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But I’ve been careful all my life. Made nothing but good decisions.
How often do I get to make such a gloriously bad one?
Without further thought, as if I’d just turned into an obedient robot, I let Wendy and Daria steer me toward the Chapel of Forever Dreams. I fill out the information for a marriage licenseand someone—I have no idea who—pays for it and it’s thrust into my hands.
Has the neon and noise of Sin City scrambled the last sensible thought in my head? It is the wine? Or maybe spending time with one of the most handsome, buff men I’ve ever seen and his equally hunky friends has gotten to me? I’ve already thrown caution to the wind by getting on a private jet with a bunch of strangers. Why not finish the night with a bam?
Wendy and Daria make their elbows available to walk me down the aisle. I catch myself in one of the chapel’s many mirrors, shocked at the unflattering shadows cast on us by the overhead fluorescent lights. Guess you have to pay extra for the glamour lighting.
The three of us giggle and bump into each other as we head toward Rake and his buddies, slapping him on the back, egging him on.
The riot of tackiness that is the chapel is the perfect complement to this insanity, with its random collection of neon hearts, flamingos, palm trees, pink velvet chairs trimmed in gold, and surplus of gurgling fountains full of large and small cupids.
Seriously. If you thought of every wacky thing that could go into a Las Vegas wedding chapel and threw it all together in one place, that’s what this would look like. There’s never been a more perfect setting screaming ‘impromptu Vegas wedding.’ Anyplace else on earth, this would be an eyesore, but here, it’s brilliantly on-brand.
Even the plastic fake-bouquet I’m carrying has flashing lights in it.
I get to the end of the carpet, where Wendy and Daria each kiss me on the cheek, like a parent giving their daughter away. I turn to face Rake, a near-stranger. He takes my handsand moves a step closer, and I’m dizzy with the contradictory thoughts careening through my useless brain.
My heart takes a funny little skip, which I’m not sure I like.
“This is fucking crazy,” I mumble.
What if this guy doesn’t like my favorite TV shows?
What if he snores?
What if he hates sushi?
The all important…
What will people think?
And last but not least…
How does annulment work?
We face the officiant, ready to create either the most romantic story ever told, or biggest fucking joke. The gang gathers around us, taking photo after photo, memorializing my stupidity so it can follow me to the end of my days. A tale like this will be told and retold for years to come, and yet… I feel a strange surge of excitement.
What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas… except for getting married on a dare.
And now that shit’s going to follow me home.
14
RAKE
“That was one memorable trip, huh?”Tyler asks, wiping the sweat from his face as we return to the locker room from weight training.
“I’ll never forget it,” I say.
Actually, the sooner I forget it, the better. There’s no accounting for the idiocy of marrying someone in Vegas on a dare, whether you know them or not.
And I do not know Petal Parker. Not in any meaningful way, anyway.
“So, did you fuck her?” he asks.
This guy.
