A Will To Change (Hope) (19 page)

The vodka in my shot glass and Ana, the hot waitress that I had been trying to score with for months, was making a pretty shitty day a little more bearable. I was just coming off a bullshit shift of dealing with my asshole captain for the last twenty-four hours.

“Hello, Will,” Ana said as she approached me and the guys at the bar.

My eyes bypassed her long blonde hair and big blue eyes, and instantly focused in on her tits. Not that I could help it. Those things were huge. I was sure that they were still in the process of being paid for, but I didn’t care. I needed to see what they looked like without that skimpy form-fitting shirt that she was wearing.

“What’s up?” I smiled, raising my eyebrow at her.

“Not much. What’s up with you?”

“You want to find out?” I asked.

Her smile turned into a giggle. “Well, as a matter of fact, I’m done for the night.”

I stood up quickly. “Cool. Let’s go.”

“One sec. I have to get my coat.” I nodded and watched her perfect ass go walking off to the back.

“Oh, no way, douche bag! You’re going home with
that
fine piece of ass?!” Tim shouted.

“Hey, don’t be jealous.”

Peterson lifted his beer to his mouth and took a sip, shaking his head. “Man, what the fuck? You got a golden dick or something? Delia, Janelle, Gabby, and now -.”

“Hey, don’t put Gabby on that list!” I snapped.

“What list?” Peterson asked.

“With the rest of those chicks. I never slept with Gabby, and I don’t intend to. I told you before that Gabby’s not just a piece of ass.”

Peterson held up his hands in defense. “Chill out, dude. I didn’t mean anything by it. Geez!”

“Ready?” Ana smiled.

“Oh, yeah!” I said, checking her out from head to toe.

“See you jokers later,” I said, turning around to Tim and Peterson, laughing when Tim flipped me the bird.

“Would you mind going back to your place? My roommate’s mother is in town and she’s staying at our place.”

I looked down at my watch. It was a little after eleven. Gabby had texted me earlier to tell me she was working a double, which meant she wouldn’t be home until morning. I hadn’t brought a woman back to my place since Gabby had moved in. Even though we were just friends, I still felt uncomfortable banging a girl when she was right in the next room. But tonight I was in the clear. I could do what needed to be done and get this chick out of my place long before Gabby got home.

“Yeah, but I have to be up early for work tomorrow,” I lied, hoping she got the hint… exit when the party is over.

“No problem,” she said.

Damn, this girl was too easy.
Hopefully she was the same way in the bedroom. I opened the car door for her and pulled my vibrating phone from my pocket as I got in on my side. I smiled, just seeing a text message alert with the name ‘Gabby’.

Did I ever tell you how much I love my job? Just got my ass grabbed while being proposed to by a 400 pound old man who is high on pain killers, has boils growing from his face, and breath that smells like he’s been eating from the kitty litter box. Oh, add a migraine to the mix and it’s the perfect night! Hope yours is going better!

I didn’t realize that I was laughing out loud until Ana asked me what I was laughing at. “Huh? Oh, nothing. Just a text message.” I started the car and turned up the radio to drown out the silence. “Just give me one second,” I said as I replied.

Well, I better be invited to the wedding.

I put the car in drive just as her reply came through.

But of course. You will be in the wedding. I’m thinking pink, floor-length taffeta will be perfect on you.

I laughed again and I could tell that Ana was getting a little irritated. “Sorry,” I said, putting my phone back in my pocket.

“No problem,” she smiled and, for some reason, the want that I was feeling for her just minutes ago had faded away. As much as I told myself it wasn’t because I was thinking about the person that had just sent that text, I knew it was. Gabby had a hold on me like no one else ever had, but since I knew
that
was never going to happen between us, I had to remove any thoughts of her from my mind for tonight. Instead, I planned on focusing on the hot piece of ass sitting next to me, with whom
that
was definitely going to happen within about a half-hour, maybe even sooner depending on traffic.

“Gabby, why don’t you get going if you’re not feeling well?” Rita, the night nurse supervisor, said. “We got everything covered.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, go! My head is hurting just looking at you.” I didn’t put up a fight. The florescent lights were making me dizzy, and my head was killing me to the point that I felt like I was going to throw up. I knew the only thing that helped these migraines when they came on like this was sleep.

I went into the locker room to get my things just as Callie was coming from the ladies room. “Hey, Gabs. Are you going home?”

“Yeah. I gotta get rid of this headache.”

“Hey, before you go, I wanted to ask you something. My husband works with this newly single, very handsome guy around your age. Interested?”

I thought of my “to do” list that I had made up after visiting Dr. Leslie today. “Sure, why not. You can give him my number.”

She smiled widely. “Okay, great! Feel better!”

“Thanks,” I said, longing for my pillow more and more with each step I took.

I felt like I was going to throw up in the back of the cab more than once on the way home. I just couldn’t wait to get to bed. Will must have still been out or sleeping as I walked into total darkness. I was just about to flick on the living room lights when I heard loud moans coming from his room.
Oh God, please tell me that his bedroom door is closed.
I knew that I had to walk past his room to get to mine and I really didn’t care to see what was going on in there. I went into the kitchen to grab a drink of water to wash down my Tylenol. “Oh, Will. Harder, baby, harder.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes at the female voice.

Taking a deep breath, I walked toward my bedroom, banging my knee on the coffee table along the way. “Ouch, damn it!” I whispered, rubbing it briskly.

I placed my hand on the side of my face as a “visor” to prevent me from seeing what was going on in his love shack when I noticed that his door was left open a crack. The screams and the bed banging up against the wall already told me more than I wanted to know. As I changed into my pajamas, I was trying my best to ignore the alien-like, high-pitched sounds coming from the girl. I put in my ear buds to my iPod, only to find that I had forgotten to charge the battery and it was completely dead. Nothing could block out her shrieks, which was only intensifying the pounding in my head and the nausea in my stomach. I wrapped my pillow around my head and covered my ears the best I could. I couldn’t help but think that Will must be going deaf by now with her screaming in his ear like that. I was a whole room over and I know that it felt like I was. For one split second, I wondered just how rude it would be of me if I were to knock on the wall and tell the two of them to quiet down.
Geez, Will. Just freakin’ get it over with already!
It was as if he had read my mind. The girl let out one last high-pitched cry that could wake the dead and the bed began to bang even harder against the wall just as Will let out a loud groan.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I don’t know who was feeling happier at the present moment…me or the girl.
Definitely the girl in Will’s room
. She had just gotten to share something with Will that I would never be able to experience with him. I scolded myself for even thinking such thoughts. Will was my friend. A very good friend, which was very hard to find these days. I didn’t want to do anything to ever jeopardize that. Not to mention that I was
so
not his type. Why would he want plain old little Gabby when he could have a girl that looked like a Victoria’s Secret model? Still, a very small part of me wondered what it would feel like to be
that girl
, the one in Will’s bed. Dr. Leslie was right. I needed to get laid!