7. Nash
CHAPTER SEVEN
NASH
I glance down at my hands and pick at the cuticle on my left pointer finger. Doubt rolls around in my mind, a stark contrast to the anticipation in the pit of my stomach. I don’t know why I agreed to this. Actually—I do know why, but I can’t help but feel like maybe it was a mistake. This situation is bizarre. When I was growing up and imagined myself getting married, this isn’t how I pictured it at all.
“Are you okay?” Nash asks me to my left as he stops the car at a red light. We’re only three blocks away from the courthouse and the emotional part of my brain is telling me that now is my chance to make my escape. Jump out of the car and make a run for it.
I glance over at him, fixing my face as I swallow roughly and nod. “I’m fine. Just feeling a little off this morning.”
“What’s going on? Did you call your doctor?”
Shit. I picked the wrong lie to tell him this morning. Grimacing, I shake my head at him. “I didn’t mean physically. This is just… weird.”
He instantly frowns before he looks back to the road and starts to drive again. “Yeah, I know. This doesn’t have to change anything between us, Riley. It’s just a piece of paper.”
“You’re right,” I agree as the seriousness of the situation creeps deeper into my brain. Grabbing my smoothie from between us, I lift it to my lips, taking a sip. The nervousness grows within me as he pulls into the parking lot and finds a spot. I’m at the point where I’m beginning to ramble with no thought before I speak. “It doesn’t mean anything. You’re still free to date other people or do whatever it is that you want.”
As soon as I say it, I want to take it back. I don’t know why the hell I just mentioned that, but I did. And here we are.
Nash switches off the engine and slowly turns his head to look at me. “I appreciate your stamp of approval, but I’m not interested in dating anyone, Riley.”
“You're not?” I move quickly, spilling the smoothie all over my white sweater dress. “Shit.”
I need to learn to keep my damn mouth shut and watch what the hell I’m doing.
“I’m not looking to add any new people to my life,” he admits as he glances down at the berry mess all over the front of my dress. “I think I might have a shirt in the back seat.”
I stare at him for a moment, transfixed on the first sentence as I completely disregard the spilled smoothie. I don’t need to ask him to elaborate. I don’t need to travel down this road. It’s my nerves and nothing more. It has nothing to do with the way my heart skips a beat when his eyes shine back at me. It has nothing to do with the way I’m hyperaware of every part of him when he’s close to me. The way he smells, the way he laughs.
Goddammit, Riley.
“I can’t wear one of your shirts, Nash.”
“If you want to just wear that, I’m not going to judge you either.”
I fight the urge to cry because goddammit, I’m tired of crying at everything all the time. “Fine. What do you have that I can wear?”
Nash turns in his seat, rummaging around in the back before he pulls out a blank paper bag. He reaches inside, pulling out a jersey before he hands it to me. “Here, you can wear this.”
I lift it up, looking at the front and the back as I see it has Nash’s last name on the back. “This is brand new. I can’t wear this if you got it for someone else.”
“Riley, just wear it. I bought it for Nonna and forgot to give it to her for Christmas.”
“Okay.”
He’s silent for a moment as I pull the jersey on, adjusting it around my stomach. “Are you ready?” Nash questions me, his voice tentative and quiet as his eyes scan my face. “I know this isn’t an ideal situation, but you have to think about yourself and the baby.”
“I know.” I glance out at the front of the old brick building, my hand sliding over my stomach beneath Nash’s jersey. This is all for you, little man. “Let’s go.”
Nash gets out of the car and makes it over to my side before I get the chance to get out myself. His hand is there, waiting for mine, and electricity slides up the length of my arm as I slide my palm against his. I don’t need his help, but I let him anyway as I climb out of the car. Nash’s hand lingers in mine and he shuts the door as he gives me a gentle squeeze.
I glance up at him and he gives me a soft smile that makes my heart flutter. My lips slowly lift and I swallow back my anxious feelings as I square my shoulders and nod. Nash’s hand slips from mine as we start to walk toward the building.
The next half an hour feels like a whirlwind, like I’m lost as everything is moving around us. Nash and I walked up to the front desk and were promptly taken back. We didn’t have to wait, which was probably best so I could stop overthinking everything. After filling out the paperwork and going over the entire process, we were ready for the ceremony.
“Did either of you bring anyone to be a witness? We need at least one other witness for the wedding,” Mr. Charles, the officiant, says as he glances at the door behind us.
Nash and I both look at each other. I didn’t know we needed to bring someone with us. “No,” Nash tells him, shaking his head. “I didn’t realize we were supposed to have a witness.”
The older man smiles at the two of us. “It’s okay. People don’t always know what the requirements are. Let me grab Cindy from the court clerk’s office. She usually stands in as a witness for us.”
“Thank you.” I smile at the kind man as he disappears through the door behind the podium he was standing at. I turn to look at Nash who’s standing beside me, except he’s facing me. “This feels a lot easier than it should be.”
He lets out a soft chuckle, his eyes shimmering beneath the harsh fluorescent lights above us. “Right? Anyone can just walk in here and get a marriage license. I knew it was a simple process and you didn’t have to make an appointment, but this is kind of crazy.”
“I will say, I do feel like I should have worn something a little nicer.”
Nash takes a step closer, lifting his hand to fix the collar of my dress. “You’re perfect exactly how you are, Riley.”
“Oh my goodness, aren’t you two just so sweet!”
I pull my gaze away from Nash, looking at the older woman who steps back in with Mr. Charles. She’s a little shorter than him with curled gray hair that falls just along the tops of her shoulders. A smile lifts my lips and I try to ignore the blush that creeps across my cheeks as Nash drops his hand away from me.
“Nash and Riley, this is Cindy,” Mr. Charles introduces us to her. “She’s just going to stand here quietly as our witness, right?” he questions her as he gives her a sideways glance.
She lifts her hand to cover her mouth as she smiles and nods. “Right. I’m just here to witness.”
Mr. Charles steps closer to us. “If the two of you want to face one another and hold hands, we’ll begin.” He pauses, glancing between us. “Do you have rings?”
Nash shakes his head, forcing a smirk that I know isn’t fake. “This was an in-the-moment decision so we came a little unprepared.”
“With a baby on the way, I don’t blame either of you for not waiting,” Cindy chimes in, winking at me before Mr. Charles scolds her with his eyes. If only she knew this wedding isn’t real and the baby isn’t his.
“Yes, we figured we might as well do it before the baby comes.”
Why the hell did I say that?
Nash raises an eyebrow at me, but he doesn’t say anything as he reaches for my hands and holds them within his.
“We’ll start with you, Mr. Simmons. I’ll read you the vows and you repeat them to Miss Harris.”
I watch the Adam's apple in his throat bob as he nods. Mr. Charles begins to speak, but I don’t hear the words he’s saying. Fear flows through me, swirling in my stomach with the nervousness that has been building all day. Nash’s thumbs rub the backs of my hands, his eyes soft yet probing as he silently tells me it’s okay.
And then his lips move and his voice penetrates my eardrums.
"I, Nash Simmons, take you, Riley Harris, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, to love and to cherish.” He pauses, his eyes burning holes directly through mine as his voice drops in volume. “Until death do us part.”
My heart crawls into my throat.
“Your turn, Riley,” Mr. Charles tells me quietly before he begins to recite the same lines to me. My heart pounds erratically, my chest constricting as I suck in a shallow breath. My tongue darts out to wet my lips and I speak the words to Nash, my eyes focused only on his.
"I, Riley Harris, take you, Nash Simmons, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward."
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Mr. Charles says, the smile evident in his voice as he closes the book in his hands. “You may now kiss the bride.”
My heart skips a beat, my eyes widen, and I don’t breathe for a second. We have to kiss. How could I have forgotten that part? Nash stares back at me, his gaze soft and warm, gentle and tender as he takes a step closer to me. If we don’t do it, it will look suspicious and we need to make this look convincing so we can walk out of here with our marriage certificate.
I drop my hands from Nash’s, meeting him in the middle as we stand in front of the wedding officiant. His movements are slow. He brushes my hair away from my shoulder and both of his hands move to cup the sides of my face. I tilt my chin up, my neck craning as I look up at him.
“Is this okay?” he asks me, his voice barely a whisper as his eyes search mine.
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, biting down as I nod. My hands find his biceps and I hold on to him, inching close enough that I can feel his warmth radiating from his body. “We’re just playing the part.”
“Right,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing across my cheek as he drops his face down to mine. His breath fans across my face, smelling faintly of mint. “They have to think it’s real.”
His mouth claims mine, soft and slow as his lips move against my own. My breathing stops as my heart tumbles over itself. I half expect him to move away, but when he lingers, I move closer, my lips moving against his. Time is suspended and our surroundings vanish as he kisses me with a tenderness that has my body melting.
His lips melt into mine, his tongue sweeping along the seam of my mouth as I instantly part them. The kiss deepens, his tongue sliding against mine as his fingers grip the sides of my face. The air around us is electric and he kisses me sweetly. His lips move against mine and in an instant, they’re gone.
Nash pulls away, leaving me breathless as he presses his forehead against mine. I struggle to get a grasp on what just happened.
“Congratulations!” Mr. Charles’s voice is filled with excitement and the sound of clapping comes from Cindy who is standing off to the side of him.
His forehead moves from mine, his hands still cupping the sides of my face as he moves away, just enough to look at me. There’s an intensity burning within the depths of his eyes, his expression filled with emotion that mixes with something similar to guilt or regret. I’m not quite sure what it is, but it leaves me feeling unsettled.
It was just supposed to be a kiss to seal the deal, to show them none of this was fake, but it didn’t feel like that. It felt like he was determined to reach my soul. To search the depths of my heart for the answer he was looking for.
Yet, it was none of that. It was as real as this marriage.
He’s just really fucking good at making something seem convincing.