Page 55 of Perfectly Wedded

I loop my arms around the back of her knees as she dangles over my shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she says as I carry her upside down into the room.

“Letting you win,” I say. I drop her on the bed as flower petals fly everywhere. She’s on her back, looking up at me, her chest heaving with every breath.

She looks so kissable right now, but that’s exactly what I shouldn’t do if I want her to trust me.

I lean over her, placing my hands on either side of her shoulders. “That’s what you wanted, right? To win?”

For a fleeting second, something ripples across her face, and her eyes drop to my lips.

I don’t want this to go further until I’m sure she can trust me. At this point, she doesn’t even trust me enough to sleep next to her without a pillow wall, let alone anything more. The last time she tried to kiss me, it was because she wanted me to set an end date. But I can’t kiss her until I know she’s not running just to get the end date she thinks she needs—until this thing between us is real, and not just another escape plan.

Let’s face it, she only asked me to stay because she’s afraid of people finding out about us. It’s fear driving her now. And that’s not how I want this marriage to go.

I need her to ask me to stay because she wants me here—without question. When she does, it won’t be because she’s counting down to an end date of her own making.

I turn to go.

“Wait—where are you going?” she asks, frowning.

“Since you’re so worried about me sleeping here... I won’t.”

She props herself on her elbows and frowns. “But where will you sleep?”

“On the couch. I’ll clean up my stuff before anyone sees it.”

“You don’t have to do that, Vale,” she says, sitting up. “I thought we agreed on this.”

“Until you trust me, I’m sleeping somewhere else.”

“I do. I just thought...” For a second, she looks torn.

I want her to say it, to tell me she wants me here, for real this time. “You thought what?”

“We need to keep up the charade.”

Everything crumbles in me. I hate the wordcharade. I hate everything about this stupid arrangement. The more we’re together, the less I can do anything about the pent-up desire that feels like a can of soda about to explode. I’m living in a perpetual state of frustration, wanting her but never within reach of actuallyhaving her. Just about the time it seems like Sloan reveals a piece of her heart, she emotionally backpedals on me. She’s pulling a Houdini, giving me every reason to believe she’s invested in this, then disappearing like it was all a perfectly executed magic act.

“Well, I can’t keep this up.” I grab a pillow off the bed, and head to the door. “I’m not staying in this room until you actually want me in here. Until you ask me to because you’re no longer afraid of what might happen between us.”

NINETEEN

Sloan

“Are you sure you’re okay with us tagging along today?” Jaz asks me in the lobby as the guys arrange for a ride to the snorkeling location. She searches through her backpack for some lip gloss.

“Since we’re headed to the same place, we’d see each other there anyway,” I say, pretending we had this planned all along.

I take a sip of the hotel coffee. It’s bitter and dark, kind of like my mood when Vale left my bedroom last night. I wanted him to stay, but I didn’t know how to say it or whether he wanted me too. He puts on a good flirting game, playing by the “rules” we created, but sometimes those rules feel too real. When he walked out, I knew I’d made a mistake because he took a piece of me with him, a piece I don’t know how to get back.

Please stay.The words lodged in my throat all night as I slept in that humongous bed alone while Vale crammed onto that tiny couch. So close, but still miles apart.

“I told Brax how you’ve always rolled with change,” she says. “It’s kind of your superpower.”

“I’m not sure anything could have prepared me for your surprise.” I bump her with my arm, so she knows I’m not upsetthat she and Brax barged into our honeymoon suite last night. “Good thing I roll with the punches.”

“See? I knew it’d come in handy someday.”

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