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He shuts his eyes and chuckles. “It definitely was.”
He pulls out of me and returns from the bathroom quickly with a washcloth to help me clean up. Then he passes me a glass of water and tucks me under the covers, curling around me.
He falls asleep coiled around me, skin to skin, like he’ll never let go. And in that moment, just for the night, I let myself believe it could be true.
44
zeke
Faye was up early,grumbling about Protestant New England weddings with morning ceremonies. I rolled out of bed with enough time to join her in the shower, helping her wash her hair, her body. I may have spent a little more time than strictly necessary between her legs. But she didn’t complain. In fact, she sounded damn grateful.
She left with a pretty flush that I was proud to have put there, and a quick kiss. I had flashes of life together, saying goodbye in the morning on the way to practice or work.
Last night changed things. There’s no other way to look at it. Even if we didn’t say the words, we both knew exactly what we were doing. It felt completely different, and even as I held her afterward, we gazed at each other until her eyes finally lost the battle with sleep. I feel like a different man, as dorky as that sounds. I’m in so deep with this girl it’s not even funny.
The ceremony is short and sweet, the highlight for me being Faye walking down the aisle. She is radiant, the mauve color of her dress bringing out her rosy cheeks and highlighting the gold in her eyes. She catches my eye as she walks past and mouths the words “nice tie.” I just grin. I spent the entire length of her walk trying to think of something to say to her, but in the end I just stare. She’s so beautiful, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t picture her walking down that aisle toward me in a different dress someday.
Edie looks beautiful, and she and Darwin are very sweet. They do a special kiss before their actual kiss and everyone cheers when they’re announced. She’s taking his name, no surprises there I guess, and then the bridal party follows them out of the hall and immediately to the grounds for some pictures.
Faye texts that it’ll be a while and I should go to the bar, so I do.
“Coop!” Rick says from a high-top table. He and his friends wave me over.
I make my way across the bar, wishing I’d just gone back to the room so I could have an excuse to take off these shoes that are just a little too tight at the arches.
“Didn’t see you at the ceremony,” Rick says, pushing a shot glass of vodka over toward me.
I hold up a hand, but he doesn’t take no for an answer. He pours another round for the others standing around the cocktail table—three women and one other man.
“I was sitting on the bride’s side,” I say, clinking my shot glass with his and sipping it.
Rick introduces the others at the table. The man is one of his high school buddies, and the two women with him arewithhim, though, judging by the way she looks at me, the one closest to me seems to be open to alternatives.
“How do you know the bride?” the woman to Mike’s right says. I think he said her name is Muriel? She’s pretty, in a well-kept sort of way.
“I’m dating her sister,” I say.
“You’re dating Faye?” She lifts her eyebrows—or her face looks like she tries to. They don’t actually move.
“I am.”
“Zeke Cooper, this is Muriel. My wife.”
I hold out my hand, trying not to react to that news. I didn’t realize he’d remarried.
“Ex-wife.” She nudges him, but it’s playful and he doesn’t take it badly. “I just love that girl. She is so sweet. You’re a lucky man.”
“I have a feeling he knows it,” says the man opposite me.
Muriel gives him a tight smile, and I wonder if there’s something I’ve missed.
“He’s right, I do,” I say, with a placating smile.
“Calm down, Alan,” Mike says, lifting his glass between the two of us. “Alan Hendricks, Zeke Cooper. Zeke, Alan, my colleague and godfather to the groom.”
He extends his hand and I accept it, giving it a cursory shake, as he briefly introduces me to his wife, Celine. She stands between us with a bright smile and glowing brown skin and shakes my hand with the warmth of family.
“Zeke Cooper, leading defenseman in the western league last year?”
