Chapter 3
3
MAC
The Elvis keychain. The cheesy saying. The kiss.
I stare at Rainn in horror. How did this happen? Okay, stupid question. Alcohol. This is why I don’t drink. Or one of the reasons.
“Mac…”
“I’m not—I didn’t—” But my protests sound lame. I participated. I let Rainn kiss me. And I kissed him back. I’ve been lonely. And Rainn is my best friend. The person I love most in the world. But I’m not in love with him. He knows that. Right?
You married him.
That little voice in my head sounds like my sister. She’s a lawyer and is always quick to point out the evidence.
“Oh God, Mac. I’m so sorry.” His eyes are wet, and I can’t stand to see him cry. Never could. When we were fifteen, Rainn slept over, and there was a huge storm. I’ve never understood his fear of storms, but it doesn’t matter. I held him all night. That’s what friends do.
But what about later that night?
I ignore that voice too. Rainn and I have both agreed that was nothing.
Shutting all that down, I point at my best friend. “Take a shower and get ready. We’re going to breakfast?—”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Don’t care. We need to figure this out, and I’m not—” I shake my head, not wanting to say the words but unwilling to remain in the room with the bed we slept in together.
Together . I would know if something happened. Right?
Rainn complains but grabs his stuff and heads for the bathroom. Once he’s safely behind a closed door, I slump in the desk chair. I’d rather forget this entire trip, but I force myself to search my memories.
Dancing with Rainn. In front of everyone. I squeeze my eyes shut and swallow the bile in my throat. This isn’t Cedar Ridge. These are our friends, except for Sally Jo. My eyes pop open. Oh heckity heck. What if she put it on social media? What if Cher did? She has millions of followers. I rub my chest, trying to get my heart rate down to a manageable level. Don’t panic. Rainn will do that enough for both of us.
He steps out of the bathroom and wet ringlets drip down his neck. At least he’s got his clothes on. I jump in the shower, letting the hot water pound away my stress.
When I step out of the bathroom, Rainn jumps and turns away from me. I stow my things away and study him.
“Ready to go?”
“Yup. As soon as you tell me what’s going on.” Folding my arms across my chest, I raise an eyebrow.
“Nothing.”
“Rainn, it’s been a long day already, and it’s barely started.”
“It’s nothing.” But after a minute of me not budging, he sighs and pulls a chain from around his neck. It’s holding his wedding ring. He shrugs. “I don’t want to lose it.”
I almost tell him to put it in his bag, but the rising color in his cheeks and the way he clenches his jaw convinces me to let it go.
And maybe a part of me likes that he’s wearing it.
“Should I wear mine?” I ask, cracking my knuckles—at least until Riann notices. I drop my hands.
“You don’t have to. In fact, I can hold on to yours if you want.”
“No.” I'm not sure why, but I want to hold on to it myself. “Do you have another chain?”
Rainn finds a chain for me, and I slip my ring around my neck. Then, we head downstairs to find breakfast.
The hotel is quiet compared to last night. I shake my head at the gold horse in the middle of the lobby. Vegas is cool but not my style at all.
We leave the hotel and go to a Denny’s down the street. I’m not ready to run into anyone from the wedding party. Rainn digs into runny eggs, corn beef hash, and a side of pancakes. I have an omelet and bacon. My stomach revolts at first, but I chug some water and keep going.
“What do we do now?” I ask the question I can see in Rainn’s eyes, just to get it out there.
“I…I don’t know. Do you think it’s real? Like we’re married married?” He whispers the last words, and it’s cute. I hide my smile behind a sip of coffee.
“I think it’s real.”
“How can you enter into a contract while you’re smashed out of your mind? Surely that’s not legal.”
“This is Vegas, Rainn. People do it all the time.”
“Why the fuck did we have the honeymoon here?”
Rhetorical question. Rainn knows the answer. The charity event he and Cher are doing together. “You agreed to it.”
“The gala is months away. Cher could’ve gone to Vegas any time. Jesus Christ, this was a stupid idea.”
“Go on. Get it all out.”
He huffs. “I’m done.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, hiding a smile.
“Yes.” He rubs the back of his neck and squeezes his eyes shut. “Fuck!” He gives me a shy grin. “Now I’m done.”
I laugh, ignoring the glares from the dad with a toddler. And the two older women whispering and sneaking glances at us. This isn’t Podunk, Missouri. This is Vegas. They should expect some noise.
“We need to find out what Cher knows…or anyone else in the wedding party.” I sip my coffee, glad my head and stomach are starting to feel better. “Is it all over social media?”
“No.”
“You can’t know that, Rainn.”
“I’d be getting calls. From…Dad. From Zye. Hell, even Mama Gladdie.”
The tension in my shoulders loosens just a little. Mama Gladdie is Cher’s mom, and she wouldn’t hesitate to call. “Okay. Good. Let’s find out what Cher knows.”
Rainn sends her a text, and twenty minutes later, she joins us with a coffee in her hand.
Turns out, Cher doesn’t know much. Until we tell her. “Are you fucking kidding me?” She laughs and then glares. “How is it you got married before me, Rainn. Like that shit is not fair.”
I’m still surprised she’s talking to us. How can a person be that chill?
“Just…help us figure out what to do now, okay?”
She sweeps back the bangs of her dark hair, not looking at either of us. “Does this help you at all, Rainn? With your dad and school, I mean?”
He takes her hand and squeezes. I glance over at the child enjoying his Mickey Mouse pancake. I didn’t exactly forget how close Rainn and Cher were. Are. But it bothers me. I’m protective of my friend. That’s all. “I wasn’t marrying you to get away from them. You know that, right?”
She shrugs her shoulder. “Yeah. But it would have helped, right?” Her eyes sparkle. “Too bad Mac isn’t independently wealthy.”
This isn’t helping. “What do we do now?”
“Depends.” She lifts her chin in challenge, and I already don’t like where this is going. “If you two are madly in love, then you stay married. Fuck them. You’ll work it out.”
“And if we’re not?” Rainn asks, and that stings. I’m not sure why. We aren’t in love. At all. And I’m straight. So it shouldn’t matter.
“Get an annulment.” She leans in and bites her bottom lip. “Did you…consummate the marriage?”
“No.” I glare at her, but then I glance at Rainn. “We…didn’t. Right?”
Her mouth drops open. “Oh my God. The great Mac, who never does anything wrong, got so drunk he doesn’t remember if he fucked his best friend or not.”
Now we’re definitely getting glares. “Shut. Up.” I wave my hand at her. “We didn’t do anything.” I don’t look at Rainn for confirmation. I don’t want to give her the satisfaction.
“He’s right,” Rainn says, only his voice wavers a bit. His phone rings, and it sounds jarring. “Fuck. It’s my dad.”
“You can’t avoid him forever.” It’s the God’s honest truth. And I’m tired of getting calls from my parents. “He’ll rant at you, but better here than when you get back home. And we need to know what he knows.”
Rainn stands and stares at the still-ringing phone. Finally, he answers with a grimace. “Hello?”
“What the fuck is going on?”
I can hear his dad screaming over the phone. My pulse speeds up and my stomach sinks. Does he know?
“I’ve been trying to call you for the last two days. You fucking kicked me out of your wedding. And then you didn’t even marry her. Are you a ho?—”
Rainn hurries off before I can hear any more. Not that I need to. Rainn’s dad is a homophobic jerkwad.
Cher sips her tea, her eyes watching me.
“What? Just say it.”
She shrugs again. “You win. He’s all yours.”
“That’s…I like you, Cher.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You just weren’t right for Rainn, and we both know it.”
“Were you really drunk, Mac?” She leans closer, all humor gone from her eyes. “Or is this your way of keeping him safe?”
“You think I did this on purpose? That I got Rainn drunk and married him?”
Before she can reply, Rainn is back. “Shit, man.” He slumps in his chair. “Might as well enjoy Vegas while we can. He wants me home as soon as the trip is over.”
“I’m surprised he isn’t demanding you return now.”
“Cher is here. I think he hopes we’ll actually get married.”
“Did you tell him that would be illegal?” Cher asks, trying to look innocent. “You know, with you already married to Mac?”
Rainn ignores her. “We have to be home by Monday. Maybe we can ask your sister for help with the marriage thing.”
I nod. Casey will help us, although she’ll give me heck about it. My drunk plan of marrying Rainn so his dad wouldn’t cut him off was beyond stupid. His dad would disown him in a heartbeat for marrying another man.
What would my dad do? Not that it matters. He’ll never find out.
“Monday gives us plenty of time to check out the Vegas shows.”
Rainn and I stare at her. Focusing is hard right now.
She huffs. “The gala, remember? We’re looking for performers?”
“Right. Okay, sure.”
“Damn it, Rainn. This was your idea.”
“I know. But you might have noticed, there’s a lot going on right now.” He waves his arm around dramatically.
Cher smirks. “It sucks that you guys are going through this, but I have to admit, I’m kind of enjoying it.” She pops a french fry in her mouth.
“Glad we can amuse you,” Rainn says dryly.
She leans closer, her elbows on the table. “Karma is a bitch, my friend.” Her eyes twinkle with mischief. “Or maybe we should call it fate.”