The Wedding （19）

She twisted the last curl into her hair, sprayed it a final time, and did one more makeup check in the mirror of the hotel bathroom. It was the room with a single king-sized bed that she and Ryan were supposed to be sharing for the evening, but where she'd now be spending the night alone.

The ceremony was starting downstairs in about 20 minutes, and just as she finished checking her outfit in the full-length mirror, there was a knock at the door.

"You ready?" Tyler said, standing there with Osi. They both looked incredibly handsome, but especially Tyler. His hair was actually styled for once and not crammed inside a wool cap, and the blue plaid suit he was wearing complemented his dark green eyes flawlessly. He'd been letting a bit of facial hair grow in, which for Tyler took about 10 seconds, but he'd trimmed it up neatly for the occasion.

"Ty, you look really nice," she told him, as he avoided eye contact with her.

"Yeah, thanks. We should go."

He was being short with her, which meant he was still pissed off from earlier. The drive didn't help things; they'd bickered nearly the entire ride, speaking in code so as not to reveal too much to Osi.

"You can't have two sets of rules for the same fuckin' game. That's not fair."

"When you're the one making up the game and the rules, you can do whatever you want."

"How is that fair? The expectation is that there's some sort of end goal, right? How can one person be playing by one set of rules and the other by a different one? Get the fuck outta the left lane, jackass!" Tyler honked the horn and abruptly swerved the truck into the middle lane.

"I don't understand why you care so much. If all the players in the game are aware of the different sets of rules, and they agree to them, what's it matter?"

"Did they agree to them? Or did some of the other players pressure them into accepting rules that maybe they didn't want to? And now they're stuck with a disadvantage, while others play to win every time. Move, fucker! I hate the fuckin' Belt Parkway! This is literally what hell must be like."

"Maybe it's a necessary disadvantage."

"Oh, is that right? A necessary disadvantage. Maybe some other players wanna join the game but can't because of these fucked-up sets of rules for the different players already in the game. It's like hockey. You can't blow offsides for one team and let the other just skate right the fuck on in without the puck. It's not the same game."

"You know I don't understand hockey."

"You don't understand a lot of things. For someone so smart, you're really stupid sometimes."

"Piss off, Hayes." She never called him ‘Hayes' unless she was annoyed with him.

There was a silence, which Osi finally broke. "Is not the same game."

"What?" Amara and Tyler asked in unison.

"Two sets of rules for same game no work. If two sets of rules for same game, is not the same game. Is two separate games."

"Thank you, Osi!" Tyler yelled, slapping the steering wheel. "Thank you."

"By the way: is very obvious neither of you is talking about actual game."

The three of them walked down the hall to the elevator, got on, and Osi hit the button for the lobby, which was on the same floor as the ceremony and reception. As they got off, Amara spotted Nick standing there and shuffled over to him, giving him a huge hug. "Congratulations! I'm so glad this is finally happening for you. You nervous?"

"Nah, not really. Just happy for this day to be here. You know he's been driving me nuts. Hey: I appreciate you being here. I know weddings aren't the easiest for you. Thank you." He kissed the top of her head.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything. Gonna go grab my seat. Good luck!" She blew him a kiss, went into the ceremony room, and sat in the seat Tyler had saved for her.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I mean, I guess I get it, but this wedding is an absolute fuckin' sausage party. Christ. I've never seen so much dick."

She giggled and smacked him on the arm. "Stop it."

"I was kinda hoping to get laid here tonight. Guess that ain't happening."

"Don't all you hockey boys play both sides anyway?"

He blushed, smirking. "Nah."

"Never?"

"Not...in a very long time." He immediately changed the subject. "Anyway, I forgot to tell you, but you look real pretty. I'm just gonna tell everyone that you're my date tonight, OK?" She spoke fluent Tylerese, and that roughly translated to, "Sorry I was such a dick earlier."

"OK," she said, shifting in her seat as she thought about their brief kiss from earlier, how much the thought of his tongue turned her on, and how much she desperately wanted to pick up where they left off.

"Any word on Rook's mom?" he asked.

"Not sure. Last we talked, she was home and doing fine, but I haven't…I actually haven't heard from him at all today," she said, checking to make sure she'd put her phone on silent.

"There's a surprise," Tyler mumbled.

"Don't start."

"You know I don't sugarcoat shit, babe. You need to ditch his dusty ass before you get hurt again."

"He's not going to hurt me."

"He already did, Mar. Did you forget you were cryin' in my arms earlier today?"

"No, I remember. And just so you know, that wasn't because of him. That was my own insecurity messing with my head."

"Do you remember kissin' me?"

"Tyler!" They'd been whispering loudly, but she raised her voice, causing people to turn and look. "Stop it. Now."

He leaned over to her ear. "Because I haven't stopped thinkin' about it for even a second."

She closed her eyes. "Please, not right now."

The ceremony started, and he finally backed off. When he heard her sniffling during the exchanging of vows, he grabbed her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it.

He didn't bother to let it go, nor did she bother to pull it away.

???

"Holy shit!" Tyler plopped down at the table, where Amara had been engaged in small talk with a few of Mark's coworkers. He was feeling no pain, having downed about his sixth Jack and Coke. Amara had started the night grabbing them for him, but they quickly realized no one was checking ID. He'd spent the last half-hour tearing up the dance floor, which amused Amara to no end, seeing as he couldn't dance to save his life.

"Having fun out there, Dancing Queen?" she teased, watching him slam the nearest glass of water and wipe his face with his arm.

"Yeah, but I'm sweatin' like a whore in church." The jacket and tie had come off and his shirt was halfway unbuttoned.

"Lettin' all that luxurious chest hair fly free tonight?" She grabbed onto his collar with one hand and tugged it lightly.

"Respect the chest lettuce, eh? You know you think it's sexy."

"Perhaps a little."

"It's so hot in here. Come on," he said, grabbing her by the arm and standing up. "Come get some air with me."

They made their way back into the lobby and headed out a side door, which led to an outdoor sitting area, where the firepits were roaring since it was a cold, New York November night. They found a couple of chairs and Amara sat down, immediately rubbing up and down her arms. "We can't stay out here long. It's freezing."

"You kidding? This feels like Heaven!" She felt him put his jacket around her shoulders before sitting down next to her. "I got you. Grabbed it for you on the way out, since I know your old ass is always cold."

"Thank you." She pulled it tightly around the front of her. It smelled like him, and she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.

"So, talk to me."

She sighed. "What do you wanna talk about, Tyler?"

"This little arrangement between you and Rook…"

"Jesus, Ty. You don't quit."

"What's the end game, Mar?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, where's it headed with him? I don't know if you know this, but I spend a considerable amount of fuckin' time worryin' about you."

"Now why would you go and do a thing like that?"

"Because!" He stood up dramatically and threw his hands up. "You've been through hell. You…you should be out here havin' the time of your life, doin' whatever you want. You meet a guy at work, you wanna go home with him? You should go home with him. Meet a hot, young stud in the laundry room you wanna bang? You should bang him."

"Provided he doesn't have a girlfriend at the time," she reminded him. "Or believe me, I would've."

"Duly noted. Anyway, you shouldn't be tied down right now, especially not with someone as fuckin' needy as Rook. You know he's impossible, Mar."

"I am very capable of making my own decisions, Tyler."

"Are you though?"

"This is exhausting. I really don't wanna do this with you anymore."

"Good!" he yelled. "Because I don't wanna do this anymore with you either. Jesus, Amara. I've been walking around with a raging hard-on for you for two months. I had a girlfriend, then you had a boyfriend, now I don't have a girlfriend, and you and your boyfriend have an actual agreement to bang other people, which somehow, I got excluded from. What the fuck are we supposed to do? Ignorin' it clearly isn't workin' anymore."

"I don't know, Ty. I wish I did."

"Well, here goes nothin'." He dropped down to one knee in front of her, reached into the pocket of his jacket, pretended to have a ring box, and pretended to open it in front of her. "I have a question to ask you. Amara, will you…" He clasped his hands together on her lap, shook them back and forth, and pretended to cry. "Will you please let this happen? I'm begging you! We kissed for half a second today and I've already jerked off twice in my hotel room. Twice. I can't smack it to you anymore, woman. My dick is legit gonna fall off. Please?" He looked up at her, with slightly drunk eyes and the stupidest grin plastered across his face.

"Get. The fuck. Up!" she laughed, kicking him, as he stood up and sat back down next to her.

"You like that?" He nudged her. "You got a 20-year-old begging you for it. Literally begging. You better knock it off with that insecurity shit, woman. There's not a man alive you couldn't fuck if you wanted to."

"So, secret time? Our little kiss today did things to me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Like, I felt it in parts of my body I didn't even know I had. I can't stop thinking about it."

"I really thought that was it, that I was gonna fuck you right there on your bed today. You know it's gonna happen, right?"

She exhaled. "I know."

He leaned over, nuzzling his head into the crook of her neck, and placed a hand on her leg. "Come on, let's just get it out of our systems tonight. He's not here. What are you gonna do in that huge bed all by yourself? He doesn't ever have to know it happened, Amara. It can be our little secret." She felt his hand creeping up her thigh, a finger toying with the hem of her dress. "I'll have you grippin' those sheets harder than he does, I fuckin' promise you that."

"Ty, stop." She pushed him away gently and stood up, though she was seriously considering his offer. Maybe if they just pulled the trigger, their feelings would fade and they could move forward as friends, or…something. "Come on, let's go back inside. It's too cold out here."

As they walked back into the reception, she took off his jacket, handed it back to him, and he tossed it over his shoulder. "I gotta rock a piss. Get us more drinks." He disappeared to the bathroom as Amara headed to the bar.

"One Jack and Coke, and a whiskey on the rocks, please," she told the bartender, after waiting in line for a bit.

"Make that two whiskeys."

Her eyes widened. She flipped around and found herself face to face with Ryan Baylor, looking sexy as ever in a tailored black suit with white pinstripes, a black tie, and a white dress shirt. "Oh my…hi! How? What?"' She threw her arms around him and kissed him. "Hi!"

"I wanted to surprise you. That's why I didn't text you at all today. Surprise!" He smiled at her. "I called Nick earlier to make sure it was cool if I crashed. Flight was delayed or I'd have been here sooner. So, you look like a goddess. Who's the other drink for?"

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

"Yo, some dude is launching' over that bath…" Tyler's face sank as he returned to the bar, where Amara was now standing next to her boyfriend. "Where the fuck did this kid come from, eh?" He wrapped an arm around Ryan's shoulder and gave him a quick, little-too-hard squeeze before grabbing his drink from Amara. She could tell he was pissed but trying to hide it.

"Thought I'd surprise my girlfriend and come home early. I paid for the room. It'd be a shame not to get any use out of it." He winked at her, looked Tyler dead in the eyes, and took a sip of his drink. "Don't you think?"

"Totally. I'll, uh, see you guys in there." He turned and walked away. Amara's eyes followed him until he was out of sight, then landed back on Ryan, who was finishing his first whiskey and asking the bartender for another. He grabbed it and threw about half of it back, which Amara knew meant that he intended to get drunk. "Come on, I wanna dance with my girl for a bit," he said, leading her back into the reception hall.

Shit.