When I walked back into the cabin, the rest of the girls were stirring.
“Where were you?” Sloane moaned.
“Just getting some fresh air,” I said, hiding my phone so I wouldn’t get busted for talking to Lucah.
“Oh God, why?” Chloe moaned. I wasn’t feeling all that great either, but at least I was on my feet, so I started getting breakfast together for everyone.
“Oh, get out of the way,” Sloane said, using the furniture to prop herself up so she could get to me. “Let me do it.” I could make an okay breakfast, but Sloane could make an orgasmic one, so I moved aside and went to brush my teeth.
~*~*~
An hour later we were all feeling better, although I was still dealing with random bouts of nausea.
“I wish I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow. I wish we could stay here for a week,” I said as we all drank more tea on the porch before we shoved everything back in the car and headed out.
“Well, it’s not over yet,” Sloane said, patting my knee and then coming back out with some more of the gift bags I’d seen at the hotel.
“We knew you wouldn’t want the traditional bachelorette crap, but we had to do this. So.” She set the bags in front of me and I started pulling out the presents inside. Of course there was lingerie from Sloane, a few vibrators, edible underwear, a few porn DVDs, handcuffs, a massage candle and a bunch of other sexy things.
“I hate you all,” I said by the time I got to the last present, a bag of gummies shaped like penises.
“No, you love us,” Sloane said, smacking a kiss on my cheek.
“You totally love us,” Chloe said.
“Yup. You love us,” Marisol chimed in. They all looked very pleased with themselves.
“Well, I guess this is better than a stripper. I’m surprised you didn’t find one to come out here and do a lumberjack strip tease or something.” That set them all into fits.
“If you wanted a show, I can give you one,” Sloane said in a slinky voice as she got up off her chair and played with the hem of her shirt.
“Okay, this needs to stop right now or else I’m going to get turned on,” Chloe yelled, covering her eyes.
“You’re no fun,” Sloane said, dropping her shirt back down and looking at Chlo over her shoulder.
Chloe carefully uncovered her eyes and then glared at Sloane.
“You can’t tease me like that and then expect me not to be pissed about it,” Chloe said. Sloane rolled her eyes.
“Okay, okay. No more stripteases in front of you.”
“Thank you. That’s all I ask.”
~*~*~
We rolled out an hour later. The Jeep was not nearly as well-packed as when we’d left. To get everything back in, we’d just sort of thrown everything in the back and slammed it shut.
Chloe took the first driving shift and demanded that there be no music, to which we all agreed, since our heads were all still hurting.
“You ready for your wedding now?” Chloe asked as Sloane and Marisol slept in the back.
“I think so. I have to be, I guess. No turning back.” I looked down at my finger. I’d never really understood the whole “shackled” thing when it came to marriage. I mean, no one was forcing me to marry Lucah. I could get out if I wanted to and I definitely didn’t want to. Sure, I’d been a little reluctant at first, but now I was all in. So completely all in.
“I don’t know if I could do that. Completely commit to someone for more than a few years, let alone a lifetime. It sounds insane, really. People grow. People change their minds. I mean, how many people change careers and move and change their hair and even their bodies. So why would you stick with the same person? It doesn’t make sense. To me. I’m not knocking marriage for anyone else. I just don’t see it in my future at all. Even though it’s legal and shit.” I knew she felt that way, but she’d never really come out and said it to me.
“I’m not offended, Chlo. If you were telling me not to get married because you didn’t believe in it, then I might have a problem. But it’s okay. I don’t think marriage is for everyone either. I wasn’t sure it was for me. You know how hard Lucah had to fight to get me to even say we were engaged. But, to be totally cliché, when you meet the right person, you just know. And it feels right. You can’t imagine your life without them in it and you’d do anything to keep from losing them. One of those things is marriage, I guess. Tying your life to someone else’s so you don’t have to be alone.” I shrugged. I’d never thought of myself as lonely. I’d been an only child, sure, but I’d had friends and my parents and then Sloane and I’d never had a problem being by myself. Then I met Lucah and I realized how wonderful it was to have someone around all the time. Someone to talk to and have sex with. A best friend that was also your sex partner and the one person you could tell anything to.
“I didn’t feel that way. Even… Even with Harmony.” Nearly a year later, she still had trouble saying her name. I knew she’d loved Harmony, but it hadn’t been healthy. It had been a controlling love. An obsessive love. We’d barely seen her when they were together and when we did, she was trying to think of ways to get back to Harmony. Harmony hadn’t liked hanging out with us much, and often made Chlo choose between her friends and her girlfriend. Naturally, we tried to be supportive, but also cautioned her at the same time. It was always a delicate balance between being a good friend and being honest. Sometimes those two things didn’t go together. Finally, things had blown up when Chloe had found Harmony cheating and we were able to tell her all the things we’d never liked about her. I didn’t think Chloe was ever going to go down that path again, but I also worried that she’d just never let anyone in again.