Page 55 of Side Out

Slowly, I have enough courage to peel my eyes open. When I look down I find Jax’s arm draped over my torso, as well as one of his legs.

Wait.

Jackson Baker is in my bed.

Jackson Baker isnakedin my bed.

Jackson Baker is naked and hungover in my bed.

Where the fuck are we, and what the hell happened last night?

My head, too, feels like it could implode any minute. My mouth feels like what I imagine it’s like going five days with no water, and my whole body feels like it’s vibrating. Oh, and I could throw up on command right now.I swipe my free hand over my face, and I’m hit with the metal of a ring, and the second it does I get a sinking feeling in my gut. Even though my hungover brain knows exactly what it is, I need to see it to be sure. Inhaling a shaky breath, I put my hand out in front of my face and find a black ring on a very important finger.

What. The. Fuck.

Then, all at once, it’s as if my brain jump starts, and I’m able to put all of the pieces together.

I’m in Vegas.

I’m in Vegas, on a work trip.

Jackson and I are naked in bed.

Marrying Bridget was just a nightmare.

But if marrying Bridget wasn’t real, and Jax is in my bed, and I have a ring on my finger then?—

Jesus fucking christ.

With my unsteady voice I whisper, “Jackson… What happened last night?”

Nonchalantly, Jackson responds, “We got married. Now go back to bed before I divorce you.”

Like he didn’t just drop the most earth shattering news on me, Jax’s soft snores go back to filling the room. I just lay there… wracking my brain for the last thing I remember, but I can’t seem to pinpoint it. I vaguely remember a woman named Rose… no, Ivy… maybe Fern?

There is absolutely no way I got married in Las Vegas. By an Elvis impersonator. To Jackson Baker. While still engaged to Bridget.

Of all times to do something crazy… of all the ways I could have rebelled… this is what I choose.

You’ve really fucking done it now, Theo.

After what feels like an hour, Jax finally speaks. “I can hear you thinking from here.”

“Well what do you expect, Jax? You just told me we got married. You’re naked in my bed. Anyone could have seen us last night.” Oh, shit. I can feel my chest getting tight. “I work for the school. I’m engaged. I?—”

Jackson puts his hand over my mouth. “Shhhh.” I mumble against his hand, but he doesn’t move it. “I’m really going to need you to chill the hell out, Theo.”

I sit up and Jax’s hand falls from my face. Once I get the room to stop spinning, and the feeling of intense nausea subsides, I look down at Jax whose eyes are still closed but somehow has the smile of the Cheshire cat across his face.

“Jax,” I sigh. “What the fuck are we doing? You know I’m supposed to marry Bridget. I?—”

His eyes pop open, and a stern look crosses his face as he holds up one finger. “Youweresupposed to marry Bridget. Now you don’t have to.” His mischievous smile reappears. “You’re mine now.”

Fuck I can feel tears starting to sting my eyes. “I was supposed to be leaving you alone. It’s your graduate year, and here I am, ruining it again. We need to get this annulled.” I throw the covers off the bed. “Come on. I bet if we get down to wherever we got married, they haven’t even sent the marriage certificate off yet. No one will have to know. I won’t disappoint my parents. The school won’t have to find out. I won’t fuck up your life any more than I already have. I-I—” A single tear finally falls from my eye. Jax sits up in front of me with a grunt and runs his thumb across my cheek to stop the tear from falling further.

With both of us sitting in bed, completely naked, Jax softly asks, “Forget all of that for one single second and answer the question, didyouwant to marry Bridget? Is that the life you want for yourself?”

I silently shake my head. Not needing to give it a second’s thought.

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