Pre-Wedding Fun

I didn't get to see Brody as often as I would have liked over the next week, but I had time to do some job searching and even applied for a couple things.  And he was able to spend some time with Alex, which was good.  For his part, after his apology Alex pretended like nothing had happened and was back to his normal self, which was fine with me. 

I was able to get Friday off to go with Brody up for Kendra and Christian's wedding.  The wedding was going to be in a nearby town on the edge of Rocky Mountain National park.  Brody had gotten a room for Friday and Saturday night at the lodge where the wedding and reception were to be held, and I was looking forward to a weekend away in the mountains, even if it would be a busy weekend.

Kendra, to her credit, was not freaking out.  I would have been freaking out.  Last minute details are stressful in planning anything, and a wedding with 200 guests?  Yup, freak out city.  She appeared completely calm, though she did look a little tired. 

I had taken Friday and Monday off of work, hoping to be able to spend Sunday night with Brody even if he had to go to work on Monday.  I felt a serious need to make up for lost time.  I figured once I got home, I could do some serious job searching and applying on Monday.  I had more than enough comp time racked up to have taken the days off without even dipping into my untouched PTO.  I was definitely due for a long weekend.

Friday morning, Brody and I went to pick up his tux.  I perused the shop's tie selection as he tried it on to make sure it fit.  When he came out, I couldn't help but be completely turned on at the sight of him in the tux.  He looked good.  Really good.  The sales person helping him talked to him briefly as I walked over, then scurried away.  I grinned at him and he made a face back.

"Don't do that with your face, it ruins everything," I admonished him. 

"Have you ever worn a bow tie?" he asked pointedly, tugging at it.

"Ummm...not around my neck," I said with an innocent smile.  He stared at me for several seconds before bursting into laughter.

"You are full of surprises," he said, still chuckling.  He turned back to the mirror and smoothed an imaginary wrinkle out of the jacket.  "Well?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You look really fucking hot," I replied, running a finger over the lapel of the jacket and pausing when I got up to the collar.  "I'm looking forward to taking it off you tomorrow."  He laughed again.

"It's a good thing I told Alex I wasn't interested in sharing a room with him," he said.  "You're clearly planning on using it well."

"Need help taking it off?" I asked him, sliding my eyes towards the dressing room. 

"What has gotten into you?" he asked, looking at me incredulously.  But he was eyeing the dressing room and looking around to see if anyone would notice if we both slipped in.  He grabbed my hand and pulled me in, shutting the door behind us.  The dressing room was a fully enclosed cubicle with a door that actually went all the way to the floor, which was quite convenient at the moment.

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him.  He kissed me back for a few seconds before spinning me so my back was to him.  "Just so you know, I'm not having sex with you here," he said softly against my ear in between trailing kisses along my neck. 

"Then what, exactly, are you doing?" I asked indignantly.

"Shhhh," he responded, laying his hand over my mouth briefly.  "I'm giving you a preview."  His hand left my mouth and went to my pants.  He quickly unbuttoned and unzipped them and pushed them over my hips and down my thighs.

His left arm wrapped tightly around my waist while his right hand--which was fully recovered, thankfully-- slid beneath my underwear.  I slapped my own hand against my mouth to keep from moaning as his fingers moved against me.

A knock sounded at the door of the dressing room at the exact moment he slid a finger inside of me.  I practically shoved my fist into my mouth to stay quiet as the sales person said, "Any trouble, sir?"

Brody didn't even flinch or pause as he responded back, "Nope, everything is great, thanks!"

"Okay," the sales person said.  "Bring everything up front when you're ready."  I pushed my head back against his chest and bit down on my finger as I came seconds later, grateful for his arm tight around my waist.  My legs were still shaking when he slowly withdrew his hand.  He reached down, grabbed the waist of my jeans and pulled them back up.  He turned me around again to face him and kissed me.

"Think that will get you through until at least tonight?" he asked.

I considered as I zipped and buttoned my pants.  "Hmmm, I don't know if I'd go that far, but I should at least make it through the car ride now."  He raised an eyebrow.

"It's only an hour and a half," he said.

"Oh, I know," I replied.  He shook his head.

He quickly changed from his tux back into his jeans and shirt and I hung everything back on the hangers and zipped it all back into the garment bag.  He cracked the dressing room door open and peeked out, then pushed it open.  We walked up to the front of the store.  By the time we got there, my face was hot.  I imagined everyone that looked at us knew exactly what we had just done.  But I certainly didn't regret it.

I ended up sleeping through most of the ride there.  Brody woke me up a few miles outside of town so I could enjoy the scenery.  I was glad he did.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  Someday when I got married, this would be my dream area to do it, I think.  There was some snow on the ground here, and it glittered in the sunlight.  I leaned my head against the window and smiled.

"What?" Brody asked, glancing over at me.

"I just love it here," I said simply.  I had stressed out so much about moving halfway across the country before I'd actually done it, but since I'd gotten here, I had never once questioned or regretted it.  I was truly happy in a way that I had never been in Wisconsin.  Brody returned my smile and slid his hand into mine as we drove down the final hill into town.

The lodge where the wedding and reception were going to be held was breathtaking.  It was rustic and surrounded by towering pine trees.  We checked in and hauled our stuff up to our room.  I dropped my bag on the floor and went straight to the huge window, looking out at mountains and a small river.

Brody wrapped his arms around me from behind.  "I hope your fascination with the mountains never goes away," he said, resting his chin on top of my head, "because I love watching you look at them.  Too many people don't appreciate it at all."

"How can you not?" I asked, leaning back against him.  He didn't answer, and we stood there quietly, looking out the window for several minutes.  Then I turned and kissed him.  He kissed me back, and soon we were laying on the bed.  With my need from earlier tempered by our encounter in the tux shop dressing room, we kissed without pretense for nearly 15 minutes, simply enjoying making out like teenagers.

Finally, he pulled away.  Brushing hair away from my face he said, "I should probably get ready for the rehearsal."  I nodded.

As Brody was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, someone knocked on the door.  I peeked out the peephole and saw it was Christian.  I pulled open the door.  "Hey, Brody's getting ready, come on in," I greeted him.

"Thanks," he replied, stepping in and pushing the door closed behind him.  He collapsed in one of the chairs across from the bed.  I sat on the edge of the bed and studied him.

"Everything okay?" I asked.  He shrugged.

"Kendra's finally lost it," he admitted.  "She held it together for so long, but there's a problem with the centerpieces or something and she's having a meltdown.  She kicked me out when I suggested they were fine the way they were."

"Well that was stupid of you," I said with a laugh.  "What room is she in?  I'll go help her."  He told me Kendra's room number, looking relieved. 

"Thank you," he said.  "I can't."  I nodded.  When Brody came out of the bathroom, I told him where I was going.

"Good luck," he said ominously.  Then he grinned and kissed me lightly.  I set out to find Kendra's room.

I knocked on the door when I found it.  I heard a muffled curse and then the door flew open.  "I thought--" She stopped when she saw it was me.

"I'm here to help," I said, nudging her out of the way so I could go in.  "What can I do?"  That was all it took.  She started crying.

"I'm freaking out!" she sobbed into my shoulder.  I rubbed her back.  "These aren't right and I can't make them the way I want them!  I can't believe I thought it was a good idea to put these together the night before the wedding.  Now I have to go down to the rehearsal and I'll be up all night trying to fix them!"  I let her cry for a minute before I pulled back.

"Listen to me.  Go wash your face and fix your makeup.  Get ready for the rehearsal.  While you're down there, I'll see what I can do with these.  I'll do the best I can, and I promise that they will at least be presentable for tomorrow."

"Really?" she asked, sniffling.  I nodded.  She started crying again and threw her arms around me.  "Thank you," she choked out.

I hugged her back and then turned her gently towards the bathroom.  "Go!"  She went, and I sat down in the middle of vases, flowers, ribbons, and rocks.  Kendra emerged again a few minutes later.  She showed me the picture of what they were supposed to look like.  After she left, I tugged my phone out of my pocket and searched Pinterest and Google until I found what I was looking for.

I spent the next hour assembling the centerpieces.  I realized I had only 15 minutes to get ready for dinner after I finished the final one.  I quickly snapped a picture of one of them, then jogged back to our room.  I cleaned up and dressed and fixed my makeup in record time.  I stared at my hair in the mirror, decided it was a lost cause, and pulled it into my go-to "I don't know what to do with it" style--a messy side braid.  I checked the time and realized I was already 5 minutes late for dinner.

I arrived at the restaurant downstairs breathless, but was relieved to see that people were still milling around, drinks in hand.  I searched the room for Kendra and found her quickly.  She detached herself from the small group she was talking to and rushed over.  "Were you able to do anything?" she asked hopefully.  I pulled out my phone and showed her the picture I had taken.  She breathed an audible sigh of relief.  "They're perfect," she said, hugging me tightly.  "Thank you.  I don't know what I would have done without you!"  I was relieved too.  I didn't want to be on the receiving end of a pissed off bride's anger the night before her wedding.

Christian approached and handed me a glass of wine.  "Whatever you did, you delivered my calm, cool, and collected fiancee back to me, so I thank you," he said.  I laughed and took the wine gratefully.

"Have you seen Brody?" I asked.

"I think he's over there talking to my brother," Kendra said, motioning across the room near the bar.  It was impossible for me to see over the people, even wearing my tallest boots, so I walked in that direction.  I spotted Brody quickly enough, talking to a guy who looked remarkably like Kendra.

He smiled at me when I walked up.  He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and asked if I'd had any luck.  "Saved the day," I replied.

"As usual," he chuckled.  He introduced me to Nick, Kendra's brother.  We chatted with him until it was time to sit down for dinner.  I was, of course, starving, and the food was delicious.  After dinner, a large group stayed in the bar, drinking and laughing.  Close to midnight, Brody slid his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him.  I let my hand rest on his leg, trailing it slowly up.  He kissed my cheek then said, "Tired?" softly into my ear.

"Not even close," I said back.  "But I can pretend."  I squeezed his thigh and yawned convincingly.

"Well I guess we better get going then," he said, louder.  We said goodnight and barely made it to elevator before we were kissing.  We paused briefly when the door opened at our floor, but in my hurry, I fumbled with the room key.  I dropped it and could barely bend to get it because of how close Brody was behind me.  He had grabbed his own and slid it in the door while I was picking up the one I dropped.  The light flashed green and he shoved the door open. 

The door wasn't even closed when he shoved me against the wall and kissed me.  He pulled away long enough to yank my dress over my head.  He eyed my boots with disdain and I quickly unzipped them and kicked them away.  He picked me up and carried me, half dressed, to the bed.  He threw me down and peeled my leggings off, then quickly got rid of his clothes.  He didn't bother with my bra or foreplay, just pushed into me.

We had been laying in breathless heaps next to each other for several minutes when it dawned on me that I hadn't seen Savannah at the rehearsal dinner.  "Where was Savannah?" I asked curiously.

"Huh?" Next to me, Brody came slowly out of his post-coital daze.  "You're seriously thinking about Savannah right now?"

I laughed.  "Sorry, I just realized that she wasn't at dinner.  Or at least, I didn't see her."

He rolled over and rested his face against my shoulder.  "No, she wasn't there," he responded, his breath tickling my skin.  "I heard Kendra telling her sister that she'd have to make sure Savannah knew what was going on tomorrow."  I felt a brief stab of disappointment.  I had selfishly hoped that Savannah had dropped out of the wedding party after everything had happened.

Reading my mind, Brody wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer.  "Don't worry, it'll be fine.  I think she'll be just as keen on avoiding us as we are on avoiding her."