Wedding Friends
It was a beautiful day for a wedding, that was for sure. The bride and groom looked incredible together, the sun was shining brightly, not a hint of clouds in the sky. I sat in the chairs arranged out on the lawn, watching the ceremony, smiling. He was a very old friend of mine and she was a friend of several years now. I couldn't be happier for them both, knowing that they truly were meant for each other.
My eyes wandered over the bridal party, seeing the guys uncharacteristically wearing kilts and baby blue, Converse high-tops in some show of humorous solidarity. The women, though, wore beautiful, long, auburn gowns. Each one had their hair intricately done up. My eyes fell on Jennifer as she stood there. She was also a friend of many years. I was saddened by the fact that our relationship hadn't gone further than that yet, but the timing just hadn't been right. Every time one of us was single, the other was dating someone.
The "friends" got together after the ceremony ended to share laughs, take pictures, and prepare for the reception that was to follow. As always, I somewhat paired up with Jennifer, sharing old jokes and punchlines as old friends do. I felt the familiar twitching in my stomach telling me to just ask her out. We were both single now... we needed to take the plunge.
When I finally got Jennifer alone, I asked if she wanted to go out as more than just friends. She seemed shocked that I would ask. We'd been friends for so long, she argued. She didn't want to ruin that if things went bad.
'How could things go wrong when we were meant to be together?' I wondered.
But I didn't ask.
I thought back to the first time we were at a party together. Both of us drank a little too much and were feeling happy, ornery, and horny... an interesting combination. We sat on the floor in the corner of the living room at our friends house, talking. I was just watching Jennifer's lips move, loving just how they looked, idly wondering what they tasted like.
I leaned forward and kissed her, obviously surprising her. It took Jennifer a moment to return the kiss, but when she did it was incredible. Our lips molded together perfectly and it felt so damn good. Our mouths opened and tongues dueled, with me first tasting her mouth and then she mine. We were panting, breathing heavily as things heated up even more.
Our hands stroked the other, holding us tightly together, feeling our bodies through our clothing. The rest of the room disappeared as we got lost in each other.
The music in the reception hall brought me out of my memories. The upbeat tempo brought most of us out onto the dance floor, spinning and gyrating, just like we were kids again. We felt so free and alive with the combination of old times, liquor, and incredible music playing.
Then a slow song played and I found myself next to Jennifer. We turned towards each other and uneasily walked into each others' arms. It felt awkward at first, but perfect moments later. Our bodies melded together and moved together with perfect rhythm. Jennifer's head was on my chest, no doubt listening to my rapid heart beat. My arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly to me. The world felt as it should be.
Jennifer looked up and smiled and I smiled back. Then she suddenly pushed up... and kissed me.
I kissed her back easily. It was like we'd never stopped kissing from that party so long ago. We fit together so perfectly, our lips touching, our tongues sliding effortlessly together. I felt her press against me even tighter. I heard her whimpers and her panting as we breathed together.
All I could think about was how this was so different than Jennifer's statement earlier. I was so confused to what Jennifer really wanted but savored the kiss, still holding her tightly to me. My mind faded to the possibilities...
I imagined we went up the street to the hotel after the reception. We both had a little too much to drink, we told ourselves, we didn't want to drive all the way home. And for the sake of saving money, we might as well get one room. We're friends... nothing more...
We were laughing about the wedding mishaps and jokes on the way to the room. We talked about the cute flower girl and ring bearer. We were having fun just being together. But I think we both felt there was a lot more there, something that we didn't want to admit so easily.
We got to the room and came inside, both finally realizing that we didn't have a change of clothes. It was a funny situation, but we just laughed it off in our slight drunkenness. Jennifer fell back onto her Queen-sized bed, kicking her shoes off, finally able to relax. She breathed out a sigh of relief that although it was a wonderful night, she was glad it was finally over.
I lay on my bed and agreed, it was about time the bride and groom finally tied the knot. They definitely deserved to. We joked a little about what they were probably doing upstairs, joking about her lingerie, the little, frilly thing that Jennifer helped her pick out... about the toys they probably brought to play with.
Jennifer turned on her side to face me, talking to me, asking me if I ever thought about getting married. I told her I definitely thought about it. I told her that I was waiting for that perfect person to come along, one that I knew would be the best one for me, and me for her.
Jennifer agreed saying she wanted to make sure it was with someone that would last forever, someone that was the perfect friend, perfect provider and protector, and the perfect lover. I asked what was wrong with her old boyfriends and she mentioned that they all failed in one or more of those categories. One was a great friend but was terrible in the sack. Another was wonderful in the sack but that was all he wanted... and he cheated on her. She mentioned that the last one left her wanting in so many ways she could barely even count.
