"Oh crap, I forgot to tell you. My cousin's spending the night here," he said.
"Which one of them?" She asked.
"Roman," he answered.
She held her breath while turning away from him, hoping he wouldn't catch on how uneasy she was suddenly feeling. Of all his cousins it had to be Roman. The one cousin she had seen on different occasions but never actually talked to. He always stared at her so intensely that it almost scared her. She would have preferred Jimmy or Jey or even both of them. At least she could talk to them.
"Is it gonna be a problem?" He asked.
"No, Tabor, not a problem at all," she turned around with a fake smile on her face.
"Good. He'll be here soon," he said.
As if Roman had been summoned by their words, the front door opened and his voice sounded through the house.
"Tabor? Zareen? Anybody?" He called.
"In the kitchen!" Tabor called back.
Five seconds later his smiling face appeared.
"Tabor, my man!" He said and bear hugged his cousin. "I can't believe you're about to get married."
"Me neither but she stuck with me for some weird reason," Tabor laughed and nodded towards her.
"Zareen," Roman said and suddenly hugged her. "Welcome to the family."
The hug took her by surprise but she still hugged back. Why he was suddenly acting like they actually knew each other, she had no idea, but she would play pretend with him in order to keep Tabor happy.
"So I better go," Tabor said.
"You're leaving?" Roman asked.
"Yeah, not allowed to see the bride and all. You know the traditions. I'm spending the night with my best man," Tabor said. "Besides, I trust you keep her safe."
"Of course," Roman said.
"And my mom's coming by tomorrow to help her into the dress and everything," Tabor said.
"Haven't seen aunt Kelly in a while," Roman said.
"Anyway," Tabor said and walked over to kiss her goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait to see you walk down the aisle."
"Yeah, me neither," she smiled.
He walked into the livingroom to grab his bagpack and then he left the house.
"Let me show you to the guest room," she said.
She started walking out of the kitchen and Roman followed her in silence. That deafening silence that always seemed to surround him the few times she had seen him before. She never knew why he never came over to introduce himself to her like every other member of the family had. He always stood and stared from afar as if she was an alien.
"Small bed," he said as she opened the door to the guest room.
"If you want, we can trade. I can sleep in here and you can sleep in the bedroom," she offered.
"Hey," he grabbed her wrist and stared at her. "You don't seem too happy."
"Just a bit surprised you're here," she said.
"You're getting married tomorrow. You're supposed to be happy," he said.
"Am I?" She asked.
"I'm pretty sure you are," he said and smiled. "What's wrong?"
"I just wish I had someone here, like a good friend to be my bridesmaid," she lied.
"I can pretend for you tonight," he chuckled.
"Really?" She chuckled back.
"Sure. Show me your dress," he said.
She couldn't see why not. If he wanted to continue to play pretend, she would play along. Whatever actually kept him talking to her so she felt less alone on this evening. She walked towards a room and he followed behind her again. When she opened the door, the dress was already ready on a mannequin.
"Can I see it on?" He asked.
"Why?" She asked.
"Why not?" He smiled again. "Just doing my bridesmaid duty."
"Yeah, sure, why not?" She smiled back.
He turned around as a gentleman and she stripped out of her clothes until she was only in her underwear. She removed the dress from the mannequin, stepped into it and pulled it up.
"Zip me up," she said.
He turned around and his fingers found the zip, slowly pulling it up. The feeling of his hand on her back while the other hand slowly zipped her up was weird. It felt like he was caressing her. Once the zipper was all the way up, he leaned his head down on her shoulder and they both looked in the mirror as she stood there in the dress.
"Beautiful," he said and smiled at her in the mirror.
"At least one of us like it," she sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.
"Nothing," she said and looked down.
He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. He put two fingers under her chin and lifted up her head. His eyes were so warm and demanding at the same time that she knew she couldn't lie to him.
"Kelly wanted this dress," she said.
"Aunt Kelly can be rather demanding but why didn't you fight her on it?" He asked.
"She said that since they're paying for the wedding, she gets the final say," she answered.
She turned around and looked in the mirror.
"Look at it. So white and mermaid shaped. I never wanted this. I hate mermaid dresses. I can hardly walk in this thing. And white? I never wanted to be a white bride," she fought to keep the tears within.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"I always pictured myself in champagne gold," she answered.
"That's funny," he chuckled. "Your name means 'made of gold' in Persian."
She turned around again and just stared at him.
"It does? How do you know?" She asked.
"I might have googled your name after the first time I saw you," he smirked.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because I couldn't get you out of my mind," he answered.
She stared at him in disbelief, waiting for him to explain what on earth he meant with that. Instead he kept the conversation of the wedding going.
"What else has aunt Kelly done against your will?" He asked.
"Everything. She was even the one telling us to get married," she answered.
"You don't wanna get married?" Now he was the one staring at her in disbelief.
"Not really," she admitted. "I mean, I love him and all, but marriage? And she's even pushing for kids too. I wanna travel but I guess I just gotta settle with this life."
"Why would you settle?" He asked.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just too insecure. I just follow the stream wherever it leads me and it has led me here," she said.
For a third time she turned to stare at herself in the mirror. She didn't like what she saw. Wedding dress or not, she still didn't like the image of herself. He moved close again and once again placed his head on her shoulder and smiled at her in the mirror. His hands landed on her hips, holding her softly.
"You're still beautiful," he said.
"You don't need to do that," she said.
"Do what?" He asked.
"Try and make me feel better," she answered.
He smirked at her in the mirror and moved his head away from her shoulder. His hand moved up to unzip the dress. He pushed the material down her shoulders slowly and his lips found her shoulder, kissing at the skin as he revealed more and more of it as the dress moved out of the way.
"I always found you beautiful. That's why I stayed away. I knew if I went to go talk with you, I would go for you and that wouldn't be fair to Tabor. But I couldn't look away. You, my golden lady, is so fucking beautiful that it hurts to look at you," he said.
A soft thud sounded as the dress hit the floor. His lips were still on her skin, moving up to her neck, as his eyes found hers in the mirror again. He reached up to open her bra and sent it down to the floor too. His hands moved around, gently pinching her nipples as he moved around to kiss her back. He kissed down her spin while his hands followed the path on her stomach. She watched in the mirror how his fingers pulled her panties down and left her completely naked. He kissed back up her spine and once he was all the way up again, he spun her around and looked down her naked body.
"So fucking beautiful," he said.
"I watched you too, you know," she admitted. "Never seen anyone as beautiful as you either."
"I know," he said with a smirk. "I always felt your eyes on me and I loved it."
He pulled her close and kissed her. The second his tongue hit hers, a primal beast was awoken inside him. He growled lowly in his throat as he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom. He knew better. He knew she was supposed to be his cousin's wife next day. He knew he should stay away. He just didn't care.
He threw her down on the bed and got out of his clothes faster than ever before. He quickly jumped down on the bed to her, his lips finding hers again as he pushed her down on her back and moved in between her legs. He couldn't wait. He had to have her right away and as he moved his hand down, his fingers ran down her folds and he could feel how wet she was. No foreplay was needed. She was just as ready as him. He grabbed his dick and guided it into her.
A loud moan left her right away and she arched her back a little while she tried to push her crotch up to meet his movement. He pushed in as deep as he could, drawing moan after moan from her, constantly trying to get in even deeper even though it wasn't possible. He kept going until he finally pushed her over the edge. She was shaking underneath him, crying out in ecstasy, and he just kept going at the same pace, trying to drag it out for as long as possible. When she opened her eyes again and he saw the lustful look in them, he couldn't continue anymore. He moaned out loud too as he pushed in one final time and came deep inside her.
He stayed in the bedroom with her afterwards. He still didn't feel guilty at all and she didn't seem all too worried either. She quickly fell asleep and once he was certain she was way off in dreamland, he quietly took his phone and made his way out of the bedroom to make a call in peace.
"Roman!" His aunt sounded cheerful.
"Aunt Kelly, what the fuck have you been up to?" He asked angrily.
"I don't understand," she said.
"You're forcing this wedding on them. Did you even bother to ask them if they want to get married?" He asked.
"It's what's best for them," she said.
"Best for them or for you?" He growled.
He took a deep breath, trying to get his anger under control.
"You even took control. She wasn't even allowed to pick her own dress," he said.
"She loves it," she said.
"She fucking hates it!" He couldn't keep the anger away.
"She looks pretty in it. That's all that matters. One day when she looks back, she'll be happy about the choice," she said.
"When she looks back? For fuck's sake, aunt Kelly, there's not gonna be anything to look back at. They're gonna end up unhappy and divorced because you want this god damn wedding. You better fucking hope they don't get any fucking children that will be caught in the middle," he said.
"That's your opinion," she said coolly. "Is that the only reason you called?"
"No, I also called to tell you to stay away tomorrow morning. She doesn't need your help getting into the dress," he said.
"Oh, you're gonna help her?" She asked mockingly.
"Damn straight, I am. Don't show your face here tomorrow. At least give her that courtesy," he said.
He hung up before she could answer and made his way back to the bedroom. She was still sleeping and he watched her for a few seconds before quietly crawling back down to her. She moved a little in her sleep and snuggled up against his chest. He stared up in the ceiling as he pushed an arm under her head to make sure she slept even better.
"You don't have to do it," he said as he parked the car outside the church next day.
"Yeah, I do," she said and looked down at her hands.
He reached over and grabbed one of her hands. She looked up at him and he couldn't help it. It was anything but appropriate but he leaned over and kissed her, his lips lingering a few seconds on hers.
"Don't go through with this. You're not gonna be happy," he said.
"I don't know what else to do," she sighed.
"Go travel. It's not too late. If you can't face anyone in there, I'll walk in there for you and call off the whole damn thing," he said.
"And then what?" She asked.
"And then I'll take you home to pack your belongings and take you wherever you wanna go," he answered.
"That's just it. I have nowhere to go," she said.
"Really? Nowhere? No family? Friends?" He asked.
"I got no one but Tabor and his family," she answered.
He ran a hand down his face in frustration.
"I can drive you to a hotel or you can spend a couple of nights in my place if things are really bad. Just don't go through with this marriage when you don't want it," he said.
"No, Roman, I'll split your family apart if they find out what we did last night," she said.
"They'll never know. Like I said, it's just for a few days till we figure out something. You should go travel. You should see the world. You should be happy," he said.
"I will be," she lied.
"No, you won't and you know it," he said frustrated.
She looked at him for a few seconds and then put on a fake smile and held her hands out a bit.
"Am I still beautiful?" She asked.
"Always," he answered.
"Do you think he'll think so too?" She asked.
"Yes," he answered and faked a smile back.
"Good," she said. "Time to get married."
She stepped out of the car and he quickly followed. He had said his peace and he knew she had heard everything but he couldn't mess with her mind any further. He took her hand and walked her to the church.
"Who's giving you away?" He asked.
"No one," she answered.
"May I?" He asked.
"I'd like that very much," she answered.
The doors opened and the music started. Aunt Kelly gave him a weird look as he started walking Zareen down the aisle but he couldn't care about that. All that mattered right now was getting her to the end.
He knew deep down that he wouldn't be able to stay away from her. They wouldn't meet often, but when they would, he would still stare at her, and if he could, he would try and get her alone again. Why should he respect her marriage when no one else was and when she wasn't either?