Arrangements

“Hey guys”, I greeted both Kevin and Nathan as I approached the table we were sitting at and the both greeted back, more like a cheer from Kevin because Nathan just smiled politely at me. Learning that his wife passed away three years ago due to an advanced heart disease was rather saddening. Her passing seemed to have torn him apart for the past two years, it was only now he was finding his feet again and moving on with his life.

“I ordered a latte for you”, Kevin said as I sat down next to him, opposite Nathan

“You're a lifesaver, thanks”, I smiled at him as the waiter placed the cup in front of me and I thanked her. We were now waiting on Tristan in order to go the suit fitting appointment.

“So I thought it was best the three of us arrive earlier than the time we agreed on so that we can discuss the bachelor party”, I said, taking a quick sip of my latte and they both nodded in agreement

“So what's the plan?”, Kevin raised his coffee mug to his lips before taking a sip

“I really don't know how bachelor parties work exactly”, I laughed nervously. “So that's why I need your help”

“I'm guessing that's why we are part of the grooms party, to plan this together”, Nathan gave another nod

“Do you have anything in mind?”

“I was thinking we could go some place the last weekend before the wedding and make it some sort of surprise bachelor party weekend gateway for Tristan”

“That's a great idea, Liv”, Kevin nodded in agreement

“I think so too”, Nathan took a sip of his coffee. “Any idea of activities we can do?”

“Oh yeah”, I took out my planner out of my purse and paged through it, I had googled some bachelor party ideas because I was really clueless on where to begin. I found the page where I noted down a few suggestions.

“I was thinking maybe paintballing-”

“I've always wanted to do that”, Nathan drummed on the table in excitement and I laughed a little. Things between us were a bit awkward, but we agreed on keeping what happened to ourselves long enough to figure out a way to get through this wedding thing without anyone suspecting that something might have happened between us.

“Then golf, gambling and wrap the night up by hitting the strip club”, I called out the other activities, wiggling my eyebrows at the last suggestion and Kevin howled in excitement

“You can count me in baby”, he raised his mug for a toast, and we laughed as we clicked our coffees together

“There's the Eastrand resort down just outside the city. We can book ourselves there for the weekend”, Kevin suggested, and I snapped my fingers at him, supporting this idea.

“That's actually an awesome idea”, I clapped my hands. It was a riverfront resort with a casino, a spar and a water park.

“I heard there's also a miniature golf, wall climbing and game drives available”, Nathan added, and I wrote down this piece of information down

“Great, so I'll make the reservation and you two have to find a way to get Tristan there without him suspecting anything. It has to be a surprise”

“Leave that to us”, Kevin grinned mischievously

“Good”

“So Liv”, Nathan fixed his eyes on me as he leaned with his arms folded on the table. “How is this best man thing in terms of outfits going to work?”, he quickened one of his thick eyebrows up.

“Are you going to wear a dress?”

“Not that you've mentioned it Nathan, I have also been curious about that”, Kevin also fixed his eyes on me

“I'm going to wear a suit, obviously”, I said confidently as I put my planner back into my purse. Kevin chuckled before he took his phone out of his pockets.

“I need to take this call guys”, Kevin stood up, excusing himself by taking the call while walking outside

I watched Nathan lean back on his seat, his eyes travelling up and down my body temptingly before the side of his lips tucked up in a sly smile, and he finally raised his eyes to look at me. I looked down to see that my dress had ridden up from me sitting down, my upper thighs thoroughly exposed to the naked eye.

“That's really a pity”

“What is?”, I asked while gently pulling down my skirt and crossed my legs

“That you'll be wearing a suit”, he tilted his head to the side still looking at me. “I find dresses alluring on you”

I felt my cheeks redden from his compliment, surely boosting my confidence because I didn't like wearing dresses or skirts. I wasn't the typical girly girl, but I couldn't also show up at work in sweatpants now, can I?

Before I could respond to him, Kevin came back to the table, quickly followed by Tristan who I guess must have been running because he seemed to be out of breath

“Hi guys”, he took a deep breath, steadying his breathing. “I'm really sorry I'm late”

“No worries”, we all chorused together and Tristan paused for a second as he felt for his phone in his pocket, taking it out, and he let out an exaggerated sigh

“Is that Mellisa calling to check whether your balls are still intact?”, Kevin teased and Tristan threw him a glare before rejecting her call

“She's obviously calling to remind me about the suit fitting appointment....again”

“You really need to tighten that belt on your trousers man and learn to put in her place sometimes”, Nathan said as we both stood on our feet

“I'm not really sure he's the one wearing the pants in this relationship”, Kevin said as in passing before we all walked towards the exit and honestly, I was glad that they said something about their relationship. This is why I liked hanging around the guys, they were always blunt and straightforward, they didn't need to sugarcoat anything. If it stings you, at least they had put it out there for you to know.

That night, which was my favorite time of the day because I had me to myself, patiently waiting for the binge edition of my favorite late night reality show while listening to new songs I just downloaded by Dvsn

There was a knock on the door just when I was about to indulge in last night's left over pizza and I groaned before standing to my feet to pull the door open. His eyes seemed to have been dropped to the ground when they rose, slowly travelling up my body in awe before he finally set his eyes on mine. I nearly didn't recognize him in his round nerdy glasses.

“Nathan”, I leaned on the door frame, somehow shielding half of my body from his piercing stare as he seemed to be observing how I was dressed in an oversized T-shirt and long white socks with my hair tied in a high messy bun

“What brings you here?”

“You were in such a hurry to go back to work this afternoon, you forgot your diary”, he pulled my planner out to show me and I facepalmed as I remembered taking it out of my purse to check my meetings lined up for the rest of the day and probably forgot to put it back into my bag when I stood up to leave

“I found your personal details inside, I hope you don't mind”, he gave a nervous smile and I shook my head

“Of course not”, I smiled as I took it in my hands. “Thank you”

“My pleasure”

“There was no need for you to come all the way here. You could have just called and told me you had it and gave it back to me tomorrow”

“I thought about that but that way it wouldn't have worked for me”

“Why not?”

“Because I wanted to see you again”, his voice was low and soft, I couldn't even hide the blush that crept to my face before I stepped aside, inviting him in

“Also, since you declined my offer of taking you out for dinner sometime”, he revealed a plastic bag that I only realized now he was holding

“I bought dinner to you”

“I didn't decline your offer because I don't remember you asking”, I laughed as I took the plastic bag from him and peeked inside to see Chinese takeaways

“I hope you like ramen noddles”

“Yeah I do, thanks. Take a seat”, I placed the takeaways on the coffee table before walking to the kitchen to get forks.

“Nice place”, he studied his surroundings as he took his jacket off, and I hanged it for him

“Thanks”

“So you're also a Dvsn fan?”, he asked as he sat down. The Sept 5th album was still playing on my phone.

“I absolutely love their songs”

“Which one is your favorite?”

“The ones I know and listen to are like really, really good”, I nodded slowly and he chuckled

“It's kinda hard to pick one, isn't it?”

“Yeah but if I had to pick, it has to be Hallucinations”, I sat next to him

“What about you?”

“Body smile”, he smiled before his lips quickly turned into a frown when he saw me give him a fork

“What's this for?”

“For the ramen”

“Why would we use forks if we have chopsticks?”, he took them out of the plastic and I twisted my lip to the side

“I really don't know how to use chopsticks”, I confessed while shrugging, and he tilted his head to the side, looking at me like I just said the most insane thing in the world

“Okay that's good”, he handed me a takeaway, taking both forks away from me. “Cause today you're going to learn”

“Nathan”, I whined a little as I threw my head back, faking a sob. “That's going to take long, and I'm starving”

“The faster you learn, the sooner you can eat”, he wiggled his eyebrows at me as he held the chopstick against my face. “How about that?”

“I really don't like this”, I pouted my lip before I snatched the chopsticks from him, already battling on how to hold them

“Not like that”, he chuckled. “First you break them apart and rub them together”

“Oh”, I said quietly, quite embarrassed that I didn't know the first basic step of using chopsticks. I broke them apart and rubbed them together as I was told.

“What now?”, I asked, and he rolled his sleeves up to demonstrate. I watched him the first time, wondering how can he make such a difficult thing to do look so easy.

“Can you repeat that again?”, I scratched the back of my neck when he was just finishing with the lesson

“Okay, where did I lose you?”

“Right there at the beginning”

He sighed exaggeratedly before he started taking me through the process again, step by step until I could finally attempt to pick some food up, which was difficult cause the noddles would drop back into the takeaway before I could put them in my mouth. I could see him snickering a laugh each time but still encouraged me to continue.

“See?”, I was halfway through giving up. “I told you I was terrible at this”

“No you're not. At least you're trying”, he was really patient with me as he urged me more and more. I finally mastered it after multiple failed attempts and I took a mouthful of the ramen into my mouth.

“I did it!”, I jumped to my feet in victory, and he clapped his hands

“See?”, he smiled as I sat next to him. “I told you could do it”

“That was actually kind of fun”

“I know right?”, he chuckled. “Who knew you could be so funny to watch?”, he joked, and I playfully shoved him, and he didn't stop laughing.

“But you're right, this was fun”, he locked eyes with me again

“Would you like a glass of wine?”, I stood up abruptly, interrupting the moment

“Yeah sure”, he nodded in agreement and I turned to leave, I could feel his eyes on me the entire time as I poured both of us a glass and walked back to sit next to him again

“Thanks”, he bought his glass closer to mine, initiating a toast. “To you finally learning to use chopsticks”

I smiled before we clicked our glasses together, before we both took a sip. As if on cue, the lights went out, and it became really dark.

“What the-”, I felt him fidget in his seat, as if he was going to stand up but chose not to cause it would look like he was afraid of the dark or something

“What just happened?”

“We've been experiencing power cuts these past few weeks. The landlord promised us it would be fixed by the end of this week but alas”, I searched for my phone to switch on the flashlight.

“The power should be back in about two hours or so”

“So you just wait?”

“It's not like there's anything we can do”, I shrugged before standing up to get the candles and I felt his presence nearby

“Wait”, his hand covered mine as he stopped me from lighting the candles. “Let me do it”

I gave him the candle lighter, and he lit up the votive candles, slowing bringing brightness in the room with some light reflecting through the glasses on his face

“What's with the glasses by the way?”, I leaned on the counter, resting my cheek in the palm of my hand and looked at him

“One of my contact lenses fell out, and I couldn't find it, so that's why”, he turned to look at me

“Weird seeing me like this, isn't it?”

“You look like a nerd”, I pursed my lips together, suppressing a laugh, and he laughed softly

“I tend to get that a lot but thanks “, he shrugged as both of us took two candles each and distributed them around the room, and it wasn't that dark anymore. I took my phone and shuffled other Dvsn songs on my playlist.

“Now that's what I call setting the mood”, he joked as he sat next to me, and we continued eating

“So, you live alone?”, he asked, and I nodded my head. “No kids, pets....anything?”

“None at all”, I finished chewing and swallowed. “What about you?”

“None whatsoever. It's just me, myself and I”, he shrugged his shoulders before clearing his throat.

“So don't you want to have any pets?”

“I would love to have a cat or two”, my lips turned up in a smile when I just thought about those cute, adorable creatures. I absolutely adored them simply because they are cute and cuddly.

“Why haven't you?”

“With my busy schedule plus living alone, I'm incapable of taking care of one”, I drew a breath still looking at him, his eyes dragging me deep into a bottomless pit without any guarantee of return

“Are those the only reasons why?”

“I'm also kinda scared that of having a cat only for it to hate me or something. It would totally break me”

His eyes never left mine as I spoke, attentively listening to me ranting

“I find that hard to believe”

“Believe what?”

“That a cat would be incapable of liking you. I mean have you seen yourself on the mirror?”, he scoffed. “What's not to like?”

I smiled weakly at him, not really sure how to respond to that because I wasn't so good at handling compliments but will eventually continue with the conversation because one thing I also wasn't good at was tolerating an awkward silence

“What about you? Don't you want to have a pet?”, I adjusted in my seat.

“I didn't think I was a pet person until I looked after a friend's golden retriever named Badger, and he managed to change my mind”, he seemed chuffed, and I nodded my head in agreement

“A female friend?”, I questioned as I took a sip, and he rose his eyes to look at me

“He was a colleague at work, he went out of town for a few weeks on a family vacation”, his eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you asking?”

“Just curious”

“Or maybe just a little jealous”, he retorted, and I almost choked on my saliva

“Why would I be jealous?”

“Because you're interested in me”, he shrugged his shoulders

“That would make me jealous?”, I quirked an eyebrow and he grinned

“Precisely”

We locked eyes for a second as he never looked away not even once, clearly I would never win a starring competition against this one

“I'm not interested in you”, I finally said something, still under his captivating hold

He cracked a side smile. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am”, I scoffed, and he hummed in agreement, clearly not believe any word I said and honestly I didn't blame him, I didn't believe myself either. I turned my face to look away from him because I didn't know what to say and silence fell awkwardly between us before Outlandish started playing on my phone, and he moved his hands, dancing to the beat of the song.

🎶Couldn't have been in the worst time

Ironic

Waiting for the perfect timing

No such thing, no such thing

I'm just living for the now

May not be righteous

Don't judge me, don't judge me🎶

He started singing along, not once breaking eye contact with me as he happily danced while siting down, seemingly enjoying goofing around. He had this impeccable aura, I'm just couldn't explain it and why I seem to be drawn to it.

🎶One more shot, I'm too lit

I'm not indecisive

I already know who I'm choosing

Choosing

Try and don't take it too far

We've already passed too far

If we fuck right where we are

Wouldn't that be outlandish?🎶

He rose his brow at the last part of the lyrics as an actual question he was asking me and I cleared my throat before standing on my feet to clear the takeways.

“It's really getting late-”, I was interrupted by seeing him towering above me and my breath hitched in my throat, feeling my heart pound against my chest

“Do you want me to leave?”, his hand drifted to my waist, pulling me to him and there was no denying that I was craving him, his touch, how his skin felt against mine

“I don't know”, I reached to pull the glasses on his face, his eyes never flinching as he watched me fold them and placed them on the coffee table before pulling myself to his height, waving my fingers in his thick hair

“Do you want to leave?”

“No”, he buried his face on the side of my face and pressed his lips on the crook of my neck, leaving a trail of soft kisses along my jawline before bringing his face up to crash his lips into mine, nearly knocking out all the wind in my lungs

The kiss grew heated, sending rapid shivers throughout my whole body and I surrendered myself to him as he deepened the kiss, offering me some tounge before picking me up and wrapped my legs around him, never breaking our contact as he laid me gently on the couch

“Tell me what you want”, he whispered against my lips with his hand traveling down my body, stroking teasingly on my already soaking folds

“I- ”, I grasped moaningly and grabbed a fist full of his hair, uttering the next words silently as I threw my head back in pleasure

“Hmm? You might want to speak a little louder than that if you want me to hear what you saying, Bella”, his voice was low and husky, igniting my sexual desire deeply.

“I want you”, I said quietly, barely as a whisper

“You want me?”, his hot breath fanned my face as and his lips spread into a smile, seemingly amused with what I said, and I nodded my head eargely. He then pulled me up with him, placing my legs on either side of him so that I straddled him, and he caressed my lower back gently, pulling me closer to him.

“Then show me”