was ending just as perfect as it started.

54

It was a mistake to even think Hope would be okay with Susan’s grabby paws all over me. The woman wouldn’t get the hint. All I wanted was for Hope to be with me, out in the open. So many times tonight I just wanted to tell Mark. We’d made it this long, but I didn’t know if I could go until New Years.

Hope and I were deep into a kiss when someone knocked on my door. She sat up, shirtless, and looked at me. “Who do you think it is?” She whispered.

It was late, and I was sure that Mark and Buffy had called it a night. “I don’t know. Just stay there. I promise I’ll get rid of them.” I said as I headed out of the bedroom. The snow made it bright outside, even in the middle of the night and I could see that it was Susan.

I opened the door and she came pushing in. “I can’t believe you had Buffy make up the guest room,” she said.

I turned to face her. She was wearing a long winter coat and stood with her hands on her hips. “Sorry. I’m not in the mood for company, Susan.”

She started to approach me. “Don’t you remember how good we were? How good I made you feel?”

“It was a long time ago,” I admitted.

“Let me remind you then.” She opened the coat to reveal some skimpy lingerie.

I turned away from her. “Please put the coat back on.”

She didn’t listen. Instead, she came toward me and pressed her lips against mine. I pushed her off of me. “Dammit, Susan, I said no. Get a fucking hint.”

“What the fuck, Chance? Are you gay?” She asked.

“No, of course not. I have a girlfriend now, and I love her,” I confessed.

She started buttoning her jacket finally. “Buffy didn’t tell me,” she said embarrassed.

“I didn’t want anyone to know. Please don’t say anything to them. I don’t want them knowing my business, ” I said as I pretty much pushed her back out of the door.

“If you change your mind, you know where to find me,” she said.

I made my way back into the bedroom. Hope was sitting up hugging her naked chest. “I can’t believe you didn’t get dressed.”

“I think I want to get caught. I can’t hide this anymore, Chance. Look at everything we’ve had to go through. I can’t stand it.”

“Me either,” I admitted as I pulled her back into my arms.

Hope finally fell asleep, but I stayed awake wondering how all of this was going to play out. I needed for her to be cool for a few more days. Once she was eighteen, they couldn’t stop us.

Three days later, things were still weird being around Susan. She’d gone from throwing herself on me, to eerily watching my every move. Mark had pulled me aside twice and asked what was wrong with her. It was hard to tell him that she wasn’t Hope.

Buffy made Hope a beautiful birthday cake and dinner. Her father had gone out and got her a new laptop for deciding to go to school, and she was so surprised. I slipped her a gift in private. I had printed out a photo we took at the beach that time we went together. I made a paper frame for it and wrote a note on the back about how much she meant to me.

Hope’s birthday dinner was also the rehearsal dinner for the wedding. We had a house full, and there was a bunch of people stopping by. After the minister who was performing the ceremony had gone over all of the details, everyone began to leave. Of course, that left the five of us in the house again to ring in the New Year.

Susan had drank a bit too much, and was attempting to grope all over me again. This time she cornered me in a hallway and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I shook my head, pushed her away, and called it a night.