Chapter 10
I was doing this.
We were doing this.
I even put the ring back on and didn”t even consider losing my breakfast over it.
The full implication of my actions hadn”t quite hit me until right in that moment as Sloan and I left our breakfast table, exited onto The Strip, and headed into the real world where everyone knew our business.
Both of my sisters texted me. I ignored those.
Angela”s texts couldn”t continue to be ignored, however.
Angela: Come bk. We need 2 tlk
Maya: ??
Angela: Don”t ?? @ me. E is pissy
Because I went around her ”don”t get married” rule? That was fair.
Maya: R U Pissed?
This was the third time Angela hadn”t gotten to play maid of honor.
Angela: No! But I need deets. A football player rly?
I glanced at the man in question. The man was so very different from any other I”d ever married (or even dated). He was texting on his phone as we walked, glancing up here and there so he didn”t plow into anyone.
Emily: hv u lost ur mind?
Maya: that”s likely.
Emily: Annulment Monday?
Maya: …
I took a deep breath and didn”t respond.
My phone rang, because of course it did. Emily would want to handle this verbally.
I glanced at the screen on my cell.
Then my heart skipped—and not in the good way Sloan had made it skip last night in front of the MM Store.
This wasn”t Emily. This was my mother.
I should answer it. I knew this, even willed my thumb to slide over the screen to take the call. Unfortunately, no matter what my mind said, my body wasn”t into it.
Uh-huh, because my mother would kill me.
Emily: U kno I luv u. I”m worried.
Aw, that was sweet.
Maya: Headed bk 2 condo. Catch u in a sec.
I gripped the phone, and, with every ounce of myself, I willed my thumb to slide across the screen and answer Mom”s call.
Aha! It worked.
”Mom,” I said, holding the phone to my ear and forcing my voice to spill over with perky wedded-bliss happiness. ”You won”t believe it. I have news.” I kept my voice as cheerful as possible, but it sounded fake. I knew it sounded fake.
Sloan turned us toward the fence in front of the Bellagio fountains. I didn”t even stumble—not once!—as he pulled me to the side of the walkway, tucking me beside him so everyone else gave us space.
Was it odd that I caught a whiff of his scent and leaned in for more?
No, not odd. We were married. I could sniff him really good. Which wasn”t bad because, gah, he smelled so… Sloan.
This wasn”t his cologne from the night before. This scent was one-hundred-percent male and flannel. Yes, that was a scent combination. Oh boy, did it work.
”Maya,” Mom said my name like a greeting. Like she didn”t already know what had happened. But I wasn”t a dunce, and I understood how the information tree shook all the gossip leaves over the many branches of my family.
”You have news?” Mom asked, with a note of steel that didn”t bode well for me.
”Mom.” I glanced up at Sloan, his brown eyes staring down at me and fortifying my defenses. That was nice. Lots of support emanated from him. ”I got married. Again.”
”Uh-huh,” Mom said. ”Your sisters both sent me the Instagram links. Which is why I called to tell you I”m not speaking to you.” Mom let that sink in. ”I just wanted you to know.”
Well, fudge.
I thought over all the things I could say:
Don”t worry. It”s all under control.
You”re gonna like him!
He didn”t panic at all.
I really think he”s a great guy.
Of those options, I said none of them. I opened my mouth and said?—
”You”re gonna love Sloan.” Say something else. Keep going, Maya.
Sloan”s eyebrows raised, and his eyes got sort of melty. Then the edges crinkled along with his smile.
”We”re going to stay married.” I cleared my throat. Why was everything so damn dry in the desert?
”You meant to marry this one?” Mom asked, carefully. Her mom-bullshit radar was clearly activated and ready to diagnose any disinformation I relayed.
”Yes,” I said. This was no lie because the Maya of last night had clearly meant to marry him. ”It was a surprise to both of us. But we did it. And we”ve spent the morning talking. Making plans. We did things differently than I have before.”
All true.
Somehow, and I wasn”t entirely certain how it had happened, my hand slid into Sloan”s. Did he reach for me, or did I reach for him? I didn”t know. Couldn”t say. That didn”t matter, though, because Sloan had my back.
”Mom.” I glanced at a piece of chewed-up gum hundreds of steps from loads of people had worn into the concrete sidewalk. ”I think you”re going to like Sloan.”
He squeezed my hand at that, like he was making a promise… or he was telling me to stop talking?
But when I said that Mom would like him, it was the truth. He was an extremely likeable guy.
”Is he there?” Mom asked. ”With you?”
Um… ”He”s here. Yes.”
”I want to talk to him,” Mom said.
Eh… ”I don”t think that”s a great idea.”
”Hand him the phone,” Mom insisted.
The way my mom said this with just the right amount of kindness and a solid dose of no-nonsense had me handing the phone to Sloan.
”Sloan,” he said, holding my cell to his ear.
Drat, I should”ve put it on speakerphone first.
”Mmm-hmm,” he said, nodding along. ”Yes, ma”am.” He frowned. ”No, ma”am.” Then the edges of his lips twitched with humor. ”Of course, ma”am.” He grinned a flash of white. ”Looking forward to it.”
He handed the phone back. I said my goodbyes and tucked the cell in my pocket.
”What did she say?” I asked as he maneuvered us back into the stream of people walking the same direction.
He glanced at me, his eyes warm like they wrapped me in a blanket. ”I”m not at liberty to discuss that.”
”Sloan.”
”Maya.”
I let out a long breath, knowing arguing wouldn”t get me anywhere.
”Your mom is worried about you,” he said, pulling his lips between his teeth. ”She told me you aren”t always as strong as you want people to think.”
”Is anyone?” I asked, taking in the artificial lake outside the ritzy hotel.
”See that?” He dropped my hand and pointed in that direction.
”The lake?” I confirmed in case he”d spotted the Tarzan guy again, and there would be a mosh pit coming our way.
He nodded. ”During the day like this, it”s clear it doesn”t belong here. It”s too blue. Too perfect. But at night? When the lights come on and the city comes to life, it shines. Same thing with a football stadium, you know?”
”I really don”t.” Football wasn”t my jam, but that was a discussion for later.
”During the practices, it”s just a field. But when the fans show up, and we rush the field right before a game? It”s electric.”
”The stage is the same,” I agreed. ”Before a performance, it”s just wood and metal and speakers, but once everything comes together, it works, you know?”
He nodded. ”Exactly.”
”You think that”s how we are? We”re like the field or the lake or the stage?”
”Yeah.”
”So, us together. Are we on the field before the game or after it starts?” I asked.
Were we Las Vegas during the day when the shine dulls and the grunge factor rises to a solid ten? Or Las Vegas at night when it”s magical?
”I guess that”s what we”re about to find out,” he said.
I knocked on his shoulder lightly, jokingly, with my fist.
Instead of bouncing off, it stayed there. Like my hand didn”t want to move, even though I was telling it to with my brain.
Sloan reached for it, and something changed in the air. Something happened. One of those things I had no control over.
Not when I stepped forward into his space, and he pulled my hand to his lips. Kissing the underside of my wrist and turning me right the hell on.
He moved into my space, and I didn”t even care that he was there. His lips brushed mine. Just a touch. Nothing invasive or too much. Just something that edged a memory I actually wanted to remember.
”We”re definitely Las Vegas at night,” I said. We had to be, with that kind of a sizzle from a brush of a kiss.
He chuckled and nodded. ”Agreed.”