Sweep Me Off My Feet Ch. 06

Zayne had been doing a lot of thinking about what he wanted to do, but the closer they came to the wedding, the more it was hurting to want that so badly with the man he was sleeping with, and knowing he couldn't have it. He called their cousin Jessie, who lived in Vail, Colorado with her parents. They took care of their cabin up there and he asked her to stock it up for him, including with art supplies. He wanted to spend a couple of weeks just painting and by himself after the wedding was done, but it needed to be ready.

For now, he just wanted to enjoy his time with Brinxton. Zayne had settled for a dark navy suit with pants that were cut to be close to the legs in a skinny look, a white shirt, and royal blue vest and tie with his jacket. He used a little mousse to tame his hair but he kept it in a messy chic style. He normally didn't put a huge amount of thought into his outfits. He picked out clothes he thought looked good on him, and wore them according to the event or season, but he was trying to look good for Brinxton, though he worried Brinxton would think he was trying to impress Daniel.

Brielle was dressed in an off-white knee length lace dress and was standing with her parents and Brinxton. She came close to Brinxton and whispered, "Zayne looks extra hot tonight."

Brinxton was deep in thought when she said that, so he had to mentally review the words and assign meaning to them before he responded. He looked at Zayne and smiled before turning to his sister. "He looks amazing, but no one can hold a candle to the bride-to-be tonight! Where did you even get that dress?"

She smiled at him. "Flattery will get you everywhere. I actually found it at a little boutique. It's just dressy enough to say bride without slapping you in the face with it. My dress tomorrow will outshine it though."

"I bet it will! I can't wait to see it!" Brinxton said enthusiastically, giving her a warm hug.

She hugged him back, genuinely, and kissed his cheek. "Okay, enough flattery. You can do more tomorrow. Go over to them. I have to do my rounds."

Brinxton made his way over to the table and sat next to Zayne, absent-mindedly kissing him before sitting down, much to his parents' obvious dismay, judging from the expressions on their faces. Zayne looked a little surprised by that but he didn't argue.

"At least you kissed the right twin this time," Zach teased.

"It's so hard to tell the two of you apart!" Brinxton joked.

Zach nodded knowingly, putting his arm around his twin. "Too bad you didn't know us before the accident. Zayne and I did the switching thing a few times to the annoyance of our teachers."

Brinxton raised his eyebrows at that. "Did you ever test dates by switching?"

"No," Zayne said before Zach could answer. "Zach thought it would be funny to try it but I thought it was a consent issue. He did pretend to be me around Daniel once and it didn't work."

"Because you people please too much and I don't," Zach admitted. "I forgot to be all demure and oh yes, everything is fine, nothing ever bothers me."

"Plenty bothers me," Zayne argued. "Like Daniel's tie tonight, for instance. I'm surprised Brielle let him out in public wearing it. I'm pretty sure those red dots are little crabs."

"God, I hope that's not foreshadowing," Elias laughed.

Brinxton snorted while trying to sip some water, resulting in some coughing. Zayne patted him on the back to help out while chuckling himself. When he had gotten the coughing under control, Zach asked Brinxton if he was ready for all of the wedding stuff to be over.

"Oh definitely. It's been interesting spending time with my sister after all that was between us before. I just hope Daniel gets his head on straight and treats her right. I really want her to be as happy as she can be," Brinxton responded. "I've also been thinking a lot about where I want my life to go. I haven't made any decisions yet, but the question needs to be answered eventually."

"What a difference a year makes, huh?" Zayne commented. "Your life? So, like looking into what you want to do job wise for the rest of your life and where you'll live and such?"

Brinxton shrugged, "Maybe not for the rest of my life but certainly for the next phase of it. You had a good point when you asked me about what I was going to do. It got me thinking. But we can talk about it later."

"Gladly," Zayne said with a smile.

Dinner was served not long after that, and they kept talking. Daniel and Brielle both gave speeches to thank everyone for coming, and she couldn't wait to see everyone at the wedding tomorrow. People mingled about afterward, but Zayne wanted to spend some actual time with Brinxton.

The chill was finally in the October air and Zayne knew the snow would be coming in just a few more weeks. With that in mind, Zayne asked Brinxton if he wanted to walk a little ways down the road and stop at a cafe to get some tea. Brinxton readily agreed and they made their way to the warmth of the cafe. They ordered drinks that would warm them up but not keep them awake all night and sat down next to the window in a booth.

"Here's to an entire year of knowing each other, and your sister's wedding," Zayne said as they tapped their cups together.

"Well, a year was last week, actually," Brinxton corrected with a small smile. "But I will drink to that toast!"

"Look at you, keeping track," Zayne chuckled. "Were we supposed to give each other cards? 'Thanks for all the mind-blowing sex!'?"

Brinxton laughed at that. "I mean, the sex is great. A card would have been nice."

Zayne grinned. "I'll bring one and slip it to you tomorrow then. Or we can celebrate with more great sex after the wedding."

Brinxton raised an eyebrow. "Just say when and where!"

Anywhere and always, were what Zayne thought, but instead he just leaned over and kissed Brinxton. They sat and talked for a while until it was starting to get late. Brinxton had to be up and ready early, so they decided to walk (or wheel in Zayne's case) back to their cars. They stopped a little ways away from the cars where Brinxton leaned down to kiss Zayne again, and Zayne happily accepted what he was giving.

"Brinxton!" a voice called, and Brinxton looked over to see some of his friends making their way over to them.

Brinxton swung around behind Zayne's wheelchair, confusing Zayne as he gripped the handles and started to push the wheelchair forward as if he had been pushing it this whole time. He couldn't explain why this was his response to seeing these people, but as soon as he started pushing he realized two things: Zayne was probably going to be upset with him and the wheels were locked.

Zayne felt like he had whiplash all of a sudden. It was such a big step forward earlier when Brinxton kissed him at the rehearsal dinner, despite his parents' displeasure at it, but now around people Brinxton seemed to know, he was acting like they weren't anything but friends. His heart ached at that thought. They weren't anything but friends who had sex.

He had a brief thought to unlock the wheels and help Brinxton, but the anger won out and he sat there with his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. Brinxton's friends caught up to them and looked between them oddly.

"What's up, Weeks?" one of his friends asked.

Brinxton stepped around to the side of Zayne's chair, obviously flustered by his faux pas. "Hey guys! This is Zayne Lennox. Zayne, these hooligans are Rhett, Jayden, and Thomas. They were the first group I met when I got into the bar scene in Denver and they sort of attached themselves to me like barnacles," Brinxton chuckled. "Guys, Zayne and I are..."

"Making out?" Jayden supplied helpfully. "We're not so low on the social totem pole that we don't know one of the Lennox Twins when we see him."

Brinxton suddenly looked much less sure of himself. Zayne gave a strained smile to them and nodded his head in their direction as he unlocked the wheels and turned to face them. "Nice to meet you all. Yeah, the red hair and wheelchair give it away, I suppose."

Rhett gave him a sympathetic look and put his arm around Brinxton. "We didn't mean to interrupt you two, just wanted to say hi. We don't care who you make out with, dude."

"Though we are a little surprised you chose him," Thomas admitted.

"Wow! Okay, that's my cue to go," Zayne said loudly, making it clear how uncomfortable he was now. "Have a good night, gentlemen. I'll see you tomorrow, Brinxton."

Brinxton watched as Zayne wheeled away, feeling helpless and like he had fucked up, but not really sure what to do about it. His irritation with himself uncharacteristically came out toward his friends. "What do you mean you're surprised I chose him?!?" he asked with steel in his voice.

Zayne was out of earshot now, disappeared down the walkway and into the parking lot, but Thomas looked a little sheepish. "I don't mean the wheels, though I could see how it would be hard to be with someone who has such extreme limitations. But skinny dress pants in a wheelchair? They wrinkle that way. It's horrible fashion sense."

"That's pretty fucked up, Thomas," Brinxton said derisively. "I would have expected better from you. I haven't noticed any limitations with him, and even if there were any, they're a damn sight better than putting up with your judgemental bullshit. Good night." He stalked off toward the parking lot, getting his phone out of his pocket to text Zayne an apology for Thomas's behavior and letting him know that he told him off for what he had said.

Zayne didn't look at his phone until he got home and had gotten inside where he stripped down to his boxer briefs and then sat on his bed staring at his phone in annoyance. He really didn't know what to say to that. He appreciated the apology for that, though Brinxton wasn't the one at fault, but the whole situation irked him. Brinxton's behavior bothered him more than what his friend said, though that had been an extra knife stab.

He set his phone down and considered his options. Jessie had told him she had the pantry and freezer stocked and would get the fridge done if he gave her word, as well as all of his art supplies ready, so he set about carefully moving around the room packing a bag so he could go to their cabin in Vail, Colorado. He packed mostly clothes, all things that were warm and comfortable to wear because he didn't plan to see any people for a couple of weeks. He also packed up his extra stuff for Cloud, as he couldn't picture going away for a while without him. He would pack Cloud up later, though.

He got the bags into the trunk of his car ready to go, and sent a text to Jessie to tell her he would be there in two days. He didn't want his decision to put any sort of storm over the wedding though, so he texted Brinxton back with a, "I appreciate that. Try and relax and I'll see you tomorrow."

After that, he sat down and wrote out a long detailed letter to Brinxton that he would leave before he went to Vail. He put that in an envelope and wrote Brinxton's name in cursive on it before he sealed it. He also wrote a quick note to Elias and Zach and put that in an envelope as well. He didn't want them down during the wedding.

Daniel may not have deserved his caring and worry, but Brielle had been trying harder and he didn't want to ruin the day for her.

Once he was done, Zayne felt exhausted, so he crawled into bed and was asleep before he really had time to think of anything else. Tomorrow everything would change, but for now, he could dream of better times.