As I walked I kept an eye on the rest of the guys and I could see them all eyeing Khloe like a hot and fresh entree that had just been delivered to their table, and what’s more, Khloe had a deep red blush to her face, and kept grinning back in their direction. Had I been had? Did these bastards go behind my back and take Khloe for themselves?
Christian and I took our spots behind Kent, and then the violin changed to the traditional wedding march, and Anna appeared from behind a curtain, arm in arm with her dad. Kent took a small breath when she appeared and I could tell he was biting back tears. I was a bit jealous. I wanted to feel the kind of love that brings a person to tears. I wondered if I ever would. I couldn’t help but smile broadly as Anna and Kent exchanged their vows, said their I dos, and shared their first kiss as a couple. I was happy for my friend, and I truly hoped that he had a full life of love and happiness in front of him with his new bride.
We transitioned to the enclosed tent that was the space for the reception, and once dinner had been had, I was ready to get to the bottom of everyone’s random bliss. As far as I knew, Kent and Anna were the only ones who had gotten married, so I was gonna need someone to explain to me why everyone else was wearing a shit-eating grin. As soon as I noticed Cody break away from the pack and head for the bar, I followed after him.
“Hey there, Cody,” I greeted.
Cody turned towards me, smiling from ear to ear. “What’s up, man? Beautiful wedding, huh?”
“Whatever,” I spat. “Why are you so happy?”
Cody recoiled a bit. “What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me. Cut the shit. Did you fuck Khloe?” I asked.
Cody’s grin grew. “I didn’t get that far. I had a taste though. David joined me.”
My jaw dropped. “What the fuck? Weren’t we supposed to wait until after the wedding? Did you jump Luke’s first time to get sneaky points?”
“First of all, Luke already fucked her. You actually thought he was going to wait until after the wedding? He’s not that strong.” Cody took his drink from the bartender and I flagged the bartender down to get me one too. “Second of all,” Cody continued, “this isn’t really about the points.”
“What? Of course it’s about the points. That’s the whole plan we made.” The bartender dropped my drink and Cody and I found an unused table to sit down at. “What do you mean it’s not about the points?”
“Have you actually talked to Khloe?” Cody asked. “She’s pretty astounding.”
I’d had the passing conversation with her, but on the whole she avoided me. Apart from our isolated incident in the grocery store, I couldn’t have an extended conversation with Khloe even if I wanted to.
“So what are you saying? You like her or something?”
Cody tilted his head and stared off into space. “I could see being with her.” He looked back at me. “And if you ask me, Luke’s head over heels. He probably has been since high school. He was just an idiot who felt like he had to be with the head cheerleader because he was the head football player.”
“That makes sense, but how do the other guys feel? Christian didn’t sound like he knew,” I said.
Cody nodded over his head. “David was in charge of telling him.” I looked over Cody’s shoulder back towards the table of groomsmen and Christian’s jaw was on the table. He must have just had the news broken to him as well.
“Well fuck!” I hissed. “How could you all leave me out of all the fun? The fucking accountant gets some before me?”
“Bram?” Cody said. “I don’t think he’s actually gotten any yet. I could be wrong though. No one’s really keeping score.” That let me know that the guys felt differently about this one. In the past, we’d meticulously kept score; now suddenly Cody’s saying it’s not about the points, and Bram’s looking like he won the lottery just because he knows? I must have missed something for sure. “Look, just calm down. Get through the wedding, and then we’re all gonna meet up for a late night drink at the bar, Khloe included.”
“Oh, I’m fucking there.” I picked up my drink and stomped away from Cody. “Cheating assholes.” I heard Cody snicker as I walked away.
The rest of the wedding passed at a snail’s pace. I was hoping to corner Khloe at some point and see if I could get a taste of what Cody was talking about, but she was in full ‘wedding planner’ mode. Tending to Anna and Kent, chatting up guests, and making sure that everything went off without a hitch. She wasn’t alone for a second the entire reception, and it wasn’t until the wedding was over that I was able to get her alone. She left the reception right away after checking out with the tentist, and then made her way directly for the lounge. The rest of the guys were lollygagging getting out, so I took the opportunity to follow after Khloe. As she got into the lounge, I walked in after her and tapped her gently on the shoulder.