Page 25 of Blood and Trouble

I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck, stretching my body along his.

“Thank you,” I said. “For bringing me here. This is fun.”

He smiled and wrapped his hands behind my back, pulling me closer to him. Then his eyes narrowed, and he brushed the back of his index finger down my cheek.

“Are you feeling okay?” He leaned down to press his cheek against my forehead. “You’re burning up.”

I’d been fighting tremors all night, and the dancing hadn’t helped, but I didn’t want to leave. The freedom was intoxicating, and so was he.

“I’m perfect,” I said. “You’re perfect. This is just…perfect.”

He snorted. “Okay, you’re cut off.”

“Ava, Lycan!” Madeline shouted from across the bar. “Get over here. Magnus bought a round of apology shots!”

I laughed, disentangled myself from Lycan, and dragged him toward the bar.

The worst headache of my lifetime woke me from a deep sleep, and my stomach rolled as I opened my eyes. Sunlight burned my retinas, and I grimaced, squinting before rubbing my hands over my face.

Ugh. I’m never drinking again.

I tried to sit up, but the heavy weight of a muscular arm weighed me down, pulling my back closer to a bare chest. I froze and looked over my shoulder. Lycan was still asleep, his hair adorably rumpled, his features relaxed in a way that took fifteen years off his face. He was naked, his cock pressing into my backside.

I, too, was in my birthday suit.

Oh no.

Last night came roaring back. After several more rounds of shots, things got hazy. At some point, we’d gotten roped into playing poker with Bas, Magnus, and a few others. It started fun and lighthearted, until we beat them all out of their money. As the night drew on, the bar cleared out, and by last call, it was just the two of us, sipping whiskey while we laughed and returned to our game of confessional bets.

Pieces of the conversation cut through the blur.

“No one wants to marry the frigid Vanderbilt bitch, remember?” I’d said, downing the rest of my whiskey.

“Well, no one wants to marry the guy who can’t admit he loves anyone but himself,” Lycan replied. “So we can be single and lonely together.”

It had sparked an idea, a terrible, reckless, stupid idea, one that blurted out of my clumsy lips.

“What if we married each other and told the rest of the world to fuck off?”

Lycan had laughed at first, but after that, reality blended into a whirlwind of drunken giggles and flowers and…

I held up my left hand, where a sparkling, shiny diamond sat on a white gold wedding band wrapped around my ring finger.

Oh…no…

No, no, no.

My stomach heaved, and all the bad decisions from the night before crept up the back of my throat. I scrambled out of bed and raced for the bathroom, dropping in front of the toilet as the results of my reckless night were ejected from my body.

Oh, shit.

I’m so screwed.

Wait…calm down.

Annulments exist.

We’ll get it annulled.