“Yes,” he mumbled against my bare skin and then continued to trail kisses down my front.
“You mean––the October that is in five months?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you think that is too soon?”
“You don’t want to marry me?” he asked, looking up at me.
“Of course I do. But…”
“But nothing. You said so yourself two minutes ago that you can plan it in twenty-four hours. I’m giving you five months.”
“Fine, I’ll look at the calendar in the morning and pick a date in October,” I said, then started to stroke him faster.
Brandon dropped his arms that were caging me in and I pushed us back under the spraying water until our bodies were free of suds and the water was starting to cool.
*~*~*
I sat at my desk, thinking about the night before. I was just getting used to living with a guy, and now I had to live with two guys, and one of them was immature and a party animal.
I flipped through the pages of my daily desk calendar until I reached October. I’d always wanted a fall wedding, just like I told Brandon, but I didn’t realize it would be only a year after my life changed forever.
Brandon came into my life when I was broken, and he put me back together. He was my one and only, my soul mate, my love, my everything, and I was going to be with him forever.
“Hey, Spencer, are you busy?” Acyn asked after knocking on my door and scaring the shit out of me.
“No, what’s up?” I set the calendar back down on my desk.
“Just wondering if you had lunch plans for today?”
I didn’t.
“No, I don’t.”
“Great, I was wondering if you want to go grab a bite?”
After Acyn helped saved my life, I went to lunch with him to thank him. Since then, we hadn’t been alone together. I thought that he was finally getting the picture that we would never be together, but there was a look in his eye that told me something different.
I liked Acyn. He was a fun, outgoing, and sweet person, if it wasn’t for Brandon, I might consider getting to know him better.
“Sure,” I said, reaching for my phone that was sitting on my desk with my left hand. I saw Acyn’s eyes follow my hand with my ring on it, and then I put my phone in my purse and stood to leave. “What do you have in mind?”
“Japanese? There’s a great place just down the street that has amazing sushi.”
“Sure, let’s go.”
Acyn and I walked the three blocks to the restaurant down the busy streets of downtown San Francisco. Downtown was easier to walk in than to drive anywhere. With all the one-way streets and all the cars and pedestrians, you were bound to have a bit of road rage, and well, it was Wednesday and I needed to actually get some work done, so I couldn’t get a drink at lunch.
“So, I see congratulations are in order?” Acyn said, nudging his head at my hand.
I hadn’t seen Acyn around the office since I ran into him the week prior. I had been busy helping Skye, so I usually ate lunch in her office. Better Keep Jogging Baby also known as BKJB, was looking to expand to get more business, and my days were spent brainstorming with Skye.
“Oh––yes. Brandon proposed the other night,” I said, looking down at my ring with a huge smile.
“He’s a lucky guy.”
“I think I’m the lucky one.”
“Oh yeah? How so?”
I narrowed my eyes at Acyn. Were we really having this conversation?
“Come on, Spencer, we’re friends,” he said in his Southern drawl.
“Yeah but––you’re a guy.” I laughed. And you have the hots for me.
“Alright, I get it, but really, congrats.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have any more single friends you can hook me up with?” Acyn asked, grinning.
“Hmm, not that I can think of at the moment, but I’ll get back to you. What happened with Sandie?”
“She’s a great girl, but not the one I want,” he said.
I figured the best way to have Acyn get over me was to find him someone else. Someone who he would want to be with for a long time. Someone who would make him happy like I made Brandon happy.
Acyn and I talked and enjoyed lunch. I showed him some pictures of my single friends, and there were some he said he would be interested in dating. I told him that I would ask them what they thought of him and get back to him. He wanted me to leave his night job out of the matchmaking process. He said that he was almost able to quit stripping because he was making good money at BKJB.
We walked the few blocks back to the office, and I felt really good about where I stood with Acyn. When he finally said, “Really, Spencer, congratulations,” as we parted ways back at the office, I knew he meant it.
I sat at my desk, engrossed in my work when my cell buzzed with an incoming text.
Brandon: I forgot to tell you that it’s my night to host poker night. I love you!
I guess I had forgotten as well. The guys would switch off weekly, and I didn’t realize that it had been eight weeks since Brandon last hosted. This would be the first time for it to be in our new house. So although I had known Brandon had poker tonight since it was a Wednesday, I didn’t know it would be at our place. I planned to just go home and start planning our wedding while the boys enjoyed their time.
Normally, I would hang out with Ryan, but I really wanted to start planning our wedding. Five months would be here before we knew it.
When I started to text him back, I realized that I had been interrupted by Acyn’s invitation to lunch before I could pick the date for our wedding. I grabbed the calendar and scanned the dates in October again. Once I finally chose one, I continued my text to Brandon.
Me: Okay, do you need me to pick anything up on the way home? BTW, I picked THE date. ;)
Brandon: No, I’m sending Blake to get stuff and then stopping on the way home for the beer. And are you going to leave me hanging all day?
Me: Leave you hanging? You want me to send you a naked picture? :P
Brandon: Yes!
Me: I deleted the ones from December…plus you should have them already.
Brandon: Maybe you should take some new ones?
Me: I’m at work, silly! Do you want to know the date or not?
Brandon: Yes. When do I get to marry the love of my life?
I smiled and my face flushed as I read his text.
Me: October 12th.
Brandon: Good, let’s tell everyone tomorrow since I’ve got poker tonight.
Me: Okay, but we are sending out Save the Dates, too.
Brandon: What the hell is that?
Boys!
Me: I’ll tell you later. Love you! <3
*~*~*
I sat in the middle of our king-size bed, hearing the loud guys downstairs playing poker through my closed door, and flipped through one of the bridal magazines Ryan gave me.
I had already showered and grabbed all necessary items from downstairs to tide me over for the night. Poker night usually ran late, and I was trying hard to keep my eyes open so I could give Brandon a kiss goodnight.
I tagged pages in bridal magazines, marking dresses, hair styles and flower bouquets I liked. After making it through two, I grabbed my laptop and searched the internet for Save the Date ideas.
I bookmarked a few ideas so I could show Brandon, but before I could continue, he texted me from downstairs. Shaking my head, I grabbed my phone.
Brandon: I’m still thinking about those pictures…
Me: Definitely not sending them now!
Brandon: Please?
Me: You’re crazy. I’m not sending you naked pictures while you are surrounded by a bunch of guys!
Brandon: They won’t see. Promise.
He really was crazy if he thought I would do it.
Me: Um…no. Why don’t you send the boys home and come up here?
Brandon: They’ll be leaving soon. Talk dirty
to me. ;)
Me: You’re crazy!
Brandon: I can’t wait to have your wet mouth around my cock!
What the hell was he doing? Chuckling, I replied back.
Me: What’s going on? You never text me while you are at poker.
Brandon: I’m drunk and I want to fuck you!
Oh, well that explained a lot. There had only been a few times when I had seen Brandon drunk. We usually didn’t drink a lot, but it seemed that since Blake had been here, Brandon had been drinking much more than usual.
We continued to text and forth. My texts were usually just me telling him he was crazy or silly while he talked about doing stuff to my body. It was getting close to my bedtime, and Brandon had stopped texting me. Maybe one of the guys yelled at him for being on his phone? I didn’t know, but once my head hit my pillow, I was out.
CHAPTER SIX
It felt like déjà vu all over again. I woke up with Niner at the end of the bed and no Brandon on his side of the bed. I wasn’t panicked like I had been before. Brandon was home last night when I went to sleep. He would never drink and drive or get into a car with a drunk driver…right?
I slipped out of bed, stopping at the foot, and kissed Niner on the head. It was that dreaded time in the morning––that time to get ready for work. Since we moved about a forty-five minutes from the city, I now had to get up even earlier than I was used to. I still wasn’t a morning person. I stretched on my way to the bathroom, thinking that I would probably see Brandon passed out on the couch downstairs.
I entered the threshold of the en suite bathroom and noticed Brandon in the fetal position on the plush sage green bathmat in front of the toilet. I shook my head and chuckled to myself. I guess he had drunk a lot the night before and worshiped the porcelain God.
“Babe?” I said in a hush voice.
Brandon didn’t move.
“Babe?” I tried again, this time, shaking his shoulder slightly.
He stirred a little and groaned as he rolled over onto his back.
“Babe, come get in the bed,” I said, kneeling beside him and rubbing his arm.
Brandon just groaned again.
“I’m gonna go get you some water. Try to make it to the bed. If you can’t, I’ll help you when I get back.”
I slipped out of the bedroom and made a pit stop at the guest bathroom. Brandon was blocking our toilet and I really had to pee–the only reason I went into the bathroom in the first place.
Niner followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen. After letting him out into the backyard, I filled a glass with filtered water and walked back upstairs. Brandon had successfully made it to the bed, just not under the covers.
“Here, Babe,” I said, setting the glass on the nightstand.
“I’m going to kill Blake!” he mumbled into the pillow.
“Why?” I asked, slightly chuckling.
I knew why. Brandon never really drank before Blake showed up. Now it seemed that he was getting drunk at least once a week, and I was the one who had to take care of him.
“He kept pouring shots, and I was winning and not paying attention. Next thing I knew, you were waking me up on the bathroom floor.” He groaned again into the pillow.
I walked into the bathroom, grabbed a few aspirin and returned, handing the pills to him while he sat up and drank some water. I think it was best to say he wasn’t going to work, while I had to make the long drive myself for the second day in a row.
*~*~*
Me: Are you ready for Gideon on Tuesday?
Ryan: Fuck yeah! Are you re-reading the first two?
Me: Yes. Too bad we can’t read the new one together like the old days.
Ryan: I know :(
I thought for a moment. Why couldn’t we do that?
Me: I have an idea! How about you pick me up from work on Monday, we eat dinner at my house, you meet Blake finally and then we stay up all night and read the new Gideon and then we both play hooky the next day?
Ryan: I think Max is working late that night, too.
Me: Yay! Let’s do it!
Ryan and I used to read the same books at the same time and gasp and laugh and talk about the book as we read it together. We would drink wine, pig out on food and just have a really good time. I missed those days.
*~*~*
The end of the week and the weekend flew by. Brandon went with Blake to buy a car while I went dress shopping with my mom, my sister, Ryan and Becca. I didn’t know where Blake was getting his money to buy a car and I didn’t ask. I had a feeling that Brandon was either buying it for him or co-signing on a loan.
I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Stacey, but she had texted me on Thursday and told me that Blake told her he wasn’t coming home. She was over his bullshit, but promised that she would still come to my wedding. I told her that it would be okay if she didn’t, but she insisted that she wanted to show up with a hot date and make Blake jealous.
Brandon had picked four groomsmen and I decided on four of my closest friends to be my bridesmaids. My friend Audrey was the only one who wasn’t able to come up for the dress shopping, but she trusted Ryan’s pick for a bridesmaid dress.
Just like I had, my mom fell in love with the colored dresses by Alfred Angelo, but after trying on four styles plus some non-colored ones, we decided on an ivory charmeuse dress with embroidered lace rhinestones, crystal beading and sequins. The dress was form fitting and ruffled around my body in a circle, all the way down to the semi-cathedral train.
It was actually the first dress that I had tried on, but nothing after could compare to it. It was perfect. I couldn’t wait to wear it and show Brandon. My mom took pictures and texted them to my dad while we all wiped our eyes and stared at me in the large floor-length mirrors.
Everyone agreed with Ryan on a floor-length chiffon and satin bridesmaid dress in teal with a ruched bust and sweep train. It was an empire gown accented with a silver bow waistband to match my wedding colors. The draped style of the gown was sure to cover Becca’s growing belly. She would be seven months pregnant by my wedding, but said she wouldn’t miss it for the world. I didn’t want her or Jason to miss it either. They had such a great bond with Brandon, and I was so lucky to be accepted into and loved by their tight knit circle.
After the bridal shop staff took all our measurements and we placed our orders, we went out to lunch just as we did with Ryan after her Say Yes to the Dress outing. Finally, my mom was here to visit, and it wasn’t after a tragedy.
We were all able to laugh together, and I showed my mom and sister both where I worked and Brandon’s gym. Becca insisted that we pamper ourselves at the spa, but they were booked completely for massages, so we settled for manicures and pedicures.
My mom wasn’t used to getting that kind of treatment. I wasn’t sure why, but she always did it herself. Getting pampered was one of the best things in the world. I loved getting pedicures—until they scrubbed your feet. That shit tickled and they knew it, but they held your foot tight and scrubbed away while you tried to squirm out of the seat. They were lucky they didn’t get kicked in the face!
Ryan followed us to my house and we let the wedding planning commence. Brandon and I picked out our invitations, and then he let me take care of the flowers. I scheduled a wedding cake tasting for later in the week for Brandon and myself, while my sister and Ryan planned the wedding favors. Things were coming along perfectly.
Sunday, my mom and sister left to head back to Encino. They were going to make the drive back for my bridal shower once we chose a date, and my sister was ready to party for my bachelorette party. I had to admit I was, too. It had been a long time since I had a fun outing with my girls. The last time was Ryan’s bachelorette party—and that didn’t end so well.
*~*~*
Just as we planned, Ryan picked me up after work on Monday. We were both giddy and couldn’t wait for our Kindles to contain the new sexy Gideon. We had waited many months for the book and it was finally time.
&nb
sp; On the way to my house, Ryan and I talked about her married life. Max was still working late hours and Ryan spent many nights alone. She had definitely beaten me in the book reading department. She was reading up to five books a week, whereas I was lucky to read one. But Ryan was happy. Max made her happy when they were together, and that was all that mattered.
I think Ryan would actually kill Max if they spent more time together. I knew there were a few times when we lived together that I wanted to strangle the shit out of her, and I’m sure she felt the same way about me.
We stopped at the store near my house and picked-up three bottles of Pinot and a bag of Ghirardelli dark chocolates. We were going to order Chinese just like old times and count down the minutes until midnight when Gideon would be delivered.
Pulling into my driveway, Ryan sighed and said, “I wish Max and I lived in a neighborhood like this.”
“Ry, I just had the best idea ever,” I screamed.
“Why the fuck are you yelling? I’m sitting right here!”
“Sorry,” I said, grabbing her forearm with excitement still in my voice. “Why don’t you and Max buy a house over here? Then we can hang out all the time, especially since Max works late.”
“Oh!” she gasped. “I love that idea, but I don’t know if Max will go for it. I mean, he wouldn’t get home until really late if he had to make the drive every day.”
“Oh, that’s true,” I sighed and reached for the door handle.
“But––we know Max will do anything I say, so let me talk to him,” she said with a huge smile.
Maybe this idea was far-fetched, but I wanted my friend back. I hated only seeing her once a week––if that.
We carried the wine and chocolate into the house. Ryan made herself at home, sitting on a barstool at the breakfast bar while I grabbed the Chinese delivery menu for us to plan our feast.
I grabbed my cell to place the order when the boys arrived home.
“Hey, Baby,” I said, wrapping my arms around Brandon’s neck and giving him a long kiss.
Ryan and Blake both cleared their throats.
“Wow, I should have you drive home everyday so I can come home to this greeting,” Brandon said, kissing my lips one more time.
I blushed when I realized there were four eyes staring at us.
Anything Like Me Page 5