Chapter 14 #2
I nod, and he stumbles back until he falls into a seated position on the bed. His eyes well with tears as he looks up at me with a genuinely devastated look on his face. “I’m…I’m so sorry. I don’t remember. Does…does it hurt? I would never knowingly hurt you.”
I shake my head. “No, it doesn’t hurt at all.” Maybe it’s a little sore, a lot sore, but it doesn’t hurt, and I don’t want him to feel bad about something I wanted.
He visibly gulps as he begins to fidget nervously. “Did I force—”
“No,” I immediately interrupt as I shake my head emphatically.
He thinks he forced himself on me, or at least did something to me while I was in no condition to consent.
As much as I can’t stand him at times, and as much of a nightmare as this marriage is, I was with it enough by the time we got to the room to consent.
In fact, I was more with it than he was.
Sitting next to him, I take his hand in mine and look into his blue eyes, currently filled with fear and uncertainty.
“Daylen, I’m still piecing together everything that happened from the last hour or so at the club to the time we got back to this room, but I remember most of what went on here.
I think I was more sober than you at that point.
The sex was consensual. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t want it. I did.”
With a shaking finger, he points to my neck. “What…what about that?”
“Consensual,” I assure him. “I like it…rough. I wanted it rough. I asked you to be rough with me. You gave me what I wanted.”
“So what you’re saying is you were sober and I was drunk.” He cracks a small smile. “You took advantage of me.”
I elbow him hard in the stomach. “Shut up, asshole.”
He starts chuckling. “There’s my nasty witch. I missed her.”
“You came three times,” I remind him. “I think you enjoyed yourself.”
“How many times did you come?” he asks with a bit of an amused tone to his voice.
“Once or twice,” I look down and mumble the lie.
He lifts my chin with his finger until our eyes meet and then raises an eyebrow.
I sigh. “A lot of times, okay?” I admit. “No need to dwell on it. Hate sex suits us both.”
He grins widely as he looks me up and down. “I’ve never seen you all messy like this.”
“Screw you, Daylen. Not all of us get off on looking our worst all the time. I’m sorry I didn’t primp properly. I was worried about the fact that we fucking got married,” I whisper-scream at him.
He rolls his eyes. “If you’d let me continue, I was going to say I like you better this way. You don’t need all that makeup and fancy hairdos. You’re a beautiful woman. You should go natural more often. You’re sexier this way, fresh-faced with your hair all messy.”
I’m contemplating whether or not he’s fucking with me when his computer rings and “Waterfalls” plays throughout the room.
I shake my head. “Are you serious with that song?”
He lets out a laugh as he walks toward his computer, opens the screen, and accepts the video call. “Tell me you have some good news, Tanner.”
Tanner nods. “I do. I was able to get a judge to agree to a video annulment. He’ll log on in a few minutes. As I suspected, they have immediately available resources for this kind of stuff in Vegas. Like I said, waking up in need of an annulment is nothing new out there.”
We both let out a huge and audible sigh of relief. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in an hour.
“I want half,” I joke to both of them with a smile on my face.
Daylen gives me the finger. “Annulment. Not divorce. You’re not getting shit, wifey.”
I shrug with a small giggle. “Can’t blame a girl for trying, hubby.”
“I’m most definitely not equipped to give you the princess treatment you so clearly need.”
I cross my arms in annoyance at his words. “My tits bounce when I walk, so yes, I do expect princess treatment.”
He stares shamelessly at my chest. “They bounce when you fuck too, sugar tits.” He thumps his head. “That’s one memory that will never leave me.”
As I’m giving him the finger, another video box pops up on the screen, and an old man appears.
And I mean old. He looks like he’s on his way to his own funeral.
He’s all wrinkly with very little hair remaining.
The sprinkling on the left is completely white.
He appears to be in a home office and doesn’t realize he’s on with us yet as he fiddles with the screen, cursing about technology.
All I can think is this nightmare will be all over in a few minutes. No one ever has to know I was married to Daylen Humblecut for a few hours.
Phew.
DAYLEN
The judge coughs for a solid five minutes before even saying a word. He may not live long enough for the ink to dry on the annulment documents he’s about to sign. We’d better get on with this.
The first thing I did when I woke up and found the marriage certificate was to call Tanner. He’s not only my agent and close friend, but he’s also an attorney. He laughed his ass off for minutes on end. Asshole.
He then assured me this kind of shit happens in Vegas all the time and annulments aren’t too hard to come by. We just needed to wait for the courts to open.
Kennedy walked in looking a little less murderous than I would have expected.
I freaked out when I saw her neck, but she was nice enough to reassure me.
She could have fucked with me, but I’m glad she appreciated the severity of the situation and gave it to me straight.
I’m even more glad she was into it. I may not remember everything about last night, but I’m starting to remember just how amazing the sex was.
The passion was on a level I’ve never before experienced.
It was like the hate we feel poured perfectly into the sex and made it so damn good.
I have to adjust myself as I look at her.
I’ve never once seen her without an ounce of makeup and without her hair perfectly done.
Even when she plays ball, she looks camera ready.
I wasn’t kidding when I said I prefer her this way.
I may hate her personality, but she’s gorgeous. There’s no arguing that.
The judge skirts death by asphyxiation and finally begins talking, albeit with a giant scowl on his face.
“Good morning. I’m Judge Salvetti. I’m a retired judge, but we retired judges volunteer and rotate taking on the requests for annulments that flood the office every morning so as not to disturb the real work needed.
” He says all this in a very judgmental tone as if scolding us.
“Drunk youngsters who don’t take the sanctity of marriage seriously are a waste of time for active judges dealing with real-world problems.”
Kennedy whispers to me, “Don’t hold back. Tell us how you really feel.”
“What was that, young lady?” Judge Dog Ears snaps.
She smiles. “I was just telling my husband how generous it is for you to donate your time.”
He eyes her skeptically, and I subtly elbow her while mouthing offscreen, “Don’t piss him off.”
The judge continues, “I remind you that even though we’re not wasting court space with this nonsense, you’re still under oath.”
We both nod that we understand.
He obtains all our information, including names, birthdates, social security numbers, addresses, and the wedding details from last night that we remember. He’s clearly judging our actions with snippy replies, but I don’t care as long as he signs the damn annulment document.
He asks, “Do you own any joint property?”
“No,” I answer.
“Any joint assets at all?”
Kennedy shakes her head. “No. Nothing like that.”
“And you didn’t consummate the marriage, right?”
Kennedy and I look at each other but otherwise remain silent. The judge stares at us before placing his pen on his desk. “A reminder that you’re under oath. Did you or did you not consummate this marriage?”
I lick my lips nervously while Kennedy’s shoulders fall. Nodding my head, I admit, “We did, but we were both drunk and barely remember it.”
He scowls at my answer and then picks up his pen. He brings it to the papers in front of him several times as if about to write, but never actually does. Eventually, he places his pen back down on the desk and looks back up at the screen. “You know what, I’m not giving you your annulment.”
“What?” Kennedy, Tanner, and I all yell in unison.
He nods. “I’m sick of people taking the institution of marriage so lightly. You two aren’t irresponsible kids. You’re thirty-two and twenty-six with college degrees and real careers.”
Kennedy scoffs. “You’re punishing us for being responsible adults?”
His eyes blaze with venom. “Yes, young lady, I am. You’re both adults who should know there are consequences to your actions,” he spits back at her.
Tanner clears his throat. “Respectfully, Judge Salvetti, you have to admit this is highly unusual. You have two adults who admittedly made a mistake in Las Vegas. It happens all the time, just as you said. Annulments are granted on a daily basis in similar situations. There’s a lot of precedent to grant this annulment. ”
The judge leans back in his chair. “But we have discretion. I know you’re aware of that, counselor.
” He crosses his arms as an eerie, smug look takes over his face.
“What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.
” He cracks a small smile as if he’s amusing himself.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. I want you two to give this marriage a chance until the end of the calendar year.
That’s a little over nine months from now. I want—”
“Judge,” Tanner interrupts. “This is not how it’s done. You can’t force them to stay married. They’ve been married for all of five hours. This isn’t equitable in light of the brevity of the term of the marriage.”
The judge narrows his eyes. “I can and will do exactly as I please, Mr. Montgomery.” His eyes toggle between Kennedy and me.
“I want you to go on a minimum of two dates a week. You will date and otherwise attempt to make this marriage work. I want you to give it a real chance. And you must remain true to your vows or the clock starts fresh.”
“What?” Kennedy sputters. “I can’t have sex for nine months?”
That only seems to enrage the judge more. “You can, young lady. With your husband.”
“What if we don’t want to have sex with each other?” I ask. “You can’t force us to have sex. We. Were. Drunk. We’re not dating. I don’t even like her.”
“Of course I’m not forcing you to be intimate,” he replies.
“I’m just telling you that you can’t be intimate with anyone else.
” He has another smug, satisfied look on his face as he picks up his pen.
“Let’s do monthly video call check-ins so I can keep an eye on you lovebirds.
I remind you that you’ll remain under oath when we chat, so don’t try to pull a fast one on me.
I won’t hesitate to put you in jail for perjury.
I’ll send your attorney all the information. Good day.”
He cuts the feed abruptly, and his square on the screen goes black, leaving me with a sense of complete and total hopelessness.
You’ve never seen three more shocked faces than the three of us.
Tanner breathes, “Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.
” He runs his fingers through his beard.
“I’ll try to appeal his decision, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.
These retired judges are respected. No one likes to interfere with them.
We got unlucky in getting one with an obvious axe to grind.
I’m sorry, you two. You may have to weather this storm through the year. ”
We’re both quiet. Still in complete and total shock.
In light of our silence, he says, “I’m…going to run. We’ll talk later, D.”