Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“Great.” I pretend to be annoyed. “Good to know.”
He smirks, then looks back down at his phone. “I have to call my parents.” I stand by my luggage. “The news has hit them.”
“Oh,” I squeak, wondering how this will make me look. What kind of woman marries a man without meeting their family? My heart sinks when I think of the fact his mother could hate me. “I’ll just leave you to your phone call,” I offer, needing to get the fuck out of here. “I’m going to be on the beach.”
“I’ll find you,” he assures me, and I’m about to walk out of the room when he calls my name, “Zoey.” I turn around. “I should give you the heads-up that I sort of maybe threatened your brother.” I blink slowly. “I told him if he made you sad, I would take you away from here, and I’m not kidding.”
“You said what?” I’m not sure if I actually heard what he said.
“If your family wants to be pissed at anyone, they can be pissed at me. But I will not let them shit on you.”
“Um,” I say, putting my hand to my stomach to stop it from freaking out, “okay.”
“If I see you sad, we’re leaving.” He looks back at his phone. “And I’m not backing down on that. They’ll get over it, but in the meantime, they will not make you feel sad.”
“Okay, Nash.” I walk over to him without even realizing my feet are moving. “Thank you for that.” I stand between his legs, and his hands run up the back of my thighs to my ass, and then he holds my hips. “Also, same goes for you, I guess. If you don’t feel comfortable with anything.”
“I can handle that, baby, but you’ve already cried once, and I’m not interested in seeing that face again. Ever.” The air vacates my body, leaving me almost panting. “I’ll meet you on the beach, yeah?” I nod and bend to kiss him. My hand automatically comes up to hold his face, something I’ve always been doing with him, and I don’t even know why. It’s just an extra touch, but it’s an extra touch I love doing. Which is silly and which I will not think about.
I let go of his lips and grab my phone before walking out of the room when he says, “Hey, Dad.” I want to sit and listen to the conversation, but I don’t think I have it in me if they start shitting all over me. I walk away with my head down, heading toward the sound of music and the daybeds by the beach water littered with my family members. Luckily, Zara spots me and waves me over. I have to stop what feels like a million times before getting to her. Everyone is laughing at the fact I eloped, and not one person has said anything negative. Some even give me a high five for doing it the way I wanted to do it.
“I got you a drink,” Zara says, “but I drank it, so the guy is coming back.”
“My sister-in-law.” I see Ryleigh approaching, followed by Gabriella and Abigail. “I’m so excited.” She gives me a hug and gets on the bed next to Zara. “I want to know all the details.”
“Oh, yes, I want to know all the details.” Gabriella slides onto the bed, followed by Abigail. “One, let me see the ring.” She leans over, grabbing my hand and gasping. “Oh, he did good.”
“Damn,” Ryleigh says, “he is not playing.”
“It was,” I start to say and stop when the server comes back with a pitcher of strawberry mojitos, and we each get a glass. I take a sip. “It was a mistake,” I finally say. “I thought the Elvis guy was a fake.”
“Shut up.” Ryleigh snorts, laughing. “But Nash is here.”
“He is.” I look around. “He wants me to give him ninety days to fall in love with him.”
“Oh, like 90 Day Fiancé,” Abigail says. “Just you’re married already.”
“This is crazy.” I take a bigger sip of my drink. “Two weeks ago, I was dating Josh, who I was with for two years. Who I’m in love with.” I speak the words and immediately feel a guilt I’ve never felt in my life.
“Didn’t you break up with him because he didn’t want to commit?” Zara says, earning her a glare. “I’m just saying, he was with you for two years, and you didn’t even have a toothbrush at his place. You asked him to give you a drawer, and he acted as if you wanted him to build an expansion on his shitty two-bedroom condo.” She looks at me. “And then you have Nash, who married you in less than a week and refuses to let you go. He has my vote.”