Page 43 of The Husband Game

“Yeah.” Dustin tried not to fidget as he strung together a plausible-sounding answer that wasn’t a total lie. “But that night in Vegas … it was pretty magical. I knew I couldn’t leave without Charlie.”

Dominic leaned back in his chair. “Still not quite following what that has to do with your honeymoon though.”

“Oh.” Dustin laughed a little awkwardly. “Well, I got some slightly panicked calls from Kate and Wade and after meeting with Wade, Charlie and I decided it would be best to head straight back here and get him settled in. We can smooth over the confusion, introduce him to everyone and all that. We’ll worry about a honeymoon later once stuff has settled down.”

“Right.” Dominic looked slightly skeptical. “And he’s fine with that?”

“Yes,” Dustin said honestly. “He’s been very understanding.”

Dominic nodded. “I’m happy for you, man. Charlie does seem great and I can tell how much you’re smitten with him.”

Either Dustin was a better actor than he gave himself credit for, or he was already in over his head. He really didn’t want to lay bets on which it was.

“What about you?” he teased their first line center. “When are you going to settle down?”

Dominic grunted. “When Hell freezes over. You know that.”

“Yeah, well,” Dustin said drily. “Someday you might find yourself playing hockey there with me.”

He sure hadn’t planned to settle down and get married any time soon either. Yet here they were.

Fake marriage or not, he’d tied the knot and there would be no getting that unraveled any time soon.

CHAPTER TEN

Charlie took a few minutes to pee and grab some water, and when he rejoined the party, Dustin was in the pool, horsing around with some of the kids and a few of his teammates.

Charlie watched for a few minutes, shaking his head at the picture in front of him.

Dustin looked good like this.

His hair was naturally a dark, rich shade of chocolate brown, but it had turned jet black from the water. He was fair-skinned and although he didn’t have a six-pack or anything, his stomach was nicely toned and the muscles in his arms and shoulders made Charlie want to bite them.

Oh God, and when he turned, Charlie could see the marks he’d left on Dustin’s back the other night. Everyone here had to have noticed that.

He supposed that was one way to make their relationship look legit, although at the time, all he’d been thinking about was that Dustin was nailing his prostate just right.

“You’re drooling,” Birdie said as she passed by with a wink, a bottle of beer in her hand.

“Shush,” Charlie retorted. “I’m allowed to.”

Laughing, Birdie continued on to the cluster of WAGs sitting in the sun.

Feeling a little warm, Charlie settled himself in the shade nearby and pressed a cool water bottle to his cheeks, hoping it would take away the heat that had nothing to do with the humid summer air.

Damn, this wasn’t going to be easy.

“Charlie!” he heard a few minutes later.

He glanced over to see Dustin at the edge of the pool, grinning at him.

“Yes, sugar pie?” Charlie said teasingly. Because he was rather enjoying the opportunity to be ridiculous and over the top. If he was going to sell this, he was going to sell it hard.

“You should join us. The water’s great.”

Charlie considered it, then shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

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