Alex’s voice was more serious when he said, “I’m not going anywhere either.”
She nodded, reached over, and squeezed my hand. “I’ll leave you boys to it, then. I need a nap.”
“You and me both.” She closed her eyes, and I leaned my head on Alex’s shoulder and did the same.
The next thing I knew, he was shaking me awake because we’d landed. “Wow…I can’t believe I slept the whole time.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “You can’t?”
“Okay, maybe I can.”
We said our goodbyes to Gladys after we deplaned, then grabbed our luggage. I didn’t have all the right clothes for Puerto Vallarta, but I’d make it work.
Out front, a man wearing a suit was holding a sign with: Alex and Jack. A stab of annoyance pierced me, even though I had no reason to feel like that. It wasn’t as if the guy knew they hadn’t gotten married.
“Hello. That’s us. My husband and me,” I told him. I knew without looking that Alex rolled his eyes.
“Good afternoon. Welcome.” He took our bags and put them in the trunk, then opened the passenger door for us.
“You’re so extra on this trip,” I teased Alex, because of his fancy ride. We usually just took a cab or something.
“Shut up, Mr. Bailey.”
“Hey, who said we’re taking your last name? We’re gonna have to hyphenate that shit. Hill-Bailey.”
“Or Bailey-Hill,” Alex countered.
“Oh my God. You’re so picky.”
Alex laughed.
It wasn’t too far to the resort. The driver talked with us most of the time, and I kept the charade going, of Alex and me being married.
When he pulled up at the resort, I got out and took it all in with rising excitement, in awe of the sprawling building sitting right on incredibly white sand and blue water. It was busy, lots of people walking around, and by people, I meant men, most of whom were half-naked. Alex’s mini-trunks had nothing on all these Speedos.
“Let’s go, husband.” I winked, and Alex indulged me like he often did.
He checked into the room, which was under his name. When the man at the desk finished, he said, “Congrats on the wedding. I hope you and Jack have a great time here.”
Was it me, or was he flirting with us? The way his gaze flittered back and forth, I was pretty sure he was. “Actually, it’s Caden. He dumped the other guy and married me at the last minute.” I wasn’t going to be called Jack all week.
“Jesus, Caden.” Alex groaned, and the man laughed.
“Oh, you two are fun. I can tell. If you need anything…anything at all, you can ask for me—Armando.” He held out a card for me, but Alex snatched it.
“Thanks,” I said, “but I only have eyes for him.” I wanted to be playful but not lead someone on.
Alex dragged me away. “You’re not even queer, or did you forget?”
“That’s why I told him I only have eyes for you. I didn’t want him to think something’s possible.”
“Yes, but now he probably thinks something isn’t possible with me either.”
“Wait.” I stopped. “They already think you’re here on your honeymoon.”
“I don’t have to keep that story going.”
“You’re going to hook up on our honeymoon?” I asked, feeling more hurt by that than I had a right to be.
“It’s not really our honeymoon, Caden.”
He had a point. “Yeah, but it’s our vacation. I thought this would be Alex and Caden time.”
“Would you still say that if you were at a resort full of half-naked women?”
“Whatever. That has nothing to do with it.” I was being a dick, and I knew it.
We didn’t talk as the elevator took us to the top floor, didn’t speak as we walked down the hallway to the honeymoon suite, which turned out to be in-fucking-credible. One wall was nothing but glass, overlooking the ocean. The bed was huge, and there was a hot tub in the room by the windows.
Alex dropped his bag and went for the bathroom, but I reached out, wrapping a hand around his wrist. “Hey…I didn’t mean to piss you off. I’m not trying to make light of the situation. I just…” I really had thought I was going to lose him, that things would change, that he was going to leave me. I needed this time with him more than I could let myself admit.
“I know,” he said without me having to finish.
“Are we good?”
“We’re always good.”
I let him go, and he went into the bathroom to do his business. I sat on the bed and started pulling things out of my carry-on, when I saw a manila envelope. “What the hell?” I whispered.
“Imma put it in here, A. All our stuff, to keep it safe for us. I’m gonna keep it forever.”
I frowned at the weird flash of…memory? Dream? No, I was pretty sure it was a memory.
I opened the package just as Alex came out of the bathroom.
“What’s that?” he asked as I stared wide-eyed at the paper. “Hey, what is it?” he asked again, worry clear in his voice.
There was something else inside, and I shook it out…two gold rings. “Um…remember how you dreamed there was a wedding?”
“Yeah…?”
“Well, there was.” I set the paper on the bed. “Looks like I haven’t been lying to anyone all day. We really are on our honeymoon, Alex Bailey-Hill.”
Chapter Five
Alex
“Holy fuck, I think I’m gonna throw up,” I said as I looked at the marriage certificate I’d snatched from Caden’s hand.
“Hey! It’s not that bad to be married to me!”
“Oh my God. You’re really offended that I’m having a nervous breakdown about being your husband? I didn’t mean it like that, but did you forget one tiny detail here, Caden? You’re not queer!” Or in love with me, but I left that part out.
“Well, I know, but it’s you.”
I dropped my head back and took a couple of calming breaths. He was exhausting sometimes. “So? I’m gay. You’re straight. I know you have no plans to get married or anything, but I do. It’s what I’ve always wanted. It’s not a joke to me.” I turned, took a few steps away from him, hoping he hadn’t noticed the sincerity in my voice, that he couldn’t tell I didn’t just mean being married to a man, but being married to him.
“Shit. You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He walked over and put his hand on the back of my head. “We’ll figure it out,” Caden said, pulling me closer so our foreheads touched. “We’ll figure it out, okay? We can get it annulled when we get home. I need to look up the guidelines for it, but for now…we’re in Puerto Vallarta…on our honey—vacation. Our friendcation? Friendmoon? FriendsWhoAreMarriedMoon? Whatever you want to call it. Your choice. I’ll go along with it. I just wanna have fun with you.”
His breath smelled fruity, like Mike and Ikes, and damned if I wasn’t craving a taste. “I want to have fun with you too.”