Lover's Roulette (19 page)

Ryan helped me down then ushered me back into the room. I went to sit down on the chair but I couldn’t even bend over. When I moved it sounded like I farted.

Ryan waved his hand away. “What a lady.”

“It was the dress.”

“Whatever you say.”

I sighed. “I give up. This is too difficult.”

“We’ll find something.”

“No. I look stupid in everything.”

“You don’t look stupid. Everything looks good on you, but it just isn’t the right match. I’ll go look for something outside.”

There was a knock on the door. “I have a few more for you,” Becky said.

Ryan opened the curtain and took the dresses. After he put them on the rack, I looked through them.

“I don’t like any of them,” I said.

Ryan glanced at them. “I’ll go look outside.”

“That’ll be a waste of time.”

He shut the curtain behind him after he left. I stood there in my skin tight dress and stared at myself in the mirror. Nothing fit me right. I looked awkward and out of place. I would rather walk down the aisle naked than wear any of these dresses. Sean would probably like that.

Ryan came back a few minutes later.
He held the dress out to me. It was bright white with a textured feel to it. It billowed out slightly, but it was almost unnoticeable. It had a tight fit about it, but it wasn’t too tight. I could actually walk. It was sleeveless and went around the chest. When I looked at it, I felt the recognition in my brain. It was simple, but perfect. “What do you think?”

I felt the material in my hand then took it from him without saying anything.

He turned around waited for me to change.

After I got out of the snakeskin suit, I pulled it on. It fit perfect
ly. I stared at myself in the mirror, seeing the curve of my hips. My breasts were noticeable, but they were displayed in a subtle way. It was the prefect length, barely touching the floor. I tucked my hair behind my ear, unsure what to say.

Ryan turned around, somehow knowing I was dressed. He
came behind me and stared at my reflection in the mirror. We said nothing for a long time, just staring at the exceptional dress that seemed to be made just for me.

He placed his hands around my waist and hugged me from behind. “I’m proud of you,” he whispered.

I stared at him in the mirror, a slight smile on my lips.

“And I’m glad you made it.”

“We made it.” I placed my hands over his. “I wish dad was here,” I said with emotion in my voice. I fluttered my eyes so the tears wouldn’t come.

He placed his hands on my shoulders, still standing behind me. His blue eyes matched mine, conveying all of his thoughts. We were connected in a way that could never be explained. The years of torment
, abuse, and fear made us in tune to each other’s silent thoughts and emotions. All the whispers we shared, the nights we lied absolutely still, had ingrained a unique relationship between us. We were so alike we could be twins. While I saw pain in his eyes, I also saw happiness. “He is, Scarlet.”

I turned around and hugged him, holding him for a long moment.

He rested his chin on my head, his hand on the middle of my back.

We stood there, slightly swaying as we both took a moment to remember our father, someone we missed every day that passed. From wh
at I could remember of my dad, Ryan reminded me of him. A strong man that could overcome anything.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you too.”

“Thank for you everything.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you chose me for this special day.”

“Not just for that, Ryan. You never left me when you could have. I was so scared. I wouldn’t have survived without you.”

“Shh,” he said. “It’s in the past. Leave it there. Now it’s time for us to be happy. And of course, I would never leave you. You’re still my number one girl.”

“No, Janice is.”

“It’s a tie.”

I pulled away. “I hope everyone else likes it.”

“They will,” he said with confidence. He grabbed my hand and led me outside the room.

I walked up the ramp and stoo
d there, waiting for my family to lay down the truth.

No one said anything, just staring at me.

Monnique’s eyes widened and her wine sat in her hand, untouched. Janice covered her mouth but didn’t say anything either. Diane smiled at me. Cortland was the first to react.

He picked up his paper. It said
‘yes’.

I smiled at him.

Janice stood up and fanned the tears in her eyes. “That’s it.”

“You look so beautiful!” Monnique said, jumping up.

They came to me, feeling the dress with their fingertips.

Diane grabbed my hands and smiled at me. “My son has chosen well.”

The words caught me by surprise. They meant the world to me. “Thank you.”

“And I know my grandchildren will be beautiful,” she said.

“I can’t wait to be an uncle,” Ryan said. “If they’re girls I’ll have raise them to be ladies. Otherwise, they’ll be beer-drinking tomboys like Scarlet.”

I glared at him.

“I can’t wait either,” Cortland said. “I’ll teach them about computers.”

“So they’ll be nerds?” Monnique asked. “They’ll never get laid.”

“Well, it worked on you.”

She smiled then looked away.

“I think we are jumping the gun, you guys,” I said. “How about we have the wedding first?”

“Okay,” Ryan said. “Get changed so we can go out and get some food.”

“Good. I’m starving.”

“What a surprise,” Ryan said.

“You’re lucky I refuse to hit people.”

“If you did, I’d have Janice take you.”

Janice shook her head. “You’re on your own, babe.”

“Good for nothing,” he mumbled.

I walked away. “I’ll be back.” I walked into the changing room and pulled the gown down. After I changed into my clothes, I picked up the dress and looked at the price tag. I almost fainted when I saw the amount. I couldn’t spend that kind of money on a single dress. It was ridiculous. I sighed, realizing it would be insane to spend that much money. I know Sean would want me to get what I wanted, but this was just too much.

Ryan came through the curtain. “What’s taking so long? I thought you were hungry.”

“I’m not getting it.”

“What?”

“The dress. It’s too expensive.”

He grabbed it from my hands. “Scarlet, I’m buying
it for you. This is my gift to you.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Too bad. That’s why I arranged to have the fitting here.”

“That dress is five thousand dollars! That’s way too much.”

“In case you forgot, I did inherit a million dollars.”

“So? That’s still a rip off.”

“Every dress here is unique. There’s none other in existence. That’s why it’s so expensive.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“Stop arguing with me. I wanted you to have something you deserve. You’re in love with this dress. You’re getting it.”

“Ryan, you don’t have to do that.”

“You don’t have a wedding dress from your mom to wear, so you are still getting one from your family somehow. If I buy it for you, it’s technically from me.”

My eyes softened. My brother was so amazing, but he continued to surprise me. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just stop being a drama queen about it.”

I rolled my eyes. “There you go, ruining another moment.”

He chuckled. “Let’s go.”

“I can’t—”

He walked out and ignored me.

I sighed then followed him. We walked to the register and he pulled out his wallet.

“Actually, I was hoping to pay for it,” Diane said. “My gift to my daughter.”

I smiled at her, not expecting her to do that.

“I would have given you my old dress, but it’s so out of style now. You wouldn’t have liked it.”

I was relieved that she didn’t offer it to me so it would
n’t be awkward when I turned it down.

Ryan looked torn. “I wanted this to by my gift to my sister.”

“Oh okay,” she said sadly. “I totally understand.”

Ryan glanced at me then returned his look to her. “How about we split it? It’ll be from both of us?”

She smiled. “Thank you so much.”

He nodded. “Of course.” He placed his credit card on the counter and she placed hers next to his. Becky slid both cards through the machine then handed them back.

“Thank you and please come again.”

“Thank you,” I said.

We left the store and stood outside. I was overwhelmed by the support of my family. I never thought I would have a group of people who loved me so much. My brother wasn’t the party-event-planning type of guy, but he did an amazing job making this day special for me. Diane didn’t approve of my scandalous behavior, but she still made an effort to accept me. And my other friends seemed to be just as invested. I may not be a billionaire, own my own island, or have a lifestyle of the rich and the famous, but my life had turned out to be so amazing, full of love. I was so lucky.

17

“So, how’d it go?” Sean said when we came home.

I carried the wedding dress by the hanger. It was covered in white plastic so it couldn’t be seen. “Good.”

“Is that it?” he asked, looking at the bag.

“Yep.”

“I look forward to seeing it.”

“No peeking,” I said.

“It’ll look a million times better when you’re wearing it anyway.”

I smiled, moved by his constant compliments.

“Thanks for going with her, Mom.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” she said.

“I know it’s late, but do you guys want to go out for dinner?” he asked.

“Actually, we already went out,” I said.

“Oh okay.”

Diane yawned. “It’s been a long day. I think I’m going to bed.”

“Okay,” I said. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“What time does your flight leave?” Sean asked.

“Seven,”
she said.

“Mom, you’re an early riser.”

“Well, I’m old,” she said with a smile.

“Well, goodnight,” he said.

“Goodnight,” she said as she walked away.

When she was gone
, he looked at me. “So how was it, really?”

I smiled. “It went well.
Ryan planned everything. He even rented out a special boutique store for me to get my dress.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“I’m just can’t believe he did all of that.”

“I can. Ready for bed?”

“Always right to the point, huh?”

“You’ve been gone all day. I miss my lady.”

“I missed you too. I wish you were there.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure the wait will be worth it.” He took my hand and guided me to our bedroom. I hung up my dress in the closest then stared at it for a long time. Sean hooked his hand around my waist and held me close.

“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” he asked.

“Never.”

“Good. I would make you marry me anyway.”

“That’s romantic.”

He pulled me to the bed.

“Sean?”

“Babe?”

“What happened with Cortland?”

“What do you mean?” he said as he crawled into bed.

I came beside him. “What happened between you two? It’s like you’re friends.”

“We worked everything out.”

I stared at him, suspicion clouding my mind. “There’s more to this story.”

He shrugged. “We just talked it out. Everything is fine.”

“That still sounds odd. You talked it out many times and you still wanted to rip out his throat. Now you act like
you’re okay with everything.”

“I am okay with it.”

“It still seems like something is missing. What did he say to you to convince you? I couldn’t even get you to be this understanding about it.”

He sighed then looked at me. “I won’t lie to you, Scarlet. We did have a long conversation about it. Things were said. But I don’
t want to tell you about it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just something between him and I. Please don’t ask me again.”

“So you’ll never tell me?
”

“No.”

“Well, as long as everything is okay I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for not lying to me.”

“Never.”

“So what did you do today?”

He got a mischievous smile on his face. “I watched that video.”

“I have a feeling my panties were involved.”

“They may have been.”

“You’re so gross.”

“No argument from me.”

“I want a video too.”

He leaned closer to me. “What for?”

“What am I going to do when you commute to work every day?”

“We haven’t agreed on anything yet.”

“Ryan will agree when I ask him. But you may have to commute for a short time.”

“We’ll get back to that later. You should elaborate on the video.”

“What am I going to do when you’re gone?”

“They have Skype.”

“That’s pretty hot. But what about when I’m thinking about you during the day? I need something.”

“I’ll gladly oblige.”

“And I won’t show anyone.”

“Babe, I could
n’t care less if you showed anyone. I would prefer it if you did, actually.”

“You’re always so gross.”

“Yeah I am. Let’s make the video now.” He grabbed my phone and set it up on the nightstand. “What do you want to masturbate to?”

“Making love.”

“You got it.” He climbed on top of me and made love to me with more passion than he normally did. Since we were on the camera, he showed more of his body and flexed his muscles, making them more prominent. He lasted a long time, giving me plenty of footage.

When he came inside me, he repeated my name, telling me he loved me with his whole heart.
We fell asleep shortly afterward then woke up early the next morning.

Sean called a cab and had it
arrive at the apartment. Sean helped Diane carry her bags to the taxi and we walked her to the car.

I hugged her. “Thanks for coming, Diane.”

She pulled away. “Enough with that. Please call me Mom.”

“Really?” I blurted.

“Of course, dear.”

Sean smiled, happy that the moment finally arrived.

“Okay, Mom,” I said.

“
I’ll see you at the wedding.” She hugged Sean and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

“Goodbye. I’ll be seeing you soon.” She got into the car and drove away.

In that moment, it really hit me. Sean and I were getting married. It was finally happening. In just a few weeks, I would be Mrs. Preston. I would be marrying my best friend, the man who made me fall in love with him as often as he broke my heart. The end would
be near and we would spend the rest of our lives together. The only real relationship I ever had was turning into a lifetime commitment. My heart raced in my chest. The moment was almost here.