Page 6 of Spurred On

“Did you find something?” I question as he reaches up and scratches the back of his head before letting out a laugh. My arms fall flat to my sides; he is quickly becoming more annoying by the second. “Please share with the group what you find so funny.”

“My buddies Weston and Rhett all had a bet on which one of us would get married first.” He points to the floppy, oddly long paper in his hands.

That’s it. I’m going to jail today because I am going to kill him. “This is serious! We are legally married.” My voice raises to an almost hysterical octave.

He rolls his eyes as a buzzing sound fills the room. “Hold on, I need to find my phone.”

I throw my head back and blink up, looking at the white textured ceiling and wondering what I’ve done in a past life to deserve this because what we need is an annulment, but sure, finding your phone is equally important, I guess.

“Why is Doug calling?” His thick, dark eyebrows crease with confusion as he puts his phone up to his ear, and I can hear yelling.

“Maverick, where the fuck are you?” The man I am assuming is Doug, sounds pissed.

His face winces a little as he scratches the stubble on his chin. “Uhm, in my hotel?”

“Did you not see the update to your schedule? You’re due for press in twenty minutes in the lobby. We've been waiting for you for an hour.” The man on the other line doesn’t cease yelling. Maverick has to hold the phone away from his ear to lessen the blow to his eardrums.

He covers his eyes with his hands as his head falls forward in defeat. “Shit. No, I didn’t see. I’ll clean up and be right there.” He hangs up and starts gathering some clothes.

I know this asshole is not about to walk out of here in the middle of this crisis. I stand with my hand on my hip and let out a frustrated breath. “Where do you think you are going? We need to get this figured out. We need an annulment.”

“Yeah, I know that. Let me do this meeting.” He tosses his phone at me. “Put your number in there, and I will call you as soon as I’m done with media today.”

My anger flares, but I put in my number and call myself so I can have his number too, as he slides on a pair of Wranglers and buttons up a baby blue plaid shirt.

“Here.” I hand his phone back, and he slides it into his pocket. He grabs his hat, and a little bit of memory starts to lag back to me. A brief flash of me stealing a hat from his head and placing it on mine. The start of the shit show we’re now in.

He slides on a boot as he half-walks and half-hops to the door as he pulls the other one on. As he makes his way to the door, he turns to me. “Sorry, but I have to run. Take your time. I’ll see you later.” And with that, he is out the door and I'm going out of my mother freaking mind.

“I have a bone to pick with you,” I say to Erin as I walk through my hotel door. The purse slips off my shoulder and lands on the floor with a thunk, not bothering to put it on the bed. Everything has gone to shit anyway.

Erin pops her head up from where she lays on her bed. Mine still sits littered with clothes and hair supplies from last night. Excitement lights up her face when she sees me. “Hey! You’re alive.”

I skip over her pleasantries, my hands going to my hips so she knows I am serious. “What made you think it was a good idea to let me leave with him?”

She scrunches her face the same way she does every time something smartass-y is about to come out of her mouth. Her eyes roll as she says, “Yeah, how dare I let you live your best life and hook up with an insanely hot, famous bull rider. You needed to have fun.”

Balling my hands up in fists, I drop them to my sides. My voice comes out more of a shout, “I was wasted!”

She gives a look that lets me know she isn’t taking this as seriously as she should. “Babe, we all were wasted. Plus, hooking up with a guy from a bar is a rite of passage. You’re just tardy to the inauguration. It’s fun. Live a little.” She waves her hand at me and sits up more in bed.

“Oh well, I didn’t just live a little. I lived so much that I gotmarried. Drunk me decided marrying the cowboy we know next to nothing about was a grand idea.” I hold up my hand as her face pales, staring at the silver band encircling my finger.

She flies out of the bed so fast, her whole body looks like a blur. “You’re joking.”

The smile on my face is the farthest thing from happy, it’s a blaring signal that I’m one millisecond away from losing it. “Oh no, you’re looking at the brand-new Mrs. Ryder. And we didn’t even get a chance to talk about getting an annulment because he’s famous and got called away to do media this morning. I have to wait until he’s done before we can do anything about it.” Taking a breath after my rant, I rip the ring off my finger and throw it in the trash can next to the entertainment center.

She paces for half a second before replying, “I’m sure it will be fine. This happens to people in Vegas all the time.” She stops in front of me, and a sly grin spreads across her face. “Soooo, how was it?” I’m assuming she is talking about the sex. Which, unfortunately, was probably awesome, but I have no recollection of it. I haven’t had the time to date, which means other areas of my life have been lacking. Broke the dry spell and probably had the ride of my life, and I don’t even get to remember it.

“I remember literally nothing. The last recollection I have of the night is stealing his hat. Which led to me stealing his name.”

Her nose wrinkles as disappointment floods her features. “Well, that’s a bummer. Maybe before you get annulled, you can have fun one more time.”

“I’ve had enough fun for a lifetime, thank you. I don’t have time for this. I need to get a job. A real job.” I knew Vegas was a bad idea.

“Okay, before you have a complete mental breakdown, go take a shower. Wash off the night and see if you can keep the panic attack at bay. We’ll figure this out. I promise!”

I nod, grab a spare change of clothes, and try to shower off a night full of poor decisions.

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