Broken Vows

Chapter 6

Erin woke the next morning to a light knocking on the bedroom door.  She opened her eyes, disoriented at first, and then realized she was still in Brody’s bed.  She was lying mostly on her stomach and Brody was snuggled up against her, one of his legs entwined with hers.  The memory of the previous night’s events sent a wave of pleasure through her, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it as the knocking came again, a bit harder this time.

Erin untangled herself from Brody and reached to pull on her underwear and his t-shirt, the first and closest articles of clothing she could find.  Then she padded to the door and opened it a crack to see Tobey standing in the hall.  Her cheeks must have reddened as she realized she was answering Brody’s door, but Tobey just grinned.

“Relax Erin, I won’t tell anyone.” He whispered.  “Can I come in?”

She ushered him inside and closed the door as she heard Brody groan and roll over.  His eyes met hers as she turned around and he smiled.  “Looks like we’ve been busted.”

Tobey shrugged.  “Kel and I had our suspicions anyway.  But I won’t talk.”

Erin returned to the bed and sat down on the edge, Brody scooting over next to her.

“What’s up?” he asked Tobey, careful to keep the sheet from exposing too much.

“Kelly’s in the shower, so I figured this would be my only time to get the word out.” Tobey started.

Erin chuckled.  Kelly had a knack for taking long showers.

“I made some phone calls and there’s this sail boat that does privates sunset cruises into Pamlico Sound.  Miraculously, they’re still free this evening, so I booked it.  Jamie’s agreed to bring it up this morning and suggest we all go.  We’ll need to take the ferry over to Ocracoke, so I thought maybe we could do dinner there before we did the cruise.”

“And this is where you’re planning to propose to Kelly?” Erin clarified.

Tobey nodded.  “Think she knows?”

Erin shook her head.  “She’s clueless.  You’re gonna blow her away.”

“I’d prefer she just agree to marry me.” Tobey joked.

Erin grinned.  “I have no doubts Tobey.  She’s crazy about you, even if she does give you a hard time.”

“How long does it take to get to Ocracoke?” Brody asked.

Tobey wrinkled his nose.  “About two hours, between the drive down and the ferry over.”

“So, what time do you want to leave?”

“I thought we could head out after lunch.  It would give us time to look around over there before we had dinner and set sail.  Sorry this is all last minute, I just didn’t have my act together ahead of time.”

Erin smiled.  “Relax, Tobey.  It’s not like any of us had other plans.  We’re game.  I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

Tobey returned her smile, relieved.  “Thanks, guys.  Brad’s going to look into restaurants for us and suggest something so it seems like this was all their idea.  I better split before Kel comes looking for me.”

He headed for the door and paused to look back at them before slipping out.  “And by the way, this-” he paused to motion to the two of them, “is no surprise.”  Then he left with a wink.

Erin rolled her eyes but turned to Brody with a grin.  “Are we that obvious?”

Brody shrugged.  “Well, you do have trouble keeping your hands off me.  It’s hard to miss.”