3. Mav
THREE
MAV
Mckenna’s hand feels cold and clammy as I drag her through the door.
The overcrowded living room greets us with sympathetic expressions and curious eyes.
Only Jess looks unconcerned.
Her tough-girl facade is firmly in place, and she regards me with a cool, unhurried sweep before clucking her tongue derisively.
Mckenna trembles beside me, and fuck if I don’t feel worse.
I started dating Mckenna to save my public image.
To help the band’s reputation.
To ensure Mckenna has the necessary funds for law school.
Now, we’re married. She looks physically ill.
And my entire team is assembled in my hotel suite, glaring at us like we’re aliens they don’t know how to interact with.
And I can’t help but feel like it’s all on me.
Again, I was reckless, selfish, and made decisions in the moment that affect everyone I care about.
“So,” Aiden starts, puffing out his cheeks, “you got married.”
Kimberly drops her head into her hands.
Levi snorts.
Allegra watches Mckenna with shrewd eyes and nervously chews her bottom lip.
I raise our joined hands to show off our rings.
Jess slow claps. “Congratulations.”
Derek scoffs.
Mckenna flinches.
My anger fucking balloons.
“Take it easy,” I spit out, shooting Jess and the rest of the room a look.
It’s bad enough that Mckenna looks like she’s about to pass out.
She may resent the hell out of me, but I won’t have my team, or my bandmates, taking shots at her expense.
Kimberly brushes her hands through her hair and looks up.
“You need to go on a honeymoon.”
“What?” I bark.
There’s no way I heard her correctly.
Everything is falling the fuck apart and Kimmy’s advice is to take a goddamn holiday.
“Seriously?” Jameson asks.
Kimberly’s on her feet, pacing before the couch and nodding vigorously.
“Yes. We can salvage...this.” She gestures to Mckenna and me.
“You need to get out of town.”
“Lay low.” Aiden picks up her thread.
“Go to a romantic beach destination.”
“We paint an image of you guys desperately in love,” Kimberly continues.
“That you couldn’t wait to celebrate and start your lives together,” Aiden concludes, his tone measured, his expression thoughtful.
“Fiji,” Kim announces.
“Hawaii,” Aiden tosses out.
The beaches of Costa Rica, the water that soothes my soul and heals my demons, flicker to life in my mind.
Mentally, I pull in a lungful of the salty, humid air, and the breeze from off the ocean wraps around me like a wave I want to fold into.
I glance at Mckenna.
She can decide. I’ll take her anywhere.
A beach, the top of a mountain, the center of Europe.
I just want her to tell me.
I want her to stop looking lost and heartbroken and give me some of her signature sass.
I want her to be in this with me.
Where is my girl? Did marrying me break her?
“You pick,” I say quietly, squeezing her fingers.
“Anywhere you want to go...”
Mckenna looks at me.
Her navy eyes are dull and wary.
Her mouth is pinched, and her eyebrows drawn, almost as if she doesn’t understand the question.
“The Azores,” Allegra volunteers, mentioning the collection of Portuguese islands.
She stares at Mckenna, as if willing her to remember something.
“You always wanted to go,” she says softly.
“It was on your bucket list our sophomore year.”
A flicker of recognition sparks in Mckenna’s eyes, and her lips part.
It feels like I got kicked in the fucking chest.
“The Azores?” Jess asks.
But Kimberly is pacing again.
Nodding. “I like that. It’s not too glitzy or generic. It speaks to her personality and life outside of the industry.” She points at Mckenna.
“I can see it too,” Aiden agrees.
“The two of you on a hike, hanging on the beach, some delicious seafood dinners tossed in.”
“We can spin this,” Kimberly rejoices, her voice rising.
“We can make this work.”
“Daryl, it’s Jess,” Jess says, her phone pressed to her ear.
She rattles off travel questions, and I know the trip is already being planned.
We’ll be wheels up by the end of the day, safely shuttled out of Vegas and all the prying eyes.
“Mckenna,” I say softly.
My lost girl looks at me, and I fucking hate myself.
“Do you want to go to the Azores?”
She works a swallow.
Her chin trembles. “I only packed one bathing suit.”
While her response, careful and logical, would typically make me smile, it makes me want to sob right now.
“We can get you more,” I offer, keeping my tone light.
“Are you okay with the trip? With a honey—a vacation,” I correct.
Mckenna looks at me for a long moment.
Shadows pass through her eyes.
A shiver works through her limbs.
“Okay.” Her voice is small and tinny, at odds with her usual confidence.
“Okay,” I agree.
But my team has already leapt into action.
They’re not waiting for my confirmation.
They don’t care what Mckenna and I are feeling or processing.
They’re doing their jobs—as they should since that’s what I fucking pay them for.
And right now, I need to do mine.
I need to protect Mckenna— my wife —at all costs.
Even if I’m protecting her from myself.
“Two rooms,” I tell Jess and Kimberly, holding up two fingers.
Jess rolls her eyes.
“It’s your honeymoon.”
“Make them connect,” I continue.
“Let the public think we need one as a closet.”
Kimberly laughs.
“That’s wasteful and not on brand with the image we’re cultivating.”
“Fuck the image,” I snap.
Jameson places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes.
“I’ll get you a massive suite,” Kimberly compromises.
“You guys are in love,” Jess reminds me, waving her phone and the multitude of photos, stories, fucking memes it holds from last night.
I thought we were in love.
The thought flits through my mind, and I wince.
In the light of day, the stark reality of what is, instead of what I thought, is a harsh reminder.
Painful and ugly.
“You leave in four hours.” Jess ends her call.
“You’ll have the first three days to yourself. Then, some well-placed paparazzi will take well-lit and tasteful photos of your wedded bliss,” Kimberly shares.
“You’ll be gone ten days,” Jess continues.
“Ten days,” Mckenna whispers, staring at her hands and counting on her fingers.
It’s innocent and childlike and by the hitch of Levi’s breath, I know he’s worried.
We all are.
Allegra wraps an arm around her friend.
“It has to be believable,” Aiden says softly.
Mckenna nods, hanging her head and letting her hair fall forward.
“She needs clothes,” I tell the room.
Jess nods. “I’m on it.” She’s already pressing buttons on her phone and bringing it to her ear.
“I’m not arranging excursions unless you tell me otherwise,” Kimberly says.
Her eyes jump between Mckenna and me.
“We want the public to think you’re busy with...other activities.”
Levi swears, and I take a few steps away from the group.
Aiden sighs. “Look, it’s obvious that this was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
“You think?” I mutter.
“But there are legal implications now that you’re married,” he continues like I didn’t speak.
Fuck. I knew this was coming.
Honestly, Mckenna can have every damn thing to my name.
I don’t want it. I don’t want anything other than to see her smile.
To know that I haven’t ruined her life.
To have her want me the way she did last night and mean it.
For real.
“We can get an—” I start.
“You’re not getting an annulment,” Kimberly shuts me down.
“There’s too many photos and videos of you guys having the time of your life last night. You get an annulment, you blow the entire ruse of your fake dating in the first place. We have to be smart about this.”
“Then, she can have everything in our eventual divorce,” I continue, flicking my wrist in Mckenna’s direction.
Mckenna rears back like I hit her when I say it.
The word divorce echoes in the room.
It blinks like a neon sign in my mind.
Divorce. Divorce. Divorce.
“You’re not getting one of those either,” Jess states.
“At least, not yet. Right now, you’re going on a goddamn honeymoon, and you are going to be happy and in love and blissed the fuck out,” she reminds me, starting to lose her cool.
“We’ll talk about the legalities another time,” Aiden says, correctly reading the room.
His eyes meet mine, and I nod, agreeing.
He lowers his voice.
“We have other things to discuss as well.” His look is meaningful.
I frown. Is he still stuck on the prenup?
“I’ll reach out,” I say coolly.
I don’t give a shit about any legal implications.
I just care about my girl.
And right now, Mckenna can’t even meet my eyes, much less pose as my wife on a blissed-the-fuck-out honeymoon.