Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
She bolts for the door before I can inform her that I’m only a few years older than she is.
I’m old-fashioned, not old.
I’m also in deep shit with half the people I know, and I haven’t even heard from Elly yet.
Elly…
She had her phone on silent last night, too.
She might be just as in the dark as I was a few minutes ago.
“I have to call Elly,” I say, heading back to our table. “I don’t think she knows.”
“Knows what?” Parker asks as he trails after me. “That she’s your wife? Is she actually your wife? Or was that just…weird Friday night roommates-who-are-about-to-become-fuck-buddies date night energy?”
“It’s complicated,” I mutter.
“Dude.” His jaw drops. “No, way. You married this girl? Avery is going to shit therapist bricks when I tell—”
“No.” I point a finger at his face. “You’re not telling Avery anything. Because you don’t know the whole story. It’s not what you think.”
He snorts. “So, it’s not that Mimi needed health insurance, so you married Elly so the kid would be taken care of? It’s not that?”
I exhale. “Okay, fine, it is what you think. But it was my idea. Not Elly’s. So don’t start with ‘she had schemes’ thing again.”
“Okay,” Parker says, clearly still thinking she had schemes. “But I hope you signed a prenup. You did sign a prenup, right?”
“I have to call Elly. She needs to know what’s happening,” I say, ignoring his tragic sigh in response. I press Elly’s contact, cursing as the call goes straight to voicemail. “Her phone is on silent. She’s at a birthday party with Mimi.”
One of Mimi’s best friends from school is celebrating her birthday at an alligator farm outside the city. And an alligator farm isn’t a place where you want to be distracted by random calls. Knowing Mimi, Elly could turn her back for five minutes and Mimi would be trying to share her cake with the baby alligators.
“Just a second, I’m going to text her,” I mutter to Parker, my fingers already tapping—Hey. Call me when you get this. DON’T get online or check your other messages first. Just hang tight, okay? I’m coming to meet you at the alligator farm. There’s a situation, but we can get ahead of it if we put our heads together. Be there soon, chère.
“Well, that’s going to ensure she checks all her texts ASAP,” Parker mutters, still reading over my shoulder. “Way to be alarmist, Graves.”
I press my phone to my chest. “A little privacy, please?”
“Nope,” he says, not even pretending to be sorry. “I want to come to the alligator farm, too. I want to see the look on Elly’s face when you tell her that your weird secret marriage is now a weird public marriage.”
“You can’t come. It’s a kid’s birthday party, and you weren’t invited.”
“You weren’t, either,” he counters.
I start toward the door. “No, but my wife was, so I’m good.”
Parker falls in beside me. “Aw, you like saying that, don’t you? It’s pretty cute. Isn’t it Share Bear?”
“Very cute,” Sherry agrees. “You leaving, Parker? I can get that carrot cake wrapped for you.”
“Nah, I’m staying,” he says, stopping at the counter. “Good luck, buddy. Try not to get eaten by an alligator. Or your agent. Or Beanie.”
“Thanks, will do,” I say, lifting a hand as I reach the door.
I push out of the café into the autumn afternoon, ignoring a couple who are pointing and whispering on the next corner as I dart past them on my way back to my car.
Three million views and counting.
By tonight, everyone in New Orleans will have seen that video. By tomorrow, who knows? Half the world might know I’ve acquired a surprise wife.
But I can’t worry about that right now.
Now, I just need to get to Elly and make sure she’s in the loop. We may have only been friends for a week, but I already know Elly hates being in the dark. She likes to be fully apprised of a situation.
So, that’s what I’ll do.
I’ll go to her, I’ll apprise, then apologize, and then promise to fix this somehow.
But as I jog to the car, deep down, I know wanting to “apprise” Elly is only part of this. It’s not just that she needs to know, it’s that I need to see her. I need to be with her. I need to hold her, look deep into those big eyes, and see that she still trusts me.
Trusts us…
And doesn’t want to toss me into the cage with the alligators for making a “social media worthy” scene last night.
Heart hammering, I pull out of the parking lot and head for the highway, bracing for whatever comes next.
Chapter
Nineteen
ELLY
Confession: I’m not a fan of kid birthday parties.
Maybe I’m a monster, but there’s usually way too much screaming and not nearly enough shade, water, or places to escape from the screaming.