This is my
Literotica Nude Day Story Contest 2024
entry. I hope you have the opportunity to read the other excellent stories presented this year. Comments, favorites, and most certainly ratings would be greatly appreciated by all. Thanks in advance!
This is a work of erotic fiction. Therefore, all persons engaging in sexual activity are over the age of 18. Any resemblance between the characters and events in this story and any persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental and unintentional.
Last but not least, the views expressed by the characters are not necessarily those of the author.
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Her lips were moving, she was making sounds, but they made absolutely no sense to me. "Ernie fucking did what?!"
Note to self: Never swear at a church altar during a wedding. Especially when the mic was still hot. The audience had been growing restless, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Now I had their undivided attention.
Gina Halstead was Ernie's mother. At the moment, she was deeply embarrassed and teary-eyed. "Ernie left. He said he couldn't marry Sherry."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Nobody needed the PA to hear that. I tend to get loud when I'm pissed off. I was all of that.
"We're so sorry, Ronnie. We didn't know he was going to do that." From the look on his parents' faces, they were telling the truth. The fucker actually cut and ran.
"I can't believe Ernie would do this. I don't understand it." Bob Halstead was only slightly less angry than I was.
Five minutes earlier, I had been standing at the back of the church, waiting to walk my sister Sherry down the aisle. Ernie's parents walked up and whispered something to the minister, who motioned me up to the altar.
My first thought was that they had eloped. That would be so like Sherry. The fancy church wedding had been both mother's doing. My sister was a big believer in doing things with the least amount of effort, the whole working smarter and not harder school of thought.
Nope. The groom decided to take the chickenshit way out, leaving his parents to clean up his mess once again. I couldn't be mad at them, they had been our co-parents growing up.
"I'm sorry, Gina. I know it's not your fault." I felt bad for her, actually. Ernie was forever putting them in the position of bailing him out of something.
"Go find Sherry, son. I'll handle breaking the news." Bob offered his hand and I shook it firmly.
As I walked back down the aisle toward the sanctuary area, I could hear the crowd murmuring as Bob took the mic from the stand.
"Can I have your attention, please? I regret --" The rest was lost as the heavy wood door closed behind me. I found the room marked "Halstead-Wilmott" and knocked.
"Ronnie? Come in," my mother called out.
I opened the door part way and slid past it. Sherry was sitting in front of the makeup mirror, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. She had been crying hard, the mascara streaks gave her a more than passing resemblance to Alice Cooper, except she was still much prettier.
"I'm sorry, Sher. I didn't think he'd ever do that." Ernie Halstead was a lot of things, and until now, I didn't think coward had been one of them. If I ever got my hands on him, dead man would be at the top of the list.
Sherry stood up and wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her head into my shoulder. Hard sobs shook her body as she let go. Mom rubbed her back reassuringly, murmuring something into her ear I couldn't quite hear.
There was a light knock on the door. Mom cracked it open and let the Halsteads in quietly. Sherry looked like hell now, hair mussed and her face swollen from crying.
Gina spoke, her voice uncertain. "Honey, we're really sorry --"
"No. He did this, not you. Don't you dare apologize for him." Sherry held her arms out and hugged her tightly. "He's supposed to be an adult. He knows better."
After our father knocked up his executive assistant and took off to Belize, the Halsteads watched over us while Mom rebuilt her real estate career and her life. Ernie had been raised the same way we were. There was no excuse for this. Bob and Mom were now business partners and Mom had been friends with Gina forever. They were family, too.
Sherry hugged Bob and he gently kissed the top of her head. "I don't know what to say, Sherry. I'm sorry."
"Ronnie, would you get your sister some water, please?" Mom motioned the Halsteads to the other side of the room for a whispered conversation. Sherry took the offered glass and set it on the table in front of her.
"Why, Ronnie? Why would he do this?"
"I don't know. Wish I did."
"Everybody spent so much money for this. People went out of their way to be here for us. What do I tell them, Ronnie?" Sherry was starting to get worked up again.
I reached out to take her hand and she threw herself at me again, burying her face into my neck and shoulder while she cried.
Gina was also in tears, Bob and Mom doing their best to console her. Ernie had always been the impulsive type, always getting hyped about something until one day he wasn't.
I was too young to remember anything about my father. Sherry had vague memories of him. Mom didn't say much about him or their marriage. Gina refused to talk about him at all, citing him as an example of what not to be as a human being.
Bob was honest about his feelings about our father. They had been friends before getting married. He didn't see it coming, either. He had tried to use what happened as a teaching moment, in terms of the value of keeping your word.
The Halsteads had unofficially adopted us, getting Mom's license transferred to his office, making sure we had adult supervision after school and when Mom had showings.
Ernie had been my best friend growing up. I was convinced he loved Sherry so when he had asked if I had a problem with his asking for her hand in marriage, I said I didn't. She loved him as much as he loved her. Sherry was the yin to Ernie's yang. They were the perfect couple. I never had a reason to doubt how he felt about Sherry. At least until today. The two of them getting married seemed to be a no-brainer. High school sweethearts, they stayed together throughout college, they worked in our parents' real estate business together, it was as if it had been ordained from above.
I had no idea why he would back out now. It made no sense at all. His betrayal, which is how I thought of it, hurt deeply. Not just for Sherry but our parents.
Eventually, both women stopped crying. Mom ran us out so Sherry could change. When they were ready, I brought the car around to the side entrance, loaded everybody up, and we headed to Mom's house.
Sherry hid in her old bedroom once we got to Mom's house. I hung around for a while, we tried to eat dinner, but eventually I had to go home. I had to go back to work tomorrow and I couldn't show up in a tuxedo.
Sherry refused to answer the door when I knocked to let her know I was leaving. She sounded like she had been crying. I couldn't blame her, I kind of felt that way for her, too.
