Cupid Collections

29. Peyton - 8: The Couple Time

“No way? He didn’t?”

“He did though! Completely embarrassed me in front of everyone on that beach. I actually thought we might have gotten kicked off of it,” Brooke enthused. “And then we would be arrested and our honeymoon would have been spent in the Hawaii jail!”

“I didn’t look that bad in the speedo,” Sean snapped fed up with the laughter.

Nate shook his head. “Mistake number one, man.”

It was hard to imagine and I found myself wishing we had already eaten lunch. My appetite was disappearing with the image. “So besides that, how was it?”

“Beautiful,” Brooke enthused. Sean left the room to attend to the food in the kitchen. Nate and I sat across from Brooke in their living room. He was lounging in the corner of the couch as I leaned against him. Brooke was sitting opposite us in a chair where Sean had previously been. Brooke had moved from the arm of the chair to take his place when he left. The two of them had been living in this house for a little while now and it was cozy; just big enough for the two of them. “The weather was mostly great and everyone was nice. It was a lovely time…besides the bathing suit mishap.”

“You loved it,” Sean yelled from the kitchen.

Brooke rolled her eyes. “But what about you guys? Engaged? So another wedding is around the corner?”

“Oh no,” I denied quickly. “We’re just going to take our time.”

Nate nodded. “I got her this far. I’m not pushing passed this. We’re engaged so she’s stuck with me now.”

“Forever,” I muttered with an overdramatic sigh.

Nate only winked. “Forever and ever.”

“You guys are so cute,” Brooke said. “But why hold off so long? Is it because of the money issue? Because to be honest, I thought that was going to stop us too.”

“Yeah, how did that work out?” I wondered aloud. “Don’t you have all those student loans?”

“I do, but Sean and I have made a lot of headway on that front. I mean, I’ve been able to quit a few of my jobs bringing me down to one. I still go to school and changing my schedule has allowed me to focus more on my degree. Some of my loans, I have actually started paying off. And if all goes well, I’ll be able to get my degree next year.”

“That’s awesome!”

“Um…babe?”

“What?” Brooke asked alarmed. She turned to face the kitchen suddenly worried.

Sean’s head poked out of the doorway. “How black can enchiladas be before they don’t taste good?”

I looked over at Nate who only rolled his eyes. “I’ve got it.”

After Nate left to go and help, Brooke returned back to the original question.

“Seriously though, we cut costs wherever we could. The place we had the wedding is owned by my uncle so it was free. Then the food was provided by a very special friend.” Brooke paused to shout that toward the men.

“Which we’re repaying him by giving him food tonight,” Sean answered.

“Assuming I can save it,” Nate added.

I smiled toward the guys and Brooke went on. “The honeymoon was a wedding present from Sean’s family and half of our appliances were wedding gifts. It’s actually a nice way to get free stuff. My dress was my mother’s that we had tailored. So really, we saved a lot. I mean, we still had some expenses, but family helped and we made it work.”