Chapter 6
Six
Carter
Alice Cooper’s singin’ on a black stage. In front of us. I think it’s him. Might not be. Hell, I don’t know. He’s blurry as hell. Everything’s fucking blurry as hell. And dark. It sounds like him though. He’s really good.
My palms are so sweaty in my bride’s hands.
My bride. Whoa.
Why are my hands so sweaty?
This music is so good. I love Rock.
Rock’s my favorite.
River’s my favorite.
I love River.
Fuck, this is awesome! I get to marry three Rivers.
How lucky am I?
She’s so beautiful.
I wish this was real.
It’s not. We agreed. Bingo. Win. Poof. Gone. Poof marriage. Before the real wedding. Our friends’. The real one. Wedding, not friends. Wait. Yes. Friends. They’re real too. Am I real? I am real. Real drunk.
Ha!
I laugh. All three Rivers laugh too.
River. My wife. My fake wife. Fuck it. I don’t care. I’ll take what I can get.
Five minutes.
Forever.
Whatever.
She’s my dream girl. I think I love her.
“I love you,” I blurt.
She giggles. “I love you too.”
“See? I knew it!”
What’d he say? Said to do something.
Oh. Rings. Yes. That!
“Say, I do,” the guy says.
“I do!” I shout.
“I do.” That’s my wife.
My wife.
Everything’s fuzzy.
“You may kiss your bride,” the guy says.
Alice Cooper? Holy shit, he’s close. Way too close. And scary. Dark. Goth. Looks like him but there’s two. No. Four. Wait. Two again.
He said I can kiss her.
Fuck, yes!
Snapping. Flashing. Cameras? Magic? More snaps. More flashes.
Buzzing? Are those bees?
Water. I hear water.
Fuck! I can’t see for shit.
“Sir, Ma’am, you have to come down from there,” the robot says.
Or is that security?
Snapping. Flashing.
Ringing. Lots and lots of ringing.
“13 Black,” I shout.
The day I met my wife.
My River.
Giggles. Hers. I peek.
She’s there. So fucking gorgeous.
She’s walking. Kinda. Sleeping and walking.
Key card. Gotta get in.
“Whoawhoawhoa, wifey.”
I pick her up. My arm screams. I don’t care. Worth it.
Door slamming.
We fall onto clouds.
Giggles.
“So hot.” That’s my wife.
She is. Hot. Yes.
River
The blinding morning sunlight pours into my apartment as I press my face further into the pillow, releasing a muffled groan. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to live in a corner apartment surrounded by windows?
Oh, yeah.
That would be me.
The jackhammer digging into my skull isn’t helping matters at all.
My phone rings like a screeching siren. God, why do I feel so sick right now? The room spins behind my eyelids. Reaching for the irritating device, I slap the top of my nightstand until I find the menace in my grip.
“Hello?” I grumble into the phone.
“River, where the hell are you?” my mom screeches. “Aspen’s been trying to call you all morning! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, Mom. I’m okay. Can you stop screaming at me? I don’t feel well.”
“Well, that’s what you get for the stunt you pulled last night . . .” Mom yammers on. “You need to hurry your ass. It takes thirty minutes to get to the venue—”
Venue?
I crack an eye open.
This isn’t my apartment.
Fuck! It’s Aspen’s wedding day!
I pop up, swinging my legs to the side of the bed. The room spins around me, and I have to take a deep breath to keep from getting sick.
Wait! Why am I not wearing any clothes?
Spotting a white T-shirt on the floor beside my foot, I bend down and pluck it off the ground.
“If you don’t stop moving the bed, Kitten, I’m gonna be sick.”
I freeze. My head swings in the direction of that voice.
What the ever-loving hell is Carter Fucking Graham doing in my fucking bed?
Except, as I look around the room, I realize that he’s not in my bed . . . I’m in his.
Fuck. My. Life.
Keeping the phone pressed to my ear, I listen to my mom ramble on and on while I search around the room for my clothes.
Oh, there are my shorts, lying on the floor at the foot of the bed.
I snatch them up and tug them on in a panic.
Then I pluck my bra and top off the floor from underneath the desk and drape them over my arm.
I huff a breath, blowing my hair out of my face as I stand and spin around the room, looking for my shoes.
“Did you hear what I just said?”
“Yeah, Mom. I heard you.”
I actually didn’t.
Carter’s phone rings incessantly, and my mom won’t stop bitching at me. I honestly don’t catch half of what she’s saying, and if she’d quit chewing me out for two fucking seconds, I could get out of here a hell of a lot quicker.
Ah, I found my shoes! Right by the door. I slide them on, and walk on the backs, the canvas folding down under the heels of my feet.
“Mom, I really have to go if you want me to get out of here.”
Of course, she doesn’t hang up.
His phone rings again; Teagan’s face lights up the screen. I grip his shoulder and give him a shake. “Hey. Wake up. Your phone won’t stop ringing, and we’re gonna be late.”
He groans, but slowly sits up, dragging both hands down his face. The ringing stops.
Nope. It’s ringing again.
“Hello?” Carter answers the call, his voice thick and raspy, and it stops me in my tracks.
My eyes trail up and down his body as he sits on the edge of the bed, threading his fingers through his sandy blond hair, which makes him look sexier, if that’s even possible.
It’s not only the act, but also the way his muscles flex with each movement.
He’s so defined like . . . everywhere. Makes me wanna go over there and lick him.
“Yeah,” he sighs. “She’s here.”
Why is his voice doing things to me? And why am I thinking about licking him?
“Did you hear me?” Mom asks, bringing me back to what I’m doing.
“Sorry, what’d you say, Mom?” I ask, looking around the room for my purse, now.
“I said, your dad is fightin’ mad,” she repeats.
I pull my phone away from my ear and stare at it as if she’s about to come right out of it with two heads. Why the hell would my dad be mad? “Mom—”
“Hurry up and get your ass here, will ya? And for the love of God, don’t let your dad near Carter.”
Before I can even process her words, I hear three little beeps, indicating she ended the call. My brows pull into a frown. What the hell is she going on about?
“Hey,” Carter’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “Teagan wants to talk to both of us.”
I wave my hand in the air, signaling him to put her on speaker, then plop down beside him on the bed. He taps the screen and sets the phone between us.
“Hi, Teagan,” I greet her. “We gotta make this quick—”
“You two need to listen,” she says, cutting me off. Her voice slices right through me, and my eyes widen in shock. Teagan’s never been short with me. “Do you both realize that Carter’s face is an image of this organization? When you act like drunk idiots in public, it affects us all.”
I frown at Carter. What the hell? I mouth to him. He shrugs and looks back to his phone.
“I wasn’t even concerned about your cheap chapel wedding circulating all over social media and the gossip rags. That I can work with. That I can spin. But almost jumping into the Bellagio fountain? What the hell is wrong with you two? That’s a damn felony!” she spits.
Wedding?
“We didn’t—” I start but then close my mouth quickly.
The wall is fucking sparkling. Why is the wall sparkling? I look down at my left hand, and Carter’s eyes follow. Sitting on my left ring finger is a ring with a big ass diamond. What the hell? How did I not notice that?
His lips part like he’s about to say something as I bury my head in my hands, whispering, “This is so bad.”
“We can annul it tomorr—”
“Oh, I can’t believe this. Are you two trying to make my job harder?” Teagan snaps, cutting him off. “You can’t do that to Aspen.”
My spine stiffens ramrod straight, and I feel my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “What?”
“You heard me. There can’t be an annulment.
Do you really think your sister needs a scandal right now?
She’s worked so hard to prove to the world that she’s capable of handling her team, then here you two go, messing that up and overshadowing her wedding day.
What a freaking disaster. If the media catches wind of this scandal, they’ll have a heyday.
I don’t want that for you, Carter, and Aspen sure as hell doesn’t need it.
You saw what they did to her last year. Look.
I’m going to be real straight with you; staying married for a while will make this a lot easier on everyone.
One year; that’s all I’m asking. Once the year is up, you can file for divorce or do whatever you want, but if you care anything at all about your sister, River, you’ll do as I’m suggesting. ”
Carter mumbles, sullenly, “Yes, ma’am.”
“What the fuck, Carter?” I whisper yell.
I would do anything in the world for Aspen, but this is all moving way too fast for my mind to fully wrap around.
“Good. I’m glad that’s settled. I know it goes without saying, but River, you need to go ahead and pack your things. You’re moving in with Carter.”
Wait. What?
“We live in the same building. Why do we have to live together?” I ask.
“You’re married now, remember? You have to sell it to the media.
The paparazzi can be relentless and if one of them catches you going into a separate apartment .
. . just . . . please, do as I say. Okay?
Trust me. Move in with Carter, and for God’s sake don’t tell anyone about this.
The last thing we need is for someone to leak this story to a tabloid.
I have to go. Someone just walked into my office. ”
The line goes dead.
I can’t move in with him. There is no way. I can’t do it.
I feel like I’m gonna be sick as I sit in stunned silence staring down at the ring on my finger. My eyes cast back to Carter, trying to figure out how we’re gonna get out of this mess. He runs his fingers through his hair, and my eyes track his movement, then widen in horror.
“Carter! What the fuck is on your arm?”