There’d been more testosterone rocking its way through the walls in the prior three days than a Zeppelin concert.
Ghoul Nat returned in full force after the proposal, and Frankie and I took turns guessing whether or not our friends were filming or having genuine, albeit flamboyant sex. Hell, I’d thought about asking Frankie to film us, as a souvenir to take with me and reminisce under the covers back home in Colorado. For the first time I understood why someone may sell a theatrical version of themselves getting fucked on a full-queen, because I would damn sure pay to see Frankie nude and gyrating from every single angle imaginable.
It was all that downright illicit energy needing a rest that sent us out of the house and to the beach for the first time in days. Mateo complained about being torn away from the bedroom the entire ride, and if it weren’t for us burying him up to his neck in the sand, I was sure he would have been trying to take his new fiancée for a ride in the lifeguard tower.
Frankie patted the ground around Mateo with a tiny plastic shovel. All that remained visible of his best friend was a thick neck and thicker head, sun-washed brown locks peppered with all that naturally shiny grain.
The late December sun was scorching as I flipped from front to back on my towel like a Pop-Tart in a toaster. Every single time I moved, the man next to me perked up a bit, brown eyes tracking me beneath the shade of a pair of sunglasses. There was nothing subtle about it, but I pretended not to notice. Frankie had a way of making me feel like the only person for miles. There were a hundred attractive women on the beach and his attention never strayed.
Every so often Natalia lifted her hand and inspected it like a compact mirror, or pulled her phone out of her bag and took a photo with the foam-rolling waves as a backdrop.
By mid-afternoon I recognized that flashy movement as a conversation starter, and if my best friend weren’t basically bursting at the seams to talk nuptials, I was more than happy to iron out details like hors-d'oeuvres, seating charts, party favors, and all the delicious drama that came with stuffing big, opinionated families together for a long weekend.
“What are you thinking venue-wise?” I lifted my shades to the top of my head. “Are we doing a destination? Keeping it close to home? I’m trying to mentally budget the next several months to years of my life.”
“Early summer. The Keys. Black tie, long dining tables, white roses, absolute class,” Nat rattled off. “I already have an appointment at the bridal boutique because the dress is custom and six months is already pushing it on time, but we should be in the clear.”
“June is such a great month for a wedding,” I said wistfully, rooting around in my bag next to me for something to scribble down bullet points. “Fuck, I wish I brought a pen.”
“That’s unlike you,” Frankie commented. “You’re slacking, Ms. Brody.”
“Six months?” Mateo spouted from his hole in the sand, his neck doing all the gesticulating. “What ever happened to enjoying an engagement? There’s no rush, sweetheart. Give me some time to pay off that rock first before I’m abusing my wallet again.”
If I knew one thing about Natalia, it was that she got what she wanted one way or another and there wasn’t a man, woman, authority figure, or governmental body that would be able to sway it. June would be the wedding, it would be in the Florida Keys, there would be white roses, and long dining tables, and everyone would be dressed like they were crossing the red carpet at the Academy Awards. End of.
“My internal clock is ticking, Mateo Duran, and you’re not going to be the dad at school orientation that gets mistaken for a grandfather.” Nat’s slender finger scrolled through an array of aesthetic photos as she tilted her phone toward me. Palm trees, white marble, hanging lights, string quartet. This shit was going to be extravagant and expensive.
“That’ll be Pike,” he joked.
“Watch it.” Frankie dumped a shovel full of sand close enough to Mateo’s ear for discomfort. “I’m at a lethal advantage here.”
I leaned forward and swiped a broken seashell away from a helpless Mateo’s ear canal earning a hardly admonishing look of disapproval from Frankie.
“Why wait?” Nat threw her hands up. “I’ve been preparing for this for years. I knew the first time Mateo brought me coffee at work we’d be walking down the aisle together.”
“Weren’t you seeing that guy Andy from the mortgage loan department?” I chimed in.
“Andy was the only one who thought I was seeing Andy.” Nat batted me away with a flick of her delicate wrist. “We’ll have the bridal shower of course.” She started counting on fingers. “Bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself, morning-after brunch.”
I was mentally counting how many days the school would approve of me taking off, and how many free airline miles I could mooch off my dad. Bachelorette wouldn’t take too much finagling; I could spare a Friday here or a Monday there. Cindy was metaphorically thrown into the fire for me for weeks, so a stray day in the classroom would be a cake walk. Bridal shower was another circus I’d tackle when it came to it, and then of course the wedding. But by June the school year was over, and what better way to celebrate another semester of massaging young minds than absolutely losing mine in the tropics?
“Vegas,” Mateo added. “A weekend of our worst behavior.”
“I can do that!” I raised my hand. Colorado to Vegas was short and sweet.
“Good luck getting all three of my sisters to Vegas at the same time.” Nat snorted contemptuously. “Doctor, lawyer, top-selling real estate agent in all of Collier County. That’s why my parents take a vacation every year for the holidays. None of us are ever together at the same time.”
“And that is why it’s not my problem, but that of my best man.” Sand cracked and dislodged around Mateo’s fingers as he spoke with his hands, even with them buried underground. “That reminds me. Pike, are you gonna stand up there next to me, buddy?”
Frankie sat up, his head tilting thoughtfully. “What about Angelo?”
“My brother wouldn’t know responsibility if it uppercut him in the jaw.” Mateo did something akin to a shrug, crumbling more sand around his chest. “God loves him, but you’re the only one who’s never let me down.”
“I—” Frankie flashed a look up at me and Nat grinning. He would learn to take a compliment if I had to threaten it. A world of intriguing, silent thought passed over his complexion followed by a tender, bashful smile. “I’d be honored, Captain. You know that.”
Mateo wiggled, breaking his two arms free and Frankie flattened himself awkwardly to the sand, wrapping Mateo’s head instead in an awkward hug.