Hinged, Grown and Sexy

10. Save the Date

"You're folding that wrong." Hyacinthe corrected without looking up.

"You aren't even looking!" I argued before receiving a deadpanned look from my friend.

"Just tell us what's wrong with you, D." Olivia chimed in while setting her own envelopes down.

We were working on the Save the Date letters for the wedding, and if I knew there would be this much manual labor as a maid of honor, I might've let Darnell do it. My fingers had a paper cut or two, but it was mostly due to my own distracting thoughts.

"Nothing's wrong with me besides Hyacinthe not getting her money's worth out of her wedding planner."

"Some things just require a personal touch, but that's not what's really up with you." Hyacinthe scrutinized me for a moment before a lightbulb seemed to go off. "You're in a dry spell!" She exclaimed before bursting into laughter with my other traitorous friend.

"I hate you both."

"And I'm sure you're loving that vibrator." Olivia joked, sending them both into another fit of laughter.

It probably didn't help that the truth of that statement was written all over my face. The amount of times I had charged Ol' Reliable since I started going out with Eli would shock a priest.

My lips fought to keep a steady frown on my face, but I eventually gave in and laughed with them.

These were the moments I treasured the most with them. It didn't really matter that the laughter was at my expense because I loved these girls like sisters. Times like these made me realize that I missed them more than I thought when I was away.

"Wait, I thought you were still going out with Eli." Olivia said after our giggles had died down.

"I am! He's walking sexual tension, but all we've done is kiss... Well, actually we did something on a ferris wheel, but still!"

"Ferris wheel?" Hyacinthe whispered to Olivia.

"I don't want to know."

"Shit, I do." Hyacinthe replied, turning to me eagerly.

Except just as I was about to tell her all the pleasurable details, the doorbell sounded throughout the house. My friend groaned as she stretched her legs and got up to answer the door while thumps of movement above us signaled Justice heading our way.

I turned to see just as the door pulled open, and there he was.

Eli's molten chocolate eyes were crinkled in a smile, but they seemed almost drawn to my form as it didn't take long for him to notice me in the living room. An almost familial expression morphed into one of tantalizing seduction.

That look alone sent me back to our night stuck on a ferris wheel.

Two weeks prior

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." I breathed.

The anxiety had melted away the longer we were suspended in the air, and my nerves had settled as we looked out at the dizzying lights of the fair and fading view of the life of the city.

I was becoming increasingly aware that the breeze wafted Eli's scent toward me that it almost gave me the comfort of a warm blanket. When we first realized we were stuck, he had gripped my thigh, and I was just realizing that he'd never moved it.

Instead, he was drawing smooth circles into my clothed skin while the hand on my shoulder massaged me gently. It was impossible to stop myself from relaxing into his hold, and it seemed to have a calming effect on him too.