Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Britt spent the next two hours in a constant state of panic while her stomach practiced tying nautical knots.
Her momma finding out they were married was bad enough, but in the span of one hundred and twenty minutes, Lacey had also managed to get them to agree to a second wedding, out her to her immediate family, takeover her house, and make her and Linc roommates, whether they liked it or not.
By the time Dex had interrogated her, since her momma had called him—because, of course, she had—and she’d been forced to speak with her daddy and two other brothers, she was wrung out.
Thankfully, Seb had a baseball game that he wanted Memaw, his preferred name for grandma, to attend, so Dex was on his way to pick her up.
Apparently, he’d dropped her off to visit while he ran some errands.
Britt tried to convince Lacey it would be much easier for her to stay with Dex since she didn’t have a car, and he’d have to drive her back and forth.
Yeah, that had backfired. Her momma simply ordered a rental car to be delivered to Dex’s address.
Right now, Lacey was in the bathroom changing into some more appropriate clothes for a baseball game and freshening her makeup, which left Britt and Linc blessedly alone for a few minutes.
“Um, what just happened?” Britt asked. She felt like she’d ridden a rollercoaster without a safety harness.
“Your entire family knows we’re married, your mom can be terrifying, and, apparently, you’re moving in with me,” Linc stated as easily as reciting a grocery list.
“How are you so calm?”
“Would you prefer I freak out?”
She threw up her arms and let them flop back down to her sides. “Yes!”
“Sorry, Zan.” He shrugged. “It is what it is.”
She wrinkled her nose. “God, I hate that saying!”
He chuckled.
“Stop laughing,”
He didn’t.
“C’mere.” Linc hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her into a hug. She melted against him. “It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.”
“I don’t know what scheme your things are in,” she mumbled into his chest, “but it’s not the same one mine are.” She felt his body shake on a silent laugh. “Stop it.”
“You’re adorable when you’re pathetic.” He reached a finger under her chin and lifted until she was looking at him. “You know that?”
When his lips feathered across hers, she sighed.
“I’m sorry about Momma.” Even though she dreaded it, she added in a low tone, “I’ll tell her the truth. I’m not going to invade your house and put you out.”
“How ’bout you invade my house and just put out, then?”
She sputtered a laugh. “Linc!”
He smiled and hugged her tighter. “Did you not just witness the wrath of Hurricane Lacey? You really want to see what happens if we tell her we got married when we were drunk?”
“Shhh! Keep it down!” Britt whisper-shouted. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Lacey hadn’t come back out yet. “There is no way in hell we can tell her that unless you want to pick out burial plots because she’ll kill us dead.”
He snickered. “Thank God, she won’t kill us alive.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat, suppressing a chuckle.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t make jokes, but what do you expect?
You set it up perfectly; I had to take it.
” She glared at him, so he rationalized, “But I do think we deserve a breather. We can hide in the eye of the storm.” He held up a finger before she could comment.
“That’s not a joke. I’m being serious. We can catch our breath and figure out what to tell our friends when your mom’s not around to hear us. ”
“Why do we have to tell our friends?”
“Zana, she just said she’s going to plan our wedding. Do you honestly think she won’t mention that to them? You know she’s bound to run into at least one or two of them at some point while she’s here.”
“Dammit. You’re right. What do we say? I don’t want to lie to them.”
But apparently, I’m fine lying to my momma.
God, I’m such a hypocrite.
“If you don’t want to lie,” Linc said, “then we have to tell them the truth.”
“Never thought of that,” she sassed.
“Now who's being sarcastic?”
She winced. “Sorry. So, we tell them what really happened and then swear them to secrecy. But we have to talk to them before Momma sees them.”
“Agreed. Now that that’s settled, would you rather…”
“Seriously? You think this is the time?”
He ignored her. “…pack up a few things, hide out at my place, and avoid your mother, or…?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t let me finish.”
“Oh, sorry. Continue.” She waited for him to speak.
“You got me. There is no option two. You’re coming home with me.”
Linc was right. They deserved a breather, and nothing sounded better than avoiding her momma and her questions for a while. “Let’s hurry up and leave before Dex gets here. I can’t face him right now.”
Linc kissed her forehead. It was a small gesture, yet he somehow knew she needed it to ground her.
“Okay. We’ll drive around to kill some time, then swing back here so you can pack a few things while she’s at the baseball game.
That way, she won’t figure out you haven’t already moved stuff.
We’ll call everyone when we get to my house.
After that, we lay low so Lacey can’t interrogate us. ”
Smiling her agreement, Britt called over her shoulder, “Momma, we’re going to Linc’s. We’ll see you after the game.” She quickly opened the door before her mom could argue and ran smack into Skye. She’d totally forgotten she was picking her up to take her to lunch.
Skye stumbled back from the force. “Whoa!”
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry!”
“Mow me over, why don’t you?”
“Sorry.”
“Where’s the fire? Oh, hey, Linc.” Skye waved to him over Britt’s shoulder.
“I’ll tell you about it on the way,” Britt promised, turning Skye and giving her a little push toward the car. With any luck, they’d be gone before her momma finished freshening up.
Unfortunately for Britt, luck did not have her name on it.