Hope 7

Rick had made his choice for their third date and had high hopes for it. He'd already texted Kate that she should wear something lightweight and make sure she had on a swimsuit underneath that. Flip flops or tennis shoes, sunscreen, towel, and anything else she could think of.

"Where are you going dressed like that?" Jen asked after walking into their room.

"Actually I have no idea; he hasn't said. Personally I'm hoping for a beach." Kate dropped a few things into her oversized beach bag that doubled as a more conventional tote.

"Just make sure you take some sunscreen. I don't want to hear you moaning about your sunburn all night," Jen teased which earned her the sight of Kate sticking her tongue out at her, which had her chuckling.

"You're just jealous," Kate called over her shoulder as she exited their room.

"Damn right I am," Jen answered softly. She had plans for getting laid this semester and so far Kate was way out in front of her. She moved to the open door. "And bring back some seashells if there are any," she yelled down the hallway and saw Kate wave her arm in response.

Kate could feel her smile growing in the elevator trip down. She was really learning to like Rick. He was easy on the eyes. He wasn't pushing for them to have intercourse. He was a decent enough kisser. They just needed more practice. Something she was more than happy to do. Plus given their classroom schedule, dates every two weeks was so far working out just fine.

She smiled even wider when the doors opened and she spotted Rick standing there talking to the girl at the front desk. For a moment she worried that she was trying to steal him from her. Yet those fears faded fast when he turned upon hearing the elevator doors open and started smiling.

He was dressed in swim shorts and a barely buttoned Hawaiian shirt. Her eyes lit up. Oh she had plans on what her hands could do with that much exposed skin. He even had his own bag similar to hers. She walked right up to him and raised up to kiss him. "Hi." This third date was so far working out pretty well.

"Hi, ready to go? I had her call us a taxi since it's about 20 miles from here," Rick told her.

"More than ready." Kate took his arm and started walking. This might be his date, but she liked that he was willing for her to be in charge. "Where are we going?" Twenty miles was a bit far for bikes, not that he had one yet. Something she planned on bugging him about.

"It's called Coyote Park Recreation Area. I've made arrangements for us to share a picnic area with another group. We just need to stop at a store to pick up a few things and they'll share with us.

"They plan on volleyball, horseshoes, and there's a walking trail. And of course a beach. As well as a surprise later if I can talk you into it." He wasn't sure about it so he planned on springing it on her in the hopes she wouldn't say no. This place had gun range.

"A surprise. ...Have I told you that I hate surprises?" Kate couldn't remember if she had or not.

"Oops." Rick cursed himself for saying that out loud. "Try not to think about it; we don't have to do it if you don't want." He'd try and talk her into it just the same.

How was she supposed to not think about a surprise that she already hated?! Kate held her tongue and said nothing.

A quick stop at a nearby 7-Eleven and they had snacks, drinks, beer, cookies, jerky, and even some gummy bears that Rick insisted that they buy. "Fine, but you're using your money for them." Kate grumbled. She was not a fan. Only to find out that he paid for everything and refused to take her money.

"You paid for your date and this date is mine." Rick was adamant. Kate let out a breath. He was right so she let him have his gummy bears and let him buy it all.

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Kate was placing the last of what they had brought on one of the many picnic tables when one of the women approached her. "Do you ride?"

"I ride my bicycle from my dorm to my classes." Kate didn't think that was what she meant, but she wasn't sure. After all Rick had never said anything about being a rider.

Kate saw her smile. "I mean motorcycles. Granted most of us got here in cars. ...Someone had to bring the food." She asked her question again. "I mean do you ride?"

"Actually I do own a Harley Softail," Kate confirmed. "It's in storage back home with my dad in New York. I didn't have anyplace for it here." She also didn't know how she was going to get it here.

"I KNEW IT!" She'd been sure Kate was a rider. She asked yet another question. "Does your boyfriend ride?"

"Castle? Oh he's not… You know, I actually don't know." Was Castle her boyfriend? She really liked him and they had had a little sex, even if they hadn't had intercourse yet.

"Excuse me… Castle!" Kate had a question for him. He didn't even have a bicycle so how did he know about these people?

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Kate had held onto Rick all the way home to her dorm. Right now she was kissing him for all she was worth right there in the dorm's lobby. Partly because she had completely enjoyed their date, but also because she wanted the girls in the lobby to keep their hands, lips, tongue, and everything else off of him. "WOW!" Kate whispered after that kiss; she rested her head against his chest.

"Please tell me you had fun." Rick thought she had. After all she had laughed, played volleyball with him, laid on the beach holding his hand. She had even kissed him for all to see while they were standing in the cold pacific water. He'd completely enjoyed the volleyball game, even if he had sucked at it. He blamed Kate's bikini-clad bouncing breasts for his poor play.

"It was amazing, Castle. Thank you." Kate couldn't resist lifting up to kiss him again. Unfortunately she also had bad news. "You need to know… I have a paper due soon so you may not hear from me for a while." She would try to answer his texts but wasn't committing to being available.

"Not a problem. …Two weeks?" Rick wanted to date her again. And kiss her and taste her and make love to her.

"My turn. I'll think of something." She didn't know what, but she would think of something.

Kate took a deep breath. "Castle… I know it's early, but I was wondering, come Christmas break, do you have plans? I mean if you want to be with your family I understand. I'm not even sure if my dad will have time." Kate shut up since she was rambling.

Rick smiled since to him it meant Kate wanted to keep seeing him. "Just your dad?" He'd heard that part.

Kate's whole body seemed to get a little smaller, like she was folding in on herself. "Mom left us when I was little, so it's just me and my dad." She hoped that wouldn't change what was happening with them.

"I'm so sorry, Kate. That's got to be hard. As for me, it's just me and my mom. She's off on some tour. I'm not really sure just where she is." He really had no idea how he was going to reach his mother.

"I know how it feels." She caressed his face. "I'm sorry, Castle." Kate cuddled back into his chest. It appeared they had something in common. "So, plans?"

Rick held her a little tighter. "No, no plans. I can start thinking of something if you want. Maybe the college has a group plan that we can attend. If you don't go home."

"I'd like that. A group might be fun. Much like today." Kate hugged him tighter and pressed her nose into him so she could smell him. He smelled like a mix of salt water, sunscreen, and sweat.

"I'll see what I can find out." Rick would start first chance he got.

"Two weeks, Castle," Kate reminded him and lifted her head up to kiss him again. Kate smiled then realized she really wished he could come up with her. Maybe not for sex, but just to hold him and kiss him. Being separated from him had somehow become something she didn't much like.

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It was Kate's turn for a date and she had wracked her brain to come up with something new. Something neither of them had been to or even tried.

Jen stopped studying and turned to look at Kate who was sitting on her bed flipping through a magazine. "How's it going with your boyfriend?"

"Fine." Kate really wasn't listening. Her mind was still searching for something they could do together.

"Oh, you've got it bad." Jen was disappointed that Kate wasn't being more defensive. Blowing her off over her digging for information.

"Mm-hm," Kate agreed absently, not really listening to her.

Jen's eyes lit up; she saw an opening and took it. "So, was he good in bed? How big is he?" She started out with a wide smile then lost it when she noticed Kate really wasn't paying attention to her.

"Big…sex…" Kate flipped to the last page and was dejected that she still hadn't thought of something. Then it clicked. "Wait, who did you have sex with?" Kate was slowly catching up.

"Not me, you," Jen said impatiently.

"I thought you told me that you intended on having lots and lots of sex this semester."

The redirection had Jen off her game. "Yeah, that was the plan." So far it hadn't worked out.

"I'm sure if you went over to the boys' dorm, went down to the basement and stripped, then spread your legs you would get all the sex you wanted." If sex was all she was interested in, she could easily get just that.

"Not like that! That's just being fucked. I can do that with my own vibrator. I want…" Jen knew what she wanted; she just hadn't found anyone.

"You want to be made love to. To know that you are wanted. That he worships you and not just your body," Kate said softly. It was what she wanted so badly as well.

"Yeah…" Jen admitted it just as another girl entered their room.

"Do either of you two have… What's wrong with her?" She nodded her head at Jen who looked completely crestfallen.

"She wants a boyfriend. One that won't just fuck her," Kate replied.

"Her and me both. Hell most of the girls on this floor are wishing for that. Boys are stupid and the men are all married."

"Why do you look so happy?" She looked at Kate.

Jen enlightened her as to why Kate looked happy. "She has Rick."

"Is that the guy that had your tongue down his throat? He looked nice." She, too, wished she'd met him before Kate did.

"That's the one. I have a bed waiting for me when Kate finally decides to sneak him up here and fuck his brains out." Jen went back to teasing since that was all she had.

"What did you come in here for?" Kate wanted off this topic, even if she had been dreaming of how to sneak Rick up here and fuck his brains out.

"Tampons. …I ran out." She knew how stupid it sounded. Like what woman would ever run out of those, but she had and her roommate apparently had as well, since she had searched their room.

"Right closet, top shelf." Kate pointed to her closet and watched her search it.

With a couple tampons in hand, she smiled and said, "Thanks, and good luck sneaking your boyfriend up here." She left Kate and Jen and headed for the common restroom/showers.

"So when are you sneaking him up here? A little heads-up would be nice." Jen was more than willing to vacate the room so at least one of them could get laid.

"I need an idea for a location for a date first." Kate collapsed against the wall that was at her back.

"Does he have a bike? You could join one of those midnight bicycle tours. They all end at some bar where they have a small party." Jen went back to teasing. "Get drunk, sneak him up here, and have sex."

"He doesn't have a bike." Kate rolled her eyes. Just how did he get around? Hell she didn't even know where he lived. She suddenly had an idea. "I'll drag him out to a bike shop and he can buy one! Jen, where's this next bike tour?" Kate got up and went over to the phone in their room.

Jen searched her desk for the flier. "Gold Cane Cocktail Lounge, 1569 Haight Street. Be there with your bikes 10 minutes before midnight." She eavesdropped on Kate and heard her tell Rick to meet her downstairs. She was taking him to a local bike shop to get him a bicycle. "Because you need one if you want to go out on our date." Kate couldn't believe that he was still resisting getting a bike. She even had a motorcycle for gods sake.

Bemused, Jen watched as Kate headed for the door to go downstairs. "Do I need to find a place to sleep tonight?" Jen called after her.

"NO!"Kate yelled back from the hallway as she strode to the elevators. She liked Jen, she really did, but there were times…

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Kate answered for Rick when a sales guy approached them. "My friend here needs a bike for school. I think he's running to his classes."

He asked a couple of questions and took them over to the Urban type bikes. "Those bikes are mountain bikes and those are more racing bikes. A few of these are more of a cross between a simple touring bike and a race bike. This one has only one speed while others can have between 3 and 10 speeds," he elaborated.

"This one kind of looks like my bike." Kate pointed out one that looked a lot like hers.

"That's a single speed bike and would be good to get you from your room across the campus to get to your class," the sales guy said.

Rick walked away and the two of them followed. Still he stayed in the area. "What's this?" He kind of liked it.

"That's a Felt Bicycle Verza Speed 3. I think this might be the only color combination that we have and it's one of the bikes that's on sale." He liked Rick instantly. He'd gone straight to one of their more expensive bikes. "This bike is 56cm in size so we need to fit you to find the right size bike."

Kate flipped up the sales tag. "Castle, it's one thousand, nine hundred, ninety-nine dollars," she whispered in shock since she couldn't find her voice to yell at him. She abandoned that bike and started looking around. "What about this one? It's a bold color so you can find it again when you leave class." She thought it screamed his name.

She lifted up the sales tag. "It's only…" She coughed a little. "Four hundred dollars." The tag said $399.99. "You still need everything else." Kate wanted him to have a bike not just for class, but for their next date, but this trip was turning out to be expensive.

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Kate was almost grinning as she looked him over. She was taking a taxi back to her room while Rick was standing there next to his bike, all dressed up for the ride.

He now owned a Great Escape 2 in lime green, along with a gray and lime helmet, seat post rack for his books, front and rear light, reflective clips for his legs that doubled as pant leg clips to hold his blue jeans in place to keep them out of the gears' teeth, and a bike lock.

Kate couldn't resist. She stepped up to him wrapped her arms around his neck and got up on tiptoe to kiss him. "You look cute, Castle."

"CUTE! Puppies are cute. I'm…" Rick was ready to say, "Ruggedly Handsome," but just at the moment he was sure he looked like an idiot.

"My mistake. You look like a sexy campus rider." She gave him a clue to what she had planned. "Just don't lose this bike, Castle, you're going to need it for our date in a few days."

"A bike date!" Now Rick knew why Kate wanted him to get a bike now, like right now. "Where are we going? What are we doing?" He was full of questions.

"Ah-ah, Castle. That's for me to know and you to find out." Kate was enjoying this.

"I thought you hated surprises?" Rick raised an eyebrow at her, trying to look sexy in order to get her to talk.

"I hate getting surprises, not giving them," Kate explained. "Besides you're going to love it." Since it included beer and drinks, and they couldn't be arrested for drunk driving since they had bikes, it was perfect.

"Do not get yourself killed getting home, Castle, or I'll kill you," Kate threatened, teasing him. She raised up to kiss him again. "My taxi's here. See you in a few days."

Then she wrapped her arms around his neck again and ducked her head a little. "You're not sorry are you?" Was he mad that she'd forced a bike on him, even though she was a bit surprised at the amount of cash he was carrying around. He had spent hundreds on this bike and accessories.

"What!? No, of course not. I'm looking forward to it." Rick decided to tease her a little in return. "Is this a naked bike ride?"

Kate teased right back and gave him a quick kiss. "Not this time, Castle. Maybe another time." She brushed her lips over his. "I've really got to go now."

She waved from her taxi as it pulled away. "Boyfriend." Kate tried it on for size and decided that of all the boyfriends she had had before, this one was feeling like a keeper. "You'd better like this one, Dad."