-Reed-
After eating, I cleaned the grill before returning to our guests. Todd joins me. I'm glad because I need to question him about this Patty girl.
"What the hell is up with this Patty chick?" I ask.
"What do you mean?" Todd replies with a question of his own.
"I've never seen you take a girl like her to any get-together. What the hell is going on with you?" I demand.
"Nothing, man. She's hot, and I asked her to join me tonight, the end," Todd responds.
I'm not buying it. "If you think Patty's so hot, why the hell have you been paying more attention to Cheryl than you have to her?"
Todd laughs. "I don't know what you are fucking talking about."
I lower my voice. "Listen, I know you're not thrilled with my relationship with Cheryl. You brought Patty to temp me, but it won't work. When I look at Cheryl, I wonder how I was even attracted to girls like Patty. Cheryl's my everything, and no matter how much you try to push other women on me, it will not happen. So knock it the fuck off!"
I see the heat of anger in Todd's eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. Patty's my date, and I'm not guilty of your accusations. So get off of your high fucking horse. We both know that eventually, you'll get bored of Cheryl like you have all of the others, and I'll be there to clean up your little mess."
"Fuck you, Todd. I don't know how often I must tell you that Cheryl is different. She's my one and only, and I'll spend the rest of my life showing her just how spectacular she is. You keep your eyes and hands off of her!" I say in anger.
I turn back to the table and see Cheryl's eyes meet mine. She looks concerned, but I give my girl a huge smile, and she gives me one back.
***
It's been a month, and Todd and I haven't spoken since the barbecue night. I question whether or not to keep him as my best man when Cheryl and I get married next month. The problem is, I have no one else. Cheryl told me that Tank would stand up for me, but I have only known him for over a month.
I decided to keep Todd as my best man, even though since Cheryl and I officially got together, he's been a complete ass. I know that he misses our time together and blames it on Cheryl. We had been inseparable since meeting in grade school. I guess that I should be the one to reach out to him.
I pick up my phone and text him.
Hey.
I get back to work. Todd doesn't always hear his phone while working on a noisy job site.
Forty-five minutes later, I got a response.
What's up?
I type out my reply.
I wanted to know if you wanted to meet for drinks at the Irish Bar after work. Maybe grab some dinner?
Todd answers.
Sure, I should be there by 5:30.
I shoot him a text back.
Sounds good. See you then.
I put my phone down and get back to my paperwork.
I got to the bar a little early and found two empty seats.
After sitting down, Red brought me over my beer and whiskey chaser. "You eating?"
I nod. "Yes, but not till my friend gets here. Can I have an extra beer to save his seat? He should be here any minute."
As if on cue, Todd comes through the door. Red places a beer and menu on the bar for him.
"Hey." I greet Todd.
"Hey." Todd sits down and takes a long draw from his beer.
I also take a long sip of beer. "Are we good?"
Todd looks over at me. "We were never not good."
He raises his beer, and I raise mine.
We make some small talk and catch up on the last month. I decided to ask Todd the question I had debated for the previous months. "Todd, I would appreciate you standing up for me next month. Would you be my best man?"
He looks resigned, then smirks. "Of course I will. Congratulations, man, you have outdone yourself with Cheryl. I'm truly happy for you. Please chalk my previous actions up as a man trying to hang on to what we had."
"Thanks, Todd, that means a lot to me," I tell him sincerely.
Todd raises his beer. "Here's to growing the hell up."
We clink our beers. "Cheers."
Todd then looks down at his beer.
"What's up, man?" I ask.
Todd looks up at me. "I'm being sent to Dover, Delaware, for a two-year job."
I'm surprised. "Really? When do you leave?"
"A week after your wedding," he replies.
"Well, damn. Are you okay with this?" I ask with concern.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? You'll be living in Baltimore. After two years, I'll be back here. I'm thinking of subletting my apartment." He talks like it is no big deal.
I take a sip of the fresh beer that Red gave me. "That's a good idea. It might be nice for you to have a change of pace."
Todd nods. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking, and the extra money will be nice too."
Red comes to give Todd another beer and to take our dinner order. Todd and I talked and laughed like old times and discussed how drastically our lives are changing well into the evening.
***
Our wedding is in two weeks, and we're both very excited to become husband and wife. I'm moving into her brownstone this weekend and just taped up the last box. I glance over at my future wife. She's on her phone ordering food to be delivered. Damn! I'm one hell of a lucky man.
She catches me looking at her. "What?"
"I was just thinking how lucky I am to call you mine," I confess.
She smiles and blushes, looking so damn beautiful braless in her baby blue tank top and grey shorts. Her hair is in a messy bun with escaped curls bouncing freely around her gorgeous face. She doesn't have on a stitch of makeup, and I can't believe how naturally stunning my girl is.
Cheryl looks at me and smiles. "Dinner will be here in twenty minutes."
I get up and walk over to her and sit behind her, straddling my large ottoman. I pull her back onto my chest and lightly kiss her exposed neck. "Whatever shall we do in the next twenty minutes."
She moaned as I continued to pepper her silky neck with kisses. "Mmmm... this works for me."
I reach around, place my hands underneath her Tank, and take her perfectly round breasts into my hands. I squeeze gently before gently pinching her hardened nipples. "You have no idea how hard it's been not touching you all day. You look so damn hot, Babe!"
She chuckles. "I look horrendous."
"Not to me; you look incredible," I try to convince her.
"You need a pair of fucking eyeglasses, my friend." She leans her head back on my shoulder, laughing at her words.
"I have 20/20 vision, Babe. Maybe you need glasses to see yourself as I see you," I tease.
She gives me a contented sigh. "I love you, Babe."
I kiss her neck. "I love you, too."
We made out like horny teenagers till our food arrived. I can't wait to get my shit moved in with Cheryl and have these magnificent moments with my girl whenever and wherever I want!
*****