Page 48 of Perfect Boy

“Nerdy.” She laughs. “She loves science. She’s way smarter than I will ever be. She even got invited to take part in a science fair at a university.”

“Wow, that’s awesome.” I can sense that it’s hard for her to be away from her sister. “Are you going to it?”

“The science fair? I wish.” She frowns. “No, I mean, I’d love to, but crossing the border wouldn’t exactly be a good idea right now. But I’m going to send her flowers. That’ll make her smile.”

“Speaking of crossing the border and all that, when do you think you’ll hear something about this whole green card stuff?” I shift around. “How’s it work? Does someone just show up at your house or something?”

“No idea,” she says with a shrug. “From what my boss said, the man who did the audit was extremely nice and told her the office is quite backed up. So, it might take weeks before anyone reaches out to me.” She swallows. “Which is good, I guess. Because they said our marriage paperwork would take a few days to process.”

“You know, we’re going to have to tell people the truth, right?” I give her an amused look. “You’ll have to admit you married my sorry ass to more than just Zoey.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” she says playfully. “Maybe you’re my dirty little secret.”

“Because once your immigration officer—or whatever they are called—finds out you’re now married to a good little boy from Alabama, they’ll want proof that it’s not a sham.” I wink. “Guess you’re going to have to learn to like me, huh?”

She sighs, tilting her head to the side. “Watson, I do like you. You make it sound like I’m a grumpy bitch who hates your guts. If that were the case, I don’t think we would have done what we did in the backseat of your truck, would we?”

“All right, let me rephrase that. You have to like me enough to act like we’re married in public and continue to let me make you come.” I shrug. “Think you can do that?”

Her cheeks turn red just as the sun comes out from behind the clouds and shines through the café window, illuminating her entire face.

Fuck, my wife is gorgeous.

“I think I can handle it,” she says, chewing her lip.

I know right away she’s got some dirty thoughts running through her head. I hope she does anyway. I think about reaching under the table and brushing my hand across her knee, but the waitress appears with a shit ton of plates on her tray. Slowly, she sets them down on our table, and my eyes bug out of my head at the amount of food.

“Breakfast for lunch,” I mutter, staring at the pancakes, bacon, and home fries sprawled out in front of me.

“Breakfast for lunch,” she singsongs, nodding her head before grabbing a fork. “Look at us, doing married couple things.” She winks. “Better go get that front porch swing and adopt a dog named Wilson.”

“Wilson?” I frown.

She shrugs. “I don’t know. Sounds domesticated.”

I look at her and eventually laugh. I know as soon as we finish eating, she’ll be ready to go back to the hospital to check how Sutton is doing. But until then, I’m just going to soak in getting to know her.

And I guess I kind of like the feeling that she needs me right now. I could get used to that.

19

Watson

My happy bubble of me and Ryann getting along and actually acting sort of like a couple is over. This day has been a fucking disaster, and I’m ready for it to end.

A few days ago, we learned that Cade had been struggling with addiction. And even though I’d had my suspicions, it was a whole different story. I wish my intuition had been wrong. Unfortunately, all the signs I had seen but turned a blind eye to were right all along.

A few hours ago, his parents came here and took him to rehab, and he wouldn’t even say good-bye to any of us. I guess I can’t blame him. We’re the ones who told Coach that we were worried.

And then, to add on to the chaos, minutes after he left, Haley blurted out that she’s pregnant with his baby.

Yeah, it’s been a weird fucking day.

For hours, Haley didn’t come out of her room after dropping that bomb and running in there. I needed her to know I was here for her because I couldn’t imagine what she was going through. Or how scared she must be.

I hadn’t even known she and Cade were into each other. Then again…Cade’s into everyone. At least he was before she moved in with us.

Yep, I’m an idiot for missing the signs.

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