Arrival party.

Almost all of the guests came in on the morning flight. That's a hundred rich, spoiled assholes flooding into the resort all at once. Simone had warned the staff ahead of time to have lots of fancy food and drinks available for the tidal wave of snobs that was about to hit them and Kennedy made sure the hotel followed through.

To celebrate the guests' arrival, we had a party set up on the beach. Guests went from the airport to their rooms to the party. Nicole and I stood at the end of the path, welcoming everyone as they came to the beach.

"Hi! Thank you for coming!" said Nicole for the thirty-seventh time. She hugged an old college friend. I wasn't surprised to see that all her old sorority sisters were attractive, but it was equally unsurprising that they were not as attractive as her inner circle. Of course my bride was shallow enough that only the hottest girls could be her best friends.

As we got a moment between arriving guests, I pulled Nicole into my arms and gave her a quick kiss. She held me tightly and responded with a much deeper kiss. Then, for the first time ever, her hand went down to my ass.

"Do you like when I touch you there?" whispered Nicole into my ear.

I kissed her neck, then said, "Yes, that feels great."

Hearing that got her so worked up that her breathing went ballistic. "I want to be married to you so badly!" whispered Nicole. The way she said it, I could tell it was the wedding night she really wanted. She pushed herself against me and I was sure she could feel my erection pushing back against her. "Oh gawwwwd! You make it so hard to wait another day, Will!"

"How is that my fault?" I asked.

"You're just too sexy!" She kissed me again.

I really enjoyed that kiss. Her lips were so soft and there was an enthusiasm that was beyond anything I'd felt from her before. Plus, the idea of actually being her real husband, not just a fake, felt erotic to me. I'd been doing temporary hook-ups and running for so long, staying with one woman felt risky and taboo. Playing the husband role for real was turning into an actual turn-on for me. Especially since I was going to be the kind of husband who was absolute lord and master of his house.

Then Nicole pushed me away. Despite getting laid with more regularity and quality than at any other point in my life, I was spending a lot of time being blue-balled. Nicole composed herself as best she could as she greeted the 90 year-old woman who used to give her piano lessons.

I looked around at the guests in the party and thought about the different rules that must be spreading to them. Using my perk, I could tell that the belief that I loved Nicole and was faithful to her had spread pretty strongly, especially for the people who were close to us while we were kissing.

Once all the guests had arrived, Nicole and I mingled. We told the story of how we'd met through an upscale dating service over and over again. I left out the part where I bribed the matchmaker to make sure I was set up with Nicole. I laughed at everyone's jokes, I was charming, the whole deal. I also payed attention to how various beliefs were spreading through the wedding guests. They spread much faster with the people close to us. This was especially true of the people we talked to, but even people nearby who were in separate conversations got noticeably closer to accepting the beliefs.

"Hey babe?" I said to Nicole.

Nicole looked at me like I was her whole world. "Yes?"

"Let's split up for a little while. There are a lot of guests and we can cover more ground that way."

She pouted a little. "Okay, that makes sense. But I'll miss you!"

I headed into a group of Nicole's college friends. I chatted with them about the pressures of the wedding and listened to their lame advice about how to be a good husband.

After awhile I glanced around again. The beliefs were spreading even faster. Both the people Nicole talked to and the ones I talked to were gaining belief faster than everyone else. Both of us were a source and we were more effective apart.

Of course, I could use my perk to improve on this even more. I went into a group of men, business associates of Nicole's father, who had very low belief. "Hello, gentlemen. How are you enjoying the island?"

"It's nice!" said a balding guy. "Beautiful place for a wedding!"

"Yes," I agreed. I nodded to Opal, who was staring at me from across the beach. "And some beautiful ladies, too!"

The men all chuckled. A guy with a closely cropped beard said, "Well, maybe for the young people. My wife would kill me if I looked at any of these ladies too long."

"Oh, didn't you know?" I said with a joking air. "You're on island rules now! Blowjobs don't count as cheating!"

They all laughed. The bald guy said, "Yeah, I wish that were true!"

I winked at him. "Are you sure it's not?"

All of them got massively closer to accepting that belief. They'd need a little more time, but I'd gotten them started.

I worked the whole party, trying to casually mention as many beliefs as possible to make them spread. Between me and Nicole, the wedding guests were well on their way to accepting the things I'd spent the last few days setting up.

Then I saw Kennedy headed towards me. Even before she got close enough to speak, her face said there was a serious problem.