317. PDA

Sex on the pier under the stars sounded a lot more romantic than it actually was. Or maybe we're just not as coordinated as others. My shoulder blades dug into the hard, damp wooden planks as Cayden rocked against me. I felt a splinter making its way into my spine. Cayden winced as his knee slid into the gap between two planks.

"This isn't working, is it?" I asked looking up at him, a look of defeat in his eyes.

"What if we..." he started to say, and then flipped me over on my stomach and pulled me up on my hands and knees. I tried to ignore the pain of my knees bruising against the wood. I had to keep my core tight to keep from sliding forward and face planting.

"Yeah, not working," he finally said, and we both collapsed on our backs next to each other. "My hips hurt. When did we turn into fragile elderly people, anyway?"

"Good question," I said, remembering the scrapes and bruises still fresh on my knees and arms from our waterslide adventure a few days before. "But considering our old age and the fact that we've been drinking non-stop for three days, I'm surprised we haven't experienced one of those I'm-not-a-college-student-anymore hangovers. Those are the worst."

"I wonder why that is. Maybe we're sleeping through our hangovers?" He scratched at his right collarbone, the way he always did when he was contemplating or devising a new theory.

"This is pretty amazing, though, isn't it?"

I felt Cayden give me a sideways glance.

"No, not that," I said, trying to untangle my panties from my ankle. "This." I waved my hand out across the star-filled sky. "This," I said again, gesturing to the two of us.

"Amazing doesn't even describe it."

"Whoa," I said, sitting up too fast.

"What?" he answered, looking alarmed.

"I just realize that was the first time we've had sex anywhere other than a bed or the shower. Well, the shower barely counts because I can never keep my balance."

He scratched his collarbone a little harder while he thought. How was it possible that we'd been together more than two years and hadn't ever had adventurous sex? Probably because our time together was limited and we both had roommates.

"What's the weirdest place you've ever had sex?" I asked, suddenly realizing I didn't know many details of his past sex life beyond the fact that he used to be quite the little man whore in his military years.

"Hotel stairwell in New York," he said, a grin spread across his face.

NYC? Was this during the same trip he met me?

"Oh, no. Not that trip," he said, reading the curious look on my face. "My first trip to NYC. Hotel stairwell on New Years Eve. I was wearing a party hat and we didn't even bother undressing. I bet we looked ridiculous." He laughed and shook his head at the memory.

I laughed, too, as I tried to picture it, which is probably a weird reaction to have when you picture your future husband banging another woman. But I could just picture him with a big sparkly top hat that said 'Happy New Year' and a look on his face that said, 'is this really happening? The guys are never going to believe this.'

"What about you?" he asked. "Weirdest place you ever had sex. Go."

"Rooftop of my apartment in the East Village in NYC."

"Doesn't sound much more comfortable than this." He knocked on the wood next to him.

"I brought a yoga mat," I said with a grin.

He looked proud of me for being so prepared. Both of us were wishing we'd brought yoga mats or at least a towel onto the pier.

We sat there quietly for a moment, listening to the water lap against the wooden posts. Our minds were both here and there, enjoying the moment but also imagining what our future would be like. I couldn't believe I was on my honeymoon with such an intelligent, sexy and respectful man, and he was about to be mine forever.

"Do you think she called???" I blurted, as soon as I remembered the conversation we'd had with the wedding planner.

"Only one way to find out," Cayden said, pushing himself up to a standing position and pulling me up with him. "Let's order room service. Dessert and red wine. And then, whether she called or not, let's celebrate another incredible day with some non-adventurous king-sized bed sex."

It was oddly the most romantic thing he could have said.