Page 35 of Perfectly Wedded

“Hey, lovebirds!” Jaz shouts. “This is your warning that we’re home. So if you’re in the middle of your ‘alone time’...”

Sloan’s face immediately heats as she stammers, “We’re just in the kitchen... doingabsolutelynothing!”

“How disappointing,” Jaz says as she enters the room with a sly grin, Brax following.

Sloan lifts an eyebrow. “You should be relieved.” She immediately bumps into me, her hip brushing my leg, sending energy through me. She’s blissfully ignorant of how tough it is for me to keep my thoughts straight when she’s this close.

“And thank you for a fabulous wedding shower and gift,” Sloan adds. “Best sister and brother ever.” Sloan goes in for a group hug, pulling me into the huddle.

“It was all Jaz’s genius,” Brax says, admiring his wife. “Except for the games. But that’s the only way we could get the team on board. Especially Leo.”

“Leo agreed to this?” Sloan asks, arching an eyebrow.

“Who knew, right? Turns out, if you dangle a competition in front of him, even the alpha male softens up,” Brax says. “He and Tate headed to Boots and Buckles for line dancing tonight. I think they’re feeling left out now that half the house is married.”

“Leo and Tate actually agreed on something?” I say.

“Yeah, for about five minutes... right before they were ready to murder each other,” Brax adds.

Jaz takes her sister by the shoulders. “Please don’t worry about a thing while you’re gone. I will take care of everything.”

“Since you’re getting away before the season begins, the timing is perfect,” Brax says.

“And before the press finds out,” Jaz adds. “As long as nobody from the team squeals.”

Just what we need. The press documenting our every move on our honeymoon. Another reason to take this trip now.

I turn to Sloan. “See? Nothing to worry about. Your sister thought of everything.” I wrap one arm around Sloan’s waist, noticing the way her body seems to fit perfectlyinto mine.

“My sister always does,” she says, pasting on a nervous smile. “What could I want more than a week alone with my husband?”

The tension in her tone is hard to miss. On our last trip, we got married. The next logical step would be...nope, not going there.We absolutely cannot end up in bed together.

We’ll have to enforce separate sleeping spaces and keep space between us at all times.

Heat rises in my chest just thinking about all the ways this could go very, very wrong. Even if she is my wife, I already agreed to rule four. Which means I can’t sleep with Sloan, no matter how much I want to.

The next day, I wake up early and quietly slip out of the bedroom so I don’t disturb Sloan. She went to bed early with a headache—another sign we need to get her on these new meds ASAP. Brax is in the kitchen when I step into the room, the smoky smell of bacon filling the house. I brush by him, grabbing an apple and a protein bar on my way out the door.

Brax looks over his coffee cup at me. “Where are you headed so early?”

“I want to catch Libby in HR before she gets tied up in meetings. Sloan still hasn’t been added to the insurance plan.”

The bacon sizzles as Brax flips the meat. “Why not take care of it when you return? She has her insurance with the university, right?”

“Yeah, but she wants to start some new meds before we leave.”

“The super expensive one?”

“How’d you know?” I say, stopping to study my brother. I didn’t think anyone knew about that drug except for us.

“Sloan texted Jaz about it in Vegas. Sounded like she was desperate to get that drug. Good thing the marriage solved that problem so conveniently.” He takes another sip of coffee as my stomachturns to lead.

Another reminder why Sloan probably isn’t interested in anything more with me. She was desperate to get her problem solved, not hop into a marriage contract with a friend. And now, I can’t help but wonder if my brother suspects it too.

I bite into my apple. “I want to take care of things now. Getting her on my insurance plan could make the difference between enjoying our trip and feeling rotten.”

“Makes sense.” He nods, then takes the bacon from the frying pan and lays it on a paper towel. “How are you dealing with things?” He studies me, and I know that look. He’s worried about something.

---