Page 31 of Never Been Worse

We head back from the pool at four, and Wes gives me plenty of alone time in the bedroom to get ready, which I’m wildly grateful for. Too much time with this man feels dangerous, like something I can’t afford to not keep my guard up with.

I’m also grateful that this honeymoon suite is huge, with a kitchen and living area set away from the bedroom, so I’m free to start overthinking again as I get ready for dinner together.

Dinner is more paparazzi photos, which Wes promises me isn’t actually usually this intrusive or obvious, but Leo wants to make sure they get good photos and lots of them to share with all of the tabloids.

By the time we make it up the stairs, I hide away in the bathroom to take my makeup off and put on my pajamas, preparing myself for what I have to do next.

The reality is, I cannot in good conscience let Wes, the man who is doing me what feels like the biggest favor known to man, sleep on a fucking couch at a luxury resort. It’s simple manners, nothing more.

With one last look in the mirror, I nod to myself, take a deep breath, and open the door, stepping into the main room. Wes is already sitting up on his couch bed, and I roll my eyes before walking over to him and grabbing his pillow.

“Harper—” he starts, but I shake my head, tossing the pillow back on the gigantic bed, and turn to him.

“I can’t in good conscience let you sleep on a couch, Wes.”

“I’m not sleeping in that bed with you,” he says, arms crossing on his chest.

I mimic the move and give him a glare. “Then sleep on it without me.”

“I’m not doing that either. I’m not letting mywifesleep on acouch.”

“And I’m not letting myhusbandsleep on a couch,” I counter, trying to show him what an idiot he’s being. “If you sleep on the couch, I’ll sleep on the floor. And I really, really don’t want to sleep on a hotel floor, no matter how nice of a hotel it is.”

He glares at me like I won’t do it, so once more, I roll my eyes, grab a pillow off the bed, and place it on the floor.

With a grumble, Wes bends down, grabbing the pillow and tossing it on the bed again. “You’re so stubborn,” he says, but I just roll my eyes again.

“Are you surprised?” I’m best friends with Ava fucking Wilde. He should have known what he was getting into with me. “Come on. Get in the bed, Wes,” I say with a sigh, because suddenly, the chaos of the weekend is getting to me, and I’m hit with the exhaustion of the day.

“No.”

“Jesus, areyoualways this stubborn?” I ask with a glare.

“With pretty people pleasers? Yes.”

I think about arguing about not being a people pleaser, but we all know that’s of no use.

“What about with your wife?” I wiggle my ring finger adorned with my huge, sparkly wedding and engagement ring, and he smiles.

“Also yes. Even if I should probably play it safe so I can get past her walls without scaring her off.”

“I don’t have walls up,” I say.

Wes lets out a deep laugh that makes me crack a smile, and he shakes his head. “Even you know that’s not true, Harper.” He steps closer, getting into my space, not close enough that we’re touching, but close enough that my body feels that pull to his that I absolutely need to ignore.

Kissing Wes is something else. All-consuming and amazing and breathtaking and brain scrambling, which is exactly why it absolutely cannot happen again.

If I want to make it out of this marriage in one piece, my dignity, my heart, and my reputation intact, I need to play this smart. I may have jumped into this on a whim, but I can’t continue that way.

That’s how I fucked up with Jeremy, focusing on my wants andcould-besinstead of the clear-as-day evidence in front of me. And the evidence here is that this is a marriage of convenience that will end in a year.

Nothing more, nothing less.

I step back, sitting on the edge of the bed and sighing. “Wes, please. If you don’t sleep in the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor to prove a point, and we’ll both be miserable. I’ll put a pillow barrier between us, but I promise, I’m going to stay on my side. I can’t eventouchanother person while I’m sleeping, or I wake up,” I say.

He looks at me, confused. “Really?”

“Really. So you can sleep tight knowing that I won’t make it awkward or anything.”

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