Loving Mr. Kale

by Nicole Casey

  "Well, I'm going to warn you, if your family is crazy, then what you'll owe me will be utterly mental. I won't even know where to begin. You might not want to offer up sexual favors because then we really won't ever make it out the bedroom again."

  Oh God, I loved that plan. The sizzling chemistry that we felt was more powerful than anything I'd ever felt before, and I didn't think it'd ever end. I couldn't see a time where I'd ever be in a room with Max without wanting to tear his clothes off. Especially now that I knew how good he was in bed. It wasn't just in my imagination now. I had real life memories to go off.

  "Stop it! We have to have our best faces on all day long. I can't be thinking about you the whole time."

  "But that's the only way I'm going to get through this day," he nudged me playfully. "So even if you aren't thinking about it, know that I will be."

  "Oh God, will you behave yourself. Let's get something on to go and grab breakfast from the buffet. I know there's lots of food at weddings, but I have no idea how today will play out so I want to be fed just in case."

  I jumped up and headed to the bathroom, ready to take claim of the shower, and as I did I sensed Max's eyes upon me the whole time. That felt awesome. There was no better feeling in the world.

  Today was going to be a doddle.

  ***

  I could sense mom watching me during the ceremony, even if she was trying to act like she wasn't. She was intrigued by Max, which meant that I would have to fight off a barrage of questions later on. I didn't mind though. It would be awesome to have some good news to share for a change. I felt good that I had more than heartache to share.

  As my sister and her brand new husband shared their vows, I couldn't see any sign of Felix's hangover at all. It was lucky that he'd gone to bed when he had, any later and he'd likely be a mess. Thank God I'd been so desperate to be alone with Max; it had worked out better for everyone.

  Max had his fingers laced through mine, and that made me feel like I had a whole army behind me. Nothing could get to me. Nothing could bring me down.

  I squeezed his fingers tightly, causing him to spin around to glance at me, and the look he gave me made my heart skip a beat. I was so glad that I'd taken Hayley's advice. It had turned out wonderfully, and in the romantic air of a wedding that it was utterly impossible not to get caught up in, that feeling was even stronger.

  "Thank you so much for coming with me," I whispered quietly to him. We were seated quite far back but I still didn't want to be overheard. "This wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you!"

  "Well I'm glad that I came. I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

  Eventually the wedding came to an end, and we moved out of the wedding room in single file. It was the photographs next, the long endless boring round of pictures that I had to view but I probably wouldn't be involved in. But after that came the drinks and dinner, and that was the part I was excited about.

  "You can go and start drinking if you want," I shrugged casually at Max. "I might have to be in one picture, so I need to stick around."

  I knew that Tony would be there, but I felt like I was probably strong enough to face him by myself now. I couldn't think of anything he'd say to upset me once more, but luckily Max shook his head.

  "No, I'll watch. I'd much rather be bored with you than have fun by myself." Max said.

  It didn't get much better than that. Nothing could shake this positive feeling now.

  Chapter Twelve

  Max

  This wedding was absolutely incredible. I was so glad to be there! Of course, I hadn't really paid a lot of attention to the wedding vows, and I didn't really care what was going on now with the bride and groom, but I was with Bryant and that was enough to have me extremely happy.

  He was awesome. There wasn't a single thing that I didn't like about him, even thinking about him had my heart tearing through my chest like a drill. I was fully in the first flush of love, and that felt absolutely wonderful. I couldn't imagine ever feeling bored again.

  Now the wedding was done, the pictures were finished, and the food bit was over... we were at the fun, drinking portion of the evening, and I was officially having a blast. I'd enjoyed the other bits, but now I felt like we had a lot more freedom to chat.

  "I think you were lying to me about your sister. She seems way more fun than a bridezilla." I pointed over to the dance floor where she was shaking her booty like it was going out of style. "I might like to hang out with her some more!"

  "Rather you than me!" Bryant chuckled. "She might be fun now, but she hasn't been for far too long. I got yelled at three times in one day because the flower color wasn't going to be right."

  "But... you weren't even in the wedding," I shook my head and laughed. "Why were you getting blamed?"

  "Oh I was just the first person on her speed dial complaints list I think. Anyway, it hardly matters now. She has to be happy with how things have turned out. This has been an amazing day. I'm happy for her. With all the work she put in, I'm glad it turned out well."

  We clinked our glasses together, and drank it down quickly, slowly teetering towards the same level of drunkenness we were at the night before. I hoped that wouldn't be the only similarity to the night before as well... I really wanted the night to end up with the two of us in bed together. I had the best fun ever and I needed to experience that again. The weekend wouldn't feel complete without it. My body was buzzing with the anticipation and the thrill of what might happen, and that left me giggling foolishly like a schoolboy with a crush.

  "Are we going to dance or what?" I asked Bryant with a grin. "We must be the only people in the place that haven't been up there yet and they're playing the best cheesy eighties music."

  "Oh no," Bryant closed off, and his whole expression shut down. He seemed to absolutely shrink in on himself, which was strange to see. I hadn't seen that shy side to him before. It was strange! I was determined to crack through that. "I don't dance."

  "But... you can dance?" He could act like he was afraid, but I could sense that there was a side to him that could be unleashed, so I played on it a bit. "Hayley told me that she takes you out dancing all the time."

  "Yeah maybe, but that's in dark places that aren't filled with people I know. And I'm usually far more wasted."

  I wasn't taking that. He knew that he could dance now, and I really wanted him to, so I grabbed hold of his hand and I pulled him along with me. He resisted a little but not so much that I felt like he'd be mad if I made him do this. It was usually me that needed coaxing out of my shell, so I recognized the signs well.

  It was weird that it wasn't me being persuaded, but that was just the power of how Bryant made me feel. He brought out an odd confidence in me that I hadn't felt before.

  As soon as we hit the dance floor I started shaking my hips, moving in time to the beat of the music, and it didn't take long for Bryant to join in too. He started off very uncomfortable, glancing around everywhere as if he thought everyone might be staring at him, but as I grabbed his waist and I yanked him closer to me, he smirked and loosened up. He moved with me, losing himself in the moment, and soon I could feel the walls crashing down.

  "Hey, you have some good moves!" I moved my hands up over him and threw them around his neck. "You should've told me that you were a professional."

  "Ha ha, very funny!" he was sneering, but then he bumped his lips against mine quickly and my heart leaped up into my throat. "You should keep that kind of humor ready for when you meet my parents."

  "Hmm, I don't know about that. I usually wait until I've been dating a guy for over a year before I put myself through that torture..."

  I should have recognized the signs. Maybe I should've guessed what was coming. Bryant was talking about his parents for a reason, because now a woman who looked similar to him, one that had to be his mother, was by his side beaming at me like I was some kind of alien species.

  Shit... this was officially intense.

  "Hi there, Br
yant, you haven't introduced me to your friend yet," she reached out her hand and shook mine. "I'm Ferne, Bryant's mother."

  "Oh well, congratulations on today. Your daughter has had a wonderful wedding." I was trying my best to turn on the charm, but I felt so awkward around parents. In all honesty, not that I was about to tell Bryant that, I never stuck around for long enough to meet someone's mom. Then again, I felt like all of this was very different to anything I'd ever been through before. Just in case my gut instinct was right, and this did turn out to be long term, maybe it was a good idea for me to get this initial meeting out of the way.

  "It's lovely to meet you."

  "You're very handsome," she grinned, still not letting go of me. "Much better than that horrible Tony."

  Tony... that had to be the awful ex-boyfriend Bryant told me about.

  I nodded seriously, unsure of how best to react to that statement. It was just lucky that I knew really, or I'd have all sorts of questions.

  "Right, thank you."

  "So, where did you two meet?" she asked.

  I glanced anxiously at Bryant, we hadn't discussed how to answer this question so I had no idea what to say. He raised his eyebrows, almost panicking about it, so I took the initiative.

  "Oh, through our friend, Hayley." There, that was the truth in a very vague way. "She introduced us."

  "Oh well that's just lovely, and you two seem very happy together. I'm just glad." She was flushed with happiness, which was infectious, so I ended up in peels of laughter instead.

  As she walked off, I moved back into Bryant, elation filling my chest. That was my first ever 'meet the parents' and it'd gone well. That had to be a good sign!

  "She's cool," I told Bryant. "She seems really nice."

  "Oh well, we might as well get married then!" Bryant teased me playfully with a twinkle in his eye.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bryant

  With my mom gone, I felt like I could let loose a little bit more. My dad was quiet and introverted – the total opposite to my mother – so I knew that we didn’t have to worry about him coming over anytime soon to bombard us with questions too.

  It was just me and Max now – just the way that I wanted it. The awkward family introductions were done, and now it was all about having a whole lot of fun.

  We started dancing, and I couldn’t stop staring at Max. I knew that we were in a room full of people. I could hear them, see them, and sense them, but not one of them mattered. There was only me and Max in my mind. It was as if we were in a room of our own. That powerful intensity was swirling between us, creating a bubble of chemistry that kept us secluded.

  We were just about behaving ourselves, keeping our hands off of one another, but I could tell that he was struggling with that just as much as I was. The fact that he seemed to want to grab me made it that much more challenging to keep my hands pinned downwards. I felt like any more brushing of the skin and we’d be naked on this dance floor in an instant – probably not what Sally wanted at her wedding reception!

  I hoped that we didn’t have to suffer it much longer.

  I hoped that the time would come when it was polite for us to leave.

  The sooner we got back to that hotel room, the quicker I could be with Max again, and right now that was all I could think about!

  “See, I told you that you’d love dancing,” Max grinned, looking far too pleased with himself as he watched me move. “It’s not that bad, is it?”

  “Oh it is,” I shook my head, and pursed my lips at him, acting like I was far more annoyed than I actually was.

  In reality, I was having a great time, but I couldn’t let him know that. He’d never let me live it down.

  “I never should’ve let you drag me up here. Maybe it’s time to go and get a drink…”

  “Speech!” someone yelled, grabbing both of our attention off of one another for a moment. I glanced around the room, only to see my sister standing up on a chair, glancing towards her brand new husband, both of them looking wasted. I had no idea what she was playing at. The whole speech part of the night was done, but it was her night after all. If she wanted more talking, then that was what she would get!

  If she wanted to jump around making a tit out of herself, it certainly wasn’t up to me to stop her. She had bridesmaids for that… although actually one of them was slumped over the table, looking green and sickly, and the other was snogging a guy in the corner of the room like a pair of horny teenagers. Never mind, someone would send them off to sleep soon enough…

  “Oh God, that must be our cue. Come on,” I grabbed Max’s hand confidently and pulled him in towards me.

  This was the man that I wanted to focus on. Everyone else could get on with their own drama as far as I was concerned.

  “I can’t listen to anymore talking, let’s go and get some fresh air.” All I actually wanted was to get him alone once more, but I was trying to be subtle about that. Outside would eventually lead back to the bedroom, which was where I needed us to be.

  Before we left the dance floor, Max actually grabbed onto the collar of my shirt and he pulled me in for a deep kiss. I liked that he did that. It made me feel really special. He was confident enough in what we’d shared to show the whole world that… or, my insane family at least.

  His lips were claiming me, displaying our passion for one another, and I couldn’t help but wonder once more if this was going to lead somewhere…

  God I wanted this to become something real.

  I really wanted this to be the start of something new. I would love this to become the next big chapter in my life. It scared me that I was already reading too much into it after only a couple of days together, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. With all the sweet bliss pooling up in my stomach, how was I supposed to wonder anything else? I couldn’t think of a time that it’d ever felt this good before… of course I wanted it to last.

  Maybe if I was a little bit braver, I could actually broach that topic of conversation, but I wasn’t… so I wouldn’t.

  Max eventually pulled back and rested his forehead up against mine, smiling brightly at me. I saw that sparkle in his eyes, and it gave me hope. If he was thinking the same way as me, then I had a real good chance of getting everything that I wanted. I just had to hope that he knew how to start the challenging chats, because it was clear that I was absolutely terrible at it.

  “I’m just going to pop to the bathroom,” he slid his fingers away from mine, leaving my hand cold and lonely without him. “But I’ll meet you at the bar, alright? We’ll get a drink then head outside. Try and avoid all the drunken idiocy.”

  “Yeah, okay sounds great. I’ll see you in a minute.”

  I couldn’t help but watch him as he walked away. Maybe Max was a little quieter than anyone else I knew, but he had a silent confidence, a charisma that shone from him regardless. Maybe only I could see it because I knew him a little better, but I liked it all the same.

  I cocked my head slightly, unable to drag my eyes away from that very sexy butt of his. The weekend that I’d been dreading had become the best thing to ever happen to me, and that felt wonderful. I wanted to laugh and sing with happiness.

  “Come on, someone make a speech!”

  Okay, it seemed like no one was about to stop Sally from being an idiot, so I was going to have to do it. I rolled my eyes and made my way over to her, hoping that she wouldn’t lose her shit over me telling her what to do. I was going to have to handle this situation very gently if I wanted to make it out alive…

  Chapter Fourteen

  Max

  I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, not even spotting my flaws under the harsh, white lighting.

  I was too happy to notice what was wrong with me.

  I was over the moon, and Bryant seemed to like me the way I was, so what did anything else matter? Usually I closely examined the lines, the dullness to my irises, the weak chin I felt like I had, but not today. It was as if I was a brand n
ew person! It had been a long time since I’d seen such a happy smile on my face, and it was all because of him.

  “You alright?” a cold, harsh voice shocked me from my happy little bubble. It sounded really out of place at a wedding, especially one that was such a joyous occasion, which made my heart race a little quicker.

  I spun around, quickly glancing at the dark features staring back at me. The stranger standing before me was slumped over a little drunkenly as if his body was too heavy to fully hold upright, and his expression looked really strained, with anger in his furrowed eyebrows.

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the drunk man inappropriately talking to me. This was a bathroom, not the sort of place to meet new people. Alcohol had clearly inhibited his social awareness skills.

  “Erm, yeah, all good thanks, you?”

  I turned away, expecting that to be the end of the conversation, but unfortunately I was wrong. He loomed closer to me, until I could see his reflection right over my shoulder. I didn’t want this weirdness to ruin my good mood, but in all honesty it was a little bit of a dampener.

  “Are you here with Bryant?”

  I’d been asked this a few times now, so I didn’t hesitate to nod.

  “And are you together?”

  “Erm, sort of,” the smile was back, playing on my lips. I really felt like even if we didn’t class as officially ‘together’ now, it wouldn’t be long the way that things were going. This was really positive. I was so damn excited.

  “Yeah.”

  He moved away slightly and I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. I never really trusted drunk people. They were so unpredictable, and this was proof of that. The sooner I got the hell out of here, the better. I slid my feet along the ground, trying to get out as discretely as possible. I had a hot guy waiting for me at the bar, and I would much rather be there with him, than in here with this idiot.