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Lexie
Thenavychiffonflowed around her bare feet as the air conditioning vent blew around her. She was sipping on her champagne staring out the back window at where the ceremony was scheduled to be held. Lexie and all the girls were on the upper floor of Beau’s house, taking over the library and sun porch, while the guys were all in the basement getting ready.
“EARTH TO LEXIE!” Avanna called out at her. Lexie spun around and raised her eyebrows back at Avanna, who was frantically waving the curling iron around in the air. Lexie chuckled to herself and sashayed over to where Avanna was standing in front of one of the floor-length mirrors. Lexie had offered to do hair for the wedding but had taken a break while Avanna finished with her make-up. Clearly, she was now ready. As she approached the mirror she took a long look at the woman staring back. Her auburn hair flowed around her shoulders in curls. Part of her hair had been woven and clipped behind her head, pulling it from her face. The navy blue dress dipped low into her cleavage and sat at the edges of her shoulders, opening up her chest. She had a simple golden chain fitted against her neck. The dress hugged at her waist but flowed out accentuating her hips. She pulled her attention to Avanna, whose dress was the same color, but differed in style. Each of the women was given the freedom to choose whatever style of dress they wanted and Lexie had helped each of the girls find a style that flattered their shape. Avanna was wearing a simple A-Line dress that drooped slightly in the center of her cleavage. The thin straps wrapped along her shoulders and crossed around her back meeting up at the bottom. Lexie curled her hair and pinned it into a bun at the base of her neck, as requested.
She grabbed another glass of champagne and waited for Kennedy to sit so she could do her hair as well. Kennedy’s dress was a mermaid shape, accentuating her hourglass figure and her curves looked absolutely amazing. Her dress was not floor length, which made it even better. “Ken, I love this dress on you. Adam won’t know what to do with you when he sees you in it!!” Lexie said excitedly.
Kennedy shifted on the floor and nodded quietly. Lexie wondered if something was wrong, but didn’t ask what was going on. Today was a drama-free day. She hadn’t yet seen Nav, but as she finished Kennedy’s hair, Sedona glided across the floor in the dress that almost didn’t make it to the wedding. Dress shopping with Sedona had been a pure nightmare. She was not really one to care about fashion or the way she looked, but her focus was specific, wanting to honor and remember her mother, which made things difficult. Despite having to travel to multiple different bridal shops, she finally found the right one through a custom designer her brother tracked down in New York City. She stood before Lexie in the floor-length matte white gown. It tugged against her skin and dropped off her shoulders, with the sleeves ballooning out at the edges. The dress had a slight texture, but Sedona was particular about not wanting any sequins, diamonds, or lace on her dress. Looking at her now, Lexie knew it was perfect for her. It was timeless and classy and screamed Sedona from every stitch.
“Hey babe, you look beautiful,” Lexie beamed at Sedona, who smiled in response. Lexie could immediately tell Sedona wasn’t coming to say hello.
“I have a favor.”
“Okay, I just finished up with hair, so I am at your beck and call. What’s up?” Lexie asked.
Sedona pulled her phone from the built-in pocket of the dress and unlocked it, scrolling through her notes. She flipped the screen to Lexie, revealing a note regarding song selections for the ceremony and reception. “Beau just let me know that Levl Sounds is here. I totally forgot they were scheduled to meet with us before the wedding to go over the plan for the reception, but the photographer wants to do the first look photos now, and I don’t know if I have time, but we could maybe skip the first look I suppose, and just wait until after...” she trailed off and Lexie swiped the phone out of her hands.
“I got it. Go do whatever you need to do and don’t worry about this. Where do I need to meet them?”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” Sedona gushed. “They’re waiting out front. Beau is entertaining them right now.” Lexie turned to grab her bag from the chair and Sedona reached for her arm. “Seriously, thank you.”
Lexie nodded and walked out of the room, heading down toward the garage. She didn’t mind helping out, plus everything was done and everyone was just going to sit around and drink champagne before the ceremony. She wanted to be able to recall the events of the night and didn’t plan on drinking much at all--at least not until she had to interact with Nav. She bounced down the stairs, holding her dress in her hands in an attempt to keep herself from tripping. Her heels clicked against the wooden flooring as she walked into the garage. Sedona was right-Beau was standing in front of the garage talking animatedly with some guy wearing all black and a Levl Sounds t-shirt. “Hi, I’m the Maid of Honor, Lexie. I’m filling in for the bride and groom while they’re off taking pictures.” She extended her hand and the man took it in his and shook it lightly.
“Actually, I’m filling in for the groom.”
Lexie spun around and found herself face to face with Nav. Her eyes draped over his body. The blue suit slacks were snug across his lower half but flared slightly where his brown shoes stuck out. A leather belt separated the navy from the stark white shirt. His suspenders hung loosely around his shoulders and the navy tie around his neck pulled the whole outfit together. He had grown out his facial hair and it was trimmed nicely against his face. She snapped her mouth shut and quickly pulled her attention to anything other than the dreamboat standing in front of her. “Great,” she mumbled under her breath, turning back to the Levl employee.
“Nav, Best Man. And you are?” he asked as he shook the employee’s hand.
“It’s Jay. Nice to meet you both.” Jay flipped his hand up, glancing at the time. “We should probably head out so we can get you back for the ceremony. The shuttle boat brought me over here, so we can go ahead and take it back... I walked up here, but do you have a way to get down there?” he asked, glancing down at Lexie’s pointed heels, which were sticking out from the bottom of her dress. She followed his gaze down and her cheeks flared.
“Yes, yes. Guys, just take the Gator,” Beau said from behind them. He nodded toward the garage and Lexie turned to look at Nav with a raised eyebrow.
“Sounds good. Come on Jay, you can ride down there with us.”
The roar of the engine made it impossible to carry on a conversation on the way to the water, which Lexie was extremely thankful for. She didn’t want to talk to Nav. She had prepared herself to interact with him during their entrance to the rehearsal and during speeches, and then she was done. She wasn’t going to be in his presence all night! Yet here she was. Squished between him and Jay on the tiny Gator. Perfect.
Lexie walked onto the boat, ignoring the hand Nav stuck out as assistance. She watched from the corner of her eye as he rolled his own eyes and shook his head at her rejection. She sat in the back of the boat next to Jay, while Nav sat at the front staring out at the water.
They arrived at the small beach and Lexie stepped onto the dock, swinging the heels she had tied to her wrists to prevent herself from falling if they were to get stuck in the wooden dock. They entered the wonderland that was the reception hall and Lexie gasped at how it had all been put together. Tables were scattered around the room with white tablecloths decorated with twinkling lights. The decorations were fairly minimal, but the head table was decorated with fresh greenery wrapped in iridescent lights, giving the warm glow a subtle cool contrast. Jay was walking to the corner of the venue where he had set up his DJ station. Nav and Lexie followed as Jay opened up a notebook. “Okay, so I just want to go over everything. Each of the couples are walking in to the same song, is that correct?” Lexie tilted her head, slightly confused.
“Couples?”
“Oh, yeah the bridesmaids and groomsmen? Isn’t everyone dating? I thought Eagle told me they were. Sorry if I’ve mistaken.”
Lexie’s lips twisted.
“Ah, right. Yeah, everyone but us,” she said as she wagged her finger between her and Nav, “are together.”
Nav interjected, ignoring Lexie’s hasty comment about their relationship. “Eagle mentioned the song for the bridal party entrance is supposed to be ‘Shut up and Dance’ by Walk the Moon.”
Lexie laughed and both men turned to look at her. She waved them off. “Sorry, but was Eagle in charge of that one?”
Nav shrugged and Jay wrote the song down.
“Alright. So what song are the bride and groom walking in to? Same song or different?”
“Same.” Both Lexie and Nav said in unison. They turned to look at each other and Lexie’s cheeks flared red, quickly tossing her vision to the floor.
