Wedding Flowers [Completed]

9.

Wedding day...

I wake up with crusted eyes and only a slight headache. We didn't continue drinking after truth or dare and I'm glad for that. We have to prepare to drink a shit-ton tonight.

Ryder is sleeping his chest bare and full of tattoos. They are all small images with swirling blue around it like the ocean. There are a couple of dates and words within the tattoo also.

He shifts in his sleep his arm moving towards me and then his body he follows. Our legs are once again intertwined as he breaths evenly holding me tighter.

I feel his friend. Again.

He needs to learn how to control that thing.

I wiggle out of his grasp and head towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" he asks his voice still thick with sleep when I exit the bathroom. He looks so much younger with his hair all messed up and his eyes sleepy.

"I have to finish setting up. I'll be back in a few hours. Can you take Boomer out and feed him?" I ask petting Boomer on the head.

"Yup," Ryder says then rolls back over. I say goodbye to Boomer then head towards the ballroom. It's weird how domestic it all seems. Me asking him to take care of the dog because I'm leaving. The two of us brushing our teeth together last night. Our clothes hanging in the closet. It's a lot and it's so quick.

We have formed a nice friends with benefits type of deal that I am very pleased with. I hope that it last after the wedding. I don't think I have ever felt as at ease with a person after Graham.

I decide to call Carley. She answers on the second ring, it's only seven in the morning so I didn't expect her to answer.

"So did you screw him again?" she asks. She doesn't even sound tired. But Carley is an early riser so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

"Yup. Amazing," I say with a sigh. Carley laughs and starts rummaging around.

"What are you doing?" I say.

"Trying to make a graceful walk of shame."

"Who? Why? Where?" I ask.

"I think you forget the what and when too."

"Shit you're right. Who, what, when, where, why?" I ask again.

"Gabe. Uh sex? Last night. His house. It is a super nice house, Addy. Because he's hot and nice and without you I make the bad decisions."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I'm only a little bit amused.

"You make the bad decisions in this relationship, Ads. I'm the good one. Without you my not so great choices seem worse because you aren't here to screw up more!" Carley is ranting and I can picture her hand gesturing wildly like it always does when she is upset.

"Do you regret it?" I ask.

"No. We went out for dinner first. So I guess it was kind of like a date but he never called it that. Maybe he was just trying to get into my pants, because I didn't let him do that at the bar the other night." Carley pauses probably so I know she is talking about me and my choices again, "I doubt he will call again."

"Hey, my bad choice gave me a wedding date. And I'm sure he will call again. I can ask Ryder for some Gabe inside info."

"This is why you're my best friend."

"I know," I laugh, "I have so much shit to tell you."

"Tell, tell, tell!" Carley chants.

"Addy, can I talk to you?" I hear from behind me.

"Oh fuck," I whisper.

"What? What's happening?" Carley asks.

"Graham wants to talk to me, I think I'm going to shit myself. He saw me naked last night. Alright I gotta go."

"What? No you can't leave me on that note. Did you have a threesome? What the hell, Ads?"

I hangup on her. I'm sure I'll have a million angry texts from her within minutes.

"What?" I ask Graham and still make my way to the ballroom, he follows behind.

The ballroom is in the same shape as when we left it last night. Vases full of flowers sit in a row on a long table in the back of the room. I walk over to it and rearrange a few then begin to place them in the center of each table. I still have to finish up the ceremony flowers.

"These are beautiful," he says, "remember when you were sick but you had to get these flowers in the ground so you coached me on how to garden. It was still cold outside but you said that these flowers had to go into the ground as soon as the snow and frost was gone. I was so nervous that they wouldn't bloom because I had no clue what I was doing."

I shake my head, "I'm not here to reminisce, Graham."

He nods, "I know. I just hate how we left everything."

"No. I'm not doing this."

"You never wanted to do this and that was the problem. You try to hide from your problems with sarcastic comments and never actually solve anything." Graham's cheeks are turning red. They always turned red when he was angry and getting worked up.

"God, Graham!" I basically yell, "we already know it didn't work out between us. You don't have to continue to tell me that everything I did was wrong."

"It wasn't wrong. It was just hard to communicate with you," he says. His brown eyes are locked with mine and the feeling of familiarity and safeness washes over me. I hate that he can still make me feel at ease even as we're yelling at each other. He knows me inside and out and decided he didn't like it.

"You're getting married and I'm with someone. We have both moved on so can we not do this?" I ask bringing more vases to the tables.

"I might be making a mistake," he says quietly. He is right behind me when I turn around we are face to face.

Don't do it, Graham. I shout in my head but I can't get the words out.

He closes the distance between us and put his lips on mine.

***

*Gasp*

Uh oh, this isn't looking so good!

Thanks so much for continuing to read this! It means so much to me.

-Brooke