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Chapter Five: Out of Order


Nick

The first thing that went wrong happened really, ridiculously quickly. We weren't even completely to the car when Ashley's shoe heel broke. She tripped on the stair going down to the driveway and I caught her just before she went down. She clutched my arm, her nails digging into my skin. She stared up at me. "Shit," she gasped.

"Sugar," I corrected. I righted her and bent down for the broken piece of her shoe. I held it up. "You might wanna rethink the shoes,"I joked.

Ashley sighed and kicked the half-shoe off and hobbled back up the stairs. I helped her in the door and watched as she carried her broken shoe up the stairs again, my eyes admittedly lingering a bit too long on her butt. It was a really nice butt. I couldn't wait until we got to Vegas to ravish her. I shook my head out of the dream cloud of what I was gonna do to her... I grinned and leaned against the door. A few minutes later, Ashley came back down the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt, the purple dress flung over her arm and a pair of flats in her hands. "What'cha doin'?"

"I changed. I can't wear these flats in the car. They make my ankles swell." She waved them.

While Ashley was getting ready (again), I mentally went over my plans for the day a couple more times. I was recreating the first date, with a happy ending this time. We were going for slushies at the 7-Eleven, and breakfast at IHOP, then driving like a bat out of hell to Vegas, with a gas stop along the way, where I'd go in and buy condoms and breath mints. But this time, when I came out of the little store, we'd turn left out of the lot, continue on route to Vegas, where a hotel reservation waited. We had a master suite and I was gonna bring that sparkling juice and those strawberries up to the room and feed them to her and kiss her and we were finally going to have sex without being interrupted by Zoey.

I paced, picturing the reaction she was gonna have. She was gonna love this. This was a romantic gesture to the Nth degree, and according to AJ it was the singlemost brilliant idea I'd had in my entire life. "It's guarunteed to get you laid like nobody's business," he'd said enthusiastically. "She's gonna ride you like you're a fucking rodeo."

I wiped my palms, sweaty at the thought of rodeo-wild sex with Ashley.

She appeared on the stairs then, a smile on her face, her pregnant glow like a ray of light shining off her face. She'd changed entirely. I stared up at her, struggling not to conceal my disappointment. "What happened to the purple dress? I like that dress," I said. It was crucial to the recreation being perfect.

"Those were the only shoes I own that match it," she replied. She'd put on a greenish dress with little flowers all over it and a belt that wrapped around her midriff right above her baby bump. It was a smokin' hot dress, don't get me wrong, but the purple was... well, it was a classic for us. It was like vintage Dogface. My face must've shown my disappointment. "Do I look terrible?" she asked, worry in her voice.

"No, no, you look really good," I answered.

"Then why do you look like someone just gutted Bambi in front of you?"

"I don't mean to," I answered.

Ashley gave me a look. "I can go put the purple one back on, but we'll need to stop to get shoes."

"No, no that's okay," I replied. We were already running later than I'd planned thanks to the whole shoe mishap. We were going to have less time fluffing in Vegas - or end up being late to pick Zoey up from AJ's that night, one or the other. I reached for her hand and guided her down the last couple steps. "You're perfect like you are."

Ashley laughed, "I'd be more perfect if baby here wasn't busting me out like a balloon."

"Baby can do whatever he wants," I replied.

"Or she," Ashley reminded me.

I rubbed my hand across her belly.

"So...are we going then?"

"Right! Right, yes, let's go." I guided Ashley out the door, and helped her into the car. It was breaking into a beautiful morning outside. I climbed into the driver's side and looked over at Ashley as she buckled her seat belt. Her hair hung loose around her face in soft red waves. I couldn't resist. I leaned over and slid my fingers into her hair, turning her to look up at me as her hands clicked the buckle together. "Oliver," I breathed.

"Oliver," she whispered back.

"You're fluffing beautiful," I added.

She blushed.

I turned back forward and turned the car on. "On to Valentine's Day," I announced, and we started backing out of the driveway, thinking that we'd do everything I'd planned... but really about to do about... I dunno, 5% of it.




Ashley

Nick's present was stabbing the underside of my boobs. I hate sexy underwire bras for this very reason. But I looked amazing - even with my big fat pregnant belly under there. Nick was gonna be blown away. As long as the damn wire didn't pop my boob, that is. I wriggled my shoulders awkwardly, trying to adjust the contraption without actually grabbing at it. I glanced over at Nick's profile as he drove, his eyes roving over the pavement before us. Tonight, when I took my dress off and stood in front of him in this fucking strappy lingerie from hell, he was gonna smile with a twinkle in his eyes that would make every moment of pain I went through right now completely worth it. I took a deep breath.

Well, as deep as the thing would allow me to take, anyways.

"So, where are we going anyways?" I asked.

"You'll see," he answered.

"Oh will I?"

"Mhm," he grinned.

"Not a ton of walking?" I asked. I rubbed my back against the seat, trying to shift the bra. It wasn't working.

"Nothin' too bad," he replied.

"I'm not sure how well my feet will do," I said.

"I'll carry you if you get too tired," he answered with a smirk.

I rolled my shoulders. God, I was gonna put this thing in a box somewhere in the depths of the closet and only pull it out on extremely special occasions, like Nick's birthday and anniversaries and stuff. Or maybe I'd just burn the crap out of it until it was nothing but cinders. Make it die. Before it makes me die.

I wanted to offer Nick to carry my boobs because they were tired.

He’d like that.

Probably more than the damn lingerie.

I was so distracted with trying to discreetly adjust my bra that I didn’t even notice where Nick had driven. When I looked up, I realized he was pulling into a gas station. I looked over at the fuel indicator. “Gas stop?”

“Something like that.” He parked, pushed open the door, and climbed out. He rushed ‘round the car and pulled open the door beside me. I laughed as he held out his hand and pulled me forth from the seat, smiling as I pressed into him. “The best time to have a slushie is on a date,” he said thickly.

My heart raced. I stared up into his eyes and suddenly I just knew what we were doing for the whole day. He was recreating one of the most romantic - and equally terrible - nights of my entire life. “I’ve heard that,” I breathed.

Nick grinned. “Well then… come with me, babe.” He wrapped his fingers between mine, squeezed them and led the way into the gas station doors.

It smelled like dirty windshield wiper fluid inside. The butch of a woman behind the counter looked up when the door dinged. Nick practically danced, dragging me along to the far wall where the machines and prepared foods were. “Aw shit,” he muttered.

I ducked around him to see a sign taped to the front of the icee machine. Out of Order, it said.

I rubbed his shoulder. “It’s okay,” I said.

Nick looked like a deflated balloon. “But it’s important. We had slushies.”

I took his other hand in mine so I was holding both of his hands. “The fact that we’re here at all is enough. You’re incredibly romantic.”

“But I wanted to recreate most of our first date,” he said.

I smiled, “I know.”

“And slushies are important to dates,” he added.

“You’re important to dates," I said, leaning in to kissing him. Nick kissed me back. I could feel the butch woman glowering at us. But I didn't care.

It was Valentine's day.

And also Nick's hands were on my back and he'd nudged my bra strap just right.

Heaven.