Page 102 of Unleashed

Hadley’s face pales. “I didn’t know you slept with Rod that much. I thought it was once or twice.”

“No. We sexed a lot.”

“Stop talking,” Finn says, picking up his fork.

I take a deep breath before saying, “I need a gigantic favor.”

“Going along with your fake marriage isn’t enough?”

“Dad will be at graduation. Mom will be there. Mom doesn’t know about faking it again with Greg. I don’t want to clue her in and get her hopes up. She really likes him. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

Hadley grins. “Julie likes Rod?”

I nod. “She finds him hysterical. And cute. And...”

“What?” Hadley asks with wide eyes.

“Totally my type. Mom is so far off.” Not even a millimeter. She thought we’d have beautiful babies. I never told her we made one.

Finn pulls his elbows off the table with a heavy sigh. “What?”

“It’s kind of a bundle of favors. We’ll call it a party pack. I have limited four graduation tickets. Now, I have a husband...”

Finn shrugs. “Okay, then. I’ll sit out.”

“So quick to volunteer,” I mutter. “It’s not like I want Greg there.” I do, though.

Hadley sighs. “I hope you care about him a little.” He is—was—my best friend.

“I do. A lot, but it’s not reciprocated. He thinks of me as a college brat. The age gap bothers him.”

Hadley says, “It shouldn’t.”

Finn says, “It should.” They look at each other and laugh, but I’m not laughing. “You’re way too young to get married for real.”

“Says you,” I mumble.

“Yep. Says me. You have no idea what an actual marriage is like.”

“How would you know, Finn? Don’t lecture me about marriage when you dragged your ass with Hadley!”

Finn pinches the bridge of his nose, lifting his glasses. “Hadley and I were in love, Simone. Our situation was not like yours.”

I roll my eyes. He’ll see nothing of mine as serious. But I guess Greg isn’t mine, anyway. “What we had was real.” And so beautiful.

Finn shakes his head. “Uh-huh. You don’t. You barely even lived together. You didn’t experience life with him, good and bad. You did it for money.” No. Why does Finn think I followed Greg to Durham? Why did I marry Greg? I did nothing for money. I was stupidly in love with him.

“To be fair, you and Hadley didn’t live together before marriage.”

Finn puts down his empty glass with a thud. “You didn’t live with Rodwell at all.”

Giving up the debate, I glance at Hadley and ask, “Does Greg ever talk about me with you? Does he...like me?”

Hadley frowns. “He’s attracted to you.”

“He really is?”

“That’s what he told me. But there’s such a barrier or friction between the two of you.” A Garrison, as Greg said when we first met.

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