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)
“His name was Joshua!” Zara shouts.
“His name was Josh,” I correct, “and we broke up.”
“How long before you got married did you break up?” Caine’s voice breaks the laughter as he leans back in his chair, his eyes staring straight at me.
“Hey,” Nash warns him, and he turns to look at him with the same look, “watch your tone with my wife.” The way he says it, his voice is tight, and the laughter at the table seems to have died down. It feels like everyone is on alert. Even Zara beside me feels like she’ll be ready to fight, and she’s been half drunk since she got here.
“No tone.” He leans back. “Just a question I’m sure everyone is dying to ask.”
“Caine,” Grace says his name, “chill.”
“It’s okay,” I assure her, avoiding looking at Caine or Nash, because I’m sure he’ll see the tears that are forming in my eyes, and then he’s going to be like King Kong and take me away from everyone. “We broke up a week before.”
“Oh my God.” Grace slaps her hands together. “That is even better than I thought it would be.”
“I have a question,” Dylan breaks in. “How the fuck did you break up with Jordan?”
“Josh,” most of the people at the table correct him.
“Whatever his name is, we’ve met the guy twice.” He shakes his head, then continues his question, “Then you end up dating for ten minutes and get married.”
“That’s not fair,” Gabriella blurts, “that’s like two questions. You get one.”
“We broke up two days before I went to LA to work with Nash for their company.” I hold up my hand to Caine. “And then we ended up in Vegas.”
“I’ve ended up in Vegas before,” Stone says, looking at Christopher, “but I’ve never gotten married.”
“That’s not a question,” Zara scoffs, “so simmer down.”
“How did he propose?” Koda asks. “Like you went from working to let’s get married. That’s a merger and a half.” She laughs at her own joke.
“We were at the bar,” Nash starts, and I look over at him, his eyes looking into mine. “She was finally giving me the time of day and not ignoring or brushing me off—”
“I did not ignore or brush you off.” I interrupt him, and the girls snort because I totally was, but I didn’t know it was that evident.
He chuckles, ignoring what I just said. “I knew before she was beautiful, but her sitting in front of me at that moment, I knew I’d never seen anyone as beautiful as Zoey. I also knew I wanted her to sit by my side for the rest of my life.” His thumb moves up and down on my arm. “I knew I wanted to marry her. So I asked her.”
“Oh my God,” Grace coos, “that’s so romantic.”
“That is so much better than the sex tour you took me to,” Ryleigh says to Stone. “Take notes.”
“Oh my God,” Michael says, putting his hands on his head, “did you guys even have sex before you got married?”
“Michael,” Jillian, his wife, hisses at him.
“Yeah, not everyone knocks up their one-night stand before they marry her.” Alex looks at her brother, who glares over at her.
“I’m not the only one that happened to,” Michael defends, “look at Stefano and Addison.” He points at Stefano, who shrugs and kisses Addison’s temple as she holds her pregnant belly.
“I didn’t even kiss her until after she agreed to marry me,” Nash shares, and now my brother is the one slapping the table.
“He’s insane.” Stone looks at Nash, then looks at Christopher. “You what, held her hand?”
“Did we hold hands?” Nash looks at me, and the whole table bursts out laughing, even Caine. “I don’t even think we held hands.”
I stare at him, and the lightness in his eyes lets me know it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be awkward, but it’s fine. “I think we side-hugged once.”
“I mean, a side hug”—Stone throws up his hands—“how could you not drag her to the altar?”
“Right,” Nash agrees with him, not even caring if the comment was sarcastic. “So I did.”
“You two,” Caine says, pointing at Nash and then me, “are out of your minds.” He rolls his finger in a circle near his head. “And I’m going to be here for it. Just like he was when I was out of my mind for this one.” He motions with his head toward Grace.
“Once he found out I sold feet pictures,” Grace teases, putting her arms around his shoulders, “he was a goner.”
The whole table bursts out laughing, and I look over at Nash, who is watching me instead of paying attention to what is going on at the table. He leans in and kisses my lips softly, his thumb rubbing my chin. “You okay?”
I nod. “I’m okay,” I admit to him, “for now.”