That Wedding Page 14

  "It's all so amazing with Phillip. And no, we don't. I really don't know why I didn't take your advice and sleep with him sooner. I could've had so much fun."

  "Cuz your stupid and stubborn, just like me, and you won't do what anyone tells you is good for you."

  I think of something that's been bugging me, so I ask him. "Danny, do you ever think about cheating? I mean you're like this big sexy quarterback making the big bucks, and girls are always throwing themselves at you. Do you ever want to? Are you glad you got married?"

  "Did Lori ask you to ask me this?"

  "Uh, no, why?"

  "Then why are you asking?"

  "Well, couple's counseling is sort of freaking me out. The pastor is supposed to be pro-marriage, but it feels like he's trying to talk us out of it. He keeps referring to our marriage as like a dead body. It's going to fester. It's gonna get infected. Then, we're gonna smother it to death! I'm just wondering if marriage is a smart idea."

  "Do you want someone besides Phillip?"

  "No, but what if I change my mind? What if he does?"

  "Jay, you can't do that to yourself. He's either the one, or he's not. Do you think he's the one?"

  "It feels like he's the one."

  "So why are you worrying about it?"

  "Danny, did you pay attention to your wedding vows? 'Til death do you part? Forever and ever and ever? I mean are there out clauses somewhere? Like what if Phillip gets a big beer gut or a hairy back? What if we get married, and I find out something about him that I don't like?"

  "For God's sake, Jay, you've known him your whole life. I don't think you're in for any surprises."

  "Maybe."

  "And just for the record, I love Lori. I'm smart enough to know that a roll in the hay with some hot chick isn't worth losing her over. Are you smart enough to know that?"

  "I don't wanna roll in the hay with anyone but Phillip, but I'm afraid he might want to."

  Danny's voice sounds concerned. "What's going on? Why would you think that?"

  "I don't know. Well, there's this girl he works with that has a big crush on him. Like it's so obvious. Phillip takes his team out for drinks sometimes, and when I get there, she's always sitting next to him and flirting with him."

  "How does she flirt with him?"

  "She's always touching him, and I'm afraid he likes it because he doesn't stop her. If a girl was doing that to you, and you wanted to be polite because you have to work with her, would you let her touch you? Is Phillip oblivious to it, does he like it, or does he want her back? Or worse, could he already be?"

  "Have you talked to Phillip about this?"

  "No, I can't talk to him about it! He'll think I'm being jealous, or if he's doing something, he'll just deny it. I have to find out on my own."

  "I see now why they wanted you to go to couple's counseling."

  "What's that supposed to mean?!"

  "Jay, talk to him. You have to talk stuff out in your relationship."

  "Never mind, Danny. I'll figure it out."

  "You looking hot today?"

  "Actually, yes. I have on a really cute new dress and adorable high heels. Phillip likes when I wear heels."

  "Your legs are like a mile long. Every man alive likes you in heels. Veryyyy sexxxy."

  "Thanks, Danny, your pity flirting is helpful."

  "You're hot, Jay. Phillip loves you, and from what I've heard, it's not like he's been ignoring you sexually."

  "Oh," I giggle, "well, uh, no. Definitely not. I know what I'm gonna do. He's taking his team out for drinks tonight, so I'll just go and check it out. I mean, I work here now, I'm officially part of the team, right?"

  "Right," Danny says.

  I touch up my makeup, add a little smokey eyeshadow, three more coats of mascara, and some perfume Phillip loves.

  When I get there, as expected, the girl is sitting next to Phillip acting like he's the most amazing and interesting man on earth. Phillip's even drinking a bottle of Dos Equis.

  Ha! That kinda makes me laugh.

  I'm pretty good at entertaining myself.

  I take out my phone and pretend to do something important. The girl laughs and touches Phillip's arm, but he doesn't seem to be interested. He's kind of leaning away from her.

  I bravely glide into the bar with my head held high. And not to sound conceited or anything, but I'm over six foot tall in heels, am skinnyish, have what Danny terms as decent boobs, and long blonde hair.

  My point being, in a bar, I can usually turn a few heads, and I'm hoping to turn Phillip's.

  He notices me as soon as I step into the room. His eyes roll down my legs, and then he gives me an adorable grin. It makes me feel confident, so I walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his neck. I also position my body so that it's slightly between him and the girl.

  "How's my sexy fiancee?" I coo.

  "Mmmm, good now." He swivels in his bar stool and plants a big kiss on me.

  Ha! Score one for my team!! I thought I was gonna have to kiss him. It's way better that he kissed me.

  One of the sweet girls from work, who must hide out in her office because I never see her during the day, says, "I need to see this ring everyone has been talking about."

  Phillip keeps his arms wrapped around me, and I'm still strategically between him and the girl. I hold my left hand out across the table and show off my amazing ring.

  "Wow, that's beautiful. Phillip, your dad said you had it designed for her?"

  "I had it made," he replies, "but she actually drew the design."

  "But you weren't dating at the time, right?"

  "No, we were engagement ring shopping with our friend this past spring. We asked her what her dream ring was, and this is what she sketched."

  I gush, "And he kept the sketch. That's the amazing part."

  "I'm confused," she says. "If you got engaged on your first date after being together for only a week, how did you get a ring custom designed that fast?"

  "Oh," Phillip says with a blush.

  Is he embarrassed about this? Is it because of the girl? Is he embarrassed to be engaged to me?

  He says, "You know, you're the first person that's asked me about the timeline. But you're right. You can't get a ring custom designed in a week."

  "You can't?" I say. "Wait, then how did you?"

  Phillip blinks slowly and looks at me with sparkling eyes. "I've had it since May."

  "Like Cancun, May?"

  "It was for when we got back," he says, but what he's saying with his eyes is way more powerful than what he's saying with his words.

  Oh. my. gosh.

  May.

  He thought Cancun was a slam dunk.

  He says to the table, "I had it for about three months before our first date."

  "You two have the most romantic story," she gushes.

  The girl hasn't said a word. She's glowering into her drink.

  Phillip pulls me onto his lap. "You look surprised."

  "I am surprised. May, huh?"

  "I told you. I've known for a while. I just had to wait until you were on the same page."

  "I think we're on the same page now."

  "I don't know. I think we have some, uhhh, syncing up to do. Plus, it's been a long day. I think you need to take me home and put me to bed."

  "Are you tired?" I sorta whisper, but loud enough for the girl to hear.

  "Not at all." He grins, kisses up by my ear, and whispers, "God, you smell good. I can't wait to get you home." He throws some money down on the table and says to everyone, "See ya tomorrow." Then he takes my hand and leads me out of the bar.

  And I just hit the game winning shot at the buzzer!!

  My team wins!!!

  After syncing up in bed, I ask him about the girl.

  "Phillip, that girl, what's her deal? She's always like, Oh Phillip, you're so funny. When she touches your arm, I just wanna rip it off."

  "She's kind of a flirt, but I'm not the least bit interested."

/>   "Then you need to make her stop touching you. It's not work appropriate, not professional. If you're gonna be the boss, you can't allow it. And if you wanna be my husband......"

  "Are you actually jealous?!"

  "Ummm, well not really jealous, more like concerned. Phillip, I love you. I don't want some secretary to ruin our relationship, and it concerns me that you let her touch your arm. It makes me think you like it."

  "Actually, it bothers me, but I haven't been sure how to handle it."

  "Maybe you shouldn't be going out for drinks when she's there."

  "That would mean I'd never get to go because she's always there. She's on my team."

  "I think you should let her know that it makes you uncomfortable. Maybe say something to her, or move your arm away. If you don't move, you're almost encouraging her."

  "Well next time she does it, that's what I'll do."

  "Good, because I really don't wanna have to say, Phillip, hold my earrings while I beat her ass. That may not be very professional either."

  Phillip laughs at me, and then he smiles that smile that makes me melt.

  Every. single. time.

  I run the back of my hands down the sides of his handsome face. The way he looks at me makes me know that I was stupid, that I have nothing to worry about.

  I kiss him. "So, did you really have the ring for three whole months BEFORE we hooked up?"

  "Yeah, Danny and Lori were the only people that knew. They sorta thought I was nuts. And after Cancun blew up, I sorta thought so too. I was really disappointed."

  "I was really disappointed too. Cancun didn't go at all the way I planned."

  "You had a plan for Cancun?"

  "Yeah."

  "Really? What was it?"

  "I was gonna get you a little tipsy, dance with you, then take you back to my room. I never imagined you'd leave me alone with those guys. That was like dangerous, you know, leaving me on the beach, drunk and crying."

  "I never left you by yourself. I wanted you to think I was gone because I was pissed, but I kept an eye on you. I had to make sure you'd be okay."

  "That was sweet."

  "I'm a sucker is more like it."

  "No, you're sweet and adorable, and I'm so lucky you didn't give up on me, on us."

  "I couldn't. I just had to believe it would work out, but then you started dating that drummer."

  "Guitar player."

  "Whatever."

  "Hey, don't get smart with me, mister."

  "Hey, don't tell me what to do, missy."

  "I'm gonna be your wife. I can say whatever I want."

  "Oohhh, say that again."

  "I can say whatever I want? I like that part."

  "No, the other part."

  "What part?"

  "The wife part."

  "Ooohhh, I'm gonna be your wife."

  "Yeah, I love that."

  "I love you."

  "I'm not sure I believe you."

  "Huh?"

  "I think you're gonna have to show me."

  "I think I already did."

  He pulls me closer and says, "Maybe you need to show me again."

  We're back in Kansas City and out at a sports bar with Danny, Lori, some of Danny's teammates, and their wives.

  We just ordered dinner, and somehow, the subject has turned to sex.

  And not just any sex, but rather, MY sex life.

  Lori, who now that she's pregnant, seems to think she can say anything and get away with it. She decides that this is the perfect time, in front of all these people I barely know, to mention that I may have been worried about having an STD for real because I went home that drunken night with Jason O'Connor.

  Keep in mind, I would never in a million years think Jason would have an STD. Also keep in mind that Phillip doesn't know I was with Jason this past summer, and Lori knows DAMN WELL that I didn't want Phillip to know this.

  I'm pretty sure Danny's whole team knows the STD story, like I said, everyone thinks it's pretty hilarious.

  I can handle a little teasing, but when Lori says, "What made it more humorous is that she had a drunken night with this Richie Rich guy, and she was really worried Phillip's mom somehow knew she had one."

  To which Phillip glares at me.

  Shit.

  It's not like Phillip went without sex all summer. I mean, I don't think he did. But we're in a group and supposed to be having fun, and I've had a couple beers. Maybe we can all laugh about it, and Phillip won't care. So I say, "Well, so what, he was a freebie anyway."

  And the guys are like a freebie?

  "Yeah, I'd been with him before, so he was the perfect one night stand because he didn't count."

  Big lineman Marcus says, "Didn't count for what?"

  "You know, like your total."

  He smiles at me and nods his head in understanding.

  Apparently, the throw-Jadyn-under-the-bus sickness is spreading like a virus because Danny says in his twelve-year-old voice, "So Jay, how many guys HAVE you slept with?"

  I have to say I'm a little embarrassed by this.

  One, it is no one's business.

  Two, it's no one's business.

  And three, Danny has no room to talk.

  "I didn't keep track, but I KNOW you did. Has Lori seen your little, well, make that long ass list?"

  He ignores my comment even though I can see Lori's brain going there's a list. "Come on, Jay. It's not like we don't know them all anyway. This would be a good way for Phillip and I to test our memory. You know, challenging your cognitive function is very important as we age. This might be more complex than a soduku puzzle. Let's start with Matt, freshman year."

  I roll my eyes at him.

  "Freshman year?" one of the guys named Chase asks. "You started early, huh? Wild child?"

  "Uh, no," Danny says, "freshman year of c o l l e g e."

  "Oh, wow. Did you used to be fat or something?" Marcus says. This from a man who is three times my size.

  Danny saves me. "Nope, she's always looked pretty much like this."

  "Then what happened?" Chase's wife asks.

  Okay, so now I'm forced to make a statement about the young people of today. Shouldn't they have been applauding my ability to wait so long? Do they think I wanted to wait that long for what I hoped was love?

  "I thought we were all supposed to wait for love, didn't any of you?" I'm hoping this will steer the conversation toward their experiences and away from mine.

  But apparently, I'm the freak at the table they all want to look at under the microscope because Marcus is like, "Well sure, but we wanna hear about you."

  I roll my eyes, but I don't want to be a bitch and tell them to all mind their own freaking business, so I say, "I was ready to my junior year. I was dating this guy, Jake......"

  "DOUCHE," Phillip and Danny both pretend cough.

  "Oh, shut up, you two. The only guys you wanted me to date were you, so of course, you never liked my boyfriends. You were both just jealous."

  "He was still a douche," Danny says, "and you know it."

  "Ignore them," Marcus tells me.

  So I keep going. "Anyway, we'd be going out for like a month, and I would think I was ready, and then something would happen...."

  "CHEATER," both Phillip and Danny fake cough again.

  "...... and we would break up. And they're right, he was a douche, but he was so hot."

  This gets the wive's attention.

  "What'd he look like?" Chase's wife asks.

  "Oh, he had that hot bad boy thing going on. Longer dark hair, his bangs were always in his dark eyes, and you never knew what to expect from him. He didn't give a shit what people thought of him, got into a lot of trouble at school, mostly cuz he was mouthy. He was kind of a slacker, true, but he was also the quarterback after Danny left, and he had great arm muscles, and he could be super sweet, and he was the first boy that told me he loved me."

  Like besides Phillip.

  Phillip catches my e
ye and points to his chest. He's letting me know that he was really the first boy to tell me that. I smile dreamily at him.

  "Ah...first love. He sounds adorable even if he was a jerk," Marcus's wife comments. "I mean, what high school boy wasn't a jerk?"

  Danny, Lori, and I look at Phillip at the same time and say, "Phillip."

  The whole table laughs. Phillip blows me a kiss, and Marcus is like, "Go on."

  "We would break up and get back together, but usually when we broke up, it was cuz he was a jerk. We'd get back together, but I'd make him wait awhile. I was trying to see if he was serious, but then he'd be a douche again. That went on my most of my senior year. When I was finally ready to do it with just about anyone, I couldn't get anyone to do it with me."

  "No way," Chase says.

  I nod yes and tell them the sad truth. "Yeah, way. I was gonna do it with Jake, the night he broke up with me. Had on the sexy underwear and everything. It was a fail." I raise my eyebrows at them. "But that was the night Danny kissed me, and I thought maybe I would do it with him instead."

  "You did?" Danny says with a shocked look all over his face.

  "You really didn't hear Lisa screaming in the cornfield, You should do it with Danny? She always had a huge crush on you."

  "So Danny turned you down?" Marcus asks.

  A wave of sadness suddenly washes over me. Phillip can see it on my face, so he says, "No, he didn't. He got in a fight with Jake, so I took Jadyn home."

  Danny looks at me with concern, but probably figures the night my parents died is not something I wanna talk about with acquaintances at the bar. He says with a grin, "But then there was Prom night."

  I smile at him, and he knows I'm thanking him for getting us back into easier territory. "THAT was the night he turned me down, Marcus."

  Marcus and this Alex guy say, "You were dumb, dude."

  "Jay, you know it wasn't like that."

  "Oh, that's right, big stud Danny got scared, drunk, and passed out instead."

  All the guys laugh hysterically at that.

  "So you're right, Matt was the first, and after that, it really depends on who you wanna count."

  Alex says, "What do you mean, who you wanna count?"

  "Yeah, we want to know how many," Danny says.

  "Well, it doesn't really work like that, does it, Lori?"

  She's been awfully quiet through all of this, little bus driver there. She also happens to be the Queen of He Didn't Really Count.

  She smirks at me, but keeps her mouth shut. The other wives agree, "Right."

  The guys are looking at the women all confused.

  "I know for you guys, it's all black and white. I slept with her, or I didn't. But I think girls tend to look at that question and see lots of shades of grey."