Chapter 14
OFFICIALLY FUCKED
Stefan
When I return to the table, my head pops. Are they pulling this prank again?
All my best laid plans go down the drain with this idea.
I was hoping to call it a night soon, then take Ivy and Hayes to the Rapture club back at The Extravagant.
Indulge in some music, dim lights, and a seductive vibe, then pitch her on a night together with us taking care of her every after-dark desire.
Here in Vegas would work for me. A night back in San Francisco would work too.
I had it all planned out solo—what to say in this proposal of sorts. I didn’t ask Hayes in advance because I didn’t want to come at Ivy with a full court press.
I had originally hoped to take them out after the game, but Dev and Brady roped me into drinks, and I couldn’t say no to a couple shots with the team.
But no way was I leaving Ivy behind. I insisted she come with us so I could keep her by my side until I could engineer a way out for the three of us.
Instead, I’ve walked back into the double-dog-dare shitshow.
Why did Yasmine have to call on a Friday night at eleven o’ clock to ask about an unusual ticket? Why did I spend so much time talking to her and pacing outside The Winning Hand? I could have prevented this. But now, Dev and Brady and Kana are showing them the pictures.
“Did you see this?” Hayes asks skeptically as he points to Dev’s phone. I sit down across from him, glancing at the shot of Dev and his girlfriend at the chapel down the street. A year ago, I’d issued the dare to Dev, who’d signed with the team in a mid-season trade the season before.
“Wait. I thought she was your girlfriend, not your wife?” Ivy asks Dev with a raised brow. She doesn’t miss anything. Please let her catch them on this. A wedding will take hours. “You just called her.”
With a no shit grin, Dev stabs a finger at the screen. “Yeah. Eva and I got married on a dare last year, then got it annulled, and, well, I’ll probably ask her to marry me for real really fucking soon.”
Great. He makes it all sound so plausible.
Brady clears his throat, waggling his phone and his pic. “Kana and I tied the knot here too,” he says, then swings the screen around to a shot of him and Mrs. Clampett kissing in the same chapel.
Huh. I don’t remember that one. But not my place to narc.
Hayes drags a hand across his chin like he’s trying to make heads and tails of the dare. “So, how does this work? You get married, then have it annulled in the morning?”
“It’s Vegas married,” Brady says. “Tomorrow before the breakfast, you call it off. Or after, whatevs. It’s fun. Just like the night we did it. ”
Kana laughs then smacks a kiss to his cheek. “And I’d marry you in Vegas all over again.”
Hayes’s brow furrows. He’s not quite buying their story, but he’s not ready to back down either.
He grabs one of the glasses the server left and knocks some water back.
This night is a wash. Might as well just go along with the dare now.
“Hayes, the record is an hour,” I say, giving in. “I dare you to beat it.”
“What record?”
Maybe I can move things along though. “The record for finding a woman here in Vegas to marry you,” I add dryly.
“The marriage license bureau closes in one hour,” Dev says. “Get cracking. You need to find a wife, stat.”
Ivy rolls her eyes, then raises her hand. “I’ll do it.”
That’s it. My plans are officially fucked.