He had his own house, in his own town, with his own job, and soon, he’d have his own family, too. While I was still single, and still living with Pops.
Suddenly, it felt like life had been kicked into high gear and was rushed away with everyone else, leaving me behind to collect the dust.
“You okay, man?” I looked up to find Goose, eyeing me with concern.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I lied, while a sudden surge of despair settled deep in my gut.
The narrow-eyed look he gave said he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t press any further. Instead, he nodded his chin to the back of the bar.
“Good,” he said. “‘Cause there’s a really hot lookin’ girl over there and she’s been staring at you for a solid five minutes.”
That was enough to distract my worried mind, and I took a quick glance over my shoulder. Sure enough, there she was, a pretty brunette in the tightest white skirt I’d ever seen. Just as I caught her eye, she lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers in a little wave that could only be interpreted as flirty. She had cast the bait into the water, and I was biting.
Grabbing my glass, I excused myself from the bar and left Goose chuckling as I made my approach.
“Hey,” I shouted over yet another round of “Sweet Home Alabama.”
“Hey!” she parroted, wearing a bright grin framed by watermelon pink lips.
“I’m Vinnie,” I introduced myself, offering my hand.
“Anna!”
As her hand slid into mine, her fingers brushed gracefully against my palm, and at that touch, I had a feeling Anna and I would be getting to know each other very well.
***
“Oh, my God,” she moaned, gasping as my lips found their way down her neck. I licked the soapy bitterness of perfume from her skin and resisted the urge to cough. “God, that’s so good. Don’t stop.”
Quickies in bar restrooms weren’t my favorite, despite how often I found myself in that very situation. These moments always felt cheap and made me feel even cheaper, but I had no intentions of stopping. My hands skimmed the curve of her waist and moved lower to find the hem of her skirt. She used her nails against my scalp, clawing and hissing like a cat, and arched her back in anticipation. The moment was good, my fingers inched their way to the apex of her thighs, and then, my elbow hit the wall of the bathroom stall.
“Fuck,” I muttered at the pain of smacking my not-so funny bone.
“Maybe we should go back to your place?” she coyly suggested, and my hands stopped moving altogether.
“I have a roommate,” I replied, my mouth against her neck.
“Hmmm,” she purred, pressing her hips against mine. “I'm down for a threesome, if you are.”
An instantaneous torrent of visions crowded my mind. Thoughts of Pops, of him doing things I wished I’d never thought of before. My mouth pinched at the sudden taste of sour and I backed away from Anna, as far as the stall would allow.
“What's wrong?” she asked, pouting and reaching for my belt loops with waggling fingers.
I gently brushed her hands away. “Nothing. I just remembered I, uh, have an appointment tomorrow morning.”
Her once friendly, sultry eyes clouded with an angry hurt. “Asshole,” she growled, pushing past me and out the door.
My pride should've been hurt. I should've at least been embarrassed. But instead, I was relieved, and after waiting a couple of minutes, to allow her the time to leave the bar, I exited the bathroom and ordered another Coke.
Goose narrowed his studious eyes and asked, “Uh, do I wanna know what happened in there?” And shrugging, I casually replied, “She could tell I was lyin’.”
CHAPTER THREE
ANDREA
The old man had been following me around the hospital all day. Silently watching from the end of a hallway or the corner of a room. He was angry, that was made very obvious by the scowl permanently affixed to his wrinkled face, but he was also stubborn and unrelenting.
“I don't know what you want me to tell you,” I muttered impatiently through gritted teeth. He just shook his head. “I'm sorry, okay? I'm just—”
“Hey, girl,” Elle, my friend and colleague, said, as she leaned against the counter of the nurse's station. “I'm starving. You wanna take your break and grab some lunch?”
With a quick glance toward the old man, I answered, “Yeah, sure, I just gotta wrap this up and take meds into three-fifteen. Then, I'm good to go.”
“Cool. I'll wait in