You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like That

Mini-Matchmaker

The ceremony ended a few minutes later. It was a beautiful wedding, one that I would remember forever. If not because of the beauty, because of the back-and-forth glances between Cutter and I throughout the rest of the vows.

After the congratulations were expressed and the pictures were taken, everyone rejoined at the house. I found myself fading into the background (the one thing that I dreaded), so I joined my cousins where they were sitting with some family friends of Cutter's dad. They were telling stories about the last rodeo that Rod had been in. I took a seat on the ground next to Allie.

We were right in front of Cutter and his best friend, Curtis. Cutter barely even looked my way. He was totally enthralled by Rod and Bryan's story. An hour or so went by with us all sitting around sharing stories like that. I'm not so sure on the time span though...I was sorta off in my own little world. Allie nudged me and whispered something about car tagging in my ear. We both shot up and went in search of the window markers that were hidden somewhere in the spare bedroom. Once they were found, we made a bee-line for the bride-and-groom's car.

"What are y'all doin?" We hear a voice behind us asking. We turned around to see Cutter and Curtis walking up.

"We're fixin to write on my mom and Ryan's car for the wedding," Allie explains matter-of-factly. "Wanna help?" she asks them, holding out a marker. Both of the boys shake their heads and lean on the PT Cruiser parked next a few yards away. Neither of us had paid it any attention before, but then we realized that there was music playing from inside. Cutter opened the door (it's his uncle's car), and we're all greeted by a strong scent of marajuana. All four of us have to take a step back to get some fresh air. We've all been around pot, but if you aren't expecting it, the smell can really screw you up. After we recovered, everybody laughed at the realization that his uncle Bryan and his girlfriend, Angie, were probably high off their asses right now.

Allie and I slammed the door quickly as we saw Nicole approaching. "Hey, you guys forgot to call me to do the cars!" she screamed at us. We both apologized; she humphed at us, snatched up some markers and went to writing on the windows. The boys got bored and left, so we all went to town on the windows of the car.

A sly smile crossed Allie's mouth as she made her way across the property to where Cutter had parked his flat-bed truck. Nicole and I followed close behind her. "What are you thinking, Allie," I asked her, nervously. She told me she wanted to write on Cutter's truck to get back at him for ditching us. I thought about it and agreed that it sounded like a good idea. I took some markers and went to drawing on his window. He'd probably be pissed when he saw it, but I guess I just didn't know him well enough to care. Besides, he hadn't hardly aknowledged me, so maybe this would get his attention.

After we were done, we ran to put the markers away, and Allie had a brilliant idea. "We should see if you can stay the night!" She suggested, excitedly. I agreed without a second thought. We went back outside and hung out for a few hours, but then Cutter said he was going to leave. He had to pull Chance in the trailor, which meant someone had to move the other truck so he could get back to where the trailor was hidden. Allie said she'd move it; she needed the driving practice. I went with her, out of boredom, which meant Nicole came along as well.

We all hopped up into the truck. Allie made a few attempts at starting the truck, but she couldn't manage. Cutter took her place in the driver's seat; he got it on the first try. He jumped out and we all laughed as Allie got back in, her face as red as a tomato. We moved the truck quickly and just sorta sat in it hanging out for a while. Allie got out to go get the horse. Nicole leaned up on the middle console. "Cutter likes you," she told me. I just sorta looked at her.

"What?" I finally responded, ever so eloquently. She repeated herself. "What do you mean 'he likes me'?" I asked her, still not totally comprehending.

"I can tell," she stated.

"Like more than a friend??" I asked her, still unsure. She nodded. "How can you tell?"

"I just can," she said. Then Allie hopped back into the driver's seat.

"You're never gonna guess what your sister just told me," I tell her.

"What?" she asks, looking back to Nicole. Nicole just shrugged. I explained to her that little-miss-matchmaker had a theory that Cutter likes me and how she was just about to tell me why I was his type.

"Well, he likes girl's with big..." she cut off and pointed at her own chest. I looked down and couldn't help but feel a little self-concious. "The other girls he's dated are uglier than you though." When she said that, Allie and I proceeded to explain why that was bad wording. "Well, I meant that you're a lot prettier than all of his exes," she reiterates. I thanked her, still a bit confused by the situation.

"Speak of the devil," Allie mumbles. I look over to my window to see Cutter approaching. He stuck his head in my window to tell Allie that Curtis needed some help. She left with no more than an "okay" in response.

"What are you doin Nic?" He asked, turning to the ten year old in the back seat.

I didn't hear too much of their conversation, cause I was too busy wondering why he was still in my window talking to Nicole, when her face was inches away looking out her open window. Next thing I know, she gestures him to go back to her window so they can talk. As baffling as it was that he was in mine, it was even wierder that she needed him to go back there so they could have a "private chat," so I finally tried to listen to them.

"Do you like Tori?" I heard her whisper to him. He responded by asking if I liked him. I couldn't hear what she told him, so, naturally, I assumed the worst. She'd told him I like him.

"What did you say, Nicole?" I asked her, paranoia getting the better of me. She mumbled nothing, over and over again, basically meaning she told him something she shouldn't have. I didn't hold it against her though. I looked up to see Cutter smirking at me. It only lasted a moment though, then Allie called for him; he left and hopped in his truck, driving off, and taking my butterflies with him...

"What just happened?" A confused Allie asked when she got back in the truck. I just shook my head, implying she didn't need to worry about it. "Alright," is all she said as she reparked the truck. We all started to go back to the party. "Now where are you goin?" She shouted as we all noticed Curtis walking toward his truck.

"I'm goin back to your place to grab my stuff," he told us, "I gotta head back tonight."

"I wanna go..." Allie whined back.

"Then come on," he told her matter-of-factly. We exchanged glances. She told him to hold up a couple minutes.

Allie and I raced back to the party and asked our parents if I could stay the night. They all agreed it was fine. We made a beeline for my dad's car where all my stuff was, then raced to the truck.

The drive back to Allie's was full of Brokeback Mountain jokes about him and Cutter, and threats from Curtis to throw us outta the truck if we brought it up again (which we both knew wouldn't happen). We kept goin the whole way home. We stopped to see Chance before we went to the house, since Cutter had already dropped him off.