Chapter 11
FISHER
I wait outside the sushi restaurant for Lila.
She seemed hesitant to come, and though I offered to pick her up, she said she’d rather meet me here—my guess is she was concerned one of her artist friends would see her getting into a vehicle with public enemy number one.
Which I understand. Plus, my G Wagon’s not exactly subtle.
The breeze from the bay blows through my hair and chills my skin through the linen button down I’m wearing. The sushi place is right on the water, with a pretty view of the Bay Bridge, with wrought iron tables for outdoor seating. The sun is setting, casting oranges and pinks against the water.
Lila strides into view, her hair coiled up with a few pieces blowing around her face.
She’s wearing a flowy black sundress that looks beautiful against her light brown skin.
She acts shy as she walks to stand in front of me, playing with the stack of gold bracelets that rest against her wrist, just under her tattoo. “Hey.”
“There’s no need to be nervous. Just because our marriage is only for looks doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, right?” I smile.
Lila rolls her eyes with a resigned sigh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Why not be friends with my…husband?” She snorts an adorable laugh.
“Exactly,” I agree. “Plus, you’ll love Ally and Hazel.”
“Ally and Hazel?” Lila’s mouth drops open. “I didn’t realize you lived with girls. I was expecting to meet half a team of hockey players.”
“You’ll meet a couple of those, too,” I assure her. “Come on, I’m hungry.”
I lead Lila to the outdoor table where my friends are already seated sipping their drinks—waters for us guys tonight so we’re in our best form for playoffs. Last night was my last taste of alcohol for the foreseeable future.
“Guys, this is Lila,” I say as four pairs of eyes drink in the petite woman standing next to me. “Lila, these are my teammates, Noah Downsby and Penn Matthews, and their girlfriends, Ally and Hazel.”
Ally jumps up from her seat and rushes over to pull Lila into a big hug. I have no idea if Lila is a hugger or not, but Ally doesn’t give her a choice. “Oh my gosh, I love your dress!”
“Thanks,” Lila says with a nervous smile. “Nice to meet you all.” Her eyes move over my teammates. “Whoa, you’re all huge, huh?”
Hazel almost spits out her water, coughing as she swallows, and Penn pats her back. “Right? You should see how much the three of them eat.”
“Hey! No athlete discrimination, please,” Penn teases.
Lila chuckles and takes the empty seat beside Hazel.
“It’s good to meet you, Lila.” Hazel tips her head, earning a smile from Lila as her shoulders visibly relax.
As I slide into the seat next to Lila, the server comes over and asks what we want to drink. We both order water.
“No Dirty Shirleys today?” I tease as the server walks away..
“Pretty sure I drank enough last night to last me a while,” Lila says with a cringe.
I grimace. “Same.”
“Wait,” Noah says, his eyebrows creasing. “Lila is the girl you were with last night?”
“Yeah, I thought this wasn’t going to be a real marriage.” Penn eyes me warily.
I groan. “I slept on the floor, cool it. Lila showed me the neighborhood around the firehouse, introduced me to the community. That’s how our whole brilliant plan was formed.”
“Brilliant isn’t the word I’d choose.” Noah rolls his eyes.
“Agreed,” Lila says, and Noah looks at her in surprise.
The server drops off our waters as Lila shrugs, reaching for her glass and taking a sip. “You’re right, though. I’d say it’s more insane than brilliant.”
I chuckle to myself as I register the approval in Noah’s shrewd, dark eyes. Of all my friends, I figured he’d be the toughest nut to crack, and I like that Lila’s already impressed him.
The server quietly waits beside our table for us to order, and we each tell him what we want. After we’ve ordered enough rolls to feed twenty people with regular appetites, he leaves again.
Ally pulls a three-ring binder out from her canvas bag and plops it onto the table with a thud. “Okay, so I did some planning today.”
“What the hell is that, Ally?” I ask as she flips the heavy book open.
The first page shows a formal wedding ceremony complete with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background and a floral awning around the bride and groom. “I know we only have a week to plan, but I’m here for you. I’ve been dying to plan a wedding.”
I raise my eyebrows and shoot Noah a pointed look. He’s too busy smiling that goofy twitterpated smile at Ally to notice.
“Uhh, wow. That looks really fancy,” Lila says, rubbing the back of her neck as her eyes find mine. “I thought we were just going to go to the courthouse and then call it a day?” An uncomfortable laugh bubbles out of her.
“So did I,” I say, shaking my head. “This binder is a surprise to me, too. But nice to see you had such a productive day, Ally.”
“Oh.” Ally’s face drops. “That’s no fun.”
“It’s not a real marriage, so we don’t need a real wedding, remember?” I ask.
Ally pouts, and despite myself, I have to laugh. What a brat.
Hazel clears her throat. “Okay, so what if we simply add some flair to the courthouse ceremony?”
“I’m listening.” Ally leans in, back in serious wedding planner mode.
“We could find some dresses and tuxes at thrift stores,” Hazel offers.
Lila’s head whips between the two of them. “I wasn’t really expecting anyone to be there for the ceremony besides me and Fisher…”
My friends look at her, aghast—even the guys. “Oh, we’ll be there to see our boy getting married. You can’t keep us away,” Penn says.
Noah grumbles in agreement.
Lila looks at me, her expression full of panic. I rest a hand on her bare shoulder, trying not to notice the way the contact sends a shiver through my body. “Sorry, I sort of already invited them. My bad.”
I look at her, trying to read what’s going on behind her troubled expression. After a few moments, she nods. “I guess we’ll need witnesses, anyway.”
I smile.
Ally cheers. “When are we going shopping?”
Lila shakes her head at Ally’s exuberance. “Listen, I’m fine with you all coming, but I’m not wearing a wedding dress. That would feel…wrong.”
I understand where Lila’s coming from, but if we do this, it has to actually seem legitimate. “We’ll need some wedding photos if I’m going to convince my family we really got married,” I explain. “So whatever you wear, it has to look real enough for our announcement in the newspaper.”
A strangled squeak comes out of Lila. “Newspaper announcement?”
“It’s a rich people thing.” I shrug.
Hazel’s mouth pulls into a conspiratorial smirk. “Fisher, you want to annoy your family, right? What if you wore something that’s technically totally wedding-appropriate, but…grotesque?”
“Tell me more.” My eyes glint as I put my elbows on the table and lean forward.
“Like, dress for a wedding, but make it tacky and tasteless. Ugly. An embarrassment to your family when they see the announcement.”
The thought of my parents opening The New York Times and finding a ridiculous, tacky picture of me, Lila, and the gang has me grinning like an idiot. They already think of me as an embarrassment, so why not play into it.
“You’re a genius.” Penn drops a kiss on Hazel’s shoulder. “I’m picturing Fisher in a Dumb and Dumber style orange tuxedo.”
Noah’s head falls back as he laughs.
Ally giggles too. “As much as I wanted to plan a beautiful wedding, I love this idea.”
I look over at Lila, because her opinion is the only one that really matters here. She’s the one who’s going to be front and center of this charade. More than anything, I want to make sure she’s comfortable, fully on board with every step of the plan.
My eyes meet hers. “What do you think?”
Lila holds my gaze as her worried expression slowly morphs into a grin. A wicked gleam flashes in her eyes that makes her look sexy as hell, and without her saying a word, I know I’m watching the very second her brain gets on board with this ridiculous idea.