Page 77 of Unhinged

“Yes. And I know how you feel about Finn.”

Greg laughs. “Holy fuck. Wilder and Hadley will be my in-laws. Hysterical.”

“It’s not. I don’t want you and Finn to fight constantly over this.”

“You’re not the center of his attention, and he’s not even here.”

“This will uproot your life and change things.”

“It doesn’t have to. We’ll also keep the ground rules from our other venture.”

“How will we deal with that? We finish our two weeks but will still be married. If Kleo doesn’t agree to this, then do we go back to fucking?”

“We can.” Greg bites his lip before as he watches the road.

I shake my head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Feelings will get in the way.”

“They shouldn’t. This is a sham marriage built on a deal. Right?” But I’m afraid I won’t want it to be fake.

I nod. “I’ll give you half of the money.”

“Whatever. I’m doing it to help you, not for the money. That’d be a dick move after all the times you’ve helped me.” He glances at me, and my heart turns into bongo drums. No. I can’t feel anything but friendship for him anymore. That’s all we’ll ever be.

“Maybe we need a contract or something.”

“It’s called a marriage license.”

“No. One that states you’ll stay with me for a year, and I’ll pay you half.”

He again looks over at me. “We can pinky swear.”

I laugh and smack his thigh without thinking. “Shut up!”

Faster than me, Greg grabs my hand. “Keep it up, sugar. You’re giving me a stiffy. Please. Try to restrain yourself.” I laugh because he teased me with that at the softball field. And sugar. So…sweet.

I yank my hand from his and roll my eyes with a smile. “Right, swizzle stick.” So much so that he’ll fuck me, marry me, but won’t love me.

As I tuck hair behind my ear and stare out at the road ahead, from the corner of my eye, I see Greg looking at me. He’s probably wondering when he’ll see my boobs again.

He sighs. “We don’t need a contract or to pinky swear. We’ve set our terms, and I intend to stick to mine, as I believe you’ll stick to yours. I trust you.”

My mouth falls open, and I mumble, “I trust you too.”

“Then, that’s all we need.”

Greg drops me off at Amos’s to find my things while he goes to his mom’s, doing the same. I take the time to at least touch up my makeup. I’m getting married. To my temporary fuck buddy, whom I haven’t fucked yet, but his cum has been inside of me. The same man I thought I…

Damn it! Where’s Amos to talk sense into me? I’ll take this sham marriage more seriously than Greg ever will. And that’s a huge problem.

Thirty minutes later, Greg returns, and we head downtown. Finding a parking spot, Greg and I then walk toward the courthouse. My stomach hurts. I don’t know if I can do this.

My pace slows as I fall behind. Would I feel this way if I were marrying Elijah?

“What’s wrong?”

Realizing I stopped, I look at Greg. The sun highlights his dark brown hair as he squints from the sun. As he walks back to me, I say, “I can’t let you do this. It’s not right for you to put your life on hold just so I can have a different monogram.”

He smirks. “Because you totally love SAG?”

---