Page 107 of Power Play

“Coffee?” Hudson grins and holds out a tray of Styrofoam cups. “Thought you might need some caffeine to revive yourself.”

“Get in here.” I grab the drinks from him and storm to the seating area. “And sit.”

“I don’t know how Piper takes her coffee so I?—”

“She doesn’t drink coffee,” I grumble, glaring at him. “Triggers headaches.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “That’s an interesting thing to know about her.”

“Shut up. How do you know Piper is here?”

“I walked you two back.”

“You did?”

“Yeah.” Hudson picks a spot on the couch and unwraps a croissant. He takes a bite, groaning as he swallows. “God, that’s good.”

“Hayes,” I snap. “I need you to focus on me, not the goddamn pastry.”

“Sorry. You know food is my kryptonite. Okay. Yeah. You couldn’t find the elevator, so I led the way.”

“Did you drink at all?”

“One beer.”

“I need you to tell me exactly what happened last night,” I say, even though I don’t want to hear it.

“You want the whole story?”

“Every fucking detail.”

“We were at the first club until about one. After, we left to go to the wedding chapel where Maverick and Emmy got married. Really nice ceremony.” He rips off another chunk of his pastry and waves it around. “Then… let’s see. We hung around for a while before going to another club. At that point, it was almostthree. We stayed there until about five, then we came back to the hotel.”

“I said every detail. Where in there ismegetting married?” I hold up my hand, and Hudson doesn’t act surprised by the ring on my finger. “Because I sure as shit don’t recall this happening.”

He frowns. “You don’t remember?”

“If I remembered, I wouldn’t be eight seconds away from a panic attack, would I?”

“You brought that on yourself, man.”

“Excuse me?”

“After Maverick and Emmy got hitched, you and Piper agreed to a drinking game. I don’t remember the rules, but whoever won got to pick the other’s punishment. Well, you won, and when she said ‘Just pick something stupid,’ you responded with ‘Let’s get married too. Look at all the love around us.’ I was very confused because you wereveryexcited. You kept going up to couples heading into the wedding chapel and telling them congratulations. Giving them hugs and talking about how love is the best. You might be a little bit of a dick when you’re sober, but turns out you’re a friendly drunk, Sully. Who would’ve thought?”

I cradle my head in my hands.

I’m not impulsive.

I’m not spontaneous.

I like knowing the plan well ahead of time and sticking to it.

This is so not like me, and I make a silent vow in my aching head to never,everfucking drink again.

Especially because I blamed Piper for something that’s entirely my goddamn fault.

“Is there a chance it’s not real?” I ask. “Did we actually go through with a ceremony? Or was I all talk?”

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