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Parker: Bennett’s probably going to a porn film screening.
This resulted in Bennett sending a middle-finger emoji.
Parker: I’ll be there. I can bring Travis if you need someone to replace Bennett.
Levi: You guys are the best. We’ll meet behind the nature center. And don’t forget—dress nice.
Parker: Yeah, yeah. We won’t forget.
The next thing I did was call my mom and dad. Nerves churned in my stomach, my hands shaking just slightly as I dialed. That call was going to be a lot harder. They were going to want the truth, and they deserved honesty, but I couldn’t tell them I’d met a stranger through work and we’d decided to get married in a business agreement. It wouldn’t go well, to say the least.
“Hey there, honey.”
“Hey, Mom. Can you put me on speaker so Dad can hear, too?”
“Everything okay?” She sounded concerned and I could imagine her forehead creasing with wrinkles as she tried to figure out why I was calling.
“Everything’s great. Listen, I know it’s short notice, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the will reading and Grandpa’s money. I’ve been seeing someone for a little while now and we’ve decided to get married tomorrow night at six at the park, just behind the nature center. You guys are welcome to join, but I understand if it feels too sudden.”
Mom gasped. “You can’t be serious, honey. This can’t be happening. It’s too soon.”
“I am serious and it’s definitely happening.”
“Are you… in love with this person?” Dad asked.
I hesitated for a moment, reluctant to take the lie that far. “I think this is the right decision for us.”
They were quiet for a moment. “We’ll be there,” Mom murmured.
Dad cleared his throat. “Of course we will.”
We said our goodbyes and I hung up. A few hours later, I picked up Soren at the theater. As he climbed in with a little bag on his lap, he smiled at me. “Hey there, future husband.”
My stomach flipped and flopped. Why did that make me so nervous? To cover my nerves, I grinned. “Hi, future husband. What’s that you’ve got there?”
He glanced at the bag on his lap and reached inside to remove a pair of small velvet boxes. “I did some shopping today.” He opened one box and nestled inside was a plain silver band. “Wedding rings. They’re just plain, but I figured they’d be good enough to get us through the year.”
I barked a delighted laugh. “They’re perfect.”
Once we’d parked in front of Grayson’s home in a nearby suburb, the nerves had drained away. We made our way to the door, where Grayson greeted us in pajama pants and a t-shirt.
“Hey there,” he said, offering me a fist bump.
“Grayson, this is my fiancé, Soren. Soren, Grayson and I went to high school together and we’ve stayed in touch since. He does the contracts for Hayes Restoration.”
Grayson shrugged and smiled. “And other things occasionally. Come on in.”
He led the way to his office and we took seats next to each other in comfy chairs, while Grayson flipped through the contracts from behind his desk, reading every word to us, and ensuring we liked everything we heard. Miraculously, neither of us had complaints about any of it. He’d even gone so far as to draw up a prenup and the divorce papers in advance, and he read those to us, too. Everything was exactly as we’d planned.
“How does all of that work for you?”
I nodded and looked to Soren. “It’s fine with me. Soren?”
He bit his bottom lip for a second and nodded, too. “It’s good. I can’t believe we’re doing this. We just met and we’re going to get married.”
“It’s worth it, though, right? It’ll be easy to stay married for a year and then go our separate ways with the money.”
“It sounds perfect.”
