30
Genevieve
I f I didn’t love Easton and Vincent so much, I would have skipped out on their wedding. I didn’t feel very festive about love. My mind was far away from here, wondering how Luke was doing after the funeral. It hurt to be so far away when I wanted to be there for him, but Camila was right.
As much as I wanted to say I was all in right then and there, I was still scared. Luke still didn’t know what I had almost done and it wasn’t fair to say anything now, not while he was grieving his parents. So, no matter what I wanted, I needed to respect Camila’s wishes.
I looked down at my phone with no new messages. Camila had been keeping me informed all day, but her texts were few and far between and I wouldn’t doubt she was doing it on purpose. While I wanted to be mad, I couldn’t help but feel a little proud of her for putting me in my place.
“I want to be there for it all, because that’s what family does. I choose you to be my family.” I looked up to see Vincent saying his vows. “I love you, Noemi and Easton, los dos son el amor de mi vida.”
His words brought a smile to my face as we all clapped for the lovely throuple. As much as I wanted to be grumpy, I was really happy for my friends. They walked down the aisle before we all headed inside away from the cold. It was a small wedding, thankfully, they didn’t have ten speeches, a wedding cake or other obnoxious wedding traditions.
Yes, I know I’m a bitch but sue me, weddings are expensive, and I’d rather get some clothes, jewelry or an amazing vacation instead. Take me to court, give me pie and fuck me senseless. That sounded like the perfect wedding to me.
The grooms and bride were getting ready to leave as my threshold of peopling hit it’s max. They came over to my side of the table as I stood up.
“You look absolutely stunning, Noemi,” I said, kissing her cheek.
“Thank you, and thank you for coming,” she said, as Vincent and Easton kissed me on the cheek.
“Of course, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world especially when the two men I thought would be forever bachelors finally decided to tie the knot,” I said, admiring all of their lovesick looks at each other.
“Are you ok?” Easton asked, even though he had asked me when I arrived.
“For now, we will see how I feel when they return,” I said, hating the uneasiness I felt. “They do send their congratulations.”
“Well, if you need anything, you can always count on us,” Noemi said, grabbing my hand with her uninjured hand.
She was still wearing a cast from the assault she and Easton were in a few weeks ago.
“Thanks,” I said, hoping I would never come to them crying again.
Embarrassment hit me again, something I had not felt in a long time.
“I mean we could?—”
“Nope, we are not doing this here,” I interrupted Vincent. “Go have fun, lovebirds!”
I gave each of them a kiss on the cheek, but Easton held me still.
“Don’t let them get away, Mistress,” he said softly. “I know you think that you can do this all on your own, but there is nothing better than knowing you don’t have to do it alone.”
I clenched my jaw as he kissed my cheek, hoping I didn’t cry here. It seemed Camila and Luke had opened the emotional floodgates and lately all I did was get choked up or cry.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to?—”
“It’s ok, now go enjoy your wedding night and don’t break anything else,” I said, pushing my emotions away.”
They laughed, but Easton still looked worried.
“Go, I’m ok,” I said, pushing him towards his family.
“If you don’t call me in a few days we are breaking down your apartment door!” he yelled as they dragged him out of the restaurant.
My chest felt tight as I checked my phone again with no update from Camila. I pursed my lips, trying to take a deep breath as a myriad of emotions hit me again. My lip trembled and I debated whether jumping on a plane to go to them was insane.
“Oh, I know that look.”
I looked up to see Lincoln, Vincent's business partner standing on the other side of the table. I had only spoken to him a few times before and I knew he was a Dom too.
“There was no look,” I said, grabbing my purse.
“Oh, that was definitely a look,” he chuckled. “The look of ‘what the fuck have I gotten myself into and is it worth it to dive in headfirst?’.”
I scowled. “Christ, Vincent has a big mouth.”
He laughed. “He does, but I promise you that I don’t know anything, but that is the same look I got when I screwed up and I had to decide if the pain was worth it.”
“And was it?”
He looked over to a pregnant woman and another man walking towards us. He looked just as lovesick as Vincent. What the hell was in the Denver water?
“Hell yes,” he said, looking back at me. “Have a good night, Genevieve.”
“Night,” I grumbled, watching him walk up to them and they all kissed.
I put my coat on before grabbing my things and walked out ready to either make the biggest mistake of my life or the best. It seemed I had drunk the water too, because I wanted what they had, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still scare the shit out of me.
Apparently, Lubbock was the closest airport to fly to and then I would still need to drive an hour and half to the farm. I wouldn’t be able to get to them until tomorrow night. I had no idea when they were coming home so I waited to hear from them that evening, but they didn’t call.
When I woke up to the phone ringing, I almost fell out of bed to answer it.
“Hey,” I said, a little breathlessly.
“Good morning to you too,” Cheryl said, and I tried not to feel disappointed.
“How are you?” I said sitting up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“I miss you, Genny,” she said softly.
Since that day at the sex shop, we hadn’t talked much, and that was unusual for us. The few times we had talked, it was strained and even though she was right about me being an ass, we hadn’t really talked about it.
“I miss you, too,” I said solemnly.
I knew I had to fix us because even if Luke, Camila and I got together, it wouldn’t be as fulfilling if I didn’t have my sister too.
“Can we have lunch?”
“Dinner?”
We both spoke at the same time, making us chuckle and it eased a part of me.
“I can’t do lunch, I still have to cater a brunch for that wedding I did yesterday,” she said. “I’ll be done by five.”
“Sushi?” I asked, even though I knew she would say yes.
“Actually, can we try that new Mexican Asian fusion place?”
“Sure, you've been talking about it for a while now,” I said, looking at the clock. “Cheryl, why the fuck are you calling me at six-thirty in the morning?”
“Because I didn’t want to waste one more minute with us being awkward and weird,” she said matter-of-factly.
Dammit, I couldn’t be mad at that.
“Also, I wanted to hear about the wedding yesterday,” she said.
I laughed because it probably killed Cheryl not being at the wedding.
“Fine, I guess I can forgive you,” I said, laying back down in bed.
“I really did miss you, Genny. I know we still talked, but I wanted my sister back, not just a friend,” she said, making me feel even guiltier.
“Me too, Cher,” I said, knowing she hated being called Cher.
“Meet you at six-thirty, brat?” she sassed.
“Yes, mother,” I joked.
“Keep giving me attitude and I’ll show you how a real spanking is done,” she snapped, and I cackled.
“That would be weird because I do love a good spanking,” I laughed.
“Eww, gross, you went there,” Cheryl chuckled.
“You said it first,” I said, feeling a lot better.
“Alright I have to go, but I’ll see you tonight, ok?”
“Ok, I love you,” I said, feeling a lump in my throat.
“Love you too, Genny,” she said, making a kissing noise before hanging up the phone.
I laid down thinking that I could have dinner with Cheryl and hop on a plane tomorrow morning to go see Luke and Camila. I looked up a flight and booked it before I chickened out, then I looked at car rentals and booked that too.
For the first time in a long time, it felt like the pieces of my puzzle were finally coming together. I just had three pieces to get together and I would feel better.
Me: I know it’s early, but I just wanted to see if you are ok and if there is anything I can do, let me know. I miss you and I’m thinking of you.
I laid the phone next to me, expecting for me to hear from them later when my phone buzzed.
Camila: It was not a good day yesterday. It was hard on his siblings and his sister especially. Luke’s feeling emotionally drained.
She sent a private message just between us and while the message wasn’t good, it felt like a step in the right direction.
Me: Are you staying there any longer?
Camila: He needs to get some financial things situated so maybe a few more days. If he doesn’t come back at that point, I will because I have a lot of stuff to do for the dresses I’m making for a wedding, but I don’t want to leave him.
I trembled slightly when I decided to tell her my plan.
Me: What if I came for a few days? I could stay with him and you could get work done?
Camila: You’d want to come?
Me: Of course, I miss you both. I want to be there for both of you. This has to be stressful and I want to help however I can.
My heart pounded, my nerves made me a little queasy.
Camila: That would be great. I think Luke would love that.
Camila: And I would too.
The tension left my body leaving me with a big goofy smile.
Me: Tomorrow morning too soon?
Camila: Tomorrow is perfect. Text me or call me when you get to the airport.
Me: I will. If he feels up to it he can call me. I’ll be going to dinner with Cheryl at six-thirty but I’ll be free all day.
Camila: I’ll let him know.
Me: I miss you.
The dots that said she was texting disappeared and reappeared several times before the longest minutes of my life came to an end.
Camila: We miss you too.
The urge to say I love you came out of nowhere. My thumbs hovered over the keys debating if this was a good idea. I let my phone fall on the bed before I did it. If I was going to tell them I loved them, it needed to be in person because I wanted to see their face, to hold them and they needed to hear more than just my love for them. Maybe it was a stupid idea, but I needed to tell Luke what I had done and almost did. keeping this from him felt wrong and if I wanted to be with them forever, he needed to know.
I threw my arm over my face hating that I had done what I did. It was going to be awkward, but I needed them. Being in control was always my goal, but I was finding out that I wanted chaos, unpredictability and above all, I wanted them. I wanted hearts and flowers, dinners and Netflix they were my home. So wherever life took us, l wanted to be with them because no matter how much I fought it, I would always be theirs.