Page 13 of What About Now

“I don’t trust easily. I’ll drive you insane with all of my questions and the constant need for reassurance. I’m broken, Maddox. I’m working on it, but it’s a long road to travel.”

“Let me take that road with you.” His eyes are locked on mine. “Let me be the man who stands next to you and gives you all the reassurance you need. Ask me as many questions as you want. I’ll answer every single one of them with nothing but complete honesty.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I tell him.

A slow, sexy smile tugs at his lips. “I need to hear you say it, baby.”

“Six months.” I nod, letting him know that I’m agreeing. My heart tells me this is a grand plan, while my head is full of the opposite. However, it’s my heart that’s leading this time, and the way it’s racing at the thought of Maddox being mine, even for a short amount of time, sets something ablaze inside me. Something a lot like hope infused with happiness.

“Six months what?”

“We date for six months.” I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. It’s crazy, and not me at all, but it's not like he’s a stranger. I know Maddox; at least I’m pretty sure I do. Anxiety starts to kick in, but he rests his palms on my cheeks, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Focus on me, baby.”

I nod again. “We stay married. Six months. Dating.”

He smirks. “We have one more decision to make.”

“What’s that?”

“Your place or mine?”

“I love this house. It was my grandmother’s.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” His hands are still cupping my face. His eyes, still laser focused on mine.

“Yes,” I whisper, like there are other people here to listen to our conversation.

“I love this house. I kept waiting for it to go on the market, but it never did. I saw that someone had moved in. I never could have imagined it would have been my future wife.”

“Stop.” I laugh.

“I’m telling you the truth. Ask the guys. I even told them when we were here for the first time for the girls’ birthday party back in the summer.”

“Well, I guess that means you’re my new roommate.”

“Husband, roommate, bedmate, secret keeper, question answerer, and whatever else you want me to be. I want you to be mine, Brogan. My everything.”

His answer is honest, and playful, and it feels normal for us, and what we’ve been to one another up to this point. “Does that mean you’re mine?” I hate that I ask the question, and I bite down on my bottom lip, pissed at myself for letting the question fall from my lips.

His eyes soften. “That’s exactly what it means.” He removes his left hand from my face and wiggles his fingers, his wedding band on full display. “Only you, Brogan.”

“Gah, are we really doing this?” I ask. I feel giddy at the thought, and if I’m being honest, I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.

“You already agreed. No take backs. Besides, you said ‘I do’.”

“Do you remember it? The wedding?”

He shakes his head. “No, but I wish I did. We’ll have to plan another one so we can remember it.”

“Six months,” I remind him.

“I don’t need six days. I want this. I want you. I’ve been falling hard for you for the last several months. These feelings are not new for me. I understand it’s going to take you some time to catch up. Just know that mine are only going to grow.”

“Do we hide this? That we got drunk married?”

“No. Fuck that. No. I’m not hiding. We’re married. You are my wife. We’re in this all the way, Brogan. Sure, it’s unconventional, but our life is what we make it, and I want to make it with you.”

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