Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
RHETT
Feeling the mattress shift, I cracked an eye open, trying to figure out where I was. It wasn’t the first time I’d woken up in a strange city, trying to remember whose bed I was in.
There was a knot in my back, and my entire body felt sore. When I swallowed, not only did my throat feel dry, but it tasted like cow shit. What the hell was in that tequila last night? Getting blackout drunk seemed fun at the moment, but the pounding in my head made me regret every ounce of alcohol I put in my body.
I was getting too old for this. Not the mind-blowing sex but the drinking and partying. My body went through enough abuse during the season.
There was a rustling noise at the foot of the bed. I shifted my naked body under the sheets; my morning wood was rock-hard. Every muscle in my body ached, and my fuzzy head slowly started to clear.
A streak of blond hair and a naked silhouette that I memorized with my mouth and hands last night was now cursing and tripping over her own two feet .
I pushed up to a sitting position and rubbed my eyes. “Leaving so soon?”
She froze and glanced at me over her shoulder. “I planned on waking you up, but I wanted to get dressed first.” She turned away and slipped her dress on. “What do you remember about last night?” she asked, walking over to pick up her shoes.
Her eagerness to run out of here wasn’t good for my ego. Did I not perform well? No, that wasn’t it. I remembered the sounds of her moans and how unbelievable she felt when I was inside her.
I shifted to the side and scratched my cheek. “I remember us having a little fun between the sheets.”
“Fun between the sheets?” She stood taller like she wanted to smother me with a pillow.
“Yeah. Did you not have fun?”
My self-esteem would take a huge hit if she said no.
Her eyes turned hostile. “Do you have any idea what we did?”
Dragging both hands through my hair, I looked out the window, wondering what the hell she was so fired up about. It was way too early to deal with this little attitude. My fingers paused when I felt something foreign and heavy on my left finger.
Shooting up in the bed, I felt my sleepy eyes double in size at the gold band gleaming at me, and I had no recollection of how it got there. Awareness and panic hit me. Fucking hell. This had to be a nightmare. It couldn’t be real.
“What the fuck is this?” I blinked, trying not to freak out, but the more I blinked, the harder my chest pounded. “We got married?”
“We sure did.” She held out her hand to display her thin gold band .
My stomach roiled as pieces from last night started to click into place. Tequila, lots of tequila. Natalie not wanting to go to her friend’s wedding alone. Me coming up with a brilliant idea on how to get my mom off my back. Natalie and I playing roulette with a big-ass side bet.
If it landed on black, we parted ways.
If it landed on red, we would get married.
Memories of us walking into a shady as fuck pawn shop. Paying off the Elvis impersonator to keep it a secret. All started to come into focus.
She sat down in the chair so she could slip her heels on.
Wait one hot minute.
“Where are you going?” I asked, feeling anxious and really fucking thirsty. I’d kill for a bottle of water and a few aspirin. My head was pounding, and the light coming through the window wasn’t helping.
Her hands were shaking as she secured the strap along her ankle. “I have a plane to catch and still have to go back to my hotel and pack up the rest of my things.”
Tilting my head, I squinted my eyes at her. “We have things we need to talk about.”
Was she seriously going to bolt?
“Damn right, we do.” She looked up at me with alarm in her eyes. “We shouldn’t have gotten married.”
A muscle in my jaw ticked. “A little too late for that, don’t you think?”
She shot me a look that had my balls shriveling up. “You can’t possibly be mad at me for saying that.”
I should have been thrilled that she wasn’t acting like a five-stage clinger. Usually, that would be exactly what I wanted, so why was I acting all bent out of shape?
“I’m not mad. I just need a minute to process this.” This felt a lot like rejection, and I didn’t like it. I shouldn’t have felt this way. I should have agreed with her. But at the same time, I still wanted to get to know her.
Maybe I was still drunk.
She looked away, avoiding eye contact with me. “Last night was a mistake.”
“Is marrying me the only thing you regret?”
I could accept her guilt over marrying someone she didn’t know, but I’d never be able to get over it if she regretted being with me. Things might still be a little blurry, but from what I recall about the night we spent together, it felt real.
She blanched. “I don’t regret spending the night with you, if that’s what you’re asking.”
The pieces started coming together, each one becoming clearer. Some memories might still be fuzzy, but the spark I felt was as clear as day. There was a stirring of panic clawing inside me, but there was something else, too. Last night was one of the best nights of my life. I couldn’t remember the last time a woman had gotten under my skin the way she did.
An idea started to take root in my head, and the longer I thought about it, the more it made sense. Normally, people regret waking up married. But instead of feeling like it was the biggest mistake of my life, it felt like it might be the best decision I ever made. This could be a win-win for both of us. It wasn’t like this was forever. Once this was over, I could go back to doing whatever the hell I wanted. In the meantime, this little arrangement could work to my advantage.
“Good, because that’s a start. I want to stay married. Just for a while,” I stressed.
She blinked. “I’m sorry. What did you just say?”
“Just think about it, okay?”
“No. ”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Natalie, I don’t want to have this marriage annulled right away, and your reaction is really starting to sting.”
“Then take a deep breath or a pill to make yourself feel better. This is not normal. You can’t be serious.”
I closed my eyes, trying to put my thoughts and emotions into words.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”
People always said I was a wildcard, but this was over the top, even for me. My friends were going to think I’d lost my damn mind. But it would be worth it if this got my mother off my back for a while.
She tilted her head, giving me a serious look. “Your jokes need some work because this isn’t funny.”
“Good, because I’m serious, so how about a favor for a favor? I need to get my mom off my back, and you need a date for a wedding.”
“You must still be drunk if you think that this ridiculous marriage will solve all our problems.”
On the contrary, this might be the only way to keep the peace with my family.
“You need a date, and I could use some help. Honestly, this scenario works best for both of us. Think about how pissed your ex would be. I would play the part of the devoted husband who couldn’t keep his hand off you. It will drive him absolutely insane, trust me. And I bet I am a lot fuckin’ hotter than Cheater Peter.”
She blinked. “You really want to stay married?”
“Want and need are two different things. My team needs me next season. The fans are depending on me to deliver. I’m under a lot of pressure with the media. My family keeps riding my ass to quit and settle down.”
“Your team? Media? What do you mean?” Her eyes narrowed into slits. “You told me you ran a charity for single mothers.”
I shoved a shaky hand through my hair. “Yeah, about that.” I cleared my throat. “I have a confession to make. While I do run Born to Love, that’s not my full-time job. It’s a charity that I sponsor to help bring awareness to the cause. I’m actually a…”
She shook her head and slammed her eyes shut. “Don’t say it. Please don’t say it.”
“I’m a tight end for the Atlanta Arrows.”
Her eyes flew open, and holy hell, was she pissed. “You lied to me.” She pointed her finger at me, and her voice might have gotten louder. “You told me you run a charity for single mothers; what the hell is wrong with you?”
I held my hand up. “It wasn’t a complete lie. It is my charity. I’m sorry. I should have been upfront with you. But you didn’t recognize me, and I ran with it.”
I should have told her. I should have asked her more questions. There are lots of things we should have discussed, but instead of talking, we had sex. More than once, if my memory was accurate.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
She wanted an explanation, and she deserved one. I didn’t mean to deceive her, but it was easier to pretend to be just a regular guy.
I looked down at my ring and took a deep breath. “I got excited when I realized you had no idea who I was. By the way, my name really is Theo, but I go by my middle name, Rhett.” She squinted her eyes at me, or maybe she glared. It was hard to tell. “Then you made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with athletes.”
“Want to know why, other than my ex being a cheating asshole?” She inched closer and got on her tiptoes. “Because my uncle owns the team you play for! ”
“What?” My eyebrows drew together as I allowed those words to sink in. This had to be some sick karma coming back to bite me in the ass for all the stupid shit I’d done over the years.
She smacked her lips together and shifted on her feet. “Beau Landers is my uncle.”
Fuck! Of all the girls in Vegas. I had to get drunk and marry Beau Landers’ niece. My stomach rolled with fear because there might not be a way out of this for me. Even if we did get the marriage annulled. No matter which way I looked at it, my career was in jeopardy. Something this big would be hard to hide. Maybe I could convince Big B to see my side of things. Prove that I could be responsible by owning up to what I did and hope he went easy on me. He was going to be pissed, but we had a decent relationship. He would get over it, right?
The tequila that was still flowing through me was telling me yes, while my brain was screaming: you’re a fucking idiot, abort this plan right fucking now.
“Okay.” I looked at her. “Let’s come up with a plan. Is there anything else I should know?”
“I start work for the team on Monday in the public relations department.”
I threw my head back and looked up at the ceiling . How was this my life? If this wasn’t a crazy twist of fate, I didn’t know what was. I drew in a deep breath, jumped from the bed, and threw on a pair of boxers.
I started pacing the room when a thought popped into my head. I spun around to face her. “You really had no idea who I was?”
She shook her head without even hesitating. “I swear to you, I had no idea.”
I blinked. “How is that possible? Your uncle owns one of the best teams in the league. ”
“I’ve been living in London for two years, and before that, I was in Boston. Any time I saw Uncle Beau was during the offseason.”
I had so many damn questions, but I didn’t get a chance to ask any because Natalie’s phone dinged.
“That’s my Uber. I can’t believe I have to leave like this.” Her eyes frantically started moving across the room. “I have to go back to my hotel and pack. I can’t miss my flight.” Her eyes grew wide, and a look of pure horror filled her expression. “How the hell am I going to explain this to Beau? He’s going to kill me.” Her trembling hands went to her stomach. For a brief second, I was sure she was going to puke. “Oh my God, what have we done?”
Natalie was one step away from having a breakdown, and when tears started falling from those pretty blue eyes, I felt helpless.
“Breathe.” I took her shaking hands in mine.
“Do you think anyone saw us leave together?”
I sure as fuck hoped not.
“We will figure all this out. Just give me your number, and I will call you tonight. Okay?” She shook her head, but she still looked pretty spooked. I walked over to the nightstand to grab my phone. “Put your number in while I get you a tissue.”
Natalie started typing in her information but jumped when her phone started ringing. I grabbed a tissue from the bathroom while she talked to her driver.
She shoved her phone in her purse. “We can get this annulled, right?”
I grabbed my phone from her hand. “I’ll call my attorney, and we will get things sorted out when we get back to Atlanta,” I told her, briefly placing my hand on her lower back. When I opened the door, we both looked at each other .
Should we kiss? Hug? Shake hands?
The woman looked scared to death, so my instincts told me to be gentle. I opted for a kiss on the cheek. “Everything will be fine. We’ll talk later.” I guided her forward, trying to keep my boxer-clad body hidden from view. “Have a safe flight.”
She looked back at me as she punched the elevator button. I waited until the doors closed behind her before ducking back into my suite. I slammed my eyes shut and dragged both hands through my hair.
I needed to call my agent and my lawyer. They were going to lecture the fuck out of me. This was something a rookie would do. The NFL warned you about stuff like this. My parents were going to disown me if they ever found out the truth. My coach was going to kill me, and my teammates were going to hold this over my head until the day they die. Now that I was sober and thinking more clearly, I knew in my heart that if Beau found out that I got drunk and married his niece in Vegas, then my life was over. Done. Finished. My reputation would never come back from this.
Fuck!
I walked into the bathroom and threw some cold water on my face. Seeing the ring on my finger did a funny thing in my chest. This was absolutely insane. This type of thing only happened in the movies, not in real life. I couldn’t even look at my own damn reflection in the mirror.
I tapped on my agent’s name and hit the call button.
“Rhett,” Tony greeted, “how’s Vegas? Did you win or lose?”
He had no idea.
I shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sitting down?”
“Of course, I’m sitting down; it’s my day off. Is there a reason why you’re interrupting my Sunday breakfast?” he asked in between bites of his food.
“I got myself in a jam and I need your help.” I moved my neck back and forth, trying to relieve some of the tension.
“Please tell me you didn’t get arrested.” I pictured him running his hands through his heavily gelled hair.
“I didn’t get arrested.” I chewed nervously on my bottom lip.
“Okay, then, whatever it is, we will deal with it.”
I clenched my eyes shut, hoping and praying to God that was true. “I got married last night.”
The line went silent for about five seconds, and then I heard the sounds of him shuffling through the restaurant and bells jingling through a door.
“Tell me you’re fucking joking.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“Jesus, Christ, kid. You don’t pay me enough for this shit.”
My gaze narrowed. “You earn plenty.”
The guy wasn’t going to go easy on me, but it wasn’t his job to hold my hand. I paid him to clean up my messes. And this was the deepest pile of shit I’d ever found myself in.
“I’m raising my hourly rate.” I could hear him huffing and puffing through the line. Most likely lighting up a cigarette. He claimed to only smoke when he got stressed.
“Can you stop busting my ass and do what I pay you to do?” I muttered and ran a hand over the top of my head.
“Hold on. I’m going to check the news.” He switched me to speaker phone and started tapping away against his screen. “I haven’t seen anything online. How the fuck did you manage to slip into a Vegas wedding chapel, get married, and avoid the press from finding out? ”
The man was on the Internet twenty-four seven. He hasn’t missed a headline since Google was invented. It was a small miracle that the media hadn’t gotten wind of this yet.
More pieces of last night started to come into focus. My shoulders tensed as each memory pushed its way through my mind.
“I paid to use a private entrance and offered up a Super Bowl suite to the next game.”
“What the fuck! Do you know how much those suites cost? Two point five million dollars. That’s fucking bananas.”
“It is, but I was a little under the influence last night, so money was no object.”
I cringed because holy shit! I clearly remembered offering that to my new friend Elvis and telling him, “We’re going to the Super Bowl next year. Even if I don’t play, we’re going to watch it together. You, me, and all our friends.”
“Who is the mystery woman? I’m going to need her info.”
A muscle in my jaw ticked, and I started pacing the room. “About that,” I blew out a long breath, “her name is Natalie. I don’t know her last name, but she’s Beau Landers’ niece.”
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that please? We must have a bad connection. I thought I heard you say she was Beau Landers’ niece.”
“You heard me right.”
“Listen, kid. I’ve been around a long time. I’ve heard some crazy shit over the years, but this is bonkers. I don’t even know where to start with this dumpster fire.”
“Well, I hope you figure it out soon because we will both be out of a job if you don’t. “
He let out a frustrated sigh. “Do you know that your contract is up after the next season? You need to stop behaving like a hillbilly fucking machine. Do you have any idea what the media will do with this news if it gets leaked? You’ll be fucking toast, my friend, and you don’t have enough bread and butter in your pantry to save yourself.”
I was starting to regret telling him, but what other choice did I have?
“Look, I know you’re pissed, but you can please just focus here for a second. I need you to get this annulled quickly and quietly.”
He laughed. “You really think you can keep this quiet? Are you nuts? You were in Vegas celebrating winning the big game, got drunk, and married the niece of the owner of the team you play for. You’re not exactly a nobody, Rhett. Your dad is in politics, and your mug is everywhere. What in the ever-loving hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea how much a story like that will go for? This will be blasted everywhere.”
I dragged a hand over my face. “You better fucking hope not.”
“Not to mention, I’m still cleaning up your mess from last week. The strip clubs, your drunken behavior at the after-party, the photos of you falling into the fountain at the Bellagio.”
“Okay.” I rubbed my temples. “I get it.”
This past week was all about letting loose and enjoying a bit of freedom. I worked my ass off all year long. I didn’t do anything illegal. I didn’t get arrested. I was simply having fun.
“I will pay you extra to fix this.”
“How fucking generous of you.”
I hung up the phone and looked at the gold band on my left hand. It looks like a championship ring isn’t the only ring I won in Vegas.