Third Chances - Chapter 11
Daphne
Rob was right about me. So right that it stung. I hadn't even thought about how vulnerable falling in love left me. I was used to doing whatever I wanted every day, however I wanted. I was used to being in control. Am I really avoiding love?
I didn't flinch when Rob caught up to me and slipped his hand in mine again. It had been a long time since someone had held my hand. It made me feel safe somehow. Almost protected. But what I currently needed protection from was Rob.
I glanced up at him out of the corner of my eye. He was gorgeous, confident, and a great kisser. A really, really good kisser.
I was never one to condone public displays of affection.
I was always yelling at kids in the hallway at school.
There was a time and place for everything, and kissing by a set of lockers wasn't that time or place.
But I hadn't even been thinking about the appropriateness of it when he kissed me.
All I wanted was more. A lot more. And the thought terrified me.
I was only going to be here for a week. I had no idea how long he was going to be here.
I didn't do one night stands. Why am I even thinking about this?
Because he's gorgeous, confident, and a great kisser.
I quickly looked away from him when he turned his head toward me.
Those three things were on my list for my soul mate.
Pretty high up there too. But he was also infuriating.
He assumed I wanted to kiss him, he didn't seem to have any filter whatsoever, and his confidence was borderline cocky. He was definitely not my soul mate.
"You still need to take off my bracelet for applying your sunscreen," I said, trying to push aside the thoughts rolling around in my head.
He smiled. "How long has it been since then?"
"I don't know. Ten minutes maybe?"
"Too bad. I think the rules state that the card must be swiped against the bracelet within five minutes of the activity being completed."
"What rules? There don't seem to be any rules at all for this game. If you don't swipe my bracelet, I'm going to tell Javier that you took that stack of cards."
"Yeah, I was talking to Javier the whole time. He knows I didn't take anything."
I didn't care how good his hand felt wrapped around mine. Besides, he was making me incredibly nervous and I was pretty sure my palms were getting sweaty. Which was mortifying. I pulled my hand away from his.
"Rob, you have ten seconds to swipe my bracelet."
He raised his left eyebrow. "Or what?"
"Or..." I let my voice trail off.
He smiled. It was no longer a question if he was cocky or confident. He was definitely cocky.
"Or, I'll tell Javier that you murdered an iguana and you'll be sent to Costa Rican prison."
He laughed. A low, deep, sexy laugh. "I can handle Costa Rican prison." He started walking again.
What? I quickly caught up to him. "What do you mean you can handle it? I bet the conditions aren't nearly as nice as American prisons. And I watched a documentary about that. American prisons aren't exactly nice either."
"Do you watch a lot of documentaries?"
"I'd say a normal amount, yes."
"That doesn't surprise me at all. But you're right, I'd rather not go back to Costa Rican prison.
James was not happy at all when he had to bail me out last time.
" He grabbed my wrist, making me stop. "Besides, I am a man of my word.
" He pulled a card out of his pocket and swiped it across one of my bracelets.
"You've been to prison here?" I caught the bracelet as it fell off.
That was another red flag. I didn't date guys that went to prison.
Was that supposed to elicit a different reaction from me?
Was I supposed to think it was sexy that he was all tough and rugged and went to Costa Rican prison? Damn it, why is that sexy?
"That depends on whether or not you're more or less attracted to guys that went to prison?"
"Definitely less."
"I'll take that as more. It's not even a good story, though. I'll spare you the details."
"Well, you have to tell me now."
"Make me."
I laughed. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, there are plenty of things you could do to me that would make me tell you whatever you want."
"Like..."
"Like," he grabbed a card out of his pocket, "give me your underwear."
I laughed. "I don't think so. I think I can live without the story."
"So that's a no for that one too." He shoved the card back in his pocket. "I was lying to Matt when I said I'd give him all the dirty cards, but if you're refusing to do them, it looks like I have no choice."
"Or you could keep some of them and use them on some other poor girl."
"That doesn't sound appealing at all. I fully intend to use all my cards on you."
"Is that supposed to flatter me?"
"Supposed to? I don't know about that. But based on how rosy your cheeks are, I'm guessing that it did."
I pressed my lips together. Stupid rosy cheeks. I didn't know how I was going to shake this guy. And I didn't even know if I wanted to. That was such a lie. I knew I didn't want to. I wanted him to push me against the wall again and do more than kiss me.
"My friends signed up for a bunch of activities. So I'm sure I'll be pretty busy for the rest of the day. You'll probably need to find someone else to hang out with if you want to put a dent in those cards."
"What a coincidence. My friends signed up for a bunch of activities too. Maybe we'll be at some of the same ones." He opened up the door for me, completely ignoring my comment about finding someone else.
I walked back into the heat. My friends were all laying in their beach chairs tanning. Mason and James were both still reading, but Matt had disappeared. He was probably off harassing some innocent woman.
Rob flopped down in the empty chair beside my friends and put his arm out. "Right here, snuggle bunny," he said and tapped the very small empty spot beside him.
Kristen turned toward him. "It seems like you and Daphne are hitting it off."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that kiss sealed the deal. Right, beautiful?"
Kristen pulled her sunglasses to the top of her head and stared at me. "You kissed him?" she mouthed silently to me.
I could feel my face turning red. I had kissed a complete stranger. And not even a peck. Like a full blown make-out session. "He keeps using cards on me."
Rob feigned shocked innocence. "That kiss was not on my cards." He tapped the seat beside him.
Kristen gave me a thumbs up.
Fucking hell. I sat down on the very edge of the chair, trying not to touch Rob. I wasn't at all surprised when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me down beside him. He quickly adjusted himself so that my head would be on his chest.
"Are you done?" I asked.
"Almost." He grabbed my thigh and pulled it across his legs. "There, that's better."
"How long do I have to do this?"
"I'd say 20 minutes would suffice."
"Twenty minutes? That's ridiculous." I lifted up my head to protest and he immediately put his hand on the side of my face.
The way his thumb gently traced under my cheekbone sent chills down my spine.
He was staring into my eyes so intently.
And I couldn't help but get lost in the deep brown of his.
He was so handsome. Why the hell is he hanging out with me?
"I'm more than happy to do one of the other cards," he whispered so that my friends couldn't hear. "I just thought it might be nice if we got to know each other first." His hand left my face and he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
My heart was beating so fast, I'm sure he could feel my pulse against his torso.
I tried to steady my uneven breaths. I should have slapped him.
I should have told him I had no interest in accepting any more of his cards.
But the way he was looking at me made it seem like he actually did want to get to know me.
That was the most important thing on my list. For someone to be genuinely interested in getting to know me for me.
"What do you want to know?" The words tumbled out before I even realized I was saying them.
He smiled. "Everything."
I laughed and readjusted myself so that my head was resting on his shoulder. Our faces were only a few inches apart, and his hand slid down my back, resting just above my ass. "Ask me something more specific."
"What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a high school math teacher."
"Really? I wish I had you for a teacher. Although it's probably for the best that I didn't, because I would have found you very, very distracting. Your students must have a hard time focusing."
I laughed. "I don't think so."
"You probably have no idea how many inconvenient boners you've caused." He laughed and I felt the vibrations through my palm that was pressed against his chest. A sense of humor was another thing on my list. Rob definitely had that.
"What about you?"
"What about me?" He trailed his fingers through my hair. It seemed like he was doing it absentmindedly, but it was soothing.
"What do you do for a living?"
He shrugged, which caused my face to move even closer to his. "I'm just enjoying living right now." I smelled the mix of mint and coconut on his breath. It was very tempting to kiss him again.
"What does that mean exactly?" Unemployed? Possibly unmotivated to achieve anything? Two more red flags.
"It means that I'm taking time to figure out what I want to do, what will truly make me happy. I'm traveling. I'm having fun. And I'm going to take as long as I need to figure it out, because I refuse to sit behind a desk every day pushing papers and being miserable."
That wasn't the answer I was expecting. I knew enough about Professor Hunter to know that he came from money.
Which meant Rob did too. Yes, he was clearly living off his parents.
But his answer didn't seem to hint at the fact that he was a stuck up rich brat.
He was trying to find himself. And wasn't that the most important thing anyone could do?
I was lucky. I grew up knowing I wanted to be a teacher.
Just like Alina grew up knowing she wanted to run her grandmother's bakery and Layla wanted to be a meteorologist. But we were exceptions.
Most people discovered their passions later in life.
Most people changed their majors in college at least five times.
It was admirable to want to find your passion.
Underneath all the brash comments and rough exterior, maybe there was someone deep and insightful. I found myself wanting to know more.
"And what have you found out during your travels?"
"That Costa Rican prison sucks."
I laughed. Maybe that deep insightful person was also hiding under a layer of sarcasm. "Do I get to hear that story?"
"I told you it wasn't a good story."
"I want to hear it anyway." If it wasn't good, it meant it wasn't funny.
Or maybe he got arrested for doing something he was embarrassed about.
Either way, it seemed like the perfect way to get to know him.
And I wanted to get to know him. Despite all the red flags, he had so many characteristics that I hadn't found in anyone yet.
My list was ridiculously long. If there was one good thing to come out of this weekend, maybe it was realizing that my expectations were too high.
Rob was right about me. He could read me like an open book.
It had been awhile since I had taken a good long look in the mirror.
I loved being a teacher, but maybe there was something missing from my life too.
I wasn't sure if I was passionate about anything anymore.
I wanted to remember how to enjoy living too.