Falling Away (22 page)

             
“Oh, my God, so cute! It’s strapless and satin in shades of purples and blues and it is so girly it’s
freakin
’ cute! It’s gonna look awesome on you.”

             
“Alright, so where do I need to go to try one on?”

             
“Please. You know my dad’s totally gonna pay for the dresses. And don’t worry about skipping work or anything, I know you only have Sundays off, so I’m gonna go with my cousin and try one on for you. The next time we get together I’ll bring it and we can see if you need any adjustments.”

             
“Okay, now I feel bad,” I whined.

             
“What? Why?”

             
“’Cause. I’m your
freakin
’ maid of honor and I can’t do anything with you or for you. You’re stuck doing all this on your own and it sucks ‘cause I totally
wanna
be there for this stuff. It’s bad enough I don’t know how to plan your bachelorette party or your bridal shower, can’t I at least be there to try on my own
freakin
’ dress?”

             
“Well, we were gonna go Saturday, but I guess we could go on Sunday. But the store’s in Philadelphia. It’s like a six hour drive from Rutland
without
the bus stops. You’re
talkin
’ at least sixteen hours on a bus in one day just to come try on a dress. Jenna, I love you, but that’s just stupid.”

             
That did seem like an incredibly tiresome way to spend my day off. But part of me still really wanted to go. “I know, but I can do it. I mean, I can’t let my job and location screw me out of all the fun. I
wanna
get to do something with you.”

             
“Okay. It’s your decision. But tell you what. Let me see if the dress is available somewhere closer to you. I never bothered checking ‘cause that store was so close to my parents’ house.”

             
“But what about your cousin? Isn’t she near Philly?”

             
“Yeah, but she can go any time. If I find a store between you and me, it’ll just be us on Sunday. Call you back tomorrow night and let you know?”

             
“Sounds good. I’ve
gotta
get going. Evan should be here any minute to take me to dinner.”

             
“Ooh,” she sang suggestively. “And just how are things going with that hotty of a soccer player?”

             
“What? You officially cheering for Evan now?”

             
“Jenna, I’ll cheer for any guy you decide is worth your time. But, I
gotta
say, he’s a guy that should have some pretty good stamina, if
ya
’ know what I mean.”

             
“Kinda hard not to,
Soph
, since you have a very dirty mind.”

             
She laughed. “You’re one to talk. I’ll
let’cha
blow me off tonight but I better get the dish this weekend, girly.”

             
Sophie found a dress shop in Hartford that cut my ride in half, so I agreed to catch an early bus on Sunday, stay overnight and catch another early bus home on Monday. Evan was none too thrilled to hear I’d be taking a bus by myself, and got a little cranky when I wouldn’t let him come with me or drive me both ways. Sorry, but sometimes a girl just needed her gal pal. But in order to maintain the peace, I agreed to let him drive me to the bus station, since he also seemed to be anti-cab.

             
“Here,” he said, turning on the cab light as he passed me a small box with a picture of a phone on it. But unlike the last box I was given like this, it actually contained a phone. “Before you even think about arguing with me over this, the only way you’re getting on a bus without me this morning is if this phone is in your pocket.”
             

             
“Evan, I don’t have a phone plan ‘cause I don’t
wanna
pay for one.”

             
“And you don’t have to pay for this one. It’s pay-as-you-go. When the money runs out, you either add more money to the account or you don’t. You can just walk away. But like I said, you’re
not
getting on that bus without having a way to call someone if you get into trouble.”

             
The way his eyes glared kept me quiet. It was sweet, and thoughtful, and if having this was gonna make him feel better about me going out of town today, then I’d take it. “Okay,” I agreed.

             
“Damn,” he muttered. He hit his fist on the steering wheel a few times, then turned back with a twisted smile. “I was hoping you’d call my bluff so I could go with you.”

             
“Sorry, Evan, but I didn’t think for one second you’d actually get on that bus.”

             
“Oh, no?” he challenged. He reached behind my seat and pulled a small black duffel out, holding it between us. “Still don’t want me to go?”

             
“Did you really pack a bag or is that just filled with sweaty gym clothes?”

             
“It is my gym bag,” he admitted, “but the clothes are clean.”

             
I laughed, and leaned over the bag to kiss him. “I’ll only be gone one day. Nine A.M. tomorrow you’ll be right back here to pick me up again, okay?”

             
“You know, Valentine’s Day is this week and we’re celebrating next Sunday. That’s
my
night. Tell Sophie you’re staying home.”

             
I chuckled as I grabbed my bag off the floor and opened the door. “Really think you can take her? She’s a hair-puller.”

             
“I’ll shave it before we rumble.”

             
“Bye.” I blew him a kiss before disappearing through the double sliding glass doors, my insides so warm I never even noticed the chill of the night.

             
I arrived at the Hartford bus station at ten-thirty, and Sophie was already waiting for me in the central area. She practically jumped up and down but kept her feet firmly planted on the ground. Had it really only been a few weeks since she came to see me?

             
“Time to go shopping!”

             
I smiled over her giddiness, hoping I’d be that excited to get married one day.

             
“Wait,” she commanded, reaching her arm out to stop me dead in my tracks. “Just wait. There’s something different about you. Something… you’re sleeping with Evan, aren’t you?” My lower jaw just kinda slipped loose. “Oh, my God, you are! I knew it!”

             
“How in the hell could you possibly know that?”

             
She giggled at my expense before replying, “Are you kidding me? You’re all smiles and your face is practically glowing. I mean, you’re like happy again. I haven’t seen this look since before Christmas.”

             
“All right, shut up,” I said playfully, walking away. Desperately attempting to get her to focus on anything but my new sex life, I baited, “Come on. Dress time.”

             
We grabbed an early lunch before heading to the dress shop. Of course she noticed me texting Evan that I arrived safely and demanded to be given the number ASAP. I didn’t even know it, and actually had to call her so she could save it.

             
“If you waste what few minutes I have on this, I will totally block your ass.”

             
“I don’t think you can do that with pay-as-you-go.” She smirked, winking at me. “But I won’t blow up your phone. Promise. This way Evan will have plenty of room to send you dirty text messages while you’re at work.”

             
I shook my head lightheartedly.
Lordy
…

             
She was right about the dress being
awesomesauce
(her word, not mine). It was my turn to playfully twirl on the platform, and the satiny tiered layers of solid blues and purples and paisley prints swished gently around my legs. I even liked the top part. I wasn’t usually a big fan of the strapless gown ‘cause my chest wasn’t as
blessed
as Sophie’s, but the ribbed layers managed to fill me out a bit and gave me some
va-voomph
(again, her word.)

             
As Sophie purchased the dress, I scanned the necklaces behind the glass display case. I really needed to get something new. I’d caught myself reaching for that missing flower way too many times to count. At this point, I doubted it was because I subconsciously thought of Robert, but more of a nervous habit. But everything in this case was flashy and way overpriced for the fake gems that they were.

             
Sophie hung the dress in the back of her dark red Jeep Grand Cherokee, promising to bring it to the wedding for me, since I’d probably travel by bus to get there when the time came. And oh yeah, I was by no means allowed to get all fat before the wedding, including in the uterus department (eye roll – as if!) Nor was
I allowed to get skinnier and upstage her. Okay, that I laughed at, ‘cause she didn’t need to worry about anyone upstaging her.

             
“Careful,
Soph
,” I teased. “If your claws extend any farther out, I’m gonna have to classify you as a
Bridezilla
.”

             
“Bitch,” she muttered back, but her smile told me she wasn’t offended.

             
We spent the rest of the day at the hotel, mostly in the spa. Sophie had a thing for spas, and I wasn’t gonna turn down a free massage. Though how the hell she convinced me to get into one of those mud baths was beyond me. It felt so…awkward. And the moment I sank in, I really needed to pee.

             
“So tell me. Is Evan everything you
dreamed
he’d be?”
             

             
“Ha ha. Very funny. As a matter of fact, he’s a little better.” A lot in fact. ‘Cause the one problem I had with the dreams was that I never felt satisfied. I always woke up feeling like I had been sexually teased all night. But now that our interactions were real, I was finally getting some satisfaction. Although, he was still treating me like I was a delicate flower after that first weekend, and hadn’t been frisky even once since.

             
“Girl, you’d better get that
shiz
back under control now or your sex life’s gonna be boring.”

             
“Trust me, nothing he does is boring. But it bums me out that all those dirty tricks he performed that first weekend have completely disappeared from his sexual repertoire.”

             
“Have you told him that?”

             
“No.” I slowly waved my arms repeatedly underneath the layer of mud. “And if I don’t get his frisky side back again soon, I’m gonna snap.”

             
“Look at you.” Sophie giggled. “Three years ago you couldn’t even discuss sex without your face turning all red and going into panic mode. Now you’re talking about how you wish your boy toy was a little more S&M.”

             
I was tempted to throw mud at her, but settled for rolling my eyes. Uh…no. Bondage was not my idea of a good time.

             
“Time to start talking dirty, my friend. Guys love it, can’t resist it. It’s like programmed into their DNA or something. Get him so excited that soft and sensual doesn’t even register on his scale of sexual output anymore.”

             
“Well, we’re celebrating Valentine’s next weekend. Maybe I can come up with something that’ll inspire his dirtier side.”

             
“Atta girl!”

             
I figured a sexy game was my best bet to rile him up, so I started thinking of ways to twist the most famous of all: strip poker. Sophie loved my idea, and by the end of the day, we had created a new set of rules that had her anxious to go home and try it on
Jhett
. I, however, was gonna have to wait an entire week until my next day off, ‘cause I planned to stretch out the game for as long as possible. Just to drive him
nuts
.