Drunk on You: an age gap, enemies to lovers, fake engagement, office romance (Love & Whiskey Boo

Chapter Twenty

“As much asI love the multiple orgasms and room service, I feel like we’ve barely seen Maui,” I say as we step outside, and the bright sun hits me hard, forcing me to momentarily close my eyes.

Julian and I have been holed up in our room all day—even going as far as to cancel our lunch plans with my dad and Selene—only coming out because Julian is the best man in the wedding and has to attend the rehearsal and dinner.

“We had a couples massage scheduled,” he admits, “but I chose to just massage you myself.”

He waggles his brows, and I laugh at his playfulness.

“It’s actually been rescheduled for Sunday. And I have an entire day planned, so don’t worry. After this ridiculous wedding is done, we’ll see plenty of the island before we leave.”

He envelops my hand in his and kisses my temple, then guides us toward where the rehearsal is taking place.

“Why are you so against Ryder getting married?” I ask. “Or are you against marriage in general?” I vaguely recall him mentioning something about not wanting to get married when we first met.

“I’m not anti-marriage,” he says as we walk down the sidewalk. “My mom and Frank have been happily married for over twenty-five years. They give me shit all the time because I haven’t settled down, but the truth is, I always thought I’d be married with kids by now. I just got so wrapped up in work, and the women I met weren’t exactly wife material.”

“Which is why you went in search of me.” I bat my lashes flirtatiously, and he chuckles.

“Actually,” he says with a smirk, “I was in search of a woman who could play the part of the submissive, doting wife, but I got you instead.” He stops and peers down at me, his smirk now replaced with a look of seriousness. “I never planned for you, Red, but I’m so damn glad I got you.”

His admission causes a lump of emotion to clog my throat, making it hard for me to breathe. I wasn’t expecting him either, but now, I can’t imagine not having him in my life. And that scares the hell out of me because no matter how sizzling the chemistry is between us, how life-altering the sex is, or the way he’s recently proven that he makes me laugh and smile, we can never be anything more, and I need to remember that.

He might’ve mentioned wanting more, but that’s only because he’s thinking with his dick. Men like Julian don’t want women like me long-term, no matter what they say. He said it himself—he was looking for a submissive wife, not one who would give him a run for his money. And it might be fun now, but eventually, he’ll get sick of the games.

“There you are!” Ryder comes over and pats Julian on the shoulder, providing a welcome interruption in our conversation.

“Shouldn’t you be at the rehearsal?” Julian says with a laugh.

“Forgot my tie,” he says with an eye roll. “Nora sent me back to grab it. Can’t have me looking like she picked me up off the streets.” His phone pings, and he checks it, then groans. “Better get back there. See you in a few.”

He takes off running down the sidewalk, and I give Julian a look that says, What the fuck?

“If I tell you something, you have to keep it between us.”

“Always,” I tell him.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Oh. Is that a bad thing?” I ask, assuming it’s not good by his ominous tone.

“She trapped him,” he says with disgust. “She said she was on birth control, but Ryder doesn’t believe her. He wanted to do the right thing, so he proposed, but shortly after, she miscarried, and I guess she sank into a depression. He felt bad, so he held off on calling off the engagement. And just before he was finally about to do it, his dumbass got drunk one night and gave in to having sex with her. She swore she was on birth control—again—and he says he used protection, but a few weeks later, she told him she was pregnant.”

“Ouch. That’s rough.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “He thinks he needs to marry her so he can provide the baby with a loving home. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he won’t listen, so as his best friend, I’m going to support him … and when shit comes crashing down—because we all know it will—I’ll have his back.”

“You’re a good friend,” I tell him. “And don’t worry. I am actually on birth control, one that’s good for the next three years, so I won’t be trapping you.” I wink playfully, and he chuckles.

“I don’t know,” he says, pulling me into his arms. “The thought of a little hazel-eyed boy or girl running around doesn’t sound half bad.”

“It’s the sun,” I deadpan. “It’s getting to your brain and frying it.”

He barks out a laugh. “Maybe.” He backs up and lifts my hand that’s intertwined with his, giving it a kiss. “You ready? I have a feeling this rehearsal, dinner, and wedding will be nothing if not entertaining.”

“Red, baby, you gotta wake up.”

I pry my eyes open and find Julian staring down at me.

“There she is.” He smiles and then dips down, giving me a soft kiss. “I need you to get up. It’s early, but there’s somewhere I want to take you before we have to go to the airport.”

I pout at the reminder of us leaving today.

“I know,” he says, as if reading my mind. “But I promise we’ll be back, and we can stay however long you want.”

He presses his lips to mine, and I wrap my legs around him, lifting my pelvis to grind against his groin.

“Not happening, beautiful. Then, we’ll never leave, and we have to go now, or we’ll miss it.”

“Miss what?” I lift my leg so I can roll onto my stomach and hide my face in my pillow.

“It’s a surprise. Now, up!”

He smacks my ass, and I jump off the bed, glaring back as I head to the bathroom to get ready, noting that it’s still freaking dark outside.

“Dress in warm clothes and comfortable shoes,” he adds.

As I sit on the toilet, I think back to how amazing our trip has been despite having to attend the weirdest wedding I’ve ever been to.

The rehearsal, dinner, and wedding were in fact entertaining, as Julian had predicted. But not in a funny sort of way. It was like watching a horror show. Nora screamed and screeched and whined and sometimes cried. She demanded perfection, and everyone around her scrambled around, afraid of being stomped on by the evil bridezilla, while Ryder looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

On a positive note, the wedding venue was beyond beautiful and magical, and even though I’ve rarely thought about getting married, if I were to, I would want it to be like that wedding—minus the scowling bride, subdued groom, scared employees, and concerned guests.

Not that there were many guests. Aside from Ryder’s family—who I learned from Julian is one of the wealthiest families in Texas—there was Nora’s family, who were … fun, to put it nicely. Then, there were Ryder’s friends and colleagues and a couple of Nora’s mean girlfriends.

Julian and I had a good time though. We danced and drank and ate delicious food. And in between the dinner and wedding, we spent all our spare time getting lost in each other.

Yesterday, we spent the day sightseeing, visiting all the cool places and eating our weight in delicious Hawaiian delicacies. We had a wonderful dinner with my dad and Selene, and we ended the night with Julian fucking me from behind on our balcony as the sun set.

It feels like we’ve been living in a paradise bubble, and I’m dreading returning to reality, wishing we could stay here forever—which is weird since I’m a workaholic and I’ve never spent this much time off work or on vacation with someone. It probably has something to do with the dozens of orgasms Julian has given me. I’m blaming it on the large amounts of oxytocin and dopamine that have been released from my brain. And refusing to acknowledge the fact that I’m falling for Julian … hard.

The drive to where we’re going is long, and he forces me to drink a lot of water since we’re heading up high, but the trip is filled with Julian and me taking turns playing twenty questions, so it goes quick. He starts off asking random questions, like what my favorite color and food are. Then, he moves on to ones that require a bit more thinking, like where I would go if I could travel anywhere. And just before we arrive, he squeezes in a few deep questions, like if I see myself having kids one day.

Telling him that I love the color red and would kill for a good Hawaiian pizza was simple. Admitting that I would love to travel to Australia to see the huge spiders and kangaroos people talk about on social media was easy. But having to tell him that I’m afraid to have a family of my own was hard. So, instead, I deflected by saying I could barely keep a plant alive, let alone an entire human. We both laughed it off, but I didn’t ask him the same question, instead asking him something lighter.

When we arrive at the Haleakalā National Park gates, Julian pays, and we drive through. The drive continues as we ascend until we reach the summit parking.

“Put these on,” he says, handing me a hoodie and a beanie. I’m confused as to why until we get out and I see how chilly it is up here.

“We’re ten thousand feet up,” he says, grabbing something from the trunk of the rental.

When I look closer, I see it’s a picnic basket.

“We’re having a picnic?” I ask, looking around. “In the dark?”

“You’ll see. C’mon.”

We walk past the information center and head up a trail that leads to a rocky but steady area. Julian pulls a blanket out of the basket and drapes it over the ground so we can sit.

He pulls out two thermoses, which I quickly learn contain delicious coffee. Then, he wraps his arm around me, and I cuddle into his side. A few minutes later, just like magic, the sun begins to rise as we watch the darkness turn to light, exposing the most beautiful view that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Julian Parker might be my fake fiancé, but he’s doing a damn good job at creating very real memories.