“You’re insane,” she whispered, and untangled her hands from mine, taking a step back and scratching across her forehead. The green and gold painted fingers grabbed my attention, quickly followed by the blinding sparkle of that diamond I’d apparently slid onto her slim, delicate finger. “Absolutely insane. Have you lost your mind?”
“Possibly.”
She huffed a laugh and turned, grabbed her coffee and took a sip. Cringing, she made a face. “Gross. It’s cold and” —she glanced at me— “and you’re laughing at me.”
Sure enough, my smile was wide, although I wasn’t laughing. Not yet. “You’re adorable,” I said. “Let me refill your coffee. You think about this. But I swear to you, we can both win something from this, even if it stays temporary.”
“How temporary? I mean, there were things I thought about doing this summer, places I wanted to go, and at some point, I need to find a new job—”
As she spoke, I hurried to the coffee pot, easily able to hear it mostly because with every word she spoke, her voice level increased. Her panic was palpable, but I wasn’t easily deterred.
We could do this. And having this woman on my arm wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
I brought her back her coffee. She was still ranting about some asshole named Kurt and construction, but I cut her off.
We had more serious things to work out. Like, any minute, our families would wake up, turn on the news or their phones and I had no doubt they’d descend on my home, demanding answers and explanations.
As I told her this, she turned as white as my countertops.
“Oh shit.” She gaped at me. I rolled my lips together to fight a laugh.
Yeah, I liked her. She was sexy even when freaked out of her mind.
“Yeah. So… I hate to rush you on this, but you’re going to have to make a decision, and soon.”
“Right,” she mumbled. “Because I’ve done such a great job at thinking lately. You know that Garrett is going to kill you, right? Smash your face in with his goalie stick or something.”
I chuckled, shook my head. “He won’t.”
He’d be pissed. Might throw a punch. But like me, Garrett loved his hockey sticks too much to risk breaking them over my head. Thank God.
“I need the bathroom,” she blurted. “I’m sorry, but I just… I need a minute and I need to pee and this is all so much.”
I fought the urge to yank her to me, to calm her down. At some point, I couldn’t push this. She had to decide what she wanted. And if she chose to get an annulment, a quick divorce, I’d respect it, even if I hated it for my own ego’s sake.
“It’s down that hall, first door to the left.” I gestured in the direction, the hallway past the living room. “Take all the time you need. We’ll be okay with whatever you decide.”
Even if I hated it.
5
Gabby
I found the bathroom where Joey told me it was and as soon as I stopped inside, my jaw almost hit the floor.
On the counter was a plastic bag, Garrett’s jersey I’d worn last night poking out of the top. My purse was next to it, knocked over and half-emptied.
My phone. I snatched it up, found it dead and clung to it like a lifeline even if it didn’t have any battery life in it.
At least I found my things.
I kicked a white bundle of fabric on the floor and blood drained from my face, making me shiver. Closing the bathroom door, I squatted down, ran my fingers over the soft, silky fabric. My fingers shook as I grabbed it and stood with it in my hands.
My wedding dress. It had to be and for a moment, my eyes burned. I’d gotten married. I’d worn a wedding dress, carried a beautiful bouquet of pale pink roses like I’d always imagined I’d have in my wedding, and I’d slipped into this beautiful dress and gotten married. Walked down the aisle. Most likely vowed to be faithful, for better or worse, sickness and health.
And I didn’t remember a single moment except random flashes of Joey and me leaving the chapel.
Hell, I didn’t even know where we’d gotten married.
Not the wedding I’d dreamed of, and yet I’d been aware enough to ask for a few of the things I’d always wanted.
Standing, I held the dress in front of me, chin wobbling with emotion. I was young when my dad died in a training exercise for the military. So young, some days it was difficult to remember him and I probably would have forgotten what he looked like completely if Mom hadn’t kept our house full of photographs of him everywhere she could fit them, or constantly told me how much I looked like him. Sometimes, she’d say it with tears in her eyes and then leave the room. Didn’t exactly make me feel great to know that some days just looking at me made her hurt. Her love for him was so large, so huge, and still, somehow so fulfilling, that eighteen years later she still told stories about him, still loved him.
That was the kind of love I’d always imagined I’d have when I walked down the aisle.
Tears slipped down my cheeks as I brushed a hand over the lace front of the dress. Even not on a hanger, rumpled from a night on the floor, it was beautiful. Elegant. It was a dress I would have scoured bridal shops for, taking days or weeks to find the perfect one and somehow I’d managed to find it in hours or moments. None of it made sense. How Joey had managed to buy me a gorgeous ring. How I’d been able to find a dress I would have chosen if I were marrying my soul mate. How we’d gotten the license and how it’d all come together in glimpses of everything I’d dreamed of as a little girl while I played with Barbies and Polly Pockets.
I was married, and despite my mother believing I was incapable of making good decisions, marriage was one I took with the utmost seriousness.
So what in the hell happened between Joey and me last night where we’d decided this would be a good idea? Despite being drunk, it had to have been something huge. Something powerful.
“What a freaking mess,” I muttered to my reflection. My skin was pale, eyes red. I needed a shower and a fresh change of clothes and I definitely needed to get my shit together to deal with the drunken decisions we made.
Garrett was going to kill Joey. My mom would most likely disown me.
And Joey? What in the hell would his parents say? What would his brothers and their wives think of me? Sure, I’d met them before. Jude, Joey’s next oldest brother, and Garrett had been friends for so long—since college—I knew him well. But a drunken Vegas wedding neither of us remembered wouldn’t make a good impression on either of our families.
Oh dear. Maybe I was losing my mind. Could I do what Joey suggested and not fall in love with him? Hell, I was already attracted to the man, but what wasn’t attractive about the guy with his trim hips, athletic body. A drool-worthy, panty-melting body with a wicked as sin smile. Every time Joey smiled at me, it felt like he was thinking dirty thoughts behind that twist of his lips and the gleam in his eyes.
Foolish. It had to be. I was just Garrett’s sister, someone he barely knew.
There was no way I could stay married to him—too much time alone and I might find myself catching feelings.
A laugh bubbled from me, and I clamped a hand over my mouth to muffle it.