The Man I'll Marry

by Danielle Lee Zwissler

  “I know,” I said, and my face fell. “For the rest of my life I’ll regret December.”

  Just as I spoke, Payton came around the corner, and I knew that he’d heard me. His eyes were different. That light that I’d seen before, when he told me he loved me every five minutes, was back. I gasped, and he kissed me full on the mouth in front of his mom. I laughed, and he hugged me to his body.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  I nodded, and I looked over and saw his mom wipe her eyes.

  “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  Payton smiled that one-hundred-watt smile that I loved more than anything, and I took his arm. We walked out of the house like we owned the world, and to be completely honest, I felt like I did.

  Chapter Nine

  *Rock, Paper, Scissors…*

  I looked at Payton through the small window that we just finished building on the tree fort. It was ridiculous, really, building this thing in the same manner as we’d done before. There was only one thing missing, well two, actually. My dad, and his. Payton waved and I laughed, blowing him a kiss.

  “What’re you doing in there?” he asked, and I grinned.

  “Thinking about bedrooms,” I said, and winked.

  Payton blew out a breath. “I can’t think of bedrooms around you. We’re supposed to be friends.”

  I laughed and winked back at him. He smiled. “Are we friends again?”

  “Best friends,” he said, repeating the same mantra he’d spoken for the last twenty years.

  “Hey, I was just thinking, maybe we should do something special when we finally finish this thing,” I said, thinking that we could totally do it. The floor looked a whole lot sturdier than the last fort we’d had. Plus, we got rid of the wonky ladder and added a small staircase. Payton contributed his weekly checks to the build, too, and this place was looking pretty sweet.

  “Oh yeah?” he said, and he headed up the steps. I laughed, and ran as far as I could to one of the corners that was done.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What are you doing?” Payton asked, laughing.

  “I’m just looking…”

  “At what?” he asked, breathless.

  “You.”

  He grinned. “I’m looking at you, too.”

  “Still friends?” I asked. I needed to hear him repeat it a million times a day, and I needed to repeat it to myself. Things were finally going well, and I was happy.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I grinned, and then frowned, realizing that I only had two full weeks of summer vacation until school started back up.

  “What’s wrong?” Payton asked. He backed me up completely and put his hands on either side of where my head was. I didn’t want to say anything. I didn’t want to bring him down.

  “Nothing.”

  “Liar.”

  “I was just thinking… I only have a few weeks until school starts back up.” I looked up and watched as Payton frowned for a second, and then just as fast, it disappeared.

  “Yeah, but we still have two weeks,” he said, and then pulled me into his arms.

  “But I go back,” I said, trying to, for once, talk about the one thing which neither of us wanted to mention. The whole ‘elephant in the room’.

  “I know,” he said, calmly.

  I pulled away. “It doesn’t bother you?” I felt put off all of a sudden. Why wouldn’t he be bothered by this?

  “Nope.”

  I shook my head fast, and waited for him to explain himself, but he didn’t. He just leaned in and kissed me on the nose.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Kissing you.”

  “No, I know that you’re kissing me, you idiot, what I want to know is why? And why doesn’t me going back to school bother you?”

  “It just doesn’t anymore,” Payton replied.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I know now.”

  “Why do you look so smug all of a sudden?” I asked, and couldn’t help myself I smiled.

  “I heard what you said to my mom.”

  I looked at him just then, and my smile grew. “Oh, yeah?”

  He nodded. “Yep.”

  “And what do you have to say about that?”

  “I guess we’ll have to wait until we finish this thing,” he said, and gestured to the unfinished tree fort that surrounded us. “You said we had to finish this thing first and then we’d talk. So, we’re going to do that.”

  I hated when my words were thrown back in my face. I frowned. “Seriously, you’re going to make me wait?”

  Payton chuckled. “Yep.”

  “And I can’t change your mind?” I asked, and then I fiddled with my bra strap. I looked him in the eye and tried to convey something seductive. I probably ended up looking constipated.

  “Nope.”

  “What if we,” I said, and leaned in to whisper in his ear, “you know, played?”

  Payton’s eyes widened and he stepped away from me. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  I laughed and watched the tips of his ears go red. “What?”

  “You, Keri, you’re killing me.”

  I looked down and saw Payton’s very noticeable erection. “Wow.”

  “Don’t you, wow, me, Keri. Stay away.”

  “How much longer?” I asked, teasing him. He sighed and blew out a deep breath.

  “I promised you until we finished this, and if you want to do it in your parents’ bed, I’ll meet you there as soon as its finished.”

  I laughed at what he’d just said, and he grinned back at me. “You don’t sound like you’re joking…”

  “I’m not.”

  Payton

  The girl was trying to kill me. Every day, every crazy day that I’d gotten off of work and headed over to the fort, I had an erection the size of the Empire State Building. I was in pain, and rightfully so. The girl was getting to me. I leaned back in my bed and tried to concentrate on something other than Keri’s breasts.

  Nothing.

  All I could see was her beautifully tanned skin, and her awesome… Shit. There it goes again.

  Just then, there was a knock at the door, followed by a louder one, and then two short.

  Keri.

  Dear God, give me strength.

  I got up from the bed and tried to tuck my hard-on into the top of my pants. It looked ridiculous, and there was no hiding it. “Hold on a second,” I yelled from the other side of the door. When I finally calmed down for a bit, I opened it.

  She was wearing a coat, and it was a million degrees outside.

  “What are you—?”

  Just then, she came in and pushed me into the room, knocking me right down onto the couch, and she straddled me. Keri! Keri Richards, my best friend, the girl that I intended to be with for the rest of my life was seducing me.

  “Keri, you better…”

  “I’m not going to stop unless you really want me to,” she said, and I found out the reason why she was wearing the coat.

  “Dear lord.” I put my head back. Her lips were on my neck, and then on my shoulders and went down to my naked chest.

  “Payton, I can’t take it any longer,” Keri said, and her voice just then was the sexiest thing that I’d ever heard.

  “But you wanted…”

  “You, Payton, I want you.”

  “But what about the friendship thing?” I asked, freaking out a bit. I didn’t want to screw this thing up again. We’d already been there and done that.

  “Do you love me?” she asked, and stopped the kissing. She looked into my eyes and I could see the love that I gave her reflected back at me.

  I nodded. “More than anything.”

  “Then I don’t see a problem,” she said, continuing her seduction. I took short breaths, and could barely contain myself. She slowly unbuttoned her coat, and my mouth felt dry.

  “You’re so beautiful,” I said, and I meant it. She was the most gorgeous creature that I’d ever s
een. She smiled.

  “You are, too.”

  “Are you worried about going back to school?” I asked. I didn’t want to bring it up, but she’d wanted to talk about it earlier, and I didn’t want her to be disappointed in me, or us.

  “I wish I was going to school here, but no, I’m not worried. I’m just…”

  “You’re what?” I asked, and she shook her head. “No, I didn’t come here to talk about this.”

  “We need to talk about this. I don’t want to talk about it either, but I want you to be honest with me. If this is going to work, we need to both be in this one-hundred percent.”

  “Okay,” Keri said, then took a deep breath. “I want you to come with me.”

  “You’re sure?” I asked, shocking Keri. She smiled just then, and looked very surprised by my question.

  “Does this mean what I think it means?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I never planned on letting you go again, Keri. Not now, and not for the rest of my life.”

  “What about your job?”

  “At the car dealership?” Payton asked.

  “Yeah, I mean. That, and your dad?”

  I’d already talked to my parents about this numerous times. Ohio wasn’t exactly big city, and there were plenty of farms—ranches—where I’d be able to work if I needed to work.

  “Dad’s okay with it.”

  “But, you wanted to run the ranch; how’re you going to do that from Ohio?”

  I laughed, and pulled her body back toward me and kissed her lips. “There’s two things I can’t live without, and ranching isn’t one of them.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “You, and these lips.”

  “You say that now, but what about later?”

  “We have the rest of our lives to worry about later, Keri. And we both know how well we’ve done without one another.”

  There was no truer a statement.

  Keri’s smile widened and she kissed me once again. “You really mean it? You’re coming with me?”

  I nodded. “Definitely.”

  “And work?”

  “I talked to George about this already. He’s fine with it.”

  “And your parents, there not still mad at me?” Keri asked, anxiously.

  “Not anymore.”

  “And why is that?” Keri asked.

  “What you said to my mom, the whole ‘when death do us part’ thing. That really go to her.”

  “You heard that?”

  “You know I did,” I said, and kissed her once more. She moved slowly up against me and I rocked us back and forth. My breathing was getting shallow, and I wanted to feel myself inside of her. I wanted to feel her heat.

  She gasped. “I meant it, you know?”

  I knew. “I still want to finish the fort, but instead of talking about school and jobs and everything, I have something else I want to talk about.” I looked at Keri, and she smiled at me, and then the talking was over.

  Chapter Ten

  *Say yes…*

  I left Payton’s house the next morning, and did the whole ‘walk of shame’ thing back to my mom’s house. I didn’t want to wake him up, and I didn’t feel like calling Alexis and asking her for a ride back. So, instead, I opted for walking to the house sans clothing in my mother’s trench coat. Not the smartest thing in the world.

  When I got home; however, Alexis and Todd were standing in the driveway with their suitcases. I looked from Alexis to Todd, and then back. “What’s going on?”

  “Mom called. She wants us to come see her before we go back to school, and I told her about the engagement. She’s excited.”

  I grinned. “What about the sleeping arrangements?”

  “Mom said she’d look the other way,” Alexis said, and then put her arm around Todd. “I can’t believe you just walked home.”

  I laughed, and Todd’s face was red. “Are you wearing…?” Todd shook his head and then I heard him mutter, “Never mind.”

  I winked at them both and then looked toward the house. “Is Mom still asleep?”

  Alexis nodded. “Yup.”

  “I have news,” I said, and looked at the two of them. “Payton’s moving to Ohio with us in the Fall!”

  Alexis grinned and Todd let out a whoop. I let out a breath and bit my lip. “Do you think it’s going to be okay? All of us, living together?”

  Alexis looked at Todd, and then Todd looked back at me. “What’s your mom have to say about the whole thing? I mean, we can get away with it because our parents just don’t care, but your mom… well, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “I didn’t really think about it. I mean, it’s Payton.”

  “Have you told your mom about Todd yet?” Alexis asked. I cringed.

  “Yeah, no.”

  Todd winced. “Seriously?”

  “It never came up.”

  “I think it’s time you talked to her about this whole thing,” Alexis said, and then leaned in toward me. “I’m happy for you. Payton’s a good guy.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I like him,” Todd said, “and I don’t like many people.”

  Alexis swatted him on the shoulder. “You like everyone.”

  Todd shrugged.

  “So, I guess I’ll take you two to the airport then?”

  Alexis nodded. “Yeah, that would be great. I was going to call a cab, but since you’re home…”

  “I’ll go get some clothes on.”

  Just as I said that, Mom came outside with her eyebrow hitched. “Seriously?”

  My ears reddened as Alexis and Todd were in hysterics.

  An hour after dropping off my two other best friends at the airport, I was back at home and sitting down in the living room with my mom and brothers. Mom was nervously fidgeting with her hands again, and I was messing with my shirt hem. I didn’t want to tell her about Todd, and I sure as hell wasn’t sure how I’d bring up the whole “me living with Payton situation”.

  “So, what did you want to tell me, Keri?” Mom asked, and I jumped.

  I cleared my throat. “Well, it’s… You know, Payton…”

  “Please, God, don’t tell me you’re pregnant.”

  I looked up at mom and then over to my brothers. I couldn’t have been more shocked if I tried. I hurriedly shook my head. “Uh, no. I just…”

  “Oh, thank God. Anything you have to tell me now will pale in comparison.”

  Well that’s good. “Well, I just wanted to tell you that I’ve been living with both Todd and Alexis for the past year, and Payton’s going to move in with us in the Fall.” There, I blurted it all out, and Mom was still alive. No problems.

  Mom’s eyes rounded. “What do you mean you’ve been living with Todd for a year?”

  I shrugged. “He had horrible roommates, and he was a good guy. He stayed a lot anyway, and then he just sort of moved in.”

  “So, you ladies were paying his rent?” Mom asked.

  I shook my head once more. “Todd helped out, and contributed, but his dorm was already paid. It was a bad situation. We opted for an apartment this year on campus, and we are all going to help pay. At least that’s the plan,” I said, knowing that my mom was the chief financial officer in this equation, and I couldn’t afford to piss her off anymore.

  Mom huffed. “You should have told me a long time ago.”

  “I know, but the year was kind of bad.” I flinched as I thought of what I’d just said. Yeah it was bad. It was the worst year of my entire life. Dad, Payton, a million other things. “Sorry, Mom.”

  Mom nodded. “Well, I don’t like the idea of you living with him before you’re married, if that’s even your plans, but you’re over eighteen now.”

  “Yeah, but you’re…”

  “Keri, If I were you I’d shut up,” Seth commented, and Jack nodded his head in agreement.

  “Okay.”

  Mom had to laugh at that, and then she put her hands together once more. “Listen, I have to talk to you
guys about something. It’s not easy for me.”

  And here was the other shoe, I could feel it.

  “I met someone,” Mom said, and it couldn’t have shocked me more.

  “What?”

  Seth and Jack just sat there, and I felt sick. Mom looked down, ashamed it seemed.

  “I met someone. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did.”

  “Who?” I asked, and looked at both Seth and Jack. They weren’t saying a word. “What’s going on?”

  “Jeffrey Walters.”

  My eyes couldn’t have gotten any wider. “Patti’s dad?”

  Mom took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “Yeah.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  Mom didn’t look like she was kidding.

  “But what about Dad?” I asked, and Mom put her hand up to her head. I felt like a child, and I was, but it seemed way too soon. Dad hadn’t even been gone a year.

  “He’s not coming back, Keri, and I’m… I hate this. Being alone.”

  I looked at Seth and Jack. “Why aren’t you guys saying anything?”

  Mom looked at me and then tried to smile. “They already know. I told them a few months ago.”

  “Wait, you’ve known for a few months and you haven’t said anything?”

  Mom nodded, and I felt sick. What the hell was happening?

  “I didn’t want you to be even more upset. Things weren’t going all that well with Payton, and then, of course, he was dating Patti.”

  As stupid as it was, the only thing I couldn’t stop thinking about was what if my mom married Patti’s dad? We’d be sisters? “Oh, God.”

  “Just figured it out, eh?” Seth asked.

  “Mom?”

  Mom looked at me and shrugged. “Well, how about you let me off for this one little thing, and I’ll continue to pay your room and board, even though you lied to me for an entire year?”

  I couldn’t help it, I smirked.

  Mom 1. Me 0.

  I left after the whole crazy conversation and family meeting. I walked out to the fort, hoping to do a few last minute details, and I was happy to see that Payton was there.

  “Yo,” I said as I came up to the steps.

  “Uh, Keri, I don’t want you to be mad,” Payton said, and I could tell that it was something that was going to piss me off.