5. Amelia
Amelia
“Play it again.” I lean forward, holding on to my cup of coffee like it is somehow going to save me from this clusterfuck.
“We look happy,” Reed says at my side on the couch.
“We look drunk as hell,” I tell him as he slides the video back to the beginning.
“We were that.” Reed leans back next to me, his legs wide.
“How are you so calm?” I ask him, staring at myself on the television screen as I sway down the aisle, holding a bouquet of what looks like fake flowers.
“Everything is fixable,” he says, like we’re talking about fixing a hole in the wall and not a legally binding arrangement.
“My parents are going to kill me,” I whisper.
“They never need to know.”
I glance back and stare at him. He really is a good-looking man, but I don’t know much about him and I definitely don’t want to be his wife.
“I just don’t understand what made us do this.”
Cassie walks into the living room. “I dared you,” she says, taking a seat in an armchair next to the couch. “I thought you’d chicken out, but you dove in headfirst. I tried to stop you. Lyra tried to stop you. You wouldn’t listen to anyone.”
Fuck. What is my issue with not being able to back down from a challenge? But marriage? I thought I had lines I wouldn’t cross, but drunk Amelia certainly doesn’t have any, based on the events of last night.
“And you went along with it?” I ask Reed, glaring at him.
He raises his hands, but he has a smirk on his face. “I don’t remember anything either. I was as drunk as you were.”
I want so much to be mad at him, but I can’t be. He’s right. We were both shit-faced and weren’t in our right minds.
There are mistakes, and then there are mistakes. This is the biggest one I’ve ever made in my life.
“This is my favorite part,” Cassie says, pointing at the screen.
I turn my attention back to the television as Reed wraps his arm around my middle and hauls me flat against him. I melt in his embrace as he bends his neck, taking my lips with his. The kiss is passionate and goes on for far too long. Our friends, the morons, clap and cheer as we seal our vows.
“Jesus,” Reed mutters at my side. “That’s one helluva kiss.”
“You’re not helping,” I tell him without looking at him.
I can’t seem to drag my eyes away from the video. We do look happy. To any outside observer watching this, they’d think we knew what we were doing and wanted this. But they’d be wrong. Dead wrong.
“I’m all packed,” Lyra says as she walks into the living room. “I’m going to miss this suite.”
“Swankiest place I’ve ever stayed,” Dustin says, following her into the room. “Reed, we’ve got to go back to our room and pack up.”
“Go on ahead. I’ll be there soon.”
“Call me sometime, baby,” Dustin says to Lyra and leans over to kiss her.
She turns her head, giving him her cheek. “I will,” she lies. She wasn’t really into him at all, but I’d put money on the fact that she slept with him last night if he’s still here.
“Cassie, give me a kiss goodbye,” Cliff says, stalking into the room with his hair all mussed. The man looks like he’s been through it. “I got to go.”
“Do you want my number?” she asks him as she hops up from the armchair like her ass is on fire.
“Oh yeah. Sure,” he says as he reaches into his pocket for his phone.
Cassie seems clueless that he really doesn’t want her number and isn’t going to call her.
She is a Vegas thing and nothing more. He got what he wanted—a piece of ass—and has no plans to ever contact her again.
She rattles off her phone number and Cliff taps the screen on his phone, but I bet he doesn’t save a damn thing.
“Catch you back in the room,” Cliff says to Reed. “Bye, baby. Thanks for a great night.”
Cassie smiles up at the hunky cowboy. “Thanks for the ride.”
I choke down my coffee at her words. Cassie is a thirsty bitch. I love her, but she tries too hard for guys who aren’t worth it. She deserves so much more, and until she stops throwing around the puss to every stranger, she’s never going to find someone who’s worthy of her love.
Cliff and Dustin leave, but Reed stays right by my side. “Can we have a few minutes?” I ask my girls. “Reed and I need to talk.”
“Got it,” Lyra says, dragging Cassie from the room. “We’ll finish getting ready. We leave in forty-five minutes.”
Damn. I don’t even have time to shower before we leave for the airport. I’ll have to throw my stuff into my suitcase and run out of here like I stole something. It will be a very long airplane ride back to Chicago with Reed’s scent all over me.
“What’s your last name?” Reed asks as soon as we’re alone.
“Gallo,” I tell him.
This is a weird conversation. The man is my husband, and neither of us knows much about the other or, at least, not anything of substance.
“Mine is Anderson,” he replies. “What’s your number?”
I rattle off my number to him and immediately get a text.
“Now you have mine.”
I glance down, seeing the text he sent me. “I do.”
“I’ll get more details when I get home. I have to talk to Jasper and see what he needs to file the paperwork.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
Reed reaches out his hand and touches my arm. “I promise we’ll get this fixed, Amelia.”
Somehow, I haven’t cried or completely fallen apart. I’ve been close more than a few times but held myself together relatively well for the insanity of the circumstances.
“Don’t ghost me,” I tell him with a pointed glare. “I will march my ass to South Dakota and find you.”
Reed chuckles, and it’s warm and inviting. “I promise not to ghost you. I’ll make this right. In a few months, this will be nothing but a memory.”
“It’s not even a memory now,” I tell him.
“Are you keeping the video, or am I?”
“I’ll keep it,” I answer. I’m not letting the thing out of my sight. With my parents being in the national spotlight, the last thing I need is for it to get out on the internet and become public knowledge.
“I’d better go,” he says as he pulls his hand away from my arm and pushes off the couch. “You need to get ready, and I have to pack.”
A small sliver of me isn’t ready to say goodbye. Not because I have feelings for him, but I’m worried that if I let him out of my sight, we’ll never get the marriage annulled. Trusting someone I don’t know is hard, and with something so big and important, it’s even more difficult.
I stand up and follow him toward the door to the suite. “I’d say thanks for the memories…” I start to say, but I don’t know how to finish the sentence.
“We’re not over yet. Save the goodbyes for when this is all behind us, sugar.”
I could damn near melt into a puddle when he calls me that. I’d backhand myself if I could. Do not swoon over this man. He may legally be your husband, but he’s not yours and you’re not his. You’re strangers.
I hold out my hand to him. “Thanks,” I say.
His gaze drops to my hand, but he doesn’t take it. “I had fun this weekend.”
“Me too,” I tell him, pulling my empty hand back. I did. Well, I did up until I nearly messed up my entire future by marrying him.
Reed reaches forward, wrapping his arms around me. “Don’t freak out. I’ve got this,” he says as he holds me tightly. “We’ve got this.”
I can’t say anything back. There are no words for this moment. I close my eyes, hoping he’s right.
Reed’s lips brush against my forehead. “See you around sometime, sugar.”
“Bye, Reed,” I whisper as his body moves away from mine, and the chill of the air conditioning washes over me.
“Bye, Amelia,” he says before he walks out of the suite and leaves me behind.
“Is he gone?” Lyra asks before I have a chance to move.
“He is.”
“Crazy shit, huh?” Lyra bumps my shoulder with hers.
“Yeah,” I mumble.
Lyra moves to my front and studies my face. “Why do you look so sad?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’m worried.”
“Reed seems solid.”
“Seems is very different than is,” I tell her. “But he said his brother is a lawyer and will handle everything.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I do.”
Lyra grabs my shoulders and stares at me. “Don’t worry, Amelia. No man wants to stay married to a stranger.”
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “This will all be over soon.”
“It will. Come on. We’ve got a plane to catch. Someday we’ll laugh about this.”
“Sure,” I tell her, but I can’t think of any way this is funny—not in the slightest. “You can’t breathe any of this to anyone. Hear me?”
“You’d better remind Cassie. She’s the one with the big mouth,” Lyra says as she guides me back to my room. “The girl can’t keep a secret worth shit.”
“Great,” I mutter. “I’m doomed.”
“Nah,” Lyra says. “We’ve got your back. What are best friends for?”
“Obviously not for stopping me from getting married to a stranger while drunk.”
Lyra stops and grabs my arm. “Babe, we tried. I begged you not to do it, but you gave me this whole talk about being a pussy and how you don’t back down from a challenge.”
“I said all that?” I stare at her in disbelief.
Lyra nods. “You said more than that, but no one could’ve stopped you from doing what you did.”
“Why did Reed go along with it?”
I get why I did it. My inability to stop myself. A dare is a dare, and I never want to seem like I’m too chickenshit to do something. Not even marriage could make me think twice.
“That man is wild about you.”
I blink a few times, processing what she said.
“What?”
“I never saw a man look happier about getting married. They’re usually nervous as hell and sweating. But not Reed. He couldn’t wait to do it.”
My stomach sours. “You don’t think he knows who my parents are, do you?”
It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to be in my life just to get access to a famous football player and a best-selling writer.
“No. I think he’s into you, babe. What’s not to love about you?” she asks me.
“Being into me and marrying me are two very different things.”
“The man wanted you.”
Wanted. Not wants. We slept together last night, even if neither one of us can remember. I’d put money on it, unless we were too drunk to do anything and passed out the moment we got naked.
“Twenty minutes,” Cassie yells out.
“Fuck,” I groan.
“Meet you by the door,” Lyra says before scampering away to her room.
I stalk into my bedroom, throw myself on the bed, and let myself fall apart for the first time this morning.