Nick Oswald

––––––––

“NICK? HEY, BROTHER! Are you hearing me right now?”

“Huh? Shit, yeah, I hear you. Sorry, Abel.”

"Do you? Because you're looking a little out there in la-la land. You aren't going to pass out on me or something, are you? Because I don't think Caroline would like that. You making yourself the center of attention and all that."

“No, man, I’m not going to pass out. I’m excited about you being a married man and everything but not excited enough to completely lose my shit.”

He looked at Abel calmly, seriously almost, before the two of them busted out laughing. It was what Nick was thinking of as the calm before the storm of the wedding evening's festivities. He had just stood up at the front of the second story of an industrial venue Caroline was absolutely in love with and watched his best friend devote his life to the woman he loved. There had been a lump in his throat the whole time, and he'd had to fight to keep from making eye contact with Caroline. If he'd looked too closely at either of the lovebirds, he would have broken, and he knew it. What he couldn't stop himself from doing, no matter how many times he told himself to cut it the fuck out, was looking at Olivia. She had looked so beautiful standing behind Caroline. Her eyes had been shining with tears, and the blooms of both her bouquet and Caroline's had perfectly framed her face. Her dress was a rich plum color with a deep V down the front so that Nick's eyes kept inadvertently dropping to her considerable cleavage. He knew it was ridiculous, but he could feel himself getting an erection right then and there. He'd had to check out almost entirely in order to get himself back under control. Now, the ceremony itself was over, and everyone was on the first floor of the place having their fill of drinks of passed appetizers. Olivia was in the bridal suite with Caroline, doing whatever it was that women did to make a chick's wedding dress go from unmanageably long to just manageable to get by for the night. Abel stood with Nick and waited. He was waiting for the party to get underway but he was waiting for Olivia, too. He hadn't brought a date to the wedding, and he was borderline ecstatic that she hadn't, either. She was all he could think about. Even in all of this, she was all he could think about whether it was the right thing or not.

"There she is!" Abel crowed, breaking through Nick's hurried, confused thoughts. He looked up and saw Caroline standing in the doorway, radiant and grinning from ear to ear. Abel strode towards her and took her into his arms, dipping her low and kissing her passionately. When the two of them came back up Caroline was practically panting, and her face was flushed.

“Please, not in front of Nick!”

“Are you kidding me, sweetheart? He’s seen worse. Hell, he’s done worse than I could ever think up.”

"Thanks, man. Thanks for that."

“Shit, she doesn’t care,” Abel laughed, “it’s nothing to her. Besides, this is a night for celebrating! What do you say we all go downstairs and make use of some of those fancy drinks you paid for?”

"Ugh, we could," Caroline groaned, "but Olivia is busy cleaning things up in there. I tried to get her to leave it for later, but you know how she is. I can't go party when she's still working. It wouldn't feel right."

“I’ll help her.”

Abel and Caroline looked at him, totally stunned. Nick shrugged his shoulders and tried to ignore how hot his face felt.

“What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

“Well, no offense, brother, but you aren’t usually the helping type. Not unless it involves a strip club or something.”

“Very funny. I’m serious. I’ll help her out. You two go on downstairs. We’ll be down soon. I’ll make sure of it.”

The newlyweds looked at each other and had one of those silent conversations that only people who knew each other really well could have. Then Abel took Caroline by the hand, kissed her on the palm, and led her down the stairs. Nick started slowly towards the half-open room being used as a bridal suite, his heart thudding out of his control. Halfway to the door, he could hear her bustling around in there and by the time he reached the door frame he imagined he could smell her perfume. He stood and watched her, bending over to retrieve odds and ends from the floor. When she dipped down, he got a really good look down her dress and lost the battle with his persistent erection. He could practically feel those full breasts in his hand. He thought about running his tongue over her perfectly pink nipples and took a step inside of the room.

“Oh my gosh! You startled me!”

Olivia stood up quickly, taking an unconscious step back. She was already close to a dresser against one of the whitewashed brick walls, and she bumped straight into it. She looked behind her and then back at him, blushing furiously. She had nowhere to go, and he began to walk towards her purposefully.

“Nick?”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to see if you needed any help in here. Caroline seems worried that you’re going to spend the whole wedding trapped in this room like a fancy Cinderella.”

“She worries too much. I’m almost done.”

“Right. Good. That’s good.”

“Nick?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He was right in front of her now, so close he could have taken her into his arms in a second flat. She looked up at him with wide eyes, beautiful eyes, and he felt himself stirring in his pants. It wasn't the time for this. It wasn't the time for him to be thinking about anything but Abel and Caroline but he couldn't help himself. He had spent so much time trying to keep himself in check with Olivia, and he was out of willpower.

“Like what?”

“Like...I don’t know, exactly. It’s the way you were looking at me outside of the bar. Like you wanted to–”

“Because I do.”

He took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply, sliding his tongue inside of her mouth with an unimaginable relief. Like finally scratching an itch he hadn't been able to get to for far too long, the sense of satisfaction washed over him. But with it came a strong urge for more. He couldn't just kiss her this time and walk away. He needed more of her. He wanted all of her, and he knew that she wanted him, too. He had never waited so long for a woman that he wanted, and he was shocked to find out that it was better this way. He wanted her more for having waited, maybe even for all of the initial tension of dislike, too. He knew her, and he wanted to know her better. There would be no wanting to walk away from her like there had been with every other woman he'd ever seduced. This was something different.

“Nick!” Olivia gasped against his mouth, her nails raking up and down his back desperately, “We can’t. We have to go downstairs.”

“I know. But I want you. Jesus, Olivia, I want you so badly.”

He grabbed her fancy dress and pulled it up, hard. She gasped again as he slipped his hand beneath the chiffon and groaned. She wasn't wearing anything underneath the dress. Her legs were quivering, shaking, and her inner thighs were already slick. Because of him. He pushed his hips against her, and she reached behind her, gripping the dresser so tightly that he could see her knuckles turning white. It would have been so easy to slip inside of her right there. Three quick motions and a thrust and he'd be exactly where he wanted to be. Instead, he inserted his fingers inside of her wetness, wrapping one arm around her waist to hold her steady. Her head rocked back on her neck helplessly, her eyes shut tightly and the cords on her neck standing out. His fingers began to move against her clit, circling and then stroking and then repeating the whole process over again. His hips rocked as he touched her, his hard dick throbbing, and her back arched, thrusting her breasts closer to his face.

“Nick,” she whispered in a strangled cry, “Nick, please! Please, for God’s sake!”

Her hips bucked wildly so that the dresser hit the wall over and over again. He wondered briefly if it would break under their combined force, but who the hell cares about that? If it did, he'd buy them another one. He'd buy twenty of them and not think twice. His fingers slid inside of her again, and he felt her muscles clamp down on him, and hard. She cried out, then hunched forward, holding onto him tightly and biting his shoulder to keep from making too much noise. He held her close as she rode her orgasm out. He felt her shaking dwindle and then stop altogether, but it was a couple of minutes at least before she lifted her face again. He took a step away from her, and she lifted her chin definitely. Her face was flushed, and her eyes shone.

"Do you know how long I've wanted to do that?" Nick asked, his voice husky. He still wanted her, God help him. He hadn't had even close to enough.

“No, actually. I thought it was just the booze.”

“That’s what I told myself. It would have been a hell of a lot easier if it was.”

“And was that enough? What we just did? Are you satisfied now?”

“Are you kidding me? Not even fucking close.”

“Then why did you stop? We could keep going. Right here. Nobody’s coming up here to check on us. Not with everything going on downstairs. We could finally get it over with.”

"This isn't the place," Nick answered with a frown, watching her face intently. He didn't like the way she had said that. Get it over with? That wasn't exactly what he had in mind. "I want you, but not here. I don't want a quick fuck against a dresser."

“Okay, if that’s the way you want it. Later, then.”

“Later? Are you sure? You’re down with this?”

“I guess I am,” she smiled crookedly, still blushing even as she straightened her dress and started out the door, “I’ve never done anything like this.”

“Like this?”

“Friends with benefits. It’ll be something new, right? I’ll see you downstairs.”

She was gone before he could protest. His hands were shaking, and for some reason, his face felt strangely numb. How many times had he lobbied for that exact same relationship with a chick? He'd suggested it and been prepared to offer far less. Normally he would have been thrilled to have a woman be the one to float the idea instead of him. This time, however, it was a different fucking story.