And that’s his in. “What the ever-loving fuck, Griffin? You are worth millions and you’re willing to just throw that away? You’re ready to give half of that to some woman who works at the children’s hospital if this relationship of only a few months doesn’t actually last?”
“Actually, she doesn’t work at the hospital anymore. They let her go with the merger.”
“They let her…she doesn’t…” He sighs. “What the hell are you doing, Griff? Be real with me, alright? Was this marriage some sort of forced thing? Did you accidentally knock her up?”
“What? No. It’s not like that.”
We have to have sex for me to knock her up and thanks to my dick being a dick…
“Did you two get rip roaring drunk and make one bad decision after another?”
Yep.
“No. Not at all,” I snap back. “And I’ll thank you for not talking about my wife that way. Layken isn’t the kind of woman who wants me for my money.”
She doesn’t want me at all.
Especially after the most embarrassing lame dick night of my life.
At some point I’m going to need a way to prove to her that I have skills. I can’t let her only impression of me in the bedroom be from our wedding night. I just need another chance.
“Trust me, big guy. Every woman wants money. Does she know how much you’re worth?”
“What are you getting at, Felix?” I bark, frustration growing ever present. “Did I do something wrong here? Is there something you need me to do because all I hear coming out of your mouth is a bunch of bullshit and I’m done listening to it. So, unless you actually need something from me?—”
“No man, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a skeptic. It’s just not like you to run off and get married.”
“Pretty sure that’s why they call it running off and getting married. It’s never expected.”
“Look, I’m just trying to protect you. It’s not too late to sign some papers. You know, just in case,” he warns.
“Goodbye, Felix.”
I don’t wait for him to say goodbye before I disconnect the call and then lean my head back against the wall.
“You alright over there, Mr. Love and Marriage?” Oliver smirks from the bench a few lockers down.
“I’ll be fine,” I huff. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Felix is just doing his job. Cut him some slack. This was a shock to everyone.”
I rub my hands down my face and rest my elbows on my knees. “I know. And I haven’t heard from my family yet and I just know in my gut that’s not good news.”
“That was going to be my next question.”
“I can’t tell them the truth, Oliver, and that’s going to kill me. My family and I…we’re so damn close. They’ll be crushed I did this without them.”
He nods. “I get it. Charlee would be crushed if I got married without telling her too,” he says, mentioning his sister who married Milo Landric, Center for the Chicago Red Tails. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Nah. It’s fine.” I sit up a little straighter, pulling myself together. I can’t continue to look like this is a fucking struggle because in the grand scheme, nothing about my life changed except that I have a woman living with me for a while. And that was going to happen regardless of the piece of paper that says we belong together now. “I’ve just got to figure out how to tell my family.”
“Good luck, man,” he tells me before he heads to the gym. “I don’t envy you.”
“Yeah thanks.”
He opens the door and then stops. “If there’s any good news here,” he says, turning his head back to look at me. “Layken seems like a really good person.” He shrugs.
“Yeah. She is.”