Page 35 of The Husband Game

Of course, at that moment, the front door opened and Dustin heard Matty greeting some of their friends and suggesting they go downstairs. Dustin tuned it out. Matty could handle it and he wanted to talk to Charlie about something before they joined the party.

He stepped forward and pitched his voice low. “I’m not telling my teammates the truth about us, okay?”

A little furrow wrinkled Charlie’s forehead. “Okay?”

“So we’re going to have to sell the relationship to them too.”

Charlie’s mouth tightened. “Ahh. Right.”

“Do you think we should decide now what’s allowed and what isn’t? As far as, uh, physical affection.”

The front door opened again, and from the noise filtering through the house, it sounded like several families had arrived.

“I mean, if we’re gonna sell it, obviously we’re going to have to touch and kiss each other, right?” Charlie offered with an arch of his manicured eyebrow.

Dustin shrugged. “If you’re okay with that.”

“Yeah. Whatever we do in front of other people is fine.”

“Whatever?” Dustin raised an eyebrow, amused by the idea.

“Well.” Charlie brushed his hair off his forehead, looking a little flustered. “I’m not offering some public sex loophole or anything.”

Dustin laughed, stepping forward. “I wasn’t planning on it, but I thought I’d clarify.”

“Good. Then as long as it’s a normal amount of PDA like holding hands or a kiss or cuddling up on the couch, it’s fine.”

“Got it. We should probably post something on social media soon too,” Dustin said. “You haven’t officially announced our wedding there, have you?”

“No.” A guilty expression crossed Charlie’s face. “Sorry. I’m not really holding up my end of the bargain here, am I?”

“It’s fine. We just need to get the ball rolling on that sooner rather than later. Too long and it’ll look weird.”

“Right.” Charlie smiled and tossed his hair off his forehead. “Gotta think of the optics! Give me two seconds and I’ll get something up.”

Charlie sauntered over to the window and held out his left hand, biting his lip as he pulled out his phone and angled it over top of the ring. He adjusted position a few times, then let out a satisfied hum.

He took a seat on the nearby piano stool and crossed his legs. Dustin tried not to stare at how high his shorts rode on his thighs.

Charlie glanced up at him through his lashes. “Send me the pics you have from Vegas, please. Oh, and I followed you on Insta. You might want to do the same for me.”

Dustin laughed. “Yeah, might look bad if we’re not following each other.”

They had exchanged phone numbers the other day at least, so he sent some photos from their drunken Vegas adventures—most of which were very blurry—then accepted Charlie’s request, followed him back, and played with his phone while he waited to see what Charlie would post.

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed with a notification. He scrolled through the photos, impressed with the way Charlie had edited and cropped them. The final one was the shot of his wedding ring he’d just taken.

Dustin read the caption.

Sorry, babies! I’ve been verrry busy with my new hubby. After our whirlwind but magical wedding in Vegas, we flew to Chicago to pack up my belongings and then we headed to Toronto!

Did you know my man plays hockey for the Toronto Fisher Cats? I am absolutely dying to see him out on the ice this coming season.

I haven’t had much time to explore my new home yet (bet you can’t guess why?) *wink* but it has so much potential!

I can’t wait for you to see all of the plans I have to make it our home together. I just know I’m going to love living with my honey bear!

Toodles, babies!

---