Whispering Wishes (16 page)

“Maybe I’m not joking,” he says with a lascivious smile.

Smirking in response, I give them a small wave. “I will see you guys later.”

I hear them laughing and Ian teasing, “Burn!” as I walk up the stairs.

Once in my bedroom, I stand in the doorway and look at the mess all over the place. I feel a bit overwhelmed and displaced at the same time. Part of me wants to cry. I refuse to give in to the urge, but acknowledge that I miss my house already. Tears won’t change a damn thing. While I’m grateful, it still sucks that my life has been squeezed into one little room.

I turn, push the door closed a little and decide to start the process.
First, I’ll get my clothes hung up in the closet. As I complete each box, I break it down, putting it in a discard pile before moving to the next. When I reach the box I shall now call the box of lady gadget doom, I begin to place them on the shelf at the top of the closet. Upon reconsideration, I take a few items and place them in my bedside table. I may be embarrassed about what happened, but I’m not stupid. Those things feel amazing and until I get a man in my life, well…

I unpack the picture frames of my family and friends and am placing them on my dresser when my cell phone rings.
I look at the screen and smile when I see Mischa’s name on the ID. “Hi there.”

“Hi yourself!
How are you? How is moving day going?”

“It’s good.
We are all unloaded and I’m going through my boxes now and unpacking.”

“I still feel bad that I wasn’t able to leave the store so I could be there to help you.”

“Don’t feel bad Mish, I understand. Besides some of Wes’ friends came and they were a big help.”

“Oh, well that’s good.
That makes me feel better. So tell me, what do you think of the house?”

“It’s really nice and Wes was correct, there’s more than enough room for both of us.
Like I told you, my room is large with a walk in closet and a connecting bathroom. It will be a great place to crash in the interim.”

“That’s good, but why do you sound so sad?”

“I do?”

“Yes, I know you well, and I can hear it in your voice.
What’s bothering you?”

Sighing
, I admit, “I think I’m just sad about leaving my house, you know? I really thought that I was going to get the opportunity to buy that place and make it mine. It’s silly, but I pictured living there with my husband some day, raising a family there. It just makes me sad that wasn’t the case.”

“That’s not silly, it’s understandable.
It all happened so fast and you haven’t had a lot of time to process it yet. I remember when you first found it - you were so thrilled. Finally, getting a grown up job and a grown up house,” she laughs softly. “It makes sense you would have had plans and dreams in your mind, and having them messed up when it wasn’t your choice has to be hard. Your landlord is a freaking hoe bag.”

I laugh
. “I’m not going to argue with you there.”

“And Wes?
You are getting along with him okay? You think you guys will be good to live together?”

“Yeah, I really do.
He’s just easy going and kind. I mean Mischa, he holds the door open for me and he even carried me over the threshold,” I recount with a laugh. “He insisted on cleaning up after I cooked burgers for him and his friends. He’s just great.”

“You like him.”

“What?” I ask, pretending I didn’t hear her. It doesn’t work, not that I’m surprised.

“You heard what I said.
You like him.”

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to. Best friend, remember? I can hear it in your voice.”

“Okay
, fine, yeah. I like him. But that’s good, right? Who would want to be moving in with someone they don’t like. Right?

“Not what I mean and you know it.”

“Ok, perhaps a bit. I may or may not have realized it a bit ago and now I may or may not be able to fully get him and my thoughts about a potential ‘us’ out of my head. But it doesn’t matter.”

“Why doesn’t it matter?”

I throw myself back on my unmade bed and lay my head on one of my pillows. “It doesn’t matter because he only thinks of me as a friend – maybe even like a sister. Plus, I think he’s getting over someone.”

“What makes you say that?”

“When he was showing me around, he told me that he used to live here with a girlfriend.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. I admit that it bothers me more than I would like to admit. I mean, it isn’t like I never dated anyone or that I thought he hadn’t. That would be stupid. Plus, look at him.”

She laughs softly
. “I think what you are trying to say is that it made you feel jealous.”

“Yeah a little.
Plus, I think I just want a boyfriend. It’s been a while – since Jeffrey.”

“Yes
, it has been a while, but you know… you can do something about that.”

“That is very true and in fact I am.
I have a blind date that Meg set up tomorrow night.”

“Oh yay!
I forgot about that, but she said something to me about it at the sex party because she asked if I would ever want to be set up, too. I told her I would reserve judgment after your experience. We’ll see how it goes before I let her try doing the same for me.”

“Oh great, put the pressure on me!”

Mishca laughs. “Well do you want me to come over when I close up the store?”

“Aw no, but thank you for offering.
Honestly, I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to take a nap and then when I wake up, unpack some more.

“Okay, well call me tomorrow
, okay?”

“Will do.
Love your face, Mish.”

“Love yours
, too.”

I hang up the phone and lie there thinking about what I told Mischa.
I have to get over these thoughts and feelings I have for Wes. It will only make living here awkward. Sure he flirts and has fun, but it’s just his personality. It doesn’t mean anything, and I’ll only end up hurt if I read into something that isn’t there.

I yawn and close my eyes.
My thoughts go to my blind date tomorrow night, and the fact I hope the guy is hot and that I have some fun. I could use it. If all goes well, maybe I’ll even get lucky. I laugh softly to myself then yawn again thinking maybe some amazing sex will blow thoughts of Wes right out of my mind.

I wake up
from my nap with a start. My room is pitch black except for the light trailing in from the hallway. When I sit up, a blanket I don’t recognize falls into my lap. After a minute, I realize Wes must have checked on me and covered me up, which was sweet of him.

My body feels a little achy from all the muscles I used while moving and I think a shower is in order.
Rooting around in my boxes, I search for the essentials – shampoo, conditioner, facial cleanser, soap, razor, loofah, lotion, and towels. Gathering them all in my arms, I head to the bathroom.

It feels strange being in an unfamiliar place, and I find myself showering and shaving quickly instead of lingering in the warm water like usual.
I wrap a towel around my head and body, and then look at myself in the mirror after I wipe it off with a hand towel. Oops, must remember to turn on that fan.

I have zero makeup on and consider applying the bare minimum and blow drying my hair because the vain part of me doesn’t want to be around Wes
au natural
. But if I’m going to live here, I need to be comfortable and that means being myself. Yeah, I have the hots for Wes. No doubt about it. But he does not have them for me, so it isn’t like I need to impress him.

I brush through my hair
, pull it up into a bun, and then grab a headband to put in the front to help hold my long bangs back. Dropping the towel, I take my time applying body moisturizer, then rewrap myself in the towel and walk into my room to obtain some clothes from the closet.

I go toward the wall at the door to turn on a light so I can see better as the bathroom light does not offer me quite enough and I certainly don’t want to run into any of the boxes or other things lying around. As I reach to flip on the light, the door creaks open the rest of the way. Wes is standing there and we both freeze, staring at each other. His mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. I clutch the towel between my breasts as he looks me up and down quickly. “Oh God! I’m so sorry! I was just… I was just going to check on you.” He quickly turns around and faces the hall. “I should have knocked first. I’m sorry, that was unacceptable. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

It’s obvious he’s embarrassed and feels really bad.
Surprisingly, I’m shocked but not embarrassed. In fact, a very naughty part of me wants to giggle and see what his reaction would be if I dropped the towel around me.

The giggle I’m trying to swallow, leaks out anyway, “It’s okay.
No harm done. I’m covered up in more than I would be if I had a swimsuit on.”

Wes turns back around slowly and gives me a little smile, but doesn’t speak.

“So, were you just coming to check on me or did you need something?”
I prop my leg out to the side and when I do so the slit in the towel exposes it. His eyes go to it immediately and I see him swallow. This is kind of fun.

“Oh, um.
Yeah. Um. I was going to see if you wanted to maybe order a pizza and watch a movie?”

“That sounds like a plan.
I am definitely hungry.” He just stands there and doesn’t move. “Um, I’m just going to get some clothes on first – and then I’ll join you.”

He jumps to attention
. “Oh. Yeah. Okay. Just come down when you’re ready,” and he silently closes the door behind him.

I grab the door and open it again to holler at him, surprised when I see he’s still standing there with his head in his hands
. “Wes?”

He jumps and turns to me
. “Yeah?”

There goes that swallow again.
I smile, “I like pepperoni on my pizza.”

“Oh.
Yeah. Good to know.”

I give him another smile and close the door.
He may look at me like a sister, but it will be fun to remind him that I’m also a woman. I drop the towel and put some panties and a comfortable sports bra on. Then a tank and some of my favorite pink capri sweats. To complete the comfy look, I slip my feet into my favorite pink fuzzy slippers.

When I get downstairs, I find Wes in the living room sitting on the couch.
I hop into the room. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” he says, looking at me and taking in my appearance from head to toe and letting out a slight sigh.
While he still seems a little tense, he simultaneously appears a bit relieved. What the? Did he think I was still going to be wearing a towel?

“Cute,” he says
, pointing at my fuzzy slippers.

“Thanks.
They’re my favorite,” I hop onto the couch next to him. “Wow.”

“More comfortable than it looks, huh?”

“Yes, it’s nice. Oh and speaking of comfortable, thanks for covering me up when I fell asleep.”

“Sure, no big deal.
I went to see how the unpacking was going and you were on your bed snoring.”

“I don’t snore,” I protest.

“If you say so,” he says with a sexy, teasing grin.

“I do say so.
No one has ever told me that I snore before.”

He lifts up an eyebrow at my comment.
I love it when he does that. “Oh? Does that comment suggest you’ve had plenty of people in bed with you that would have told you?”

I try to raise an eyebrow back at him, but it doesn’t work.
Damn. Instead, I hold one down and lift the other one up making him laugh at how ridiculous I must look. “A lady never tells.”

He leans close and whispers, “I will find out all your secrets some time.
We are roommates now. I see lots of drunken confessions in our future.”

“Oh you do, huh?
Good to know.” I look at the TV and the DVD’s next to it, “Did you have a specific movie in mind?”

“No, I figure I’d let you pick since it’s your first night and all and I’m still trying to impress you with how much of a thoughtful gentleman and awesome roommate I am.”

I giggle and get off the couch to check out the DVD collection. “Romantic comedy it is.”

He groans
. “I should have known.”

I laugh and proceed to look over the collection and am quite impressed by the mixed selection.
Lots of action adventure movies, sure, but there’s drama. Comedy and several romantic comedies interspersed. A sour feeling in my stomach appears when I remember it’s probably because his previous girlfriend added them to the collection.

Just for that
, I grab an action movie and put it in the blue ray DVD player.

I plop back on the couch; Wes is one end, me on the other.
“What did you choose? What movie am I going to have to endure?”

When I tell him I’ve chosen
Taken
, he’s surprised by my selection. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”

I just smile and ease back into the corner, making myself comfortable, getting ready to watch the movie.

“The pizza should be here any time.
Do you want anything to drink until then?”

“Sure.”

“Anything in particular?”

“No, whatever you have, I’ll have too.”

“Soda coming right up,” he says as he leaves the room and goes into the kitchen. I hear glasses clicking and the pop and hiss of the soda tab. I see a blanket draped over the arm of the couch and decide to put it over my lap and snuggle into the comfort it offers.

Wes walks back in, and as he hands me a glass, I admire his low-slung jeans, bare feet and the tight t-shirt he’s wearing.
His muscles move under his shirt with each of his movements and I find myself staring. My mouth goes dry and I take a big gulp of the offered soda.

He settles back into his seat once again, and we sit in silence watching the movie that’s begun to play.
I can barely focus on it. All I can think about is how he’s seated on the couch with me, and if I can somehow maneuver a way to sit closer to him. I quickly push the thought away. I wish I wasn’t so aware of him right now. It’s like a string connects his body to mine, or something. Without trying, I’m aware of how he holds his glass, that his knee bounces up and down and how he positions his body to conform to the couch. Goodness. I’m attuned to every intake of breath and if his lips so much as twitch.

I jump a little in my seat when the doorbell rings.
“I got it,” he hops up and goes to the front door to pay for and grab the pizza. While he does that, I stand and go to the kitchen to start looking for plates. I find paper ones and napkins in the pantry and take them out just as he walks in with the pizza.

He opens the box top and I see he got half pepperoni, and half sausage and mushroom.
I plop a couple pieces on his plate, and he smiles and grabs another, taking a large bite and wagging his eyebrows at me as he leaves the room. I laugh and grab a couple pieces for myself and go back to the living room.

We proceed to watch the movie and eat in silence.
When we’re done, I stand and grab his plate and mine. “Do you want any more?”

“Nah, thanks.”

“Sure. Oh, and let me know how much my half of the pizza costs.”

“No.
It’s on me.”

“Wes.”

“Aspen,” he mimics. “You took care of lunch for not only me, but my loser friends, so dinner is on me.”

“Okay.”
I go and throw the plates away, and when I come back and sit, to my surprise Wes lays on the couch and places his head in my lap.

“This cool?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Oh hell, this is so not cool, this is going to be torture.
All I want to do is touch him. I take my glass off the table so I have something to do with my hands. What I want to do is trace his mohawk or the planes of his face with my fingers. All this does is make me even more aware of him. I mean he’s lying right here on me for God sakes. I feel aches in my body that aren’t at all appropriate between friends.

I clear my throat and he looks over at me and smiles.
“You know, speaking of those loser friends of mine, they adore you, you know. You had already won them over, but then you cooked for them and that just settled it. They would probably do anything you ask them to now.”

“Good to know.
I’ll have to remember that when I need to call in a favor of some kind.”

I gulp the rest of my soda
. “More?”

“Yeah, sure.”
He jumps up to fill my glass and then sets the can on the table next to me. “You don’t want anymore?”

“Nope, I’m good.”
He puts his head in my lap again and I stifle a groan. I barely move, but then the urge becomes too much, and I touch my finger to his hair. He stiffens. I ignore him and run my hand along the strip of hair that stands out a little more than the rest. It’s a few inches wide and goes all the way to the back of his head. No spikes or anything, just close to his head, but a little bit thicker than the rest on his shaved head. I’m surprised at how soft his hair is given how close it’s cut to his head.

“Why the mohawk?” I ask curiously.

“I lost a bet from my friends. I can’t even remember what the bet was now. Something stupid like on a football game or something, I’m sure. Anyway, I lost and this was the penalty. Funny thing is, the joke is on them because I get crazy compliments all the time. Plus, they all thought it looked cool as well, so I’ve worn it like this ever since.”

“Serves them right I think.
I like it, looks good on you. Makes you look all bad ass.”

“Bad ass, huh?”

“Yeah. When I first saw you – with the Mohawk and tattoos, I thought that guy probably has a motorcycle and plays the guitar.”

“Well shit.
Maybe I do need to grow it out. I don’t like thinking that my hair can give that much away.”

I pause the random circles I’m making on his scalp with my fingertip
. “Wait, so I’m right? I haven’t seen a guitar or a motorcycle, for that matter.”

“The bike is in the garage.
I take it out now and then, but don’t drive it all the time, and the guitar is on a stand in my bedroom closet.”

“Wow, I’m good.”

He laughs. “Since you just found out something about me, tell me something about you.”