Page 34 of Operation Annulment
Which also means she was too intoxicated to give consent to any of it. The marriage. The spontaneous sex in the elevator. The mindblowing blowjob on the balcony. The—well, you get the idea.
Get to know her better… I said.
Take things slow… I said.
I glare at the marriage license sitting on the nightstand. I’m not a hundred percent sure, but eloping feels like the fucking opposite of all of that.
There has to be a way to fix this, but my mind is blank at the moment.
Well, not completely blank. It’s helpfully reminding me that I know next to nothing about this woman or her family. I flee to the bathroom to splash cold water on myface.
As I take in the love bites on my neck and the condoms littering the counter, I can’t help but think it’s Jess 2.0.
“This is your fault,” I mutter to my dick, still painfully hard despite having every reason not to be. “You get that, right?”
“Nate?” Kate taps a finger against the door. “Are you talking to someone?”
Just my dick.
We’re finally having a long-overdue heart-to-heart. The bastard’s been doing whatever he pleases without considering the repercussions.
“No,” I lie before asking, “Are you okay?”
“Um, not really,” she says, her voice rising. “I think I’m freaking out. No, I know I’m freaking out. Can you come out, please?”
Reluctantly, I open the door. I’d much rather stay in here until I have a plan.
“I can’t remember anything?—”
“Nothing?” I ask, trying and failing to keep the rising panic from my voice.
“No—well, I remember asking you to come with me and the flight here. I vaguely remember dinner… and then nothing.” She buries her face in her hands. “I have to go home. Dakota’s in the hospital, and Zane—he got shot. I never should have left.”
I freeze. “Zane got shot? By whom?”
“Maybe in the line of duty?” she guesses with a shrug. “I don’t know the details.”
“Babe,” I say gently. “Zane’s a trainer at the gym, not fighting on the front lines. I know you had a lot to drink?—”
“He’s an undercover cop and the entire reason my sister was arrested for drug possession a month ago,” she blurts out before slapping a hand over her mouth.
I thought Jess had drama. I also thought being married to someone who ran on chaos was the worst mistake of my life.
This though?
This is like Jess on steroids.
I need a drink—or, better yet, several drinks.
New plan.
Mainline whiskey to deal with this situation. I scan the room for the minibar. At first glance, the room appears to be without one, but my persistence pays off. It was disguised to look like a cabinet. Inside, there’s a mini bottle of Johnnie Walker Black, and I don’t even blink before knocking it back.
“Isn’t that stuff really expensive?” Kate asks, watching me through wide eyes.
“Do I look like I give a fuck how much things cost right now?” I soften my tone before adding, “I’ve got the money to cover it and the room. We’re good.”
And that rock on your finger…
