Chapter 3
THREE
CHANCE
“Yeah! Fuck yeah!” Felicity moans, her arms over her head, gripping the headboard. “Fucking pound me!”
I roll my eyes as I look down at where my cock is entering her. Anything to get me to the finish line.
Felicity is gorgeous, but ever since I overheard her tell her best friend that she’s only with me because of my money, I’ve cooled on her.
It should be easy to end our relationship, but every time I’ve brought it up in person, she cries and asks how she can do better.
I know she’s shallow, but I still hate the idea of hurting her. As soon as I get back to campus, I’ll tell her we’re done. She can’t hunt me down and force me to be with her when I’m hundreds of miles away.
After I hinted that I wanted to see other people earlier today, she came right over looking sexy as fuck and I guess I had a weak moment.
I probably should have turned her down to avoid sending mixed signals, but Felicity can be manipulative. I wouldn’t put it past her to slander my name if she doesn’t get her way.
She reaches up and digs her nails into my back and I hiss, enjoying the bite of pain. Closing my eyes, I try to think of all the hot porn I’ve ever watched just to push me over the edge.
When I’m done, I collapse beside her, breathing heavily. Felicity drapes herself over me, running her sharp nails over my chest. “I missed this,” she whispers.
I roll my eyes again, glad she can’t see me. Something else I overheard was that Felicity has been sleeping with one of the guys in her sorority’s brother frat. Maybe she missed fucking me, but she didn’t miss sex in general.
“Mhm,” I hum vaguely, grabbing her hand and bringing it up to kiss her palm. I need to get her out of here, but if I’m a dick about it, she’ll cry and whine and pout until I feel too guilty and let her stay. “Listen, I—”
A heavy knock sounds at my door and I sit up, covering Felicity with my sheet. I might not really like her anymore, but I’m not an asshole.
My dad bursts in, staring down at me with a hard expression. “Did you do your laps today?” he demands, arms crossed over his chest.
“Dad,” I sigh, though I could kiss him right now for his perfect timing.
“Don’t ‘dad’ me,” he says in a harsh voice, putting his hands on his hips. “If you want to make it to the Olympics, you need to get off your ass and put in the work.”
I scowl at him. Ever since I was old enough to walk, he’s put his Olympic dreams on me. I’m content to win our regional championship, something Meadowbrook has done over the past three years I’ve been on the swim team.
When Dad was a senior in college, he had the opportunity to qualify for the Olympic team but failed his drug test for cocaine usage. Not my fault he couldn’t lay off the nose candy long enough to make his dreams come true.
Now he wants to live through me and it’s honestly annoying.
If he weren’t paying for me to go to school, I’d have told him to kiss my ass.
But I need to get my degree so I can break away from him.
I could use the trust my grandfather set up for me that will release on my birthday tomorrow, but that’s money I’ll need to get on my feet after college.
Huffing a breath, I push a hand through my hair. “Okay, I’ll do them now.”
“See that you do.” He pauses for a moment, then looks at the human shaped lump beside me. “Sorry to interrupt, Felicity.”
“It’s no problem, Mr. Spencer.”
I glare down at her as he leaves. She shrugs and says, “What? I can’t be mean to my future father-in-law.”
Pulling the blankets off, I pad to the bathroom, remove the condom, and tie it before tossing it in the trash. “You gotta go. He’ll have me at it for hours.”
Felicity slinks up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “So we won’t have dinner tonight? You leave in the morning.”
I’ve never been so excited to get back to school in my life. I’m only twenty-one, but Felicity has been pressuring me to propose all summer. Not only do I not want to be married at all, but if I did, it wouldn’t be this young. The thought alone makes me itch.
Turning around, I play up the loving boyfriend angle. “Yeah, but I have to spend time with my dad so we can discuss my Olympic prospects. I’m sorry, baby.”
She pouts, but says, “It’s okay, baby. I know you’d rather spend your time with me.” God, I hate when she does that, talking through her pout to sound like a child. It squicks me out.
Suppressing a shudder, I give her a kiss, then a gentle shove toward the bedroom. “Get dressed. I’ll walk you out.”
As I hear her rummaging around in my bedroom, I blow out a long breath, glad this will be over soon. No more girlfriend, no more overbearing dad, no more early morning laps when I just want to enjoy my fucking summer.
I love swimming; I feel at home when I’m in the pool. But I don’t love it enough to continue after college. When I graduate, Dad will have nothing to hang over my head to force me in line. Just one more school year and I can finally do what I want.
Once she’s dressed, I walk Felicity to her car. She shoves her tongue down my throat, and I fight the urge to shove her away.
I’m a coward, but I know Felicity. She’ll try to make me the bad guy if I break up with her in person. While we’re at school, I can blame it on anything—practice, coursework, or not having enough time. She’ll understand then.
“Call me when you get to your frat house, okay?” she says, running her pointy nail down my chest. “I can get you off over the phone. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Sure, baby. Go ahead. I have to get inside.”
I watch her drive away, thankful that’ll be our last encounter. When I graduate, I have no intention of coming back here. There’s nothing at my dad’s house that I can’t buy on my own when my trust hits.
Going back to my room, I get changed into a pair of swim briefs, grab my cap and goggles, and head to the pool room.
After starting the endless pool, I stretch, trying to loosen my muscles.
I raise my left arm over my head and feel a small twinge in my shoulder. It’s been giving me trouble for the past few weeks, but it’s probably because I’m not stretching enough. I roll my shoulder, loosening up the muscles there.
Putting on my swim cap and goggles, I set the timer on the side of the endless pool, then hop in to do my laps.
While I’m fighting against the never-ending waves, I think about the team this year.
As usual, I’ll have practice the day after the semester starts with our first meet at the end of September.
Most of my teammates will have had at least a few weeks’ break before training our asses off. I’ve had no more than two days.
It’s all good though. They’ll be dragging ass while I’m ready to go. It’ll suck for our relay team, but as long as I’m anchoring, I’ll make sure we don’t lose too badly.
The timer dings and I surface, whipping off my goggles as I try to catch my breath. My father’s voice has me nearly jumping out of my skin. “You gotta move faster than that. There are swimmers that can swim that long without having to surface as often.”
I open my mouth to reply when my mother glides in with a fluffy towel under her arm. “Do leave him alone, Charles. He’s doing fine.”
My mother knows I don’t want to go to the Olympics. She’s keeping my secret while also keeping my dad off my back as much as she can.
He looks over at her, his face pinched. “He needs to do better.”
Mom ignores him as she places a towel on the chair. “It won’t be warm by the time you get out, but it’s fresh from the dryer.”
Smiling, I pull myself from the pool and wrap my arms around her. She giggles demurely while slapping my arm. “You’re a scoundrel. Get your wet hands off me.”
My mom, Piper, belongs in an old early twentieth century film. “Thanks Mom.”
“You’re welcome, dear. Come on, Charles. Chance can figure out how to swim on his own.”
My father looks as if it’s the last thing he wants to do but trails my mother after giving me a stern look.
Finally, blessed fucking solitude.
I don’t bother getting back into the pool. I simply lie back on the lounge chair, blowing out a long breath. Almost over. Living my life for my father is almost over.
Just one more year and I’ll cut my dad off and never darken this doorstep again. I’ll miss my mom, but she can always come visit me wherever I decide to settle down. There’s no way I’ll come back to this museum they call a home.
The next morning, I’m up before the sun rises, packing everything I don’t want to leave behind or replace.
I set it outside my door, hoping my dad’s assistant comes by like I asked and mails everything to campus.
I could drive the car I got for my sixteenth, but it’s a long drive from Washington State to New York.
My father will get one of his underlings to drive it up tomorrow.
I could honestly just leave that car here and buy a new one when my trust hits.
I pause, then grin as I scramble for my phone and pull up the trust account. A wide smile spreads across my face when I see the balance and I almost immediately transfer a small amount into my personal account. I’ll set up the transfer for the larger balance when I get back to Meadowbrook.
Fuck yes! Not only is it my fucking birthday, but I’m officially financially independent from my dad.
Even though it’s fuck-ass early in the morning, I call my grandpa—my father’s father—wanting to thank him.
Answering with a chuckle, he says, “I was supposed to call you and wish you a happy birthday. I’m not too old that I forgot.”
“Thanks Grandpa. I got the money. I swear, I’ll—”
“As long as you don’t shove it up your nose like your father, I don’t care what you do with it.”
My dad’s coke problem is no secret, but it was really bad when he was in college. My grandpa had to bail him out of a lot of trouble before he was functional enough to make his own fortune.
Grandpa has nothing to worry about; drugs aren’t my thing. Sure, I drink with my frat, but when they pull out pills and stuff, I leave. I saw the kind of person it turned my father into. I want to be nothing like that man.
Scoffing, I say, “Never. Why are you up so early?”
“Habit. Just because I retired doesn’t mean I sleep in. Are you prepared for your senior year? I’ll attend a few of your meets.”
Grandpa doesn’t know I don’t want to go to the Olympics either. He had high hopes for my dad and was disappointed when he failed his drug test but never pushed me to go.
“Can’t wait to see you. I appreciate the trust, I really do. It’ll help after college.”
“Spend it wisely.”
I grunt, finding it rich that he’d tell me that when his entire life was spent lavishly. But seeing how my dad turned out—spoiled because all my grandpa did was throw money at him instead of being present—he doesn’t want that happening again with me.
We chat on the phone for a little while longer until there’s a knock at my door. My mom pokes her head inside, so I bid farewell to my grandfather and hurry over to Mom, wrapping her in a long hug.
I still don’t know how my dad bagged her. She’s beautiful and refined and he’s…well, not. He grew up with money, but he’s a megalomaniac with a god complex, so he just comes off as smarmy. She stayed for me, but I’m an adult now. A divorce would probably make both of them happier.
She pulls back and dabs under her eyes. Even though it’s barely seven in the morning, I can smell the booze on her breath. “I just wanted to see you before you left. I’ll miss you.”
“Miss you too, Mom. Come see me during Christmas. I can show you around the city.”
Her smile is small, but sad. “I might at that. Are you using a car service?”
“Good ol’ fashioned Ubers ain’t never hurt nobody,” I joke, knowing she hates when I don’t use proper grammar.
She scowls but kisses my cheek anyway. “I love you, my boy. Be safe. For me, yes?”
“Always.”
My mom has been drinking heavily since I’ve been old enough to know what vodka smells like. I guess she has to do anything to survive Charles Spencer the third.
After checking the time, I give her one last kiss, finish packing, and hurry downstairs. Dad is probably already at work, so I don’t have to hear his bullshit before I leave.
The Uber comes a few minutes later and jets me off to the airport to catch my early morning flight.
I arrive in more than enough time, wanting to hang out and unwind. My house doesn’t give me that, the walls feel as if they’re closing in on me. As long as I’m not under my dad’s roof, I can breathe.
TSA does their thing and I walk toward my gate, checking out some of the magazines as I pass.
The flight to Florida seems like it takes no time, probably because I sleep through most of it, but before I know it, we’re touching down and I’m making my way to my connecting gate. It still baffles me that my flight was sent to Florida instead of another Northern state but whatever.
When I get there, I see a familiar face sitting in the row of seats closest to the gate door, though we don’t run in the same circles.
Fuck, what is his name? Branch? Tree? Something like that.
He’s a scary motherfucker. Pretty much everyone on campus is either afraid of him or wants to fuck him to see if he lives up to the image they have in their head. I don’t fall into either category.
He looks interesting, honestly. Like he doesn’t give a fuck what people think of him. I wish I had that sort of peace. My entire life is what people think of me. It would be nice to have that much not give a fuck. Maybe he has some to spare.
Gathering the courage I’ll need to approach a live grenade, I walk over with a smile and say, “Hey. I know you, right?”