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“Fuck.” Parker fell backward, lying down. I did the same.
“We can always fake it. We looked happy in those photos,” I said jokingly, trying to break the quiet. Parker froze beside me. “I was kidding. Relax. You won’t be tied to me for long.” But really, it wasn’t a half bad idea. The possibility began to form in my head…
“Why do I feel like you’re actually considering this?”
Maybe he’d said that because he was too. “It could work… I don’t want to let my parents down. You don’t want to let your dad down. You don’t want to date or sleep with anyone anyway, so it’s not like I’d be a roadblock in your happily-ever-after quest.”
“What are you talking about? We can’t pretend to be married.” Parker shoved off the bed and resumed pacing. “Why would I do that? Why would you do that?”
“To avoid the annoying truth that we got so drunk, we stumbled into a chapel because Oooh! Weddings are fun and we wanted to do something different.”
Parker stopped. “You remember?”
“Bits and pieces are coming back to me.”
He began pacing again. “That’s stupid. We can’t do that. We’d drive each other crazy.”
“Um…welcome to marriage?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t do that. When I get married, I want it to be for love.”
I didn’t remind him that he’d already gotten married, and it was, in fact, not for love.
“God, I’m gonna get crucified on The Vers. The Romantic tricked a guy into marrying him in Vegas.”
I didn’t know where he got the tricked part, but yes, people would likely talk shit. No one wanted to take a look at their own lives, but they loved pointing out others’ shortcomings, especially on the internet.
“I would lose my mind pretending to be married to you,” he said.
“Seems like you’re thinking about it awfully hard over there.” I’d mostly suggested it as a joke, but it could work.
“How would we do it?”
“I don’t know…tell people we’d been dating secretly, fell for each other, threw caution to the wind, and decided to cement our love. My parents would be hurt they weren’t there, especially Mom, and that they didn’t know about you, but I think it would be better than getting an annulment and chalking it up to a bad decision.”
“I think…God, I think my dad would consider it romantic.” That made me smile for some reason. It sounded like he and Parker were more similar than he thought. “I can’t stay married to you forever.”
“No shit.” I rolled my eyes. “We’d agree on a certain amount of time—like six months. Until the summer. Then we make a joint statement that we grew apart. Straight people divorce all the time.” What the fuck? Why were we even pretending this was an option?
My phone rang again. It was my dad.
“How would you survive not having sex with all your admirers?”
He thought I had admirers? Parker paid more attention to me than he wanted to admit. “I can keep from having sex if I want. I just don’t typically want to because why should I? I love fucking. Gay sex is something we were taught to be ashamed of. In the past we were told it was something that would kill us. If I’m safe and protected, why the fuck shouldn’t I enjoy sleeping with whomever I want as long as they want the same? I’m proud of who I am.”
“I’m proud of who I am too.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t. You’re the one who judges me. I don’t judge you, beautiful.”
He blushed and looked away. “God, why am I even considering this? Are you serious? I mean, like you said, I don’t want to date or hook up, so this actually helps, and…”
And he was embarrassed about what we’d done. He was ashamed. I understood that. We both had people we would let down.
“Declan, Marcus, and Corbin will know the truth.”
“As long as they can keep your secret, I don’t care. So will Vaughn.”
“Who’s that?”
“My best friend you were jealous of and thought I was sleeping with.”
He cocked a brow. “Have you slept with him?”
“Not the point.”
“It kinda is, but I don’t care about it much right now. How long have we been together? What’s our story? Oh my God. How am I going to handle being fake married to you?”
“Real married, sweetheart.” I winked, holding up my hand. Things were clearer now, and I remembered filing the license and the chapel registering the marriage.
“You’re such a flirt.”
“Why shouldn’t I flirt with my husband?” I was being playful, but really, I wanted a fix to this situation. I didn’t like the idea of staying married to Parker, but he was gorgeous and could be a good time when he let go. It was a better alternative than the truth and all the stories that would follow. “We can work out all those details.”
