Page 32 of Snared

This better be worth it.

Chapter 7

JOSH

You’resupposedtofuckthem, not marry them. Have I taught you nothing?

I stared at my phone, rereading the text from my father for the twentieth time.

Fucking prick.

He’d texted me as soon as the story broke. Why he thought that was an appropriate thing to text his son was beyond me. Fatherly advice was something I had never wanted—or asked for—in my entire life.

I tossed my phone onto the bed and paced around the room. I needed to get rid of some of this nervous energy. The guys would be here soon, as would my wife.

Fucking hell.My wife.

This was a mess.

It’d been a few hours since I’d left a sleep-tousled Charlie in her room. She’d looked gorgeous, wearing a pair of Steelwolf leggings and an oversized band shirt, her hair all messy and piled on her head, and my fingers had itched to sink into the silky strands.

I tugged on my own hair.

I was going to have to act like I was in love with her. I cringed at the wordlove.Sure, I’d wanted her from day one. But now I was going to have to touch her. Kiss her. Only in public, but still. It was enough to get me hard and make my brain question every life choice I’d made to get to this insane point.

I’d already texted Phil to put a hold on the annulment papers and he’d called right back to laugh some more at me.

Fucking ass.

“Open up, fucker.” Jax’s voice carried through the door as he pounded away.

I opened the door and in walked Jax, Tris, Bash, and Cassie. None of them looked too happy to see me, but I deserved that. I was definitely the villain this time, but I was going to redeem myself. These guys were my family, and I had to rebuild their trust in me if it was the last thing I did. This was the best I could come up with, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy for any of us.

“So, you come up with a plan?” Bash asked.

“Let’s wait for Charlie,” I deflected, as there was another knock.

Jax pulled open the door. “Oh, here’s your blushing bride now.”

“Don’t start,” I bit out as Charlie walked into the room, her head held high, her shoulders stiff. I was probably as tense as she was right now.

“How you doing, Charlie?” Cassie asked, giving Charlie a hug.

Charlie grimaced. “I’ve been better.”

“I’m so sorry about the media bullshit.”

Charlie sighed. “It’s expected now that everyone knows.”

“And what are we doing about that, CH?” All the attention turned to me at Tristan’s question.

I hated how anxious I felt. “Charlie and I talked.”

Jax pointed an accusatory finger at me. “You were supposed to leave her alone and figure this mess out.”

I tried to quell my anger at Jax’s words. “This involves Charlie as much as me, so I discussed it with her.”

“And you’re still breathing,” Bash remarked.

---