A North Carolina Autumn

Chapter Twenty-Four

4.1.22- almost forgot the smut warning hehe

"Did you want me to text the coordinator that we decided on vanilla?" Rylie calls from the bedroom. We'd gone cake tasting yesterday, but had asked if we could think about it. All of the flavors were delicious, but apparently Rylie and I both had a thing for vanilla cake.

"Yes, please!" I call back from the bathroom. The shower curtain slides noisily to the right as I push it aside, and I wrap one of the thick, cream colored towels around my body as I step out of the shower. Water drips onto the rug beneath my feet as I dry my body, and I leave the towel around me as I leave the bathroom.

"Okay..." Rylie says when I enter the bedroom. Her eyes drop several inches, landing on the towel that's not doing a very good job of covering my breasts. I'd done that on purpose. "Maybe I should've joined you in the shower after all..." She says, slowly bringing her eyes back up to mine.

"I agree." I say, taking a step forward and leaning against the wall. "But you got so much done while I was in there. With the wedding only a week away, those things are most important."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Rylie says, putting her phone to the side and getting to her knees. "They needed to be done, but they weren't most important."

"Well then, what was the most important?" I tease, raising an eyebrow.

"Why don't you come over here so I can show you?" She says in a low, seductive voice.

I wanted to. I wanted to so badly. But we had one other thing to do before getting... distracted.

I take the final few steps towards the bed, and Rylie's hands grip the front of the towel. I put a hand over hers, pausing her attempt to disrobe me. "Before we do this," I say, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "We have to look at something."

I break away before grabbing my laptop from the nightstand, and Rylie falls back onto the pillows, groaning.

"Unless we're looking at you, naked, I don't want it." She grumbles, and I laugh.

"Trust me, we'll get to that. I think you'll like this, though." I hop up onto the bed, and laugh before crossing my legs as Rylie tries to get a peek beneath the towel. "Stop that." I swat her arm playfully and open my laptop before clicking to the tab I needed. "Okay, I was going to keep this a surprise, but changed my mind. Here is our cruise itinerary!" I say excitedly, turning the screen towards Rylie.

She sits up quickly, scooting closer to me as she stares at the screen. "No way! You're right, I do like this!" She says and I laugh. "Tell me everything!"

"Okay, so. We're going out of New Orleans, which you knew. The cool thing about this port is that the boat sails down the Mississippi river before sending us out into the ocean."

"Oh, I didn't know that!" Rylie comments.

"I'm excited about that. My mom says that there are a lot of cool things to photograph along the way. Okay, the next day is a sea day, which is exactly what it sounds like."

"A day at sea?" Rylie grins.

"Exactly." I laugh. "That day, we get to explore the ship. Rylie, there is so much to do!" I exclaim excitedly. "We won't get bored on the sea days."

"Days? How many sea days are there?"

"Three. On my last cruise, there were only two, and I had wished for more, so I think you'll like it."

"Oh. I'm not worried." Rylie smiles.

"The next two days are port days. First, Mahogany Bay, and then Grand Cayman. I've never been to either, but I'm really excited for both! They both look so different but there are so many things we can do, I think we'll have so much fun. Then we've got the second sea day, and then Cozumel. I've been there, and it's beautiful. So I'm looking forward to that!" I grin. "And then one final sea day before heading back to New Orleans!"