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“We didn’t notify anyone three months prior. We got married after getting drunk off Irish beer,” I rush out.
Or I thought we did. Fuck.Fuck. More typing fills my ears as I tip my head back and try to suck in a deep breath. It doesn’t work. Bending at the waist, I grip one of my knees and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Coop?” I hear Braxton ask, suddenly right beside me. Her hand ghosts over my back in a comforting motion.
“Send it to me anyway, and I can at least try to find who scammed you both. This must be good news, though, right? No marriage means no annulment, and no divorce if that was the route we had to take. You’re saving yourself thousands of dollars and a lot of stress,” Jackson says. Every word he says makes my stomach churn faster and faster until I taste the bile trying to climb up my throat.
“Cooper? Jesus, you look like you’re going to puke all over my lawn.” It’s Maddox standing in front of me now, his hands gripping my shoulders.
My tongue is heavy as I say, “Right. Thank you. I’ll send the photo.”
“We’ll touch base in a couple of days, but congratulations on being marriage-free! Enjoy it—I can’t tell you how many couples would be so grateful to have had their elopement turn out to be a farce. Talk later.”
I wince. “Thank you.”
The line goes dead as I slowly lower my phone.
“You’re freaking me out. Who was that?” Braxton asks softly.
“The marriage lawyer.” The words are hollow.
Maddox helps move me into a standing position. “Was it about the annulment? Is it done?”
Gritting my teeth, I shake my head. Saying it out loud with make it all that much more real. A nightmare that no longer lives only in my dreams.
“It’s okay if you can’t get the annulment, Coop. Maybe you don’t have to go through with a divorce. If you two love each other, then what’s the harm in just staying married?” Braxton asks.
Everything she’s saying is everything that I’ve already thought of. Everything that I’ve decided I wanted to do if Adalyn had agreed to it. I didn’t want a divorce anyway. Not anymore, after falling in love with her so damn hard. There’s no way I could have gone back to how my life was before her. Not a chance in hell.
“There is no annulment or divorce because we’re not married. Not legally. Whoever took us in under the pretence of an elopement was messing with us. I’m sure two drunk tourists were perfect targets for a quick payday.” I blow an angry breath between my teeth. “We didn’t have a physical copy of anything. Fuck, I’m an idiot for not realizing how weird that was.”
“You’re not an idiot, Cooper. How is anyone supposed to know how things like this work in other countries? Let alone under the influence of alcohol,” Braxton says.
Maddox runs a hand over his head, tugging at the too-long pieces of hair. “Back up to the beginning. You’re telling me you’re not actually married?”
“We’re not.”
“And that’s not a good thing, I take it?”
I pull at the back of my shirt, growing agitated in a way I’m not used to. “I was content with how we were. Happy with it. I didn’t want anything to change, even though I knew I should. Who stays married to someone they weren’t even dating in the first place? I should be happy right now. I know that. But I’m devastated. I feel like I could puke.”
Adalyn is my wife in every way that counts. I know that with everything in me. But does she feel the same? Now that there isn’t anything tying her to me . . . will she run?
“I can’t do this,” I choke out. My emotions are all over the place, and for the first time in my life, I don’t have a grasp on them.
Braxton grabs my hand, keeping me from taking off. “You need to breathe. Talk this out with us.”
My shoulders sag as I ask, “What if she leaves me? Adalyn is so far out of my league. I don’t know if this marriage was all that was keeping her with me.”
Vulnerability ripples through me. I feel so out of my head. So tangled up inside. I’m probably overreacting, but I can’t seem to get that through my head long enough to relax.
Maddox frowns, disbelief etched on his features. “You’re not serious. My sister might be an amazing woman, but you’re a great fucking guy, and I’ve seen you two together. There’s no way she was only with you because of your marriage.”
“You have to tell her about this, Coop. She’ll set you straight. I don’t have a single doubt about it,” Braxton murmurs.
Well, that makes one of us.
35
