Changing His Game (31 page)

“I’ll wait in the car,” Piper says to me. “Bye, Mrs. Greyson. I’ll see you again soon!” She yells as she grabs my bag from my hand. She turns around and starts to walk towards my Volkswagen Beetle. I follow behind her; I’m not about to wait in the doorway for a response that will never come.

I open the door to the driver’s side as Piper throws our bags in the backseat and hops in the passenger seat. I start my vintage Beetle, praying, like always, that it will start. I let out a deep breath as I hear the roar of the engine. I peel out of the driveway, never looking back.

“So… that was interesting,” Piper says hesitantly as she turns the radio on low.

“Interesting doesn’t even describe it. She is like the walking dead. I swear she gets worse every time I see her. She used to be a ghost of her old self, now she’s not even that.”

I turn up the radio, trying to convey the message that I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I head out on the highway to begin our three-hour journey back to school. It’s summer break, but Piper and I decided to stay on campus to work for the summer. Neither of us has any urge to rush home.

Piper is a military brat. Her mother passed away when she was a toddler; her sergeant father raised her. They moved to a new base every year or two and she’s even lived overseas. Her father was never around so she was raised by a bunch of young men on base. Although she received little attention from her father, she received a lot of attention from the men on base, which she loved. She lost her virginity at fourteen and never looked back.

I heard this story the first time I met her freshman year. It was the first day of class and we were both running late. I made it to the lecture hall at the same time she did. When she spotted me at the door, she tugged on my arm and dragged me to a seat in the back of our psychology class. It was an introductory class and we both felt like we didn’t need to listen, so we talked the whole two hours. She told me how she lost her virginity and I knew we were kindred spirits. I lost my virginity at fourteen, too.

Piper and I were outgoing balls of energy, destroying everything in our path. It felt good to have a partner in crime who was down for anything. She didn’t look at my crazy ideas as crazy; she wanted to know when she could get in on the action. By sophomore year, we were living in an apartment off campus and waitressing together at Ryder’s Bar and Grill.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Piper asks enthusiastically.

“We both close tonight over at Ryder’s, so find out who’s throwing a party. We can head over when we’re done with our shift.”

Piper gets busy texting on her phone while I try to drown out the music coming from the top-forty station on the radio. Piper and I have a completely different taste in music, but I try to appease her. She hates my love for 70’s classic rock.

“Dave’s throwing a party at his house or we could go to Club Dive,” Piper mumbles as she continues to play on her phone.

Dave works with us over at Ryder’s Bar and Grill. He is what’s called a townie, but he also attends Eastern with us. He lives in his parent’s three-bedroom ranch that they left him when they moved away. It’s a little run down, but the perfect party house.

“Let’s go to Dave’s,” I say enthusiastically. “This way, we don’t have to worry about the possibility of not getting served, and we don’t have to go to another location to hook up. We can use one of his bedrooms tonight.”

“Normally I’d give you a speech about using sex as an escape, but who am I to stop you from getting off. You deserve a good lay tonight.”

I look at her from the corner of my eye and we both burst out laughing. Only Piper could joke around with me like this, and not think I was a total slut.

“In all seriousness, you need to stop fucking Mikey. He’s really into you and I’m starting to think he doesn’t understand the term
friends with benefits
.”

I pull my hand from the steering wheel and drag it through my long brown hair. “I know, but sometimes he is my only option. It’s slim pickings in this town during the summer. I want to make sure the guy I’m with has all his teeth. Plus, Mikey knows what I like,” I wink at Piper.

“Gross! He’s like my brother, I don’t want to know about how good he is at getting you off,” Piper groans, slapping me on the arm.

“You shouldn’t have brought him up then, Pipe.”

Pipe is my nickname for her. It started off as a joke the first time I saw her getting high, but then it stuck. Thankfully, she doesn’t do that stuff in front of me anymore.

“Okay, Contessa,” she drawls out my full name, and I roll my eyes. “I just want to make sure you’re aware that Mikey has feelings for you.”

“Noted. I promise to try and stay away from him, but that just means I need to find someone hot tonight. After the past two days, I need a release.” It feels good to feel loved for those several minutes, even if it’s a false sense of love.

“Sounds like a plan. Just drive us through these crappy cornfields and get us back to Eastern. We’ll have enough time to shower and bring spare clothes to Ryder’s. Then tonight, we’ll get drunk off our asses. This way, almost any guy will look hotter to you than Mikey.”

I take my right hand that’s resting on the center divider and flick her boob with my fingers.

“Fuck! That hurt, you bitch.”

I let out a small laugh at her dramatics. “You deserve it. I want real hot, not beer goggle hot.” I look over at her as she rubs her breast where I just flicked her, “And I get dibs. I don’t care if you see the hottest guy first because he’s mine. Got it?”

“Yes, Princess Tessa, he’s yours. After what I witnessed the past few days, you deserve the hot guy, tonight. I get the hot guy next time.”

“Deal,” I say, sticking out my hand as we shake on it.

Piper turns the music up in the car and we drive the rest of the way, singing top-forty music at the top of our lungs. The drive through rural Illinois is boring, but with the music blaring and my best friend in the passenger seat, the drive goes by quickly.

When we finally pull up to our apartment complex, we have an hour before our shift starts at Ryder’s Bar and Grill. I started working at Ryder’s in October of my freshman year. I needed a job, and Piper had started there when school started, so she put in a good word for me. My boss, Ryder Wyatt, was the owner of the place. He inherited it when his uncle died eight years ago. Ryder made a few changes to the menu, fixed up the building, and changed the name. He was a great boss and I guess I could even call him a friend.

Piper and I get out of my car and rush up the two flights of stairs to our apartment.

“I call shower!” Piper yells out, as she opens the front door and makes a dash down the hallway.

“Son of a bitch! You better make it a five minute shower,” I yell back to her. I throw my keys on the table next to the door and kick my shoes off into the corner of the entryway.

Our apartment is a small two bedroom. There’s a kitchen that can occupy one person at a time, a living room, two bedrooms, and one bathroom. It’s not the best off campus housing you can get, but the rent is cheap and the neighbors don’t complain when we throw parties.

I grab a soda from the fridge and go into my room to pick out an outfit for later tonight, and grab my uniform. By the time I’m done choosing the sexy outfit that will grab every guys attention, Piper is out of the bathroom. I rush in there before she tries to come back. Locking the door, I turn the shower on and strip out of my clothing. I step into the shower and let the warm water hit my skin. It washes away all the anxiety and emotions from the past two days with my parents. When I’m done cleaning myself, I feel refreshed and ready for the night.

I quickly blow-dry my hair before leaving the bathroom and heading into my room. I put on my lace pink thong and matching push-up bra, not that I need it. I was blessed in that category. God gave me a porn star chest and a skinny waist to go with it. I wear a D-cup and have a nice, firm butt from working out. The rest of my body is slim and tone, so I can’t complain.

The uniforms at Ryder’s are on the skanky side, so I’m glad Piper and I are in shape. The top is a ribbed, low cut, black tank top, with the words
Ryder’s Girl
on the front in red. The bottoms are red booty shorts that barely cover my butt cheeks. The words
Try our buns
are written across the ass. When I was younger, I would have never worked at a place like this. Now, I see the appeal. We look hot and I’ve hooked up with a few guys because they love how I look in the outfit.

The wait staff is strictly female, but Ryder hires men to work the bar. That’s how Piper and I met Mikey. Mikey’s been bartending at Ryder’s for as long as I’ve worked there.

Once I’m dressed, I head over to the mirror and apply my make-up and fix my hair. I finish applying the last loose curl to my hair as I hear a knock on my door.

“Ready to go…” Piper says from my doorway. “Damn, girl. You look extra hot. You weren’t kidding when you said you needed to get some, huh?”

She walks over and starts playing with a piece of my hair.

“I love when you do your hair like this. It’s like a fashionable Farrah Fawcett look. You’ll have the boys eating out of the palm of your hand.”

“I hope so,” I whisper, applying a dab of lip-gloss on my lips. I take a quick glance at myself before grabbing my change of clothes from the bed, and turning off the light.

Ten minutes later we’re pulling up to Ryder’s. A quick look at the parking lot tells me this is going to be a busy night, which is surprising since it’s the summer.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell Ryder you’ll close tonight. We want to be first cut,” Piper lectures me as I park my car. I glance in the rear-view mirror to make sure I look presentable before I get out of the vehicle.

“I won’t volunteer to close, I promise. Work is the last place I want to be right now.” It’s true. I’m going to have to work the next four-to-six hours before I can release this built-up tension. I’m starting to wish I just had a quick session with my battery-operated boyfriend.

“You better not. I’m going to make sure Ryder knows you have plans, so that maybe he leaves you alone tonight. You know, it’s your fault for being such a good employee. You need to take that down a notch, you’re making me look bad.”

We both glance at each other before busting out laughing. Nothing could make Piper look bad, except Piper. Her problem is she rather socializes and hook up with one of our bartenders, Milo, in the bathroom, than work and make a decent amount of money.

I walk inside Ryder’s, and Piper follows me. We head back towards the kitchen and into Ryder’s office. After putting our things away and getting our section assignments, we start work.

The first couple hours fly by. The restaurant is busier than I expected because of a fright-fest marathon running at the local movie theater. It’s brought in people from the neighboring towns. A little after nine o’clock, the rush is over and I have only one table in my section. Mikey and Milo are bartending tonight, so I decide to go chill out at the bar. As I’m walking over, Mikey glances up and smiles at me.

“Come over here, Trigger, and give me a hug.”

I’m instantly annoyed at his term of endearment. During our first sexual encounter, I was apparently too eager to get him off. He’s called me Trigger, short for trigger-happy, ever since.

Mikey is your average looking jock. His brown hair is buzzed close to his head. He’s got a muscular build to go along with his golden tan skin. His brown eyes smolder when he’s horny, and his body looks amazing when he’s covered in sweat.

This is probably why I keep going back to him for more. He quenches a physical need I have, nothing more. We went out on a date once, just once. It was a disaster. We have absolutely nothing in common and there’s no spark between us. That doesn’t mean I won’t be hopping in his bed tonight, if I can’t find someone else. I need to get laid and Mikey is better than my B.O.B, and a lot better than nothing.

I reach the bar and hop up on the nearest stool so I can lean over and hug him. He squeezes me tightly and brings his mouth to my ear.

“I missed you the past few days, Trigger.”

I pull away from the hug and raise my eyebrows at him, “I missed you, too. Hell, I missed work after having to be home with my family.”

He nods his head in understanding as he passes the drink he just made to a waiting customer.

“What’s the plan for tonight? You want to come over?” Mikey says eagerly as he winks at me.

I bite my lip, not knowing how to turn him down gently.

“Not tonight. Piper and I are going to Dave’s party.”

He looks up from the Captain and Coke he’s making, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I’m down for Dave’s. We can hang there for a little bit, then go back to my place.”

Not wanting to explain that my plans for the night don’t include him, I hop off the bar stool and head to the back office.

I hear Mikey say something to the other bartender while I’m walking away. Just as I’m passing the bathrooms, I feel someone grab me and pull me into the men’s room. I don’t have time to see who it is before I’m being pushed against the back of the door.

Mikey’s body is pressing into mine. He raises his hand to lock the door, preventing anyone from coming inside.