Page 5 of Impending Consent

A smile spread across my face as I squeezed my thighs. I could still feel him. The dick was most certainly worth the panic that just ensued.

Maybe I could circle back…

No, definitely not.

I rolled my eyes and lifted from the bed, allowing the robe to slip from my body. Shower, breakfast, new sheets, then I was heading to work.

I dodged a bullet. No more brown liquor for meever.

Chapter 2

Rival.

When I lifted my hand to sand the wood plank for the accent wall I was working on, my eyes lowered to my ring finger. It was bare but felt weighted with the imaginary reminder that as of ten twenty-three last night, I officially became a married man.

Sailor Addison was now Sailor Hassan. The brilliant, sexy, incredibly stubborn and competitive woman I had been intrigued with over the last three months was now my wife. People would assume I was crazy for marrying a woman I knew little to nothing about and it would be crazy if I didn’t know Sailor, but I did.

For the past couple months I had been in her home for several hours a day. It was interesting the things you could learn about a person from just being in their personal space. I paid attention to detail.

I knew her favorite foods, the wine she preferred, what her perfume smelled like. I was well versed in unimportant things such as the temperature she liked to keep her home in order to feel comfortable. Sailor’s thermostat never rose above sixty-nine degrees. I determined she appreciated layering up to balance hercomfort. It was always freezing in her place but she would move about in oversized sweatshirts, fuzzy socks, and thick frumpy robes instead of adjusting the temperature.

Also, in the privacy of her home, Sailor was more reserved in contrast to the well-polished, labeled appearance she presented each time she left the house—makeup flawless, clothes and shoes expensive, and not a hair out of place. All of which she shed the minute she walked through the door, electing for comfort apparel.

Sailor had insecurities; she faced the world with a mask that she was only comfortable removing when she was alone. Even when her siblings visited, she kept up the façade, which was odd to me. They were her family and loved her dearly, but she still donned that mask, hiding herself when they visited.

I was certain the only reason she felt comfortable being exposed around me was because I didn’t matter. I didn’t fit into her world. She was attracted to me, for sure. She flirted tirelessly, which I avoided because the woman was dangerously gorgeous with a body that had men willing to take whatever she was willing to offer, typically only sex. Sailor easily challenged decisions I made to stay focused on building my business and not be distracted by women who didn’t want anything serious.

Her sharp wit and timeless beauty would have me breaking my own rules but her eyes, they exposed Sailor’s truths and drew me in the most. She was longing for someone to truly see her. Sex was just as much a mask as her appearance. Sex, Sailor offered freely. It pissed me off hearing the conversations she had with men, offering her body like it shouldn’t be honored and protected, but it was an act for Sailor.

The one thing she wouldn’t offer was herself. She wouldn’t share her emotions, feelings, fears, and insecurities. Those were the things I wanted from Sailor. I wanted what she held closewhich was why I’d agreed to this ridiculous marriage in the first place.

I also agreed to stipulations that would present the assumption of me being a terrible person, a man after her money. I wasn’t. I didn’t give a damn about the financial terms of the prenup she drafted, beyond how it would allow me a year married to Sailor. In that year, I planned to prove that she deserved so much more than men who only wanted access to her body but didn’t give a fuck about her.

Sailor used sexuality as a way to control her life. She also used it as a way to intimidate men. What man wanted a woman who fucked for sport. Most wouldn’t take her seriously enough to require anything beyond a few hours in her bed. I saw right through the act. Sailor wanted more, however, for some reason, she didn’t feel she deserved more. She did and I was going to make sure she got it.

Which was why even though she was drunk off her ass I agreed to a marriage I shouldn’t have then fucked my wife to consummate the occasion after we promised to love and honor one another. I was certain Sailor didn’t mean one damn word of the vows she delivered.

She said them because I told her I refused to sleep with another woman who wasn’t my wife. That was true, so I hadn’t been dishonest, but her determination to win was another driving force. The alcohol she consumed altered her judgment but not enough to be completely oblivious to what she agreed to.

Sailor was my wife.

No one would believe this. Hell, she was born into a family of attorneys. Both her brother and sister shared a practice with Sailor as equal partners. Her father was a top-notch criminal attorney. I would bet that if she challenged this,whenshe challenged this, they would employ all their knowledge andresources to find a loophole to get Sailor out of this mess she created.

Regardless, I would fight. Thanks to my very thorough and determined wife, I doubted the legitimacy of our union could be challenged. I would, however, refuse an annulment or divorce if it came to that. Maybe I was fucking crazy. The Addisons were going to assume I was either crazy or a gold digger. Hell, did that term apply to men?

My phone buzzed with a call, granting me a moment to escape my chaotic thoughts. I groaned, realizing it was my boy Jairo.

“Yeah…” He was about to give me shit but I set myself up for this.

“Did you consummate?”

I frowned hard. “Fam, that’s none of your business.”

“It’s my business, Rival. When you force me to witness you marrying a woman neither of us know, then I have the right to ask if you made it official.”

“I know her…” was my only response.

“So that’s a yes?”

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