Chapter 2
2
RAINN
My warm, cozy cocoon is interrupted by a sharp pain in my shoulder. And another. What the hell? I sit up to avoid the next slap and glare at my best friend. “What the—” My words evaporate as my sheet slips down. I’m naked in Mac’s bed.
He stands over me, wearing his jeans from last night but no shirt. I avert my eyes from all that tantalizing tanned skin. Wait. Was he in bed with me? Also naked? I shut those thoughts down and pull the sheet over my morning wood, which is quickly turning into an actual hard-on.
“Get up, Rainn.”
He stares at something behind me. And it’s like a game. Who can avoid looking at each other the most? Mac and I used to be comfortable around each other. Now? Not so much. It might have been me announcing I’m into guys at my wedding.
Or waking up naked in his bed. Jesus, what a mess.
I shake my head to clear it—ow. Fuck. The pain is unbearable. Like a thousand tiny people are hammering inside my brain. As my stomach decides to join in, I race to the bathroom, no longer caring that my ass is hanging out.
After emptying the contents of my stomach and my bladder, I brush my teeth. In the mirror, I can see Mac standing in the doorway. He rakes a hand through his dark black hair and stares at the floor. I brush vigorously, trying to pretend he isn’t standing there. His eyes dart to my face, catching my gaze in the mirror. He turns sideways and clears his throat. “Hurry up. We need to talk.”
I spit in the sink. “So talk.”
His gaze goes everywhere as if he’s trying to settle on something other than my naked body. Is my best friend homophobic like his dad? Like mine? I don’t think about the other possibility. Because Mac being interested in me is not something that will ever happen.
Mac’s hand in mine. His head on my shoulder. His breath on my neck.
Memories filter through like shooting stars. Fast, unreal, and hard to hold on to. What exactly happened last night?
I rinse my mouth again, willing my body to calm down and my head to shut the fuck up.
“Any day now, Rainn,” he says, sounding impatient, and it’s the last straw.
I spin around with my hands on my hips. “Can I get a minute to myself?”
His gaze shoots to my chest and then down to my half-hard cock swinging between us. Red floods his face and he stammers a “Sure” before fleeing the room.
Leaving the door open.
I quickly shut the door and take a deep breath. It’s fine. Sure, my life is falling apart. My engagement to Cher imploded. At the wedding. Does she hate me? It didn’t seem like it at the bar.
And I came out to my dad and a few million people and kicked him out of the wedding. Dad definitely hates me. But I’m not sure he liked me much before this. That reminds me of all the texts and missed calls yesterday. I wish I could tell him and his money—my stepmother’s money, actually—to fuck off. But another two years of med school makes me dependent on him. Just the way he likes it.
But if I keep ignoring him, he’ll definitely cut me off.
It was fun letting loose last night. But shit, I’m paying for it today. My head is screaming at me. I have pain meds in my duffel bag, but I’m not ready to face my best friend. I rub my face, and something glints in the bathroom mirror. A ring. On my left hand. What the hell?
“Mac?” I yell as I fling the door open and jab my hand in his direction. “Did I marry Cher? You were supposed to keep this from happening.”
His dark eyes widen and then narrow in a look I recognize all too well. Eddie McVay doesn’t get angry often, but when he does? Run for cover.
“Do you really want to do this naked?” His voice is low with a controlled calm that sounds like it might snap at any moment.
Right. Still naked. At least Mac has on a shirt, so I don’t embarrass myself further. I grab my bag and pull on a pair of joggers. The pain meds are there, so I grab a handful and choke them down…but I should have used water. I hate the feeling of things caught in my throat. I rush back to the bathroom and get a drink. When I return, Mac is less tense and trying to hide a smile.
“Shut up,” I say without any heat. “And explain this.”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Not Cher.”
Oh God. “Holly?” Please, Lord, no.
“Not Holly.” He lifts his hand. The one wearing a matching wedding band.
I laugh. It has to be a joke, right?
His eyes narrow and he folds his arms across his chest. I force myself not to linger on his broad shoulders. Or think about what’s under his shirt. Dark chest hair. Gorgeous abs. His low-hanging jeans, worn through in all the right places. “You think this is funny?”
“Dude. It has to be a joke. Right? Cher or Holly.” Actually, those two together probably cooked this up. “I mean, where would we even get rings?”
The rings for the non-wedding are with my brother Zye. He said he would find a couple that wanted them, but I suspect he didn’t want to take the chance I’d marry Cher in Vegas. Especially since he’d planned the actual wedding that had imploded spectacularly.
“This is Vegas, man. I heard you can get anything here.” He strides over to the desk, his jeans showing off his strong thighs and that butt. “And this looks pretty darn real.” He holds out a paper, and I take it from his hands.
A wave of nausea hits me again, but I swallow it down. A marriage certificate dated yesterday: Rainn Danica Harding and Edward Joseph McVay joined in lawful wedlock with their lawful consent …
“This can’t be real…”
A trinket on the nightstand catches my attention, and I carefully pick it up as if it’s a bomb ready to blow up in my hand. A keychain with a figure of Elvis holding a taco.
Mac giggling as he shakes the keychain in my face. “You and me, Harding. We belong taco-gether.”
A laugh escapes me. Mac wraps his arms around my neck, and I stop laughing. “Forever,” he says, staring intently into my eyes.
I kiss him. Just a press of lips and then, in a moment of drunken boldness, a swipe of my tongue. He gasps, and I’m in. The best kiss of my life. And it’s with my best friend.
Mac stares at the keychain and then at me. “Rainn?”
I shake my head, not ready to talk about this. The horror in his eyes tells me all I need to know. This isn’t Mac realizing he’s wanted me all along. This is him realizing I took advantage of him.
This is the possible end to our friendship.