Page 23 of The Husband Game

The rings were still pretty and sparkly and fun, of course. But they also came with a whooole lot of strings he hadn’t anticipated.

“I guess when the marriage is over, you can always sell it, right?” Taylor’s tone was thoughtful now. “That’s gotta be worth, what, at least five to ten grand?”

“Over twenty,” Charlie mumbled.

Taylor gaped at him. “Seriously?”

“I saw the receipt.”

“Shit.”

“Pretty much.” Charlie zipped his bag shut. “And yes, I definitely get to keep the jewelry after. On top of the lump sum, a spending account while we’re married, and what he’s agreed to pay me after the year is up, I should be all set. At least I can pay off my debt to your parents right away.

“Maybe marrying a rich hockey player isn’t the traditional way to earn one’s money but at least I’ll walk away from it with no debt and some money in the bank,” Charlie said firmly.

Taylor reached out and touched his arm. “I know how much it means to you to get to that point, but is marrying a guy you barely know worth the cost?”

“It could be worse.” Charlie gave his best friend a brittle smile. “At least it’s not skating.”

* * *

“Uncle Dustin!” Ava Walsh launched herself into Dustin’s arms. “Hi!”

He grinned at the six-year-old blonde cutie. “Hi there. Have you been having fun on your trip?”

“Yes.” She wriggled in his arms. “I’ve been playing with the other ’chel kids lots. We were in the pool all day and we’ve been watching movies.”

’Chel kids? Dustin wondered. Oh, NHL kids. Dustin grinned at that. Cute. He wondered who she picked that one up from.

“That sounds fun,” he said aloud.

She grinned. “And tomorrow we’re flying to Disney!” She stuck her lip out. “But now Charlie can’t go and I’m sad.”

“Aww, I’m sorry, Ava,” Dustin said. “I didn’t mean to steal him away.”

“But you got married so you hafta be together, right?”

“Yes.”

She played with his shirt collar. “Why couldn’t I go? I like weddings. I think Daddy and Taylor should get married so I can have a sparkly princess dress.”

Dustin grinned. He knew for a fact Jamie was planning on asking Taylor at some point. “Well, you couldn’t come to my wedding to Charlie because it was spontaneous.”

“Spon—spon …”

“Spon-tane-e-ous,” he sounded out when it was clear she couldn’t quite say it.

“What’s that mean?”

“It means we did it without planning ahead. We thought it would be a good idea and we didn’t have time to ask anyone to come.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “That’s no fun. You should get married again and have a big party!”

Dustin wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. Thankfully, Charlie and Taylor came out and rescued him.

“Okay, I’m ready to go,” Charlie said brightly.

“Charlie, Charlie!” Ava wriggled in Dustin’s arms and he carefully set her on her feet so she could race over to Charlie.

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