Second Chances

"Colin, man you're hopeless!" Charles exclaimed, shaking his head in disgust. "Can't you tell she was totally in to you?" he continued as he picked up another nacho from the plate and washed it down with a swig of the beer. Colin just looked at Charles and their other friend, Dean, with a look of skepticism. The three friends were regulars at the family run pub-style restaurant, showing up every Friday and Saturday night for the last year or so. Jerry's as it was called, had been in the neighborhood longer than any of them had been alive. Jerry had already passed on, and now ownership was in the hands of his son Tom. The "she" that Charles was referring to was Rebecca, Tom's daughter who was helping out while she was home for summer break.

Colin looked past Charles towards Rebecca. He had to admit that she was something to look at. About 5' 8", fit, very well endowed curves that had all the males in the place trying to get her to notice them. Her long black hair fell just above the curve of her butt, which only served to draw the male eye even more. He looked back at his friends and just shook his head.

The three of them looked as different as day and night. Charles was the tallest at 6' 6", his Scandinavian descent obvious in his blond hair, blue eyes and big muscles. He would have fit in easily in a Viking raid, crossing the seas on a longship with his piercing blue eyes staring out of his helm. Dean was about the same height as Charles, though polar opposites in coloring. His coffee and cream skin, honey colored eyes and dark hair were in direct contrast to Charles. Dean wasn't as muscular as Charles, but he was just as strong, with the endurance of a long distance runner, which is what he was.

And then there's me Colin thought to himself. He wasn't as tall as his friends, though standing at 6' 2" he was by no means short. He had wavy brown hair and brown eyes, and while he tried to take care of himself he was by no means an athlete like his friends were. In all, his best feature, in his opinion, was his smile and his intelligence. Though he'd found the hard way that being book smart did not necessarily correlate to being smart when it came to relationships.

"Charles, shut up man, are you crazy?" Colin asked. "I know there's no way she'd be interested in me, not with all the other guys here, you two included. I'm just your average joe. We were just being polite. You know, making small talk."

"No Colin, I think Charles has a point," replied Dean. "That was way more than just polite small talk. The girl was doing everything she could to get you to try to ask her out."

"Nah, I don't think so" insisted Colin, though the seed of doubt and hope had been planted. Could Rebecca really be interested in going out with him? Or were his friends just bull-shitting him?

"You should go up to the bar and ask her out" said Charles. He was like a dog with a bone once he got an idea into his head. Charles knew that Colin didn't have much experience with women or much faith in himself, but he was sure that Rebecca had been sending Colin the go ahead.

They continued talking and joking, ribbing Colin and working him up so that he'd finally take the bull by the horns and go ask Rebecca out. After about a half hour Colin caved in and said he'd try to ask her out. It was done more in an attempt to shut his friends up than with any real belief that she was interested in going on a date with him.

Working up his courage, Colin walked up to the bar where Rebecca was working. She smiled brightly as she saw him walking towards the bar. She stood right in front of him and leaned over, her arms crossed under her breasts, emphasizing her ample curves. The low cut shirt was stretched tight, almost making Colin forget what he wanted to say.

"Hey Rebecca, could you get me another round of beers?" he asked before he completely lost his nerve. Or devolved into a blithering idiot he thought, struggling to keep his eyes on her face. He may consider himself a gentleman, but there is only so much temptation one can endure.

"Sure Colin, no problem. But you didn't have to come all the way over here to ask for them. It's slow enough that you could have just signaled me from your table" she replied as she turned away from him to get the beers.

Ok, it's now or never thought Colin to himself. Come on man, what have you got to lose, other than your pride if she turns you down? He cleared his throat and gave a quick look at the lighter he held in his hand. Here goes nothing!

"Rebecca, wait a minute" he said just as she was going to open the beer bottles. She looked at him askance, not sure of why he'd stopped her. "I want to make a bet. I bet you I can open the bottles with a lighter." As he said it, he held up the lighter that he had in his hand, which looked like an ordinary silver Zippo lighter.

"A lighter? I don't think that's possible" she answered with obvious amusement in her voice. She put the unopened bottles on top of the bar. "But out of curiosity, what are the terms of your bet? Like, what do I get when I win?"

"If you win you get to pick your reward. But if I win, then you'll go out on a date with me. Is it a deal?"

"Anything? Are you sure about that?"

"Totally sure. So are you willing to make the bet with me?"

Rebecca laughed out loud. "Sure, why not? You'll have to give me time to think of what I want as my reward though."

Colin just smiled at her and reached for the first bottle. Little did she know that the lighter had a small button on it, that when pressed released a bottle opener much like the one found on a Swiss army knife. He smiled and then easily opened the three bottles while she looked on, half in disbelief and amusement.

"Oh no fair!" she exclaimed, trying not to laugh out loud at his ingenuity. "That's cheating!"

"No it's not," Colin replied with a smile. "I used the lighter like I said I would. You can't go back on your word now."

After a few more joking protests, Rebecca agreed to meet Colin for dinner and a movie the next week. Feeling triumphant, he took the beers back to the table and let his friends know about his success in asking her out. The rest of the night Colin and Rebecca joked and flirted with each other until closing time came around and the guys were forced to go home.

The week flew by for Colin, who was extremely anxious to see Rebecca again. They had agreed to meet at the restaurant he had suggested. It was a casual date, so he was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved button down shirt. He got to the restaurant first and was waiting for her at the bar when she showed up. Dressed in tight jeans and a white off-the shoulder peasant style blouse she looked fantastic. Her long black hair flowed freely down her back and the gold earrings shone in contrast to it. Red high heels and a matching purse completed her outfit. Colin couldn´t stop staring.

He stood up and welcomed her, telling her she looked wonderful. Rebecca smiled up at him and thanked him for the compliment. They then proceeded to go to their table and order dinner. As they waited they talked and flirted. Colin thought that the date couldn't have gone any better up to that point. Then all of a sudden Rebecca's face turned pale as she looked past him at someone walking into the dining area.

"Hey are you -" he started to ask, just to be interrupted by Rebecca apologizing.

"I'm so sorry for this," she said as whomever she was looking at pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.

Colin looked over in surprise as an older, more worn and VERY drunk version of Rebecca sat down next to him. She leaned over and looked at him intently through bleary, blood-shot eyes. Colin could smell the alcohol on her breath and it was overpowering. The way she was staring at him was starting to creep him out.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Rebecca asked, weariness and resignation in her voice.

"This is your mom?" Colin said, not quite believing what his eyes were telling him.

"Yes Colin, she is. She and my dad split up years ago. That's why she's never at Jerry's."

Colin looked back at Rebecca and saw that her face was bright red, though with anger or embarrassment he couldn't really say. He was completely at a loss as to what to do with Rebecca's mom there. Before he could think of something to say, the woman started talking to him.

"Young man," she said, "I'm here to make sure your intentions towards my daughter are good." She slurred her words so bad that it was almost impossible to understand her. "When are you going to marry her?"

"Wait, what?!" Colin exclaimed at the same time Rebecca let her face drop into her hands, hiding behind them. "Who said anything about marriage? This is just a date!"

Rebecca's mom peered at him through narrowed eyes. "So you say you won't marry my daughter? Is she not good enough for you?"

Colin looked desperately over at Rebecca, who was still hiding her face behind her hands, her shoulders slumped. Finding no help there, he turned to face the drunk and irate mother again, and tried to explain in a soothing voice "Ma'am, I think there's been a confusion. This is our first date. We don't know each other well enough to think of marriage, though your daughter is a great girl."

The mom wouldn't have any of it though, and started accusing Colin of everything from being a low-life good for nothing to being the reason no decent man would marry her daughter. Each accusation was a little louder until she was standing and screaming in the restaurant, causing a huge scene. Everyone there was watching it play out in morbid curiosity. At some time before her mom had started getting really worked up Rebecca had excused herself to go to the ladies' room. It just dawned on him that she hadn't come back yet but he was too distracted to pay much attention to how long it had been.

At this point though Colin had had enough. At the same moment the restaurant's security personnel finally arrived to escort the drunk and by now completely infuriated and hysterical mother out of the building. Good riddance, thought Colin, who really didn't know if the date was salvageable after that incident. He waited a few minutes, but it increasingly became more apparent that she wasn't coming back. He paid for the meal and left, feeling confused, dejected and angry all at the same time.

Standing outside the restaurant in the parking lot, he lit up a smoke and looked at the lighter he had used to get Rebecca into agreeing to go on this date with him. Ruefully he wondered if it would have been better to not pay attention to his friends when they had encouraged him to ask her out. He started walking towards the street to catch a cab, with every intention of going home and getting drunk. Chalk it up to experience, he thought. I'll definitely never have a date like that again. Too bizarre to believe.

As he neared the corner he saw a familiar figure trying to wave down a taxi. "Rebecca! Wait up!" he called out and sped up in order to catch her before she could get a cab. She turned to look at him, eyes wide and round, looking like a deer caught in headlights on a dark road. Desperately she turned to see if she could get a cab before Colin reached her but there wasn't one nearby.

"Hey, hey, please don't run from me" he said gently as he reached her, stopping a few feet from where she was standing. His heart melted when he saw that she had been crying, her makeup streaked on her face.

"Oh Colin, I'm so sorry. I'm so embarrassed!" she said, wiping at her face with the backs of her hands. "I know I shouldn't have left you there like that, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I never know what to do when she gets like that."

Colin took his handkerchief from his back pocket and handed it to her. "It's ok. Well, I mean it was certainly a shock, but no harm done. I'm just sorry you had to see your mom like that. Also sorry that you felt like you had to run from me."

"You're way to nice to me Colin. I don't deserve it after I bailed on you like that, but thanks."

"Listen, I know that there's no way to salvage this date, so how about we just go hang out somewhere as friends? Think of it as a second chance. I promise you won't regret it."

"I think I would like that," Rebecca answered, smiling up at him for the first time in a long while. Impulsively she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "Where do you suggest we go?"

"How about mini-golf?"

"Nah, don't much feel like playing mini-golf right now. Can we just go to your place and watch a movie on TV?"

Colin looked at her a little surprised, but said that if that was what she wanted then it was ok by him. Shortly afterwards they finally caught a cab and were on the way to his place. Rebecca was silent on the way there, her head turned to gaze out the window though she had sat down in the back seat of the cab close enough that her thigh was pressed against his in spite of the extra space available.

Colin had his hands on his thighs, trying not to think about her leg touching his, when she placed her hand under his and wove their fingers together. She still had her head turned to look out the window as she did it, though she did give his hand a small squeeze. Colin remained silent and squeezed her hand back. He felt a little of the tension drain out of her body and smiled slightly.

Soon enough they were in front of his apartment building. His place was a second floor walk-up in an old brick building in a relatively nice part of town. He lived alone in the small one-bedroom apartment, but it was all that he needed.

He opened the door for them after they walked up the stairs and turned on the light. The living room / dining room were immediately visible from the front door, with the guest bathroom to the right. A half wall served to divide the kitchen area from the rest of the apartment. Colin's bedroom was down a hall to the left from where the kitchen ended.

He led Rebecca to the sofa and told her to turn the TV to whatever she wanted to watch. His cat Molly came out and started rubbing herself around his and Rebecca's legs, so he picked her up and took her to the kitchen to feed her. After a quick stop at the bathroom he rejoined Rebecca on the couch.

She had curled up almost into a ball on the sofa, resting her head on the armrest and her tucked up near her. Colin decided to give her space and sat down on the opposite end. As he sat down he saw that she had found one of his favorite movies, the Fifth Element, on the sci-fi channel. He grinned because he never got tired of watching it, but certainly would never have guessed that she would like something like that.

"Have to confess that this is one of my favorite movies," he said. "I've seen it a thousand times but still watch it every chance I have."

Rebecca looked over at him and smiled. "Good. It's one of my favorite movies too. I was kinda worried you might not like it."

"Don't have to worry about anything" he said, and they both settled in to watch the movie. During the taxi chase scene, she changed positions now resting her head on his shoulder. Colin put his arm around her and gave her a quick hug. Rebecca looked up at him and Colin couldn't resist kissing her.

His lips moved over hers softly, gently, so that she could pull back if it wasn't what she wanted. Much to his surprise, she kissed him back. Quickly the kiss that had started out tentative grew wanton and hot, both of them giving in to the sexual tension that had been put on the back burner due to the calamitous incident at the restaurant.

Colin framed Rebecca's face with his hands and they devoured each other with their kisses. She managed somehow to kneel on the sofa next to him without breaking the kiss. She plunged her fingers into his hair and straddled him, her body pressed tightly to him.

Colin moved his hands up and down her back and her sides while they kissed. Their lips and tongues danced and swayed with each other, their heavy breathing keeping tempo as they came together in an explosion of passion. He kissed his way along her chin and jaw line and then down her neck. There he paused to suck and lick the spot where her neck joins the shoulder. Rebecca moaned softly and let her head fall to the side so Colin could keep kissing her there as she shivered in his arms.

His hands found the hem of her shirt and slid up under it, rubbing up and down her back. She pulled back from his exploring mouth and looked him right in the eyes. Without a word she took the hem of her shirt in her hands and pulled it off over her head, leaving her only in a pale pink lace bra. Her areolae and tight, hard nipples could clearly be seen through the lace, a much darker pink than the material covering them.

Colin closed his eyes and groaned as a surge of lust punched him in the gut. He reached blindly for Rebecca and pulled her into another all-consuming kiss while his hands cupped her breasts and tweaked her tight nipples through the covering of the bra. This time when he broke away from her mouth it was to kiss over her breasts, leaving her nipples through the lace.

Rebecca was having a hard time catching her breath. Colin's kisses and now the attention he was paying to her breasts had reduced her mind to mush. She couldn't think or talk anymore, only feel and lose herself in the heat and physical pleasure of his touch. She could feel exactly how much she was affecting him as well as she straddled him. His erection was a steel rod between them, his heat obvious even through their clothes.

She undulated her hips over him as he sucked and licked her nipples through the lace of her bra. Hearing him groan as she did so made her smile, making her determined to hear it again and again. His hands moved to her back and unfastened her bra. She peeled it off and tossed it somewhere behind her, not caring where it landed.

Colin almost swallowed his tongue as he saw her glorious breasts swing free from their confinement. Eagerly he sought them out with his hands and his mouth, latching on to a nipple and sucking as if his life depended on it. With his other hand he cupped and kneaded, molded and played with her other breast. Now it was Rebecca's turn to groan as he worshiped her breasts. She pushed her fingers into his hair and held him close as his greedy mouth moved from one to the other.

After an eternity Colin finally was able to draw himself away and told her to stand up. She did as he asked, standing on shaky legs that she wasn't quite sure would be able to hold her up. Colin slid to his knees on the floor in front of her. His eyes met hers as he unbuttoned her jeans and slowly brought down the zipper. Without looking away he began peeling the material down her legs until he was forced to look down to help her step out of them.

Rebecca used one hand on Colin's shoulder to steady herself as he divested her of her jeans. She stood in front of him only in the light pink lace thong that matched her bra. Colin drew in his breath as he could see through the lace to the skin beneath, smooth and supple and begging for his touch. He drew her close and placed big, wet, open-mouthed kisses around her stomach, letting his tongue trace the edge of her thong as his hands grasped and squeezed her firm butt cheeks.

Slowly he lowered her thong and helped her step out of it. He guided her back to the sofa and had her sit down on the edge and lay back. He then positioned himself between her legs, placing them over his shoulders and grabbing her butt to bring her closer.

Rebecca couldn't stifle the cry of pleasure nor the arching of her body as his tongue made contact with her clit. He made a long, leisurely sweep over it with his tongue then retreated to kiss the inside of her thighs. When her hand plunged into his hair and pushed his mouth hard against her he chuckled a little but obliged her by licking and kissing every inch of her bare pussy.