Chapter 3
He had at least
accomplished one of his objectives. He was definitely drunk off his ass.
So drunk he could barely walk, to be
precise. Trish was trying to support him the best she could as they walked
down the hallway of the hotel, but he was much bigger than her. He tried
to help her by walking on his own but that only got him scraped knees from
falling over. He could barely see where he was going anyway; somewhere
along the way he'd lost his ponytail and now his hair was all in his face.
"Come on, Paul," Trish squealed
out as he once again almost knocked her off balance, "we're almost to my
room." She had insisted that he stay with her tonight since Gabrielle
was in his room. He was not in any shape to protest.
Paul had no idea how many beers he'd had.
He'd lost count after six. He vaguely remembered Trish paying the waitress
as they left with quite a few bills. He had been talking incoherently,
urging her to give the waitress the tip he'd promised. Everything since
then had been a spinning blur.
They finally reached her door and there was
quite a battle as Trish tried to open the door while still supporting Paul.
It took a couple minutes, but they finally made their way into the darkened
room. Trish let out a huge breath as she turned on the light and guided
Paul to the bed. He sank down onto it, flopping his head onto a pillow,
and started mumbling to himself. All Trish could understand was a slurred
"don't fucking understand."
Paul really couldn't understand it,
any of it. He had gotten drunk to forget, but now it was all he could
think about. Gabrielle had been cheating on him. What if she loved
Dwayne? What if she had just been stringing him along for some sick
reason? All those months together, the long intimate talks, the fun they'd
had, the great sex... what if it didn't mean anything to her? That really
scared him. He didn't open up easily to anyone, and he'd shared everything
with her. He loved her. That about said it all. She knew
everything about him and he thought he'd known her just as well. A sigh
escaped his lips as he tried to clear his mind. His thoughts were in a
whirlwind and the alcohol wasn't helping matters. The one thing that gave
him any comfort was the fact that he hadn't had to go back to his hotel room and
face Gabrielle.
Trish is being so nice to me, he
thought as he slowly faded out of consciousness.
Trish hung up her coat and stared at Paul
for a minute or two. She'd known he was going to get drunk, but this was
crazy. She slowly walked over and gently pulled his leather jacket off of
him and removed his boots. When she'd put those away, she went back to
where he lay on the bed. "Paul..." No answer.
"Paul??" she asked, leaning on to the bed to shake him, but his eyes
were closed and his breathing started to slow. She let out a sigh that vaguely
rang of defeat. "Just great," she murmured under her breath,
"so much for drinking being a GOOD thing." She grabbed her bag
and went into the bathroom to change and get ready for bed.
When she came out twenty minutes later,
Paul was still in the same position. She watched him for a little while.
Her eyes swept over him and she smiled. Even if he was passed out and dead
drunk, she thought he still looked damn good lying in her bed. There was barely
a sound made as she pulled the covers over him, then slipped into the bed
herself. She rested a hand gently on his chest and gazed at his face, her
smile widening. Soon there'd be no way he could sleep in her bed unless it
was because she'd exhausted him in it.
Trish was shocked when Paul opened his eyes
and looked at her. "Trish," he said huskily, pausing as if he
didn't know what to say.
Trish inched closer to him under the
blanket. "Yes, Paul?" she asked with an innocent tone to her
voice. Can't let him suspect something just yet.
"Trish," he tried again, as he
draped an arm over her and hugged her.
The feel of his heartbeat against hers
drove her mad. Her eyes gleamed in triumph; it was really working!
She couldn't believe it was happening already. "You can tell me,
whatever it is," she said, struggling to contain herself.
Paul sighed and closed his eyes.
"You're such a good friend, Trish."
She blinked. Friend?
FRIEND?!? She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming her head off.
"Thanks, Paul, that's what I'm here for," she said forcedly. She
was glad he was too drunk to hear her tone of voice.
Paul smiled, then let her go and rolled
over with his back to her.
Damn it, she thought, guess I'll
just have to stick to the original plan and try to win him over slowly... if he
survives that hangover, anyway.
Trish stared at the back of his shirt as
she thought over the night's events. She felt a sudden pang in her heart
at the thought of how upset he'd been. Finding Gabrielle with Dwayne would
hurt him pretty bad, that she'd known. But she'd had no idea how bad the
damage really was going to be. The poor guy was devastated and it really
bothered her.
She pushed that train of thought out of her
head and tried to sleep. No sense worrying about it now, she figured as
she drifted off, He'll be mine soon enough.
back to Chapter 2
