Page 13 of Run Game
She rolls her eyes. “Your ringdoesbelong to you. You paid for that one, too. Remember?" Such a little smart ass.
I click my tongue before sucking a breath through my teeth. “I don't make the laws, babe. It's just the way it works. That ring is yours to do whatever you want with. I bet you could get a pretty penny for it. Probably enough to move and live off of until you find a new job in Boston.”
She looks up at me, her beautiful brown eyes connecting with mine. “I know what you’re doing.”
I grab my chest, feigning offense. “I have no ulterior motives here, Wifey. I'm just really good at problem solving.”
She smiles. “Yeah?” she chides. “Then where are we going to come up with normal clothes so we can get out of here?”
I grab her phone from her hand, opening the DoorDash app. “Lucky for me, my wife is about to come into a large sum of money. So, she can have matching sweatsuits delivered for us.”
“Oh my God, you’re so annoying,” she says, leaning back into me with a laugh.
One hurdle down, a million to go.
“I can’t believe you actually ordered these,” Dia says, looking at our reflection in the full-length mirror.
“What?” I say, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles from my hoodie. “You don’t like our groutfits?”
“What the hell is agroutfit?” she sasses.
I scoff, because does she live under a rock? “It’s a gray outfit. Get it?”
“Oh, I get it,” she replies. “What I don't get is why you got exactly the same thing for both of us. We look like idiots.”
“Nonsense,” I say. “We look cool.”
She rolls her eyes as she walks away, throwing her phone in her small purse. We’re having the hotel ship our wedding clothes back to my place in Boston, so we don’t have to carry them around. Dia was ready to just leave them behind, but fuck that. What if we want to relive the memories later on?
“Ready?” she says, moving toward the door.
No, I’m not ready to let you go.
“Hold on,” I say, closing the space between us in three long strides and crashing my lips to hers. I fist her hair in my hand, afraid that if I let go, she’ll disappear into thin air. I can’t stop myself from pushing her against the door and pressing my body tightly to hers, connecting us at every possible point. I kiss her like I’ll never get to again. The thought alone makes me want to rip my heart out right here and hand it to her. Because if I have to live a life where this woman isn’t my wife, I know I’ll never need it.
I swallow every little whimper that leaves her as she brings her hands up to fist the soft fabric of my hoodie. She’s going to have to be the one to stop this kiss, because I never fucking will. If it means staying here with these rings on our fingers, I’ll move in right now.
Unfortunately, Dia pulls back, dropping her hands at her sides. Her head falls back onto the door as she squeezes her eyes shut tightly. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she doesn’t want to walk out this door any more than I do. “Are you sure this is what you wa?—”
“It has to be this way, Dalton,” she whispers, cutting me off. “You promised.”
“Okay,” I relent. But if she thinks I’m giving up, she couldn’t be more wrong.
EIGHT
DIA
We walkinto the courthouse and head straight to the front desk. The receptionist is an older woman with gray hair pulled up into what looks a lot like a beehive. She’s adorable and actually pulls it off pretty well. Her glasses are slightly crooked, and she has some lipstick on her teeth, but still, she’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
Hello, pretend grandma. I saw grandpa back in the hotel elevator. He says he loves you.
“Can I help you?” she says, pushing her red, thick-rimmed glasses up her nose. I look to Dalton, but he’s refusing to be a part of this interaction, standing with his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face.
I turn back to her. “Yes, we’d like to file for an annulment,” I say.
“Pam!” she yells, much louder than someone her size should be able to. “Got another annulment for you!”
A middle-aged woman, presumably Pam, pops her head up from her cubicle, waving us back. “You’re in luck!” she says. “My eleven-thirty canceled. Come have aseat.” I walk over with Dalton dragging his feet behind me like a child. “So, you need an annulment.”
