Too Many Chances

Chapter One

"Sofia," Maxwell called, his voice a caress.

"Yeah?"

My lips parted and then curved into a smile. I liked the way he called my name.

"I like you," he said taking my hands in his.

Oh! How I had longed for those words. I smiled at him shyly, my pulse racing.

Benjamin had once told me that Maxwell liked me, but I had not believed him. Maxwell had been seeing Alicia then.

"I'd like to tell you something," Benjamin had said the moment I entered the compound of his home.

It was Jamhuri and I had been invited by Maxwell's foster parents to have lunch with them since my mother had gone to work.

"Okay, tell me," I had said to Benjamin.

"My brother likes you," he had whispered.

"I don't believe you. When did you come up with that joke?"

"I'm serious."

"No, you're not. Tell me something else. And stop kidding, Ben."

"It's not a joke," he'd insisted.

"Okay. Did he ask you to tell me that?"
"No, but-"

"But nothing. This means he doesn't feel that way. You only imagined."

"I didn't. He once told me so himself. He confided in me. I just came to tell you because he hasn't done what needs to be done."

"You do realise that it's his call, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't want him to lose you to someone else while he takes his time. You're good for him. If he hadn't confessed his feelings to me, I would have courted you myself."

"Well then, there's nothing we can do. We'll just have to wait until he decides to approach me. Let's pretend we didn't have this conversation, okay?"

"Okay," he had agreed before we'd both joined his parents at the table.

Well, hearing the same words from Maxwell was still surprising. I had not believed Benjamin back then. I had thought that he had been mistaken, but clearly he had not.
"Sofia?"

Maxwell's voice brought me back to the present.

"I like you too," I said squeezing his hands.

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that."

His knuckles brushed across my cheek, the light touch making me shiver. Desire pulsed through me. Whatever feelings that were buried underneath us surfaced.

His breath came out in a shudder as his head dipped and his hands brought my face closer to his. His lips touched mine in my first and most amazing kiss.

A whimper caught in my throat. I let out a sigh of satisfaction and my lips parted encouraging him to deepen the kiss. He pulled me closer and my eyes fluttered close. As his tongue delved into my mouth everything in me throbbed powerfully to life.

I felt a thrill of exhilaration I had never experienced before. The feeling was intense. I had never known a kiss could be so consuming. It was a sensual kiss, full of a passionate promise. He withdrew, putting his hands to his side. I smiled up at him.

"I hope you won't forget me," he said as he stroked my cheek.

"Never," I promised him.

How could I ever forget my first love? I was certain what I felt for him went deeper.