Page 174 of Restricted List

We’re both sweat-soaked, exhausted, and thoroughly fucked. I take her left hand in mine, touching the rings on her finger, reminding myself that this all actually happened.

The cold metal on my own left ring finger just confirms it.

I capture her lips one more time, kissing her deeply with every bit of love I have for her.

“I love you, wife.”

“I love you, husband.”

fifty-three

Cole

It is way toofucking early to be awake right now. I peer at the alarm clock beside the bed and see that it’s just before nine in the morning.

Rory and I didn’t get to sleep until after five. We’ve had less than four hours of rest, so why the fuck am I waking up right now?

When I hear the doorknob turn and our friend’s voices start to filter into the room, it all clicks.

“Stop!” I shout, causing Rory to stir awake beside me now. “We’re, uh… not dressed for visitors at the moment.”

We’re actually not dressed at all, but I figure I’ll spare my sister the trauma.

“Oh God,” I hear Lo say from the entryway. “We’ll be in the hall!”

The door shuts loudly behind them, and I breathe a sigh of relief that we weren’t seen in our current state.

“What’s going on?” Rory mumbles, still sounding half asleep.

“All of our friends just decided to drop by, and I spared us from being caught naked.”

Her eyes go wide. “Shit! I’m glad you woke up.”

“Me too,” I murmur, pulling her in close. “I’m not sharing you with anybody. Nobody gets to see my wife’s stunning body except for me.”

Rory just smiles and rests her head on my bare chest. “Oh my God, we actually got married.”

“Yes, we did.” I kiss the top of her head, where her hair now sits in a high bun instead of the low one she wore at the altar.

Because we got married.

Rory Fisher is my fucking wife.

Scratch that—RoryPierceis my wife.

“We obviously need to get dressed,” she says, facing me. “But what are we telling them about the whole marriage thing?”

“We can tell them or keep it to ourselves. It’s your choice, Rory girl.”

“Maybe we don’t tell them yet. Last night was really rough, so I don’t know if they’ll be ready to hear it anyway.”

“We’ll hide our rings in the drawer for now, then.” I stand from the bed and help her to her feet before pressing her body against mine as I wrap my arms around her lower back. “We won’t tell them that we got married, not yet. We don’t need to acknowledge anything that happened after they left the room last night.”

“Okay,” she breathes.

I press a soft kiss to her lips before we quickly get dressed. Since the only regular clothing I have is what I wore yesterday, I slip back into my jeans and T-shirt while Rory pulls out a pair of leggings and a tank from her suitcase. We hide everything we bought on the Strip so they don’t question why there’s a white dress and lingerie on the bedroom floor.

Now ready, I peer out into the hall, telling our friends to come inside.

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