Page 57 of Side Out

“Austin and I are supposed to meet with Coach first thing tomorrow morning to go over tape, you and I can just get there a little early,” I tell him.

“Are you—Are you sure you still want to do this?” he asks reluctantly.

“I am. We already got married. Have the Elvis picture and everything to prove it, don’t we?” I ask, doing my best to ease some of his worries.

A look of hesitation crosses his face, but it doesn’t last. “Yeah. Right. Okay.” He inhales a quick breath. “Let’s get this disaster over with.”

I take a few steps toward the house but realize Theo is still glued to his spot in the driveway. My eyes zero in on the way his hand is shaking as it hangs at his side. “You coming?”

“I just—I’m about to disappoint everyone. And for what? For doing something for myself. How fucking selfish is that?”

I take a step back toward him and hold out my hand. He stares at it a moment before reaching out and grabbing it. The second it’s in mine, the shakes subside. “Theo, look at me.” Through the lenses of his glasses, his eyes lock with mine. “It’s not selfish to create the life you want for yourself.” I can tell he doesn’t entirely believe me so I say the only other thing I can think of that would help right now. “And you’re not disappointing everyone. You’re not disappointingme.I’m right here. We’re a team now.”

The corners of his mouth turn up slightly before he takes one step, and another. Once the two of us reach his door, we let go of each other’s hands. And even though I know my way around this house very well by now, I let him lead me inside. The second it shuts behind us and he sets his duffle on the floor, Bridget’s voice sounds from the kitchen. “Theodore! Thank god you’re home. The caterer called and they said—Oh!” She pauses as she spots us both standing by the door. “What’s he doing here?”

Bridget takes a second to look Theo up and down, and I spot the moment her gaze locks on his hand as he nervously fidgets with them in front of him. She points at his wedding band, confusion marring her face. “What is that? That’s not the band we picked out. Why do you have that on?”

Her gaze moves over to me, and she spots mine immediately. But before she can speak to me, Theo says, “Bridget, something happened.”

THE ONE YOU LOVED - The Plot In You

CHAPTER36

DODGING THE… BRIDGET

THEODORE

“Bridget, something happened.” I refuse to let her think this was a mistake with Jax, so for once, when it comes to Bridget, I hold my ground. Bridget’s eyes are darting back and forth between Jax and me. Her eyes move from our wedding bands, then to our faces, and back to our bands. A look of pure panic is covering her face now, so I add, “Why don’t we sit down so we can talk.”

She’s shaking her head back and forth like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum.

And when I realize it isn’t sorrow or despair that has taken over her face, rather fury and disgust, I realize that me getting out of this marriage, albeit not in the kindest fashion, might just be one of the best things I could have done. Because she’s not upset she’s lostme,she’s upset she’s lost a fiancé. A husband.

Keeping that in mind, I sit down on the couch and pull Jax down right beside me, lacing our fingers together and placing them on my leg. Hopefully, that will keep my leg from bouncing.

Bridget takes a seat in the accent chair that’s across the living room, still eyeing me up and down. Silently judging every fiber of my being, just as she has the entirety of our…relationship.

I’ve never so much as willingly given that woman a kiss, but in that same breath, she’s also never given me one. Some days, I truly wonder how in the hell we’ve even kept up with this charade as long as we have.

Breaking me out of my thoughts, she finally speaks. “You’ll go and get it annulled.Now.”

?*I level her with a firm stare. “That’s not going to happen, Bridget. Jackson and I are staying married, and our wedding”—I point between her and I—“is clearly not happening. I’m going to call my parents and let them know now, and you’re going to do the same. You can also let them know all of your things will be shipped back to their house, since it’s been evident since the first moment you got here that you would quite literally rather be any place else.” I pause, catching my breath and feel the weight of the world being lifted off my shoulders. And for good measure, I add, “I have booked you a room at the hotel on the other side of campus and bought you a ticket for a flight home.”

When my eyes move to the plane ticket sitting on the coffee table she lets out a humourless laugh. Likely realizing I’m not joking in the slightest. “Theo, we can’t call the wedding off.”

“Actually…” I look over to Jax who offers me a soft smile before I look back at her. “I can.”

As a last-ditch effort, she threatens, “My father is not going to be happy about this.”

“This is my life, Bridget. You and your family do not own me, no matter how much you may think you do. Your father can be upset as long as he wants to be; I’ll be happy, and that’s all that matters.” I look down at my leg where Jax’s thumb is running along the back of my hand in a calming motion. “I want you to be happy too, Bridget. And I know for a fact you were just as miserable as I was in this relationship. Don’t you want to be with someone who actually makes you happy? To be in a relationship that’s filled with love and laughter and…passion.”

We didn’t talk about sex often, but when I would bring it up it’s like Bridget was a trying anything in her power not to have to think about fucking me. And it’s not just the sex; unless we were arguing, we never really talked about… well, anything.

The truth of the matter is, neither of us should have been put in this situation, but deep down, I know she was doing it for the same reason I was.

Our parents.

I see it on her face. She knows I’m right. She knows there’s more to this life than the lie the two of us have been living. I may not know her soul, but I know her as a person. And if there’s one thing I know about Bridget, it’s that every thought running through her head plays across her face.

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