Page 29 of Hail Marry
I scoff. “That’s not what this is. We’ll get divorced once everything’s settled for you. AndImade the suggestion to get married, if you remember.”
“Yeah. And I agreed. But that was before either of us realized it would be more than paperwork.”
I search his face. He’s right, obviously. And if we’d stayed in that office with Zach going full speed ahead, I might’ve been the one to pull Luca out into this hallway to express my reservations. But now that Luca’s the one arguing that I don’t have to do this, it frees me up to play devil’s advocate.
This guy in front of me has gone from planning for the NFL to losing it all to getting it back and now possibly losing it again. And yet, in this moment, he’s worried about me.
“What do you suggest?” I ask.
He shrugs his massive shoulders. “I don’t know. An annulment?”
I wrinkle my nose. “Like when Britney Spears married that guy for two days? I’m not trying to be in the Guinness Book of World records, Luca. Doyouwant an annulment?”
He doesn’t answer right away. A muscle in his jaw jumps as he holds my gaze, thinking. “I don’t want to trap you into this situation.”
My phone dings, and I pull it out. My brows go up. It’s Tyler.
Tyler
Hey, I’m sure Luca is taking great care of you, but I wanted to check in on my patient ;) You had any issues since the accident? It was great to see you!
The second I’ve finished reading his text, a picture comes through. It’s of Tyler, Luca, and me in the hospital room. I can’t help but smile at the sight of it. Luca’s standing next to the hospital bed, and I’ve got my arm wrapped around his, leaning my head toward him with a smile.
He, on the other hand, looks almost exactly like the photo on Zach’s wall, except there’s a slight deer-in-the-headlights vibe.
I hold my phone up for him. “Kind of like I trapped you into being my fiancé at the hospital?”
He glances at the photo, then back to me. “This is different.”
“It is. BecauseIdidn’t give you a choice in the matter.” I look at Tyler’s text again. I would stake my life on the fact that he also sent that picture to Ryan.
There’s a nice dose of satisfaction in that knowledge. The truth is, I’ve let what happened with Ryan keep me down for too long, and now that I’m realizing that, I’m embarrassed. I like the idea of him seeing this photo and believing he didn’t hurt me as much as he did. That I didn’t lose myself trying to prove him wrong and protect myself from being hurt like that again.
Even more than that, though, I like the idea of believing in myself again. I like the girl in this photo who’s not afraid of doing spontaneous, even crazy things, and figuring it out as she goes.
I’ve missed her.
And, hey, if I can help Luca achieve his dreams while recapturing what I lost after Ryan, that feels like a win-win to me.
I turn off the screen and look Luca in the eye. “I don’t want an annulment.”
A frown flickers across his brow.
“Hear me out, okay?”
He nods.
“I have a few arguments to present. Firstly, it’s a done deal. We got married. That genie isn’t going back in the bottle—at least not without a fight. I may be wrong, but if what Zach says is true about the interest in you, news will get out about an annulment, and I don’t think either of us want that sort of publicity.” I almost shudder just thinking of Ryan reading those headlines.
“Secondly, you don’t have a backup plan. Right?” I search his eyes, and even though he doesn’t say anything, we both know the answer. “This is your shot at the NFL, Luca. You should take it. Thirdly, it’s not what we expected, but it doesn’t sound too bad, right? Fill out more paperwork—which, by the way, I’m extremely good at because it’s kind of my job—take some pictures together, tell a story that gets people excited.” I shrug. “Sounds like a fun challenge.”
Luca doesn’t say anything right away. Instead, his brown eyes stay fixed on me. The man could stand in for a lie detector if the NFL gig doesn’t pan out.
“What about reason four?”
I raise my brows. “Reason four?”
“I’m guessing there is one,” he says. “Your ex. Ryan, right?”
