Ashton: Come down.
I scurried down the stairs. The stairway led me straight to the front entrance. I couldn’t see our parents or Ash, so they were probably in the dining room. I opened and closed the front door of the house to make it seem like I had walked in and strutted over to them.
“Hi, hon! Wish you would have told me about the allergies. We were just at the store,” Mom said.
“No problem. I liked walking. Taking a break from the dusting, you know?”
On the table was an array of cold-cuts and chips. I was starving. We grabbed our food and sat at the table, at first a bit too close together. I made it a point to distance myself from them. I hoped my mother didn’t notice, but when I looked up, I saw a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Did she suspect something? How come she couldn’t always be oblivious?
I cleared my throat and said, “New York was great last night.”
“Yeah, Ash said he went with you after,” Gary said.
“We checked out Times Square and had a blast,” Ash lied.
I had never lied so much in my entire life. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, but the alternative was worse.
I can’t let my mom find out I am fooling around with Ash, I thought, scolding myself. I stuffed my mouth full of food, trying to give myself a good reason not to talk. Ash went on and on about how the mechanics did a shitty job in the bathroom.
As I watched him talking, I was filled with admiration. He was such an impressive man, great in bed and great at fixing things. A warm feeling came over me, one I’d never felt before. It was a mixture of tenderness and arousal. I realized I might be in love with him. This wasn’t good.
I looked down at my wrist, which was still a bit sore from that asshole at the bar. Love hurt, and the things you did for it hurt even more.
AMY
My mother looked beautiful. Her hair was done up in curls, and she wore an elegant white wedding dress I helped her pick out. The top was embroidered with rhinestones and lace, and the back of it was so long she needed two flower girls to carry it. My little cousins were those flower girls, their cheeks rosy and eyes hopeful.
“When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of getting married,” I said to Sarah, who sat next to me. She’d come down for the wedding, and I was so grateful to have her here.
“Me too,” she said, giggling.
Sarah also looked beautiful. She wore a pale blue dress, and her hair was curled. I had straightened my hair and wore one of the pink bridesmaids outfits my mom picked out for me.
The bed and breakfast was dressed up, too. Ash and I had spent hours decorating it with pink ribbons and lace. Well, it only took hours because we spent so much time having sex in between. We didn’t only volunteer to do it because we cared; we knew it would be one of the few times we could be alone together.
I tried not to think about anything but the wedding. Ash and I were living moment to moment, and we tried to ignore the impossible.
Gary looked gallant and handsome. He waited nervously for my mother, who walked slowly to the altar. A kindly looking and slightly bald priest began muttering. I couldn’t hear him because I was too busy noticing Ash. He sat not far away from Gary, and he looked so hot. He wore a black suit with a red bow tie for some pizazz. His hair was shaved now, and it made his sharp bone structure stick out even more.
My heart raced. For a moment, I pictured standing at that altar with Ash, looking deeply into his eyes. My heart sank. That would never happen. I looked back at our parents, who were finishing their vows. The room erupted with clapping and cheers. I smiled brightly, enjoying how happy my mom was. I hadn’t seen her quite this happy since she was with Dad, and I was glad I felt more comfortable about everything. I was also glad she had the wedding to distract her from Ash and me. I was so paranoid that she suspected something weird was going on.
Everyone moved into the backyard, where we were having a huge wedding barbecue. People began crowding underneath the tents, and the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers filled the air. A DJ played rock music, and waitresses in crisp white uniforms handed out cups of soda and wine.
“I can’t believe you have to leave tonight, Sarah.”
“You know how crazy Coach is. I’m lucky I could get the time off to come here at all during training season,” she said.
“I know,” I replied, smiling. “I just wish we had more time to talk…about everything.”
Sarah looked over at Ash, who was talking with some of his guy friends. “Fuck. He is gorgeous, though, I have to admit,” she said with a grim smile.
“I know! He’s so much trouble.” I sighed heavily.
“Would you like some wine, miss?” asked one of the waitresses.
I looked around before accepting to make sure my mom didn’t see me drinking underage. Sarah took some wine too.
“Since when do you drink?” she asked.
“Since this summer.”