Page 34 of Perfectly Wedded

I look up as Brax and Jaz beam at us.

“You guys didn’t have time for a honeymoon in Vegas, so we wanted to give you a second chance,” Brax says. “With the press hounding you about your news, we’re sending you away for a break.”

“The whole team chipped in for our honeymoon?” Vale says before he looks at me, his eyes wide.

“It was their idea,” Jaz says. “We just reserved the rooms.”

Vale pulls me into a hug, and a zing of panic rockets through me.

The idea of a honeymoon throws my whole body into a state of chaos.

“Thank you, everyone,” I say, choked up. Vale’s heartbeat thrums against my ear. “You have no idea how much this means to us.”

I glance at Vale. His smile is forced, and his eyes hold the same fear that’s pinballing through me.

“We’re going on a honeymoon,” he says, his gaze meeting mine. There’s no way we’re getting out of it.

THIRTEEN

Vale

“Do you think my face gave me away?” Sloan asks as soon as we arrive home. Jaz and Brax are still at the arena cleaning up from the party, which means we have a few minutes alone until Leo and Tate arrive.

She drops her purse on the counter and sorts through the mail, avoiding looking directly at me. Maybe this is her way of keeping a safe distance, the silent tug-of-war between the game we’re playing and the way my body reacts to her, almost instinctively. It’s the gentle pull I constantly want to give in to—the way we’re like two magnets drawn together. Every time I’m alone with Sloan, I want to be closer to her.

“I don’t think anyone will question tonight’s performance,” I say, grabbing a cold sports drink from the fridge to cool the fire inside me. Anything to take the edge off.

What they might question is still down the road—when things are over. Something I’ve shoved to a dark corner of my mind, avoiding thinking about.The end of us.The thought of separating from Sloan sends me into a doom spiral. Even if she doesn’t feel the same as me, imagining her with another man makes me insanely jealous. I couldn’t live in this house, or even this town, and watch her date anyone but me.

She holds up the honeymoon envelope from the team. “What are we going to do about this?”

“We’re going to Mexico,” I answer.

“Are you seriously suggesting we take this trip?” she says, her eyes wide.

“We can’t turn it down,” I say. “That would give everyone an immediate tip-off that something is wrong. What man in their right mind would turn down a honeymoon with his wife?”

She bites her lip, thinking it over.

There’s so much danger in taking a trip with her. The possibility of us getting too close or her seeing how much I want her, how badly I’m drawn to her, and risking the friendship we have. She has no idea how she turns me into a weak man when I’m alone with her.

“I’ve noticed you’ve been distant lately,” I say. “Afraid of messing up in front of everyone. There’s so much pressure when we’re here in Sully’s Beach, but if we go on this honeymoon, we’re free from that. We don’t have to pretend or even sleep in the same room. They reserved a suite, so it would be no different than here. Although personally, I think sharing a room is a perk of being your husband.”

A smirk curves her lips. “Even if I snore?”

“Even sexier,” I tease.

She swats my backside with a dish towel. “Watch it, Mr. Coco Puffs, or you’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight.”

“Oooh, I love it when we role-play with our cereal names.”

She tips her head back and laughs. “Just not in front of the kids, okay? We’ll scar Tate for life.”

“Well, Leo’s already scarred by living with two sets of newlyweds,” I add.

“I didn’t think anything bothered that man. Does he even have a heart?”

“If he does, it’s probably made of stone,” I say. We hear a door slam and the sound of boxes dropping in the hall.

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