Page 25 of The Puck Decoy

I expect an outburst, knowing Josh, but apparently when drunk he is a little more relaxed. Leaning back on the sofa behind me, his arm resting along my shoulders, all he does is laugh darkly. “And tonight will be the last time you ever speak of it because I will break your jaw if you bring that up again,” he warns him, and it sends a thrill up my spine.

Which is ridiculous considering I know he is only protecting me in the same manner he does Maddie, like a sister, not a wife, not a real one anyway, and the thought is sobering. It also has me standing abruptly, causing all of them to flick their eyes my way as I try to clear my thoughts rapidly.

“I need to go,” I say without thinking, before quickly adding, “To bed, I need to go to bed.” Remembering to keep up appearances of the facade that is my life now. It’s our wedding night, I can’t exactly go home while everyone else is still here, I will have to wait for them to leave.

Alexander clambers to his feet. “I’ll make you another Baby Maker for the road upstairs,” he claims, stumbling towards the kitchen.

“We should go too,” Maddie cuts in, climbing from Nova’s lap, and he follows her instantly, like magnets to one another.

“Oh I am more than ready to go, Princess,” he replies, pulling her in by the waist, making Josh groan out loud.

“Yes, please fucking leave before I have to bleach my goddamn eyes,” he complains, rising to his feet alongside me, and putting his arm around my waist.

The perfect show.

“No, it's not even ten yet, the party can’t be over,” Archer drawls from the sofa behind me and Josh looks at me and rolls his eyes.

“See what shit I have to put up with,” he whispers, making me laugh, before turning to Archer. “You and Reign can see yourselves out when you're done with the drinks, but we are going to bed.”

The words are said with such finality that even I believe them, and when he starts leading us towards the stairs, my stomach floods with anxiety about how this is going to go.

“See you at lunch tomorrow,” Maddie calls out to our backs, reminding me of the dinner we have on the schedule with her parents, and not wanting to think about the bomb we are going to drop on them, I let Josh lead me towards the stairs.

“Can’t we just stay here?” Alexander calls from the kitchen, and Josh huffs.

“Fine, whatever, but don’t make a fucking mess,” he snaps, and whatever is said in response is swallowed by Archer’s cheer as we leave the rest of the them downstairs and head up to his room.

When we get there Josh doesn’t seem to be as phased as I am, because all he does is stroll inside and throw himself down on his bed, whereas I let the door shut behind me before sliding the lock into place.

“Why did you say they could stay, I’ll never be able to get out of here now?” I complain, and he flicks his eyes to me, completely confused.

“Aren’t you staying here?” he asks, as if we had somehow already discussed our current predicament, and my heart races in my chest.

“You want me to stay here?” I ask, treading very carefully as I move slowly away from the door, but still stick to the perimeter of the room, coming to a stop in front of his closet.

Josh shrugs, sitting up and slowly peeling off his jacket and loosening his tie. “I just presumed you would,” he replies casually, as if it’s no big deal.

“Isn’t it weird?” I question, desperately wanting him to both agree and disagree with me.

“Why would it be weird? It’s not like we haven’t shared a room before.” He stands, moving to his dresser and unclasping his watch, before undoing the buttons on his shirt, and all I can do is stare in awe as he reveals his perfectly chiseled stomach and abs.

“I think it’s a bit different now than when you were twelve,” I scoff, gesturing towards him, and all he does is smirk.

“Don’t tell me, my little Hallie bear, is scared of a hot body?” he asks, peeling the shirt from his skin and tossing it over the back of his chair, and suddenly the temperature in the room skyrockets.

I scoff again. “Please, you are not that hot.”

His smirk only widens as he moves towards me. “Once again, you are a terrible liar, Mrs. Peters,” he gleams, with a wicked look in his eye as he leans in close to me until I can feel his breath on my neck. “Now step aside so I can get a blanket, I’ll sleep on the floor.”

I push away from him like my ass is on fire, and ignore his sinful laugh as he reaches into the closet to retrieve some sheets and an extra duvet, before moving to set up a place to sleep at the end of his bed without another word.

Well, I guess I’m spending the night with my husband.

Hallie is being weirder than usual, and I’m pretty drunk, so that’s a keen observation on my part, but the girl is acting like she has never been in close quarters with anyone before, let alone me. We practically grew up together, and living next door to one another meant there were plenty of family vacations and camping trips we had to endure. So the fact she is being all skittish just because we have to share a room is very amusing for me. I continue to undress while she acts like every piece of furniture in my room offends her, and then I move to start setting up a bed on the floor for myself.

“I know you are a master of many talents, Tink, but sleeping standing up isn’t one of them, just make yourself at home,” I try to coax her into relaxing a little, but all she does is scoff.

“Just make yourself at home,” she mocks. “Joshua, do you have any idea the level of effort that goes into my sleeping routine every single night?” I roll my eyes at her words, because again we practically grew up with one another, of course I know. “I don’t have any pajamas, I don’t have Percy, a fan, my sleeping mask, my ear defenders, how the hell am I supposed to just make myself at home?”

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