Halloween Wedding

He was such a good liar. Sitting back, poker faced, pretending he didn't have to shift his pants off the growing bulge. It made him even hotter when they fought for real.

"Hmm maybe, but you know I'm not." She mirrored his 'for show' relaxed posture as they each eyed their opponent. "Unattractive?"

He snorted in response to the attempted stab at herself.

"Nope. That's not it. You know that men hold the door open just to watch your ass, and you've caught me countless times checking out your cleavage. Hell, you just did. You know you're gorgeous." His voice shifted to his bullshit mode, "And as for me, I'm God's gift to women everywhere." She wasn't the only one to use sarcasm. While his eyes remained on her chest, decorative confetti flew across the table to land in his hair. She let out a squeal of disbelief at his nerve.

"There you go, that's the reason, you're a man whore and I'm afraid to catch something."

"Good point, if it were true. Omitting freshman year I think you've met every one of my girlfriends at one point or another, even that blond weekend fling. You know I don't whore around, I'm a one at a time kinda guy."

He took her hand to lead the way onto the patio next to the fake graveyard where it was not as loud but still involved in the party. He wanted to hear this. Tonight they were going to talk about the two of them and figure out what the problem was. If there was a problem. If not, then...

"There it is. We know too much, we've seen too much. I'm like a sister." She looked for her beer thinking she wasn't drunk enough for this conversation.

"Hmm maybe, but my sister doesn't have great tits like yours," he said with a shrug, taking a long moment to raise his gaze from her chest to her eyes. "You can't tell me you've never thought about me like that, thought about my body. Hell you've caught me naked a couple times." He leaned in closer to lower his voice and went on.

"Do you picture me when you're alone, in bed, late at night?" His voice was smooth with lashes flashing over bedroom eyes. She'd seen him play this slick seduction scene before: the eyes, the voice, the lean in to touch her. But when it was between the two of them it had always been part of a game that he'd grin and crack up at. Tonight something was off. He didn't laugh.

"Your naked ass is a sight to remember. I bet every woman on that boat remembers." After a pause she turned to face him again across the table. Her eyes were daring him, and he was taking the challenge. They were testing each other, trying to see which way this would go. Sometimes, like tonight, she couldn't tell how much of it he was putting on for show or how much might be real, hiding behind a joke.

"Why are you letting something stupid that Tasha said when she was drunk get to you? Is it because you were groped tonight? Did it rattle you that much?"

The problem was that she didn't know the answer to Tasha's question either. He was one of her best friends. They did lots of things together, shared interests and hobbies. He was one of those genuinely nice guys once you got beyond the smartass and laughter but that was plenty of fun too. And yes, she was very attracted to him all around. She knew he found her attractive, but he'd never thrown her up against a wall, not even when they were drunk.

She had always assumed that the two of them had somehow ended up in the friend zone, and neither one of them cared enough to try to break out of it. Oh yeah, and the marriage and babies thing. She assumed that he assumed that he wanted them, although all the evidence of his actions said otherwise. She'd always known she never wanted any kids. She'd never felt the biological clock, or even much of a maternal instinct.

"I'm just asking. I'd want to know if there was something fundamentally wrong with me. What is it about me that says I've got nothing more to offer?"

Juniper's shoulders slid down a little when she realized that this was a real conversation. No matter what kind of joke sparked it, it was real and she couldn't get out of it. They could both try to play fun with it but they were talking about the truth. They weren't drunk enough to deny it in the morning. They were sitting across from each other, telling the truth about things they'd never talked about.

"There's nothing wrong with you." He leaned forward in his chair and waited expectantly for her to go on, his chin in his hand.

"That's not why she left. She-that-must-not-be-named left because the two of you weren't right together." He choked on the beer as it sprayed out onto his clown pants. The Harry Potter reference was too much for him.

He knew how Juniper felt about the witch the whole two years he was under the spell and lived there. But she had more or less kept the dislike to herself. He really appreciated the fact that she skipped the part of the breakup where people announced 'I never liked that bitch'. The two of them had managed to stay fairly close through that time of the bitch's rein, at least on Sundays. She-that-must-be-named had a standing tennis date then.

She wasn't trying to derail this into something flip so she went on before he recovered himself. "You were superficially good together but there was nothing solid to back it up. Were you guys even in love at the end?" She could usually push him that far but worried that tonight was not the night. "You two were a cute couple with perfect teeth, a cute apartment, a cute dog... You guys were very..."

"Cute?" He'd heard this before in the other postmortems of the relationship.

"Yeah. She called it marriage but she left because she wanted something, and there wasn't anything... anything more. You know what I'm trying to say?"

"Yeah, I know. She wanted to be married, not necessarily marry me. I wanted... something different. Different than her. So that was a year ago, now what's the excuse? What's my excuse?"

"A year? Well, you were hurting for a while so you picked a bimbo to ease the pain." She made a stroking gesture with her fist. "Then you picked a woman that wouldn't hurt you. Those types never have much to offer, so you got bored. This is only my opinion, what it looks like from my chair. I'm not trying to say... Oh I'm going to stop, I don't know what I'm trying to say." He took note that again she could see right through other people's shit but didn't have a clue with what was going on in hers.

Maybe she didn't have a clue. Maybe she never knew how easily she could have had it. Just an invitation into the front door on any of those nights they spent out with whoever doing whatever. He could have... What an idiot he was. He could have pushed up against the door.

He shook his head trying to clear it before he attempted to take back the direction of the conversation. He didn't want to rehash the failed relationship. Again. She saw through the bullshit and called him on it. Tonight he wanted to know about Juniper. He wanted to know about the two of them.

"OK. Fine. You're right about me but what about you? Stop avoiding my question. Do you ever think about me like that? About us? In all the years we've known each other?" He was watching for her reaction with that look of his, not the sexy hunter but the 'I'm charming and I know it' look.

"If we're going to talk about thinking about you, then we'd have a harder time finding a straight woman in this room that wouldn't think about you. You are... all that, but hardly ever single." She looked him up and down waving the back of her hand across the table in a dismissive gesture. She flicked her braid back over her shoulder after reaching for a curl to twirl and coming up empty. She was trying to keep this light but it wasn't working. She didn't even know why she was trying so hard to keep it light.

"You've almost always had a woman, or one waiting, or waiting to get rid of one. If you think back over the years, our stretches of being single didn't match up very often. You were or I was or that year you worked out of state, we always had bad timing."

"Bad timing? Is that what you blame it on?" He pushed back away from the table giving up physical space trying to keep her confession going.

"Bad timing and fear." His body language along with his choice of words, or lack of, helped her along.

"Fear?" He was offering up rope for her to hang herself with.

"Yes fear. You've been one of my closest friends and I rely on you for a lot. I've always set aside any attraction because of the fear of losing my good friend. I can get another lover almost anywhere, but a friend... A friend that I need as much as you..." He waited for her to go on.

"This is an age-old story, It's everywhere, books, and movies. The story of two friends goes one of two ways, they never get together and are happy in their friendship pining away forever, or they get together then things go south and they never speak to each other again."

What was her choice tonight? Were they going to attempt plan C? A pause settled in between them threatening to be uncomfortable. He wouldn't let that happen and gave up the pressure. He tried to cut the tension but his choice of topic may have been questionable.

"Did you know that we talk about you? The guys, we talk about you and your body in a terribly demeaning sexual scenario way, like verbal porn." He said like it was nothing, like he was talking about the weather.

"Really? Depraved sexual fantasy. You're telling me about it now after how long?" She wasn't sure if she was offended or flattered. She couldn't tell where he was anymore, but it looked to her like he was thinking about plan B or C.

"I just wanted you to know that I think about you like that. I've put you into many masturbation film reels over the years." He cocked his eyebrow at her. "I think you'd like most of the plots and location developments." This turned the tension into something else and had his inner sexual predator going.

He'd never been the kind of guy to push a woman up against the wall and take her; he'd never needed to. He played more the spider to the fly, setting his web and luring them into being helplessly caught. With Juniper he'd been waiting for her. At that moment he wondered what would have happened if he had stalked and pounced.

"Like the front deck of that boat, an elevator or the gym on that weight machine? Boring, all very tame and even mainstream Hollywood rated R has done them all." He laughed long and hard at her observation.

"You think you know me so well, you'll be shocked. What about at a wedding?"

"That's not a good fantasy. Trust me I've done it, and I did it with a lot more taffeta. I'm not having sex with you at this wedding. You're crazy." She reached down to fluff her skirt.

"That's why you love me, because I'm your kind of crazy." He stood, lifted her up by one hand and turned it to trace her knuckles with his thumb. Neither one could look away, both curious and questioning the other's eyes like the answer was in there.

The 'L' word had been out there for years between them, there was no going back now. Mostly in fun like the 'luv ya bye' or a 'love n kisses' text but also in the arguments that end with 'don't be mad you know you love me'.

"Kiss me and I'll show you I'm not your brother." How does any women resist him when he looked at them like that. But she managed to turn away. It was physically hard for her to turn her head away.

"At least take me home first. There'll be enough gossip about the ladies room incident without us really giving them something to talk about." She wasn't going to win this card game. He had the better poker face.

"Come on, people are leaving, let's say goodbye then go." She led the way off the patio through the cobweb door and he watched the poofy skirt sway invitingly. "I don't want to kiss red clown lips anyway. You need to clean that up." Then yelped through her laughter at the swat to her rear. He had gotten through the poof to land it on her ass.

There were a lot of goodbyes said before the night at the Halloween wedding reception was over. They were both dragging it out, like the moment had passed and now they had second thoughts. Juniper thought that he'd back out, and Donovan thought she would, so they both stayed longer at the party. They were prolonging the agony, like torture.

After hugging and kissing friends she might see next week and others she'd probably never see again, she drew in a deep breath thinking she was alone at the moment. An arm wrapped around her waist from behind and continued around her belly causing a little scream to escape. Her back was pulled up against a broad chest and an evil cackle tickled her ear.

"Scared you? Come on this isn't a very good haunted house for that. But I'll never turn down holding you tight while you scream. For whatever reason. Ready to go? Ready to see that I'm not your brother?"

His head stayed tucked low over her ear as he talked close enough for his breath on her neck to raise goosebumps.

She twisted around in his arms so his hands lay very low on her back just shy of grabbing a handful of ass. She ran her fingers through his hair to grab a fistfull in a playful attempt at dominance. She pulled him down not quite to her lips and turned away before they met. As all the air left his lungs, it carried with it a long slow 'damn' and the sound of his frustration This might ruin everything but at least tonight was going to be good.

Raising up on tiptoes to whisper more torture in his ear she slid her body against his, pressing into him where she could feel him growing between them. His groan was a little too loud and was caught by another group of guests leaving.

Juniper was still busy trying to stuff the puffy skirt around her as she wrestled with the seatbelt when Donovan started the car.

"Ugh. I hate taffeta! No, I guess this is something else that makes it so big, tulle I think. And it's noisy, all night long, swish swish swish."

"Well then, I'll offer my help in getting you out of it," he said in his worst lecherous tone. His playful grin wasn't joined with the usual laughter in his eyes. He turned back to the road, not totally sure of the new territory.

"You're all talk." She also turned back to the window.

"Yup. I will talk you right out of that dress." Still playing the smug and cocky role that they both loved to hate. The mood in the car had settled into quiet, but not awkward, and they sat back to relax for a few minutes.

"I heard someone ask you about your name but I missed the answer. I don't think I've ever heard the story of Juniper Pearl."

"Really? I've never told you how I came to have this name? You of all people. Funny." She turned to him looking for any telltale signs of bullshit.

"What? Me of all people? What does that mean?" He thought maybe he should be offended.

"I just can't believe I've never told you, that's all." Her laughter made him join in even though he didn't know what they were laughing at. "Well, Pearl is my mother's sister, but that's not the interesting part for you." She waited for her laughter to settle down and for effect before telling the story.

"I'm named after a late 60's song 'Jennifer Juniper'." Thinking that's all that needs to be said, but his silence and blank stare told her she needed to give more.

"By the folk singer Donovan." She watched as recognition spread over his face then he burst out.

"No shit! Really? That's - that's - That's actually a little weird." His laughter went on long and loud. "Really? There's a song 'Jennifer Juniper' by Donovan. How could you have not told me this before? Donovan what?"

"Just Donovan. He sounds a little like Bob Dylan. You've never heard of him before? You don't have any hippie grandparents or someone that old?" For a moment she remembered her father.

"Oh baby, we need to get this song on. I need to hear this." He got out through his laughter. He couldn't get over how funny it was and how he'd never heard about it before.

"It was my father's taste in music. He was much older than my mother. Scandalously older, it was the talk of the small town when they married, and again when they divorced." She thought back about growing up as a rancher's daughter. It was such a different life after the divorce when her mother moved them to the east coast. It was totally different than the life she had now in the 'big city', as her father had called it.

"That's why my brothers are so much older, well half brothers but they never acted like half. Mitch was already working on the ranch, and Tom went off to school so they weren't there much. They were good brothers, protective, and fun. Well, when they were around anyway. Tom still treats me like a little kid." The memories took her attention away from the car.

Seeing her mind drift and wanting to touch her as much as bring her back, his hand reached over to take hers from her lap. He turned her palm up ran his thumb across it exposing the fingers to the air. His eyes darted from the two hands on the seat beside them, to her eyes watching them, then back to the road.

He laid his hand upon hers, palm to palm and slowly ran the whole of it up toward her fingertips. He pressed the weight of his down onto hers, as if to open it up. When his wrist reached the end of her fingertips he reversed the motion and gently trailed back down her opened hand. His fingers stopped to lightly lay on her wrist.

Her response, or lack of one, gave him the green light and allowed his hand to continue its leisurely exploration of hers. She could only watch, mesmerized by the tiny motions of skin over skin. The deep sense of relaxation that this type of touch brought was counteracted by the sparks of electricity. His fingertips traced each of hers up and down along the length of each. His pads brushed over her knuckles and across the back. He wrapped it up into a ball to hold it inside his fist.

"Are you nervous?" He didn't look over. He continued with the casual tour of her hand. All of his searching over all of hers as if it were looking for something. A tactile answer to an unspoken question. The spoken question had a very clear answer, but she was still in disbelief.

"Nervous? What on earth would I have to be nervous about?" She turned away, hoping the playful smile would hide the apprehensive one, as she watched the darkness go by.

"Nervous about my taking you home and getting you out of that swishy dress. You've never seen how big this monster inside my pants is. You might be scared," he replied in that voice he used when playing with her.

He'd never been able to resist the temptation of teasing her back when she would start in. But his hands wouldn't be as easily sidetracked. His fingers ran up the back of her hand to lace between hers, gripping it tightly.

"I've seen it. Not scary." she shot back, trying for aloof.

"What!" His eyes whipped around to her and missed the traffic light turn green until a honk brought him back.

"I've seen it. That weekend on the boat. The redhead, what was her name, I never liked that bitch. Everyone there saw you two that night. It's impressive but not scary. Did you not realize that without the curtains closed the cabin windows were like a movie screen for the boat deck? It was better than a lot of the free internet porn, but sorry not scary." She reached across to take both their hands into her lap. She patted and held it in both of hers, like consoling a child when she realized that this was new information.

"You didn't know?" She couldn't keep from laughing.

"You sat on the deck and watched?"

"Yup. We all did. It was impressive, but not scary."

"And nobody said anything." He shook his head in disbelief. He didn't consider himself overly modest but he wasn't an exhibitionist.