Page 46 of Puck Yes

And my world’s been upended by two men. But when I look around for the other one, he’s gone.

17

MY WIFE

Hayes

Adrenaline’s still buzzing under my skin, and my brain has zero real estate for anything but Ivy.

I need to grab a minute to take the temperature with her. That escalated quickly, skyrocketing from hungry kiss to wild tryst. I don’t know if she’s done anything like that before, if she’s going to freak. But I give her some space to change, pacing in the foyer, back and forth for a minute or two, replaying the hottest five minutes of my life.

When she emerges, dressed in her own clothes again, she runs a hand breezily through her waves then says, “Should we get those tacos now?”

My Spidey senses tingle. She sounds too chipper.

Is she out of sorts because we work together and messed around? Or because thethreeof us messed around? I can’t get a read on her.

We exit the chapel at a rapid clip, and I’m about to ask if she wants to talk when Brady rounds the corner. He holds out his arms, like he’s been searching for us all night long. “There you are.”

“We’re here,” Ivy says brightly. “Took me a few minutes to change.”

“Taco shop’s closed,” Brady says, hanging his head. The lack of tacos is evidently the height of devastation. “But there’s a ramen spot in The Extravagant, and Dev wants to go there, so our Lyft is on the way.”

It’s odd that he came back for us. Most dudes would just text and let you find your own ride. “Kana made me come look for you,” he says, and that explains everything. He’s here on a mission to collect us on behalf of the mom of the group. He hooks his thumb toward the end of the block. “You can join us.”

I’ve no good reason to turn him down, so even though I want a moment with Ivy alone, I find myself piling into an SUV with Dev, Brady, Kana, Ivy, and Stefan.

She’s in the third row, wedged between Stefan and me, but she fiddles with one earring, then the other, then the third one higher up her lobe. As Dev gabs about some Vegas fan who was talking shit to them on the street, Ivy keeps her gaze fixed on the road like the lights of Vegas are the height of fascination.

We turn onto the Strip and my gut churns. This is bad. She regrets it and I don’t know why. But I can’t let her stew alone. I inch closer. “Hey,” I whisper, checking. “You okay?”

She nods, then pastes on a smile, jerking her head toward me in a quick glance. “Yes. Totally. Absolutely.”

My heart sinks with a thud. Three yeses is the kiss of death.

Stefan turns to her and parts his lips to speak.

“—Boom! Eight a.m.,” Dev shouts from the row in front of us, then twists around, waggling his phone as we swing past the Bellagio, its fountains arcing gracefully against the dark night. “Who fucking loves you, Armstrong? Got you an appointment.”

I furrow my brow. “For what?”

“For your annulment. C’mon, man. Keep up with us,” Brady puts in.

Oh, wow. Right. I’m kind of touched they scheduled one.

“Thanks,” I say, and I steal another glance at Ivy, but she’s fixed on the windshield, rotating her earrings once again. If she’s regretting what happened up against the wall in the chapel, I won’t forgive myself.

“Also,” Dev adds, wiggling his brow, “we photoshopped those pics tonight. The ones we showed you. We didn’t really get hitched.”

My jaw drops. “Are you kidding me?”

Stefan stares out the window, saying nothing.

“Well, Brady and I did,” Kana puts in, an impish laugh on her face. “We were married before he was even drafted. But not in Vegas. At the Japanese Gardens in Vancouver. My entire family from Osaka flew in.”

Wow.

I should feel fooled, but I don’t entirely. I got something out of the wedding dare for one night.

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