Chapter 42
I ’m sure both of us had thoughts of going for a second round after the shower, but the truth was we were so fucking tired that we couldn’t bring ourselves to do it.
Claire suggested it a couple of times, to which I would half-heartedly make moves, but both of us knew after only a few minutes neither of us had the energy to make a second round occur.
When I woke up at sunrise the next day, however, all of that chaos came roaring back in the form of something unexpected.
I didn’t intend to wake up that early, but when I did, I saw that I had beaten Claire to waking up. She was rolled over on her side, breathing softly, her breasts rising gently against the covers of the bed. She looked so beautiful, so…
I had to stop myself. I really was getting carried away.
Maybe, I thought, I should just tell Claire my growing feelings.
If I did that, then perhaps she would have to push me away, solving the problem for me.
Instead of wondering how I could handle myself around Claire, I would just sabotage myself.
Fucking crazy? A tad. But smart?
You’re a better man than that. Fess up if it’s becoming that much of an issue.
I rolled back over to my side and reached for my phone. I had a couple of text messages about some baseball games from the night before but didn’t pay more attention to them other than reacting to a few with thumbs up that I didn’t really match with my waking mind.
Of greater interest, though, was the fact that someone had messaged me on Facebook, which was an extraordinarily rare occurrence. I opened the app and saw a name that immediately sent daggers to my stomach.
Sarah Hill.
“Hi Chance, how have you been?? It’s been so…”
That was all that the preview showed me, but it told me so much more than the words ever could.
It told me that Sarah was excited to talk to me. The multiple question marks said it all.
It told me that she had been thinking about talking to me for some time—if it was just friendly, she probably would have said something early in our Facebook friendship.
It told me that my life was probably about to get a lot more interesting. I immediately began to wonder if Sarah was soon going to be making her way over to New York City. And if that happened…
Well, I just had to hope it was temporary and that I could keep it quiet and on the down low for a variety of reasons.
I opened the message and was surprise to see that it was so long it didn’t fit onto a single screen on my phone. Curious, I scrolled to the top and began reading.
“Hi Chance, how have you been?? It’s been so long since I last spoke to you! I can’t believe how handsome you look!”
That brought a nervous smile to my face. It always felt good to have a beautiful woman compliment you, especially one like Sarah Hill. But it didn’t feel especially great to be reading this conversation in the bed of another woman, especially one I cared about.
“I’ve been going through and trying to add people on Facebook I haven’t seen.
When I first saw your picture I didn’t think it was you—you’ve added a little bit of stubble since we were so young at 12!
But it’s nice to see you doing well. I wanted to let you know that I will be in New York City in about a month. ”
Well, fuck. There it is.
It was real. I was going to see Sarah Hill for the first time in years.
And it couldn’t have some at either a better or a worst time, depending on how the next month played out with Edwin Hunt.
Either I would feel on top of the world for conquering him even more, or I’d feel so crushed by his assaults on me and Morgan that how I felt after the Taylors would feel mild by comparison.
“I’d love to see you and catch up with you! Gosh, it feels so weird typing this out, to think that this is really going to happen. But I said we’d hang out when we got older and here we are! Let me know if this works for you :-) !”
I all but let the phone drop out of my hand. This… it was real.
Sarah Hill. Chance Hunt. A deadly, sexy combination, both in the same room. I had long fantasized about this day…
And now that it would be coming…
Behind me, Claire shifted in bed. I quickly dropped my phone, the better so that Claire wouldn’t suspect anything, but I already knew I was venturing into dangerous territory.
Even if Claire swore up and down that she wasn’t looking for anything serious, the act of talking to another woman post-coitus between us felt like more than a slap in the face.
Shortly thereafter, though, Claire started snoring again, not too loudly, but obviously enough that she was asleep. Just to make sure, I glanced over my shoulder and saw her eyes shut. I carefully reached down, cautious even of the general creaks in the bed, and opened Facebook Messenger back up.
I couldn’t help myself. If I didn’t respond now, I would just think about it for the entirety of the morning, making my interactions with Claire short, rude, and unfair.
“Hey Sarah,” I wrote.
After that, though, I suddenly found myself at a loss for words. What the hell would I say? Would I flirt? Would I act defensive?
I didn’t do online flirting. I was too good at the in-person game to ever need to resort to messages like this. But now, to get the girl of my dreams… ignoring that I had a girl of reality and another girl out there…
I decided to just keep it short and simple.
“Hey Sarah, it’s great to hear from you too. Yes, I would love to see you too. Let me know when you are in NYC and we can grab a drink.”
It felt like the safest approach, especially since I knew once Sarah actually got to New York and was in my sights, it was all over. I would seal the deal, bring her home, and have a night like…
“I can’t believe I ever woke up after the coma you put me in.”
I casually dropped my phone, belying the actual haste with which I wanted to move, and turned to face Claire.
Her fair skin, soft smile, and barely open eyes made her look perfectly relaxed, an impressive and unexpected sight for the week that she had had.
I guess I really had done something good for her.
Which made what I’d just done even more awkward.
“It’s a medical miracle,” I said, drawing a morning laugh from her. “I take it you slept well.”
“Are you kidding me? I haven’t slept like that since before Rising Sun.”
I snorted a fake laugh, fearful that bringing to the forefront her startup and all of the drama that had come around in recent days would ruin Claire’s mood. But she showed none of that as she stretched out and yawned.
“In any case, I think I owe you.”
I raised my eyebrows in anticipation as I knew what might be coming. But Claire’s laugh blew that possibility off. Karma, probably.
“You knocked all the sex I had in me out last night, Chance, I got nothing left for a day or so,” she said. “But I’ll cook you some bacon. I think you can forgive me, right?”
“Oh, man, man’s second kryptonite. Bacon. How ever did you know?”
“This may shock you, Chance Hunt, but I’m over twenty, not twelve. I’ve had relationships before.”
“The horror!” I said, putting my hands in mock surprise.
We wrestled and laughed and I went on a tickling spree on Claire for a bit before she finally begged me to stop enough that I felt I’d made my point—which wasn’t really a point, just a good time. Claire quickly kicked off the covers, putting on a t-shirt and shorts before I could grab her again.
“You relax here,” she said. “I’ll be back in about ten minutes. Don’t jump out the window and run now.”
“I would never,” I said. “I’d go through the ventilation shaft. A much greater story.”
“In New York? I wouldn’t even be mad if you could pull that off.”
With that and a wink, she shut the bedroom door behind her.
Seizing the time, I quickly checked my phone.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised me, but Sarah had already responded.
What time is it over there anyways? Gotta be close to evening.
Maybe it does make sense that she would be on at this time.
Still… playing a bad game doing this at Claire’s.
“That sounds great! You look good, Chance. This will be really fun. :-) Everything else all good? How’s Morgan?”
She wasn’t just setting up plans now. She was flirting and unabashedly so.
This was definitely the Sarah Hill I had gone to middle school with, but still, seeing someone so honestly flirt on social media felt odd to say the least. I may have been the generation most likely to use this type of media, but then again, I was far from the typical Millenial or Gen Xer or whatever the fuck I was.
I was just Chance Hunt—mysterious, confident, and never quite at home in any one location.
I found it curious that she seemed so eager to message me and find out about me and Morgan, especially since she could have easily found Morgan under my friends and requested him or just requested him without using me.
I didn’t think anything beyond the initial weirdness, though, so I just wrote back short.
“Life’s good. Business is looking good. Morgan is doing good too. Hope all is well.”
It sure sounded like I was blowing her off, but nothing could be further from the truth. I just knew where I best functioned, and in a chat room like a typical teenage girl was not the spot.
A loud clang came from the kitchen followed by Claire loudly swearing. I kicked my sheets off and ran in, not even bothering to put clothes on.
“You good?”
Claire, who looked like she had stubbed her toe, grimaced, turned to me, and then went wide-eyed.
“I mean, I am now, looking at you,” she said, unable to hide her arousal. “Go back in there before I burn this place down because I pounced on you.”
I laughed, gave a little wiggle that drew a yelp of pleasure from her, and then headed back in the room.
Back with my thoughts.
Back with the knowledge that in the same apartment that I made someone feel so good in, I was flirting with another woman.
Was it cheating? Not in the technical sense of the word. But it sure felt wrong, and after everything that had happened to me in the past couple of months, I had to do everything I could to avoid what felt “wrong” before I turned into someone like Craig Taylor or Edwin Hunt.