Overprotected

Chapter Thirty

          "Ohhhhh I don't want to take this off!" I say, observing myself in my wedding dress one last time.

    Bryce wraps his arms around my waist, kissing my neck. "And as beautiful as you look in it, I can't wait for you to take it off."

    I jerk out of his grasp, laughing, and slap his arm. "Stop it!" My face is hot.

     He laughs too, "But seriously Lexi, get changed. We need to leave for the airport."

    "HONEYMOON!" I shriek at the top of my lungs, causing Bryce to wince.

    "Okay, yes, I get that you're over-wound-up from today, but seriously we need to leave."

    I head into the master bedroom of our cute little house, where we stopped quickly to change. I slip out of my dress, change into jeans and a v-neck and flip-flops. I grab my suitcase and lug it down the stairs.

     Throwing it into the trunk, I turn to Bryce. "I look so off. Wedding hair and makeup, in casual clothes."

    He smiles, "Even without that, I'm pretty sure everyone will be able to tell that we're newly married."

    "Right," I say. "As in, 'the reception ended half an hour ago' newly married."

     We climb in the car and I bounce in my seat. "I won't be able to sleep tonight, I'm so over stimulated."

    "Good." A suggestive wink.

   I don't respond, my face is hot again.

   We reach the airport and check our bags, boarding a flight headed to the Grand Cayman, the island of our honeymoon vacation.

~*~*~

     That night, I wash the makeup off my face and let my hair down, completely erasing the wedding Lexi.

   I change into mini shorts and a T-shirt, before crawling onto the bed, where Bryce is already laying.

    I scoot in next to him and lay my head next to his on the pillow. "I have a couple of questions."

    "Oh?"

    "Yeah. Um, what did you think when you first saw me today?"

Bryce is silent for a moment, and terror grips me. "What. Did you not like the dress? The hair? The lace?"

"No no no absolutely nothing like that," he hastily reassures me. "I just... It's hard to describe. I can't. I was fighting tears, because I had never seen someone so beautiful. My gosh, tears at human beauty. That's says a lot."

I smile. "So you liked the dress?"

"It was perfect."

"Hair?"

"Flawless."

"Makeup?"

"How do you girls say it? 'On point'?"

I laugh. "Yes!"

We chat for a few minutes longer, and then suddenly we are on the subject of him. Carson.

"Lexi, do you... Do you ever wish it was Carson, and not me?" Bryce asks anxiously.

"Oh Bryce," I say softly. "He died six years ago."

"I didn't ask how long ago he died, I asked if you still miss him, love him, and wish it was him." Bryce says firmly.

"I-I miss him, yes. I love him, yes. But do I wish it was him? Well, Bryce, this is where I am now, and I'm happy to be here."