Page 20 of Fake Out Hearts

“Don’t worry about that either. I’ve got you covered,” I say and lift the duffel bag I brought with me off the empty seat next to us.

“Please don’t tell me you have a wedding dress you bring with you to every game,” she says, and it’s my turn to laugh.

“It’s not a wedding dress, but I think you’ll appreciate it anyway.”

“What, you aren’t going to show me?”

“Not yet. I want it to be a surprise. Besides, my fingers are all greasy, so I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Don’t you think I’ve had enough surprises lately?” she asks as she retrieves her chicken and takes a bite of it.

“You definitely have. But this is a good one. Trust me.”

“That’s the name of the game right now, isn’t it? Trust.”

I reach across the table and give one of her hands a squeeze. “It is. It’s all going to be fine. Perfect, even. I promise.”

“Okay. I believe you,” she says, letting out a slow breath as someone makes an announcement that our flight to Vegas is now boarding at gate twenty-four.

“That’s us. You ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she says, although she steals another bite of chicken as I grab the duffel bag and rummage in my pocket for my boarding pass. We probably don’t need to be in such a hurry, especially since we’re flying first class, but I figure the sooner we’re on that plane, the better.

We rush across the terminal and join the priority boarding lane, and to my surprise, Becca takes my hand. I give her another reassuring squeeze and flash her a grin, which seems to work. She hands the agent her boarding pass first, and the agent doesn’t even glance at it before she scans it on the machine she’s standing behind and hands it back.

“Enjoy your flight, and welcome aboard,” she says in monotone while reaching for my boarding pass. Becca and I jog down the ramp and take our seats in the second row. Normally, I always claim the window seat, but I let her have it. Something tells me she’s going to need the distraction, and even I have to admit that the view as we come into the desert of Vegas is beautiful.

As soon as we’re seated, a flight attendant our age approaches. “Good afternoon, and welcome aboard. Can I get you something to drink? Maybe a mimosa or a glass of champagne?” she asks, smiling at us.

“Two glasses of champagne, please,” I order for us, and the attendant nods before returning to the galley. Becca stares at me.

“Champagne? This early?”

“We have a wedding to celebrate, don’t we?”

Becca laughs and nods. “Yeah. I guess we do.” She rests her hand on the little drink tray between us, so I place mine on hers, and she links her fingers between mine. I know our upcoming wedding isn’t real, and that this feeling won’t last, but goddamn if it doesn’t feel like it could.

The flight attendant returns a few moments later carrying a tray with two small, bubbling glasses of champagne. She hands one to each of us, and I clink my glass against Becca’s.

“To new beginnings?”

“To new beginnings,” Becca agrees and takes a healthy sip.

We touch down in Vegas just under an hour later, and as soon as we’re on the ground, I switch my dying phone off airplane mode—because we still need to find a chapel to get this thing done in. I probably should’ve done it before we left, but I figure there can’t be too many people trying to get married on a whim in the middle of the afternoon, even in Vegas. We’re bound to find something.

“There! That one,” Becca says, pointing at a place called The Little Church of the West in the search results. I tap on it to look at some of the pictures and see that it’s tiny, old, dark as hellinside, and made almost entirely out of stained wood. It’s not exactly what I would’ve chosen, but if that’s what Becca wants, that’s what I’ll give her.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive. It’s so quaint and cute. It reminds me of an old log cabin or something.” Her cheeks are still rosy from the champagne, and it’s such a good look on her.

“Looks like it’s only about ten minutes away from the airport too, so that’s convenient.”

“Isn’t that the point of this whole thing?”

“Exactly,” I say, and flash Becca a grin before switching over to the Uber app to order another ride. Hopefully, I can charge my phone at the chapel, otherwise I’m not sure how we’re going to find a place to stay tonight or get back to Denver tomorrow.

We’re one of the first off the plane, which means we’re also one of the first to have to stand and wait for our bags to show up. But that gives me time to call the chapel and book something. Just like I thought, they’re pretty much wide open for the whole day, so I snag the first appointment they have.

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