Page 12 of Just Married

I’m shaken out of my stupor when he opens the door wider. “Come onin.”

“No,” I say, wincing when my voice echoes in the quiet hall. “I just came to give youthis.”

I thrust my hand out, showing him the diamond ring. When he doesn’t take it, I risk looking up at him again and instantly regret it. He looks angry. I can hardly blame him. This is a screwed-upsituation.

“Just take it, and I’ll get out of your hair. After tomorrow you won’t have to see me again.” If he looked angry before, he looks downright pissed now. “Well, except for holidays… I mean… since Jillian and Theo are together…” Iramble.

Shut up,Peyton.

Kingston’s hand covers my mouth, putting me out of my misery and thrusting me straight into hell. If I thought being embarrassed and rambling like a fool was bad, I didn’t know what bad was because now he’s touching me and all I can think about is him moving that hand down my body. He pulls me into his room, shutting and locking the door. My heart kicks into overdrive, and I start to panic at being alone in his hotel room. After last night and tonight at the restaurant, this is a bad, badidea.

“I don’t want the ringback.”

“But I can’t keep it, Kingston,” I respond. “When we get home, we’ll get an annulment and put this whole mess behindus.”

“Baby, I don’t want to put this behindme.”

“But…” I start but have no clue what else tosay.

He leads me to the couch, then sits directly in front of me on the coffee table. My heart skips a beat when he brushes my hair off my face and tucks it behind my ear. That simple act throws my hormones intooverdrive.

“I love you,Peyton.”

He says it with such sincerity that I almost believe it, but all the years of him hating me and treating me like crap are at war with his words. I know from the snippets I remember from last night that I was the cause of this whole thing. I was the one that threw myself at him… and a few random strangers. I should be angry that he actually married me, but I’mnot.

I’msad.

Sad that all the years I’ve spent pining over him while pretending that I hate him as much as he hates me has ended in a joke of a marriage. I used to dream about being in a relationship with Kingston. For years, I hoped that he would stop seeing me as his brother’s annoying friend. Now instead of the annoying friend, I’m the loser who begged him to marry her. Hell, I practically blackmailedhim.

“Baby, look at me.” His tone is patient and calm, two things I would never attribute to Kingston. “I know this situation isn’t ideal, but Idowant to be with you, and I think you want metoo.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I scoff. “You don’t evenlikeme, let aloneloveme.”

He frowns. “Peyton, I know I’ve not given you any reason to believe me, but it’s true. I’ve wanted you for years. Hell, from the first minute I saw you I wanted you, but Theo got to you first. I was so mad, and I was a stupid kid who lashed out. I thought you and Theo were a thing. By the time I realized you were never going to be more than friends, it was too late. You already hatedme.”

I remember the exact moment that I started pretending that I couldn’t stand the sight of Kingston. It was my Sophomore year, the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance. After an entire year of pining away for Kingston, I finally got the courage to approach him. At that point, he hadn’t ever been openly hostile toward me—just sort of indifferent. Like he couldn’t be bothered to give me the time ofday.

After Lacey Peterman asked Theo to the dance and he agreed, I had to find my own date or show up alone. If I wasn’t going to go with my best friend, I wanted to ask the only boy I had ever crushed on—Kingston. I was so flipping nervous when I asked him that when he said yes, I nearly fainted on thespot.

I was so dang excited that I went and spent every penny of my allowance and babysitting money on a new dress and shoes, wanting to look my very best for him. He was a Senior and used to older girls, I didn’t want to be an embarrassment tohim.

The night of the dance, I stood outside the gymnasium for two hours waiting for Kingston to show up. He never did. And the next day when I saw him, he acted like I didn’t even exist. Worse than that, when Theo asked me why I didn’t show up to the dance, Kingston laughed and said I was too pathetic to find a date. From that moment on, I decided to treat Kingston the same way he did me. With a mixture of dislike andindifference.

“You’re right,” I admit. “You made it really easy for me to hate you. Which really sucked because I had the biggest crush onyou.”

“Had?” heasks.

My cheeks heat. “Have.”

He smiles so wide I wonder if his cheeks will crack. “It’s a good thing you have a crush on me, Peyton Barrett because I’m desperately in love with you and not letting yougo.”

My eyebrows shoot up when he uses his last name instead of mine. “Kingston… I don’t think this is a good idea. We can’t staymarried.”

“We can,” hecounters.

“Wecan’t.”

“Yes, we can,” he says then crushes his lips to mine. His hand goes to the back of my neck and pulls me close, holding me where he wants me. By the time he pulls away my lips are kiss swollen, and my heart is racing. “Can.”

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