18. Declan
18
DECLAN
P riest’s voice hit a range I wouldn’t have expected from the Marine, his voice carrying through the phone.
“Did someone just say wedding ring?” Marcos asked.
“Unfortunately.”
“Who got married?”
“Hayden.”
“The young stud you’re fucking?” Marcos grumbled.
“Marcos…”
“Sorry. That was, uh… unprofessional.”
“You’re not wrong, but yes.”
“How old is he?”
“Old enough to be a sergeant in the Marine Corps, so legal.”
“Well, that’s something, at least.”
“Tell me about it. Listen, I need a couple of favors and some questions answered.”
“Name it.”
“Thank you. Do you know how we got back to the hotel?”
“When you left the club, Damon followed in the car until losing you guys in the crowd. He kept a lookout. You popped up sometime later, and he herded you into the car and back to the hotel.”
“Well, that explains how we got back to the room and who plugged in all our cell phones.”
“Yes. Is there anything else?”
“Here’s the first favor. It’s two-fold. What I’m about to say stays between us. Do not talk to anyone about it. Also, I’d appreciate you not saying anything about what occurred at the club.”
“I understand. I won’t lie, but I won’t freely give anyone info.”
“Perfect. Now, for the second favor, I need a list of wedding venues between the club and where Damon found us last night.”
“Copy. Do you want me to go ask some discreet questions?”
“Yes. See if you can pin down where we were. I need facts, and we need to contain this.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Thank you, my friend.”
“You’re welcome. And the young stud is a lucky man.”
“Thank you. Please let me know what you find out.”
“Will do.”
The call disconnected, and I walked back to the others. I sat down in the chair next to Hayden and looked at him. I had no clue what we were going to do. Well, other than him losing his shit in the next few seconds because all five of his friends were asking questions at the top of their lungs, talking over each other, and not giving Hayden a chance to answer any of them.
He raised his thumb and first finger to his mouth, and an ear-piercing whistle cut through the chaos. When everyone shut up, he said, “I don’t know the first damn thing any of you asked, but here’s what we know. Nothing. We know nothing. We woke up with wedding bands on.”
“Well, actually, you said something, and I said something like you can’t say that about your husband. Other than that, all I remember after the test tube shots are flashing lights, music, a bunch of Elvises, a ton of flowers, and white. That’s it. It’s a blur.”
“So you think it was in the test tubes?” Scott asked.
“Yeah. We all drank from the bar all night, but not at the same time. Given how busy it was and how many people there were, it’s impossible they served us all from the same liquor bottle. The only thing we all drank was the test tubes.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, guys.”
Everyone rushed to let him know we didn’t blame him. There wasn’t anything he could’ve done. At least we didn’t overdose like some others did. And that’s what I said to him. He nodded.
“So, the hotel security is looking for the wedding chapel to figure out if Hayden and I really got hitched. In the meantime, I need food to soak up the rest of the alcohol, and I want a relaxing day by the pool. Anyone else in?”
Everyone agreed and moved to get ready, but Scott stopped us. “Wouldn’t you need a marriage license from the courthouse?”
I sagged with relief. He was right. We would need a marriage license, and they wouldn’t have been open that late.
“I could fucking kiss you,” I told him.
“No, you fucking couldn’t,” Hayden growled before stalking away.
I rolled my eyes as he stormed past me. Scott covered his mouth and coughed to disguise the laughter you could clearly see on his face.
“Seriously. Thank you.”
“No worries. But let the security team know.”
“Right.”
I shot off a text to Marcos.
Declan
Cancel the search for the chapel. We didn’t have a license, so even if we did have a ceremony, it’s not binding.
Marcos
You realize you can get a marriage license in Vegas online in just a few minutes, right?
Declan
The good times just keep on rolling.
Marcos
That’s New Orleans.
Asshole.
I walked into the bedroom to the sight of Hayden sitting on the side of the bed, hunched forward, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. I walked over to him and threaded my fingers through his hair.
“Hey.” The word softly whispered in case he still battled a hangover headache. “You okay?”
Without a word, his arms circled my waist, and he pressed his face to my stomach. The actions were not what I expected from Hayden, which worried me a bit.
“C’mon, big guy. What’s the matter?”
“It’s stupid.”
“Without making myself sound like an old man, I’ve learned over the years that nothing is stupid if it makes you feel off.”
He looked up through the fringe of his coal-black lashes. My fingers danced across his face in a glancing caress, struck once again by how beautiful he was.
“I should be ecstatic that we aren’t actually married, right? Since getting jilted and deciding wedded bliss isn’t for me, I’ve never once considered it. And I was fine with it. So why do I feel like I missed my one shot of getting someone all the way down the aisle?”
“First, the runaway bride did you a favor. Second, anyone would be damn lucky to have you for a husband. From what I’ve seen, you might be bossy and a control freak…”
“Takes one to know one.”
“May I finish?”
That devilish little boy look crossed his handsome face as he fought not to smile while nodding for me to continue.
“As I was saying, you might be bossy and a control freak, but you also seem like a damn fine man.”
The little boy-look deepened, and he blushed. I would’ve commented on it, but something told me it wouldn’t be taken how it was intended, not with him appearing so vulnerable.
“Thanks, vato.”
I leaned down to kiss him as his chin lifted, but then he moved back, his brow pinched. “Wait, how old are you?”
I laughed and dodged his question. “Older than you, I’m sure.”
“Okay, well, that’s not an answer.”
“I’m thirty-four.”
“Damn, and here I could’ve had me a sugar daddy for a husband.”
“How old are you?”
Those beautiful, full lips twitched with mirth. “We skipped some steps, didn’t we, vato? We went from ‘Hello’ to ‘I do’ without passing go.”
“We did. Guess we’ll have to keep playing, so we can revisit those steps?” I asked hopefully. He nodded and smiled but didn’t tell me how old he was.
I huffed a laugh. “You didn’t answer the question, Papi. Are you even old enough to be playing on the steps?”
“I think I’ve proven I’m old enough to play, or do you need a reminder?”
I growled at him playfully and said, “As for me being your sugar daddy, you gotta let a sugar daddy pay for things. And you don’t like that. Plus, with the way you treat me, it would be more like a sugar boy instead of a sugar daddy. You still didn’t answer the question, by the way.”
“You know, you protest being treated like my boy, but you started it by calling me Papi. And I’m twenty-three. I’ll be twenty-four in a few months.”
“So, Marcos was right when he called you my young stud.”
Hayden squeezed me to him and took my mouth, plundering it like a pirate looking for treasure. I’d never been a possessive person, and I’d never been attracted to people who were. I preferred being free to pursue my interests as the wind took me but damn me if his growly, possessive, caveman act wasn’t hot as hell.
“You belong to me. Remember?”
I said, “Hmm. That reminds me. There was something I needed to remember. Now, what was it? Oh, I have it. I need to remember to be careful what I say so as not to let my husband have an inch because he’ll take the whole damn mile.”
“Jumping the gun there, aren’t you? We dodged that colossal mistake.”
I pulled out of his arms and walked away, smirking at him over my shoulder. “But did we?”
The way his face went from shock to elation made me giddy. A giddy, thirty-four-year-old bodyguard. Who ever heard of such?