Exposed (Free Falling) (10 page)

“No worries,” he interjected.  “It’s cool.  I promise I won’t go off on
you
like you did
me
back in the day.”  That devilishly handsome smile returned as he ran his fingers through his inky, black hair.  “You okay, though?”

Embarrassed, I
only nodded.

There was an awkward silence while I wavered back and forth between bypassing him and going inside the gift shop, and actually thinking I should try talking to him.

“Listen,” we both said in unison. 

He smiled again.

“You first,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. 

AJ sighed and relaxed a little.  “Alright, I’m
gonna just put this out there.  I think it’s ridiculous that two people who share as much history as you and me can’t even speak to one another.”

I cannot even put to words the sense of relief that I felt when he spoke those words
, mostly because I wasn’t totally sure that I deserved his forgiveness.  “Agreed.”

He smiled a little easier now.  “I know there are probably a thousand things that you and I
should
be talking about, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that you don’t wanna rehash any of that this weekend any more than I do.  So, for the sake of Terrell and Maisha, let’s just put our differences aside and get through this wedding.”

I nodded and took another deep breath.

“Truce?”  He asked, offering me his hand.

I stared at it lingering there in the air, again paralleling our first meeting over six years ago, but this time I didn’t leave him hanging.  I placed my hand in his and tried to ignore how much I missed his touch.  When we separated, I had to clear my throat to fight the emotions that I felt brewing in my gut.

My eyes shifted to the bottle of green tea in AJ’s hand because I couldn’t quite look him in his eye.

“The minibar in the room is expensive as hell, so…thought I’d come down
here
and grab something instead,” he explained.

I nodded.  “I
um…I actually don’t know
what
I came down here to get, but…”  I shook my head, suddenly deciding that I’d keep my twenty dollars and just head back up to the room.  “You going to the elevator?”  I asked, aiming my thumb over my shoulder in that direction, smiling a little.

AJ
returned the gesture.  “Yeah, this was all I came down for.”

With a nod, I decided to head back up with him.  We walked sid
e by side, silent again, but not because we felt uncomfortable.  I can’t say why
he
was quiet, but
I
was too overwhelmed to speak – overwhelmed by the feel of his arms around me a moment ago, how easily he’d just forgiven me without even actually saying the words…and by how much I missed him.  I’d never admitted that even to
myself
before.  I’ve been verbal about regretting how abruptly I left, but never specifically about leaving him behind.  Now, after seeing him again and remembering what we used to have, I couldn’t deny these feelings.

As the elevator doors closed, I leaned against the back wall and folded my arms over my chest.  AJ gripped the bottle of juice in his hand and ran his thumb rhythmically over the cap.  The charge between us was even harder to i
gnore now and I had a feeling that was why he was fidgeting a little.

“You all set for tonight?” He asked.

“Yeah, I think so.  I can’t wait to see Maisha’s dress.  She’s being all secretive about it.”

AJ smiled and nodded.  “Terrell’s already called me three times to talk about absolutely nothing.  I think he’s just nervous.”

I laughed, trying to imagine someone of Terrell’s size and stature being nervous. 

“Weddings tend to do that to people, though,” I added.  “Congrats
on your engagement, by the way…” I said, my sentence trailing off at the end.  Maybe acknowledging his impending wedding would seem strange to him.

AJ’s smile seemed
forced.  “Thanks,” was all he said back.

“
You’re
looking good, though,” he mentioned casually as we crept to the second floor.  I wasn’t sure how to take the comment, so I turned to face him.  That smile on his lips made me lose my breath. 

Was he flirting with me?

I looked down at the less than glamorous boot-cut jeans I had on, and the tank top that I slept in more often than I wore out in public, and gave him the side-eye.  Maybe he
wasn’t
flirting; that could’ve been sarcasm.

Laughing, I rolled my eyes. 
“Yeah, whatever.”

He shook his head with a smile that didn’t confirm either of my theories.  When the doors parted at my floor, not
gonna lie, I felt a little disappointed that our short-lived conversation had to end.  Thinking back, this was the same effect he had on me that first time we’d spoken on the phone.

Get yourself together, girl…

“Well, I’ll see you tonight,” I said, waving at him over my shoulder.

“Yeah,” he replied.  “I’ll be seeing you.”

*****

The wedding went off without a hitch, just like I knew it would.  After standing in the receiving line and taking too many pictures to count, I was glad to get to the reception where I could finally have a seat and eat something.  The second the limo pulled up to the
banquet hall, I smoothed my turquoise gown down my legs.  The guys got out first, and then helped the women they’d walked down the aisle with out of the vehicle.  The second I placed my hand in AJ’s, I noted how easy it had become now.

I linked my arm with his and walked the red carpet that Maisha requested from her coordinator.  One by one, we were announced by the emcee once the double doors opened.  AJ and I were at the end of the line right before Terrell and Maisha, so when our turn came up,
I took a deep breath and tried to smile although it hurt my cheeks by this point from all the picture taking.

Our names were called, the doors flung open, and it was go time.  Courteously, the crowd applauded us, and I had my sights set on the table where I already had my mind made up to get out of these shoes.  With the lights concentrated on us, I couldn’t make out a single face in the otherwise dimly lit room.

AJ pulled out my seat and then took his own a few chairs away, with only Maisha and Terrell’s seats between ours.  The newlywed’s names were called and their guests roared with applause and cheers when Terrell rushed in past his new bride and cut a step like the clown he is.  Acting like he’d forgotten she was even there, he doubled back and took Maisha’s hand and ushered her across the elongated dance floor to their seats between AJ and I.

As her maid of honor, I stood to straighten
Maisha’s dress before she sat, bustling her train and then guiding her down into a comfortable position.

“Thank you, girl,” she said
, quickly peering up.

The emcee notified the
guests of the timeline that the event would follow – dinner, toasts from the maid of honor and best man, and then the first dance. 

Wait….a toast?  I completely forgot about that part
.

My palms started
sweating and I panicked, trying to think fast.  What the heck was I gonna say?

Within ten minutes, our entire party had been served and now the guests were lining up to eat.  I spotted Jason mingling near the buffet with a guy he apparently met at his assigned table.  That didn’t surprise me. 
Biting into a piece of asparagus, I discretely glanced down the table at AJ, stealing a glance while he wasn’t paying attention. 
He
might not’ve noticed, but
Terrell
sure did.  When our eyes locked, Terrell bore a big, toothy grin.

“
See something you like,” he asked, leaning across Maisha’s plate so no one heard but the three of us.

“Leave the girl alone,” Maisha
whispered.  “It’s bad enough you set her up with the whole ‘marching down the aisle together’ thing.  That was just rude.”  She turned to look my way.  “Do you know I couldn’t get this man to make one single wedding plan whatsoever, but he was all up in the coordinator’s face telling her how everybody needed to walk to the altar?”  She shook her head and I leveled a finger at Terrell as I glared at him.

“I
knew
that was you…fool,” I hissed.

He smiled even bigger and backed away while adding a whispered, “You’re welcome.”

This clown thinks he’s a matchmaker or something
, I thought to myself as I smiled just a little.  Even though Terrell’s incessant nosiness was annoying as hell, he was responsible for breaking the mile-thick ice between AJ and me.

I finished my food, still wondering what the heck I was supposed to say in front of all these people.  Hopefully AJ would go f
irst and I could just make my toast short and sweet after his.

The hostesses cleared our p
lates and it was time for our speeches.  The emcee introduced AJ as the best man and I breathed a sigh of relief as the spotlight drifted toward him and he accepted the mic.  Standing there with all eyes on him, he was the picture of confidence.  That tux fit him just right and I was glad that I finally had an excuse to stare at him.

My god
, this man is gorgeous.

Dripping enough swag and charisma to make
any
woman swoon, AJ flashed his award-winning smile to the audience, and began to speak.

“First, I’d like to say that, if someone had asked me five years ago if I’d b
e standing here by this man’s side as his best man, I would’ve never believed it.”
 

The crowd laughed softly. 

“Terrell and I got off to a bit of a rough start, but now?  He’s one of the best friends a guy could have.
”  When he placed his hand on Terrell’s shoulder, Maisha smiled. 
“I was honored when he asked me to be his best man.  Truly, I was, but not only because I value our friendship so much.  I was honored because it’s not every day that you see a couple with this much love, this devoted to one another, with this much fight in them.  I wanted to be a part of their day because I admire what they have and I don’t count it a small thing that they made it.  Through every up, every down, through all the tears, all the storms, all of it. They made it.
”

I lowered my head when he
took the speech in this direction.

“If any couple deserves to get their ‘happily ever after’, it’s these two.  And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.  So…to Terrell and Maisha…may this be the first of many celebrations of your love and of your lifelong union.” 
AJ held up his glass of Champagne toward the audience. 
“Cheers.”

“Cheers,” the crowd repeated followed by a round of applause.

How the hell do I top that?

The
emcee announced that I was next and I took a deep breath while getting to my feet.  The mic screeched loudly which only rattled my nerve even more.

“Wow…I don’t…I don’t even know where to start.”
  I couldn’t look at the guests, so I kept my eyes trained on the table. 
“When I first arrived on the campus of Charleston, I felt alone, overwhelmed, and petrified.  I remember unloading my things and turning around to find this massive guy standing behind me, wearing a wide smile, offering to help a perfect stranger.  I didn’t realize it then, but…Terrell turned out to be the brother I never wanted.”
  The crowd chuckled. 
“But in all seriousness, Terrell has been a brother, a friend, and a confidant.  And if it wasn’t for him, I never would’ve met one of my best friends in the whole world.”
  Maisha took my hand and didn’t let it go. 
“It’s like AJ…I mean Anthony said,”
I corrected, realizing that he’d been introduced to the room using his full name. 
“These two are about the most solid couple most of us will ever encounter.”
  I met Maisha’s and Terrell’s gazes with tears in my eyes. 
“And they deserve all the happiness in the world.”
  I paused for a moment to wipe my face and gather myself. 
“Before the waterworks
really
start up, I’m gonna end with this,
” I said, making sure I had both of their attention. 
“Hold on to what you have with everything in you.  Don’t take each other’s love for granted…
ever
…because true love only comes along once in a lifetime,”
I concluded.

The applause of the crowd around me fell silent as AJ suddenly became the only person in the room.  Everything else faded to black as my final words rang in my head.  Maybe it was those very words that made him stare
, too.  Whatever the cause, I felt him all over me even from a distance – his presence, his emotion, all of him.

Eventually, I dropped into my sea
t in a daze and took a sip of water to wrangle my heartbeat into submission.  When the slow melody began to pour from the speakers, Terrell took Maisha by the hand and led her to the dance floor.  Cameras flashed and I watched the newlyweds in awe just like everyone else.