Whispering Wishes (19 page)

The door opens and Nick is standing there. “I think I’m going to call it a night for now, Aspen.”

“I understand.
I’m so sorry, Nick. So, so, so, so, so, so sorry. I don’t even know what to say.”

“It’s my fault - I bumped you.
I should have been more careful, but it’s burning like a son of a bitch. I think it singed some of the hair…”

Oh fuck.

“…so I think I should get home and ice it and see what happens. Hopefully I don’t need to go to the doctor or anything.”

“Oh my
God. Do you need me to take you or call 911 or call someone or oh my God, I don’t even know what to say.”

He swiftly dresses and moans in pain when he tries to cover up with his briefs.
“Do you need me to get you a bag of ice or something for the drive?”

“No, that’s okay.
I think I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

He puts his pants on and takes a step toward me and a grimace of pain crosses his face. “You know, ice might not be such a bad idea.”

“Okay,” I walk out the door and look down the hall.
The door to Wes’s room is closed thank goodness. Nick and I make our way down the hall and stairs. The whole way Nick is moaning softly in pain. Dashing to the kitchen, I fill a baggie full of ice and bring it back to him.

He takes it from my hands with a, “thanks,” then heads to the door and looks at me over his shoulder
. “I’ll call you some time.” I nod my agreement, even though I know there’s not a chance in hell that is going to happen after I nearly mutilated him. Besides, we’ve never even exchanged numbers, so he’s just trying to be nice. “Aspen, all I can say is thank you for a memorable evening.”

Before I can respond, he’s out the door.
Helpless to do anything else, I stand and watch him walk awkwardly to his car, then drive away. I sigh, close the door and lock it, then place my head against it. I stay that way for a moment before turning around to head back to my room.

When I take a few steps, I think I see a shadow move at the top of the stairs, “You can come out now.”
I’m pretty sure I’m not seeing things. But no one appears. Shrugging my shoulders, I return to my room and clean up the mess from the candle wax.

After a fitful
night of sleep, I awake acutely aware of the episode from the night before. I close my eyes yet another time, hoping that it will have been a very bad dream. But it isn’t. I still can’t believe I actually burned Nick’s penis. I hope he’s okay. I feel sick when I think that he could still be in pain this morning. Maybe someday I’ll be able to laugh about this, but today is not that day.

The desire for coffee lures me to the kitchen yet again.
I do so want some. So, while I’m nervous about seeing Wes, the need for caffeine is stronger and I leave the safe cocoon of my room. I grab my phone, head downstairs, and am relieved to see that I’m alone. Glancing at the clock on the stove, I’m aware of how early it still is, and know that Wes is likely still sleeping – if he’s even here at all. Starting a pot of coffee, I begin contemplating last night. I quickly move from my interactions with Nick to Wes’ apparent reaction. He seemed upset in more than just a platonic way. Thinking about it gives me a headache, so I decide to give Mischa a phone call while I’m waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.

“Hey you!” she answers with enthusiasm even at this ungodly hour.
I swear the woman hardly sleeps, and is
always
in a good mood.

I still remember my manners though
. “Hey, is it too early?”

She laughs
. “You know better than that! So tell me, how did it go last night?” I groan. “That bad?” she asks with a laugh.

“Well it started off really great.
Let me set the picture for you.” I start off by telling her about my perfect dress, hair, and makeup because those are details we never spare. I know she will want to know it all, so I don’t hold back. I tell her about when I arrived, how fantastic looking and nice Nick was but the strange way Wes acted when he came to the table. I also told her how I couldn’t help but notice him flirting with all the girls around the bar, how angry I felt, and how that lead me to make a rash decision.

“You were introduced to an awesome guy, spent a short time with him, hit if off but then asked him to come back to your house… after you just met him?”

“Yes, I did,” I confess. While I was all gung ho the night, before I feel foolish now.

“Aspen!” she gasps
. “I can’t believe you did that! You don’t know anything about him and what a tone to set for your first date! Plus, you just moved into the house. I can’t believe you would already invite a guy over like that after being there less than a week.”

“Believe me, I know
, Mischa. All I can say is that it was a combination of being excited about getting back on the dating train, that I was super attracted to Nick, my human, uh urges, but also, that I’m not going to become a sexual goddess if I don’t… you know… get sexual.”

She laughs
. “Well that’s true, but it just isn’t like you. Plus, I think you’re missing a reason.”

“Missing a reason?”

“Yeah, the fact that Wes was flirting with other chicks and it pissed you off and so you reacted in a way that you hoped would make him jealous.”

“Maybe I didn’t forget that reason as much as just omitted it on purpose.”

She laughs knowingly. “What happened after you invited him to your place?”

“He seemed thrilled at the invitation
.”

She snorts
. “I bet.”

“Once we got back
, even though I tried to be a good hostess and offered him a drink, which I might add he turned down, we wasted no time going to my bedroom. He was a really great kisser and well to be honest, I wanted him. I haven’t had sex in… well… I don’t even want to tell you.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, babe.
I get it.”

“So anyway, when we got to my room
, things escalated quickly. I had him on the bed and I slipped out of my dress and for a moment, something came over me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I just stopped thinking and tried to tap into my inner sexual goddess.”

Mischa chokes and starts coughing.
I picture her with tears starting to stream down her face, but I ignore it and walk to the coffee pot, grab a mug, and pour. By the time I stir in some milk and sweetener and take a sip, she sounds like she’s gotten herself under control.

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what does that mean exactly?”

“It means that I asked him if he would be willing to try something new.”

“Oh no,” Mischa says with a little laugh.

“Yeah, just wait. Remember the time I told you about that BDSM book I read? The one that made me blush constantly, but taught me things I didn’t even know existed? Well in it, a woman poured wax on a guys chest, blew on it, and then sucked it off.”

“Oh Aspen…please tell me you didn’t.”

“Oh, I did. I mean, I asked him first and he said I could do whatever I wanted. And it was fine at first.”

“But… I hear a but coming.”

“But, he sat up in his urgency to kiss me and bumped my arm. It jostled the candle and wax ended up spilling all over his manly bits.”

“WHAT?!”
And then I hear nothing but laughter. Loud, no holds bar laughter that is almost yelling. In fact, I think she’s howling. Likely with tears pouring down her face again, too.

“Mischa…” I call
, but she’s still carrying on. I set the phone down on the counter and take a couple sips from my coffee. I pick up the phone again and she’s still laughing, so I set it down again and go to the pantry to grab some bread. I put the bread in the toaster and pick up the phone again, “Mischa?” Nope, still laughing.

When the toast is done, I butter it, take a bite, and pick up the phone again
. “Are you done yet?”

“Yes…” she gasps
. “I’m so sorry,” she says as giggles still escape.

“I hope some day I can laugh about this as well.
So far though the horror hasn’t worn off.”

“Oh trust me, it will come.
I’m going to be laughing over that for days.”

“Thanks.
Glad I could be so entertaining. I should charge a fee. An unbelievable sex story for ten dollars a pop. I could have my own tent at the circus and everything.”

“You probably could.
You have to tell me what happened next?”

“Well what do you think?
He screamed in pain and I tried to help clean him up as best as I could. I got him some ice and offered to call 911 or take him to the emergency room, but he just wanted to get out of here. He left as fast as he could move his legs considering the huge hunk of ice he was holding between them and the obvious pain that every step caused.”

“
Seriously Aspen, how does this stuff happen to you?”

“That’s a really good question.
Let me know when you have an answer.”

“Are you okay?
I mean, I know I was laughing, but it’s all out of love and adoration.”

“Sure, sure.
I’m okay, but I really liked him. He’s sweet and was really easy to talk to. I felt instant chemistry and hell Mischa, he is so good looking.”

Behind me, someone clears their throat making me whirl around.
Wes is standing in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. He looks fierce this morning. Uh oh. “Um, Mischa, I gotta run. Call you later?”

“Yes
, of course. Thanks for the morning entertainment, love.”

“Ha. Ha.”
I hang up the phone.

Wes stalks into the kitchen and heads straight to the coffee pot, grabbing a mug off the rack next to it and pours his coffee.
He gets the milk from the refrigerator, pours a little in his coffee and then slams the fridge closed when he puts it back. He grabs a spoon from the drawer to stir his coffee and slams it closed, too. After taking a sip, he whirls around and frowns at me. Not sure why the frown. I’m merely standing in the kitchen drinking coffee and eating toast. “I don’t suppose you have any more of that?” he says, gesturing to my toast.

“No, but-“

He throws up his arms like it’s the world’s biggest catastrophe. “Well that figures.”

What the hell?
“Hey, asshole, before you interrupted me I was going to offer to make you some. What the hell is your problem?”

“All I’m going to say is that next time you bring a guy home to fuck, maybe you could keep it down.
I really don’t need a play by play of your exploits from the other room.”

I almost spit out my coffee, choking instead.
Once I’m able, I ask, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me, keep it down next time
, would you?” He gives me an evil smirk, and leans toward me as if he’s going to whisper, “I wouldn’t have taken him for a screamer.”

I flush from head to toe in both surprise at his words and horror that he heard.
The feeling runs through me so fast, I gasp at the feeling it leaves in my stomach. Like I’m on a rollercoaster that just dropped down a steep incline. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I turn away to sip my coffee.

“Oh really?
I’ve had lots of sex, Aspen. Lots.”

“Thanks for sharing,” I murmur.

He ignores my comment. “I know damn well what it sounds like, thank you very much.”

I swing back and face him
. “No, thank
you
so much for the report on your sex life.”

His eyes narrow
. “Jealous?”

I poke my finger in his chest for emphasis
. “For your information, Nick and I didn’t even have sex last night.”

“Oh please, don’t lie to me.
No guy would have turned you down looking as fucking amazing as you did last night. You practically screamed sex.”

That makes me stop
. “You think I looked amazing?”

He just stares at me
. “You know you did.”

I can’t help it
; I smile. I’m such a stupid girl. “Thank you.”

He stares at me for a second, then shakes his head
. “Not that it matters what I think.” I just stare at him, not sure how I’m supposed to respond to that. “Anyway, all I’m asking is that you keep it down next time, okay?”

“I didn’t think you were even going to be home!”
He’s pissing me off.

“Yeah
, well plans changed. I mean besides, don’t you care at all for your own safety? You didn’t even know that guy and you just brought him home? What if he had been a creeper?”

“He wasn’t a creeper.
He’s a nice guy.”

“Yeah…I heard.
He’s smart, you have chemistry, and he’s hot,” he says, mimicking my voice.

“I don’t sound like that!”

“Close enough!”

“I burnt his dick!” I blurt without thinking.

He chokes on the coffee he was drinking, which seems to be the theme this morning. It takes him a few moments to recover. “Excuse me? You what?”

“You heard me,” I can’t meet his eyes, so I look at the ground.

“I don’t think I heard you right.”

I sigh loudly and say very clearly and slowly with pride…sort of… “I said, I burnt his dick.”

He repeats my words slowly. “You… burnt…his…dick?”

“Yes!
How many times do I have to say it?”

“I’m sorry, I really don’t understand.”

I glance back up at him and he’s looking at me with his brows lowered and there isn’t a smile to be found on his face. He looks genuinely curious. I don’t know why, but I decide to tell him. Not that it’s any of his business, but it bothers me that he thinks I had sex when I didn’t. He thinks he heard Nick in the middle of climax or something. “Well see… I lit these candles…”

“Oh fuck,” he curses under his breath and runs his hands over his head, but still looks at me expectantly to continue.

“I wanted to try something new… something I read about.”

“W
hat the hell kind of stuff do you read?”

“So not the point, Wes!”