Page 20 of What She Wants

“Well?” Karessa snaps because she and Imala want all the tea.

Especially Imala. Personally, I think Imala picked the wrong profession, she should have been an investigative journalist or something with her nosy ass.

I give into the urge to cry although I don’t produce any tears.

“That big Latin asshole fucked me like he owns me then told me to plan our wedding.”

Karessa shifts uncomfortably because he’s her doctor but her life isn’t being ruined by him.

“That good, huh?” Imala inquires, her big eyes studying me to soak up every detail.

I can deny a lot of things but not that. My God that man knows what to do to my body. It wasn’t a fluke dammit. I nod with my face still scrunched up because I’m still trying to produce my ugly cry.

“We have to tell our dad to change the laws. I’m a playa. I can’t go out like this.”

“I took the liberty of looking at some lavender design options while you were gone…”

Imala pushes her laptop in front of me with a bunch of lavender wedding ideas displayed on the screen. Never have I ever felt betrayed by my favorite color the way I do now. The reminder of what I’ve walked into baffles me. A lie and one-night stand is now my fiancé? Like what the fuck?

I fight the urge to push her laptop off the table while she and Karessa look at me expectantly. I don’t know what they want from me, I literally just found out that I need to roll over and do what Marín tells me but I refuse to accept it. My dad co-runs the country, not his. How could he possibly have the upper hand?

This kind of feels like a blitz attack, like people knew this was coming and I’m the one in the dark. For a story to end up in Island Times, it has to be thoroughly researched and verified unlike her gossip magazines.

"Fuck them designs, " I grumble and send them into titters. I chew my lip as I think. “Maybe I can reason with him. Last time I was at a ten, but maybe if I went in softer at like a four he’ll reconsider.”

“Dr. Delgado isn’t budging, sis. He gave an interview to Island Times. His credibility is on the line and he’s serious about having an honest image,” Karessa explains.

Why oh why did he do this? A whole damn interview. He’s infuriating.

“I said pretend to be my fiancé for an hour, not marry me for real! Ugh.”

“Just think you’ll get that regular sex you wanted. AND the crazy lady can’t print rumors about you unless she’s willing to make her son look bad,” Imala supplies like those are good reasons to get married.

Okay, those are both lovely perks if I’m being honest. It’d be worse if he had boring dick. I still feel myself pouting but the urge to cry has passed. I just need to play along while showing him that I’d be a terrible wife. I’m still pissed about his choice for a mother.

“No telling what that crazy lady is gonna do. Shit! I have to save his crazy ass in my phone now.”

“Pretty much,” Karessa agrees. “He is your fiancé now.”

That word again. Fiancé. Ew. He’d be an entire handful to deal with on a daily basis. I cross myself like we’re Catholic.

“Pray for me in English and Spanish because Latin blood runs deep in this one.”

I guess since these heifers are happily married, they’d want me to join but I just want to fight Marín…and fuck him. My mind circles back again, giving me another mini freak out.

“What the fuck is the island on lately? What’s happened to dating, falling in love, and then getting a proposal? Since when can he just say we’re engaged and therefore we are?”

Karessa shrugs with a sigh. “Well, Imala made her own arrangement and I was steamrolled.”

“Well, it was fucked up how you got there but Oran has been your fantasy since you hit puberty.” Karessa blushes like she’s not the mother of his son and future babies. “And Imala did her own deal because she wanted to hunch on Wyn anyway, but this dude made an announcement without my knowledge or permission.”

“That interesting,” Karessa hums in her big sister about to call the middle child out on her bullshit kind of way. “So you asked Dr. Delgado to pretend to be your man, he cooperated for an hour, then you both went your separate way with no other interaction until today? He’s been my doctor for years and while I thought several things about him, delusional isn’t one of them.”

I roll my eyes so hard I almost get dizzy. “Okay, that’s not all that happened,” I admit.

Karessa leans back with her eyes squinted while Imala leans in for more information. I tell them everything from the beginning. Just going over our back and forth makes us sound crazy in my ears so I can only imagine what they’re thinking. I sigh and lean back once I’m done, waiting for their input.

Imala wakes up her computer and shows me the designs again. “So do you want a posh and sparkly wedding, bohemian, or island themed?”

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