Page 52 of Just My Fake Husband

“It’s—” Alec sighs. “Why? I mean,” he glances over at Oliver. “I get the whole, ‘you fell in love’ thing. But why get married at the county courthouse at five o’clock on a Tuesday evening?”

“Actually, it was at four-fifteen, but—” At their bewildered stares, I wave my hand. “Semantics. Doesn’t matter. Anyways, I’ve sold my house to pay for my sister’s living situation. She has a disability and needs some extra help. But I had to move outand didn’t have a place to go, so Gabriel and I decided to . . .” I swallow to try to get the tightness in my throat to ease. “. . . get married.”

“You got married because you needed a place to live,” Alec states. Like it’s a completely unreasonable thing to say.

“No. I mean, it sounds so strange when you put it that way,” I say. “It was more just a funny little timing thing. We were already headed in that direction, but it made our decision for us, basically.”

See? That’s not really a lie. Ihavesold my house. Ididn’thave a place to live. This whole thinghasbeen quite funny as far as timing is concerned. Or delusional. Whatever you want to call it.

“Guys, we shouldn’t have confronted them like this.” Oliver glares at his brothers and then at Gabriel. “It’s not fair.” He looks at me, and his expression softens. “River, sorry to barge in here. I think our feet moved quicker than our heads.” He stammers and scratches his nose. “We got the text and then Alec called me right away and Sebastian and Henry tracked us both down. And—"

“I get it. Of course this is quite the shock. But we love each other.” I hate lying. I glance at Gabriel and slide my hand across his back. His heavy brows ask,are you okay?as if I’ve had a nasty fall and he’s assessing me for bruises.

The door opens and in walks Milo, his hair damp.

I guess we’re past the point of needing to knock now?

It might be nice having Milo’s presence. He looks a little like he’s holding a press conference to inform the world they’ve discovered the cure for some terrible disease, all self-important and excited. Still. I’m glad he’s here.

“I was in the pool,” he says. “But congrats, you two.”

Sebastian’s glower continues, but he finally opens his mouth. “What is going on?” His stare at us all is menacing.

“We’ve told you.” Gabriel offers as much of a smile as he can muster. “We’re married.” He drops a hand on my knee, and I grasp it with both of my hands, like a tether, hanging on for dear life.

His hand is warm, firm, his fingers longer than mine. I stare at them a moment, weighing the realness of the braiding of our fingers. If I could draw at all, I’d want to draw our hands just like this.

Since I can’t do that right now, or really ever, I meet the brothers’ gazes again. “I get that you might disagree, but Gabriel and I stand firm in our decision.” I toss a glance at Gabriel, silently asking,We are standing firm in our decision, right?“And frankly, we don’t have to explain ourselves to you.” I offer a smile. This isn’t about hurting them. It’s about doing what’s best for us. They’ll come around eventually, won’t they?

“She’s right.” Gabriel scrubs his face as he untangles his other hand from mine and wraps that arm around my waist. It’s such a natural movement, like we’ve been together for years. “We don’t have to explain anything. We’re adults who made some important decisions.” His gaze flicks to me. He takes a wisp of my hair that’s gotten stuck to my cheek. We share a look while he tucks it into the rest of my hair.

“Why didn’t you say anything before you did it?” Alec says. “Mom’s going to be disappointed that she missed your wedding.”

Thoughts of Celine are a snag in my brain. “Yes, and we do feel bad about that,” I say. “And about the discomfort. But we know it’s the right thing for us, so we’re hoping she comes around. She’s a reasonable person. She’ll understand.”

“It’ll hurt her,” Sebastian counters.

Gabriel and I hesitate, allowing Oliver to jump in.

“Hey, I know.” Oliver chuckles. “Why don’t we throw you a nice reception? And you two can get dressed up again and we can have food and cake?”

“I don’t know.” Gabriel tightens his grip on my waist.

“It would be nice for Mom,” Alec says.

“Since you didn’t invite her to the wedding, it’s the least you can do,” Henry says, his strong, military-style arms crossed over his chest. He turns to the door right as the doorbell rings and opens it. Oakley appears in her workout clothes.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here any sooner. I was with a client.” Oakley glances at everyone in the room. When she’s not studying or doing clinicals, she does personal training and injury prevention sessions with guests of the resort.

Before I can say anything to her, she steps to me. “As surprised as I am, and confused, I’ll be honest . . .” She bends down and envelops me in an embrace. “I’m just happy for you guys.” When she pulls away, I see the alarm slipping through her smile.

Yeah, I’m alarmed, too, Oakley.

“Thank you,” I tell her.

Oakley takes a step back and Alec wraps an arm around her. “We can forgive your spontaneity, but I’m guessing you’ll understand if it takes a little time,” Alec says.

Oliver chimes in. “Yeah. River, we don’t have anything against you personally. We’re just surprised.”

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