Page 25 of Hail Marry
I place my hand on Victoria’s cheek and move in.
I close my eyes as our lips touch. It’s a fraction of a second, yet long enough to note the softness of her lips and the hint of her perfume. There’s no spark, no magic. Just the awkwardness of two strangers pretending to be something more.
I pull back, and our eyes meet, full of…uncertainty, like we’re both trying to figure out how this is supposed to go.
The officiant gathers up his papers. “Congratulations, Luke and Victoria. You are now officially married. If you’ll follow me, we’ll sign the license.”
The license gets signed—with my correct name, thankfully—and the officiant tells us when we can expect our marriage certificate.
“A few weeks?” I repeat in horror as he puts out a hand to remind us of the way to the door. “Is there any way to expedite that?” Zach will need some sort of proof for the teams who’ve been scouting me.
“No,” the officiant says, opening the door. “But if you’d like, you can get a Certificate of Record from the clerk. Congratulations again.” He welcomes in the next couple, signaling it’s time for us to vacate the room.
As a married couple.
I wait for Victoria to go out ahead of me, and she lets out a long, slow breath as I close the door behind us. “Well,thatwas interesting.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I thought you were about to back out on me at the altar.”
She laughs. “No. I just...my brain had a moment, that’s all. I’m sorry for scaring you. Should we go get that certificate of record?”
“Yeah.”
Fifteen minutes later, I’ve got it in hand, and we make our way out of the courthouse and to the car. I can’t believe I’m a married man—or that my future is officially back on the table.
And I owe it all to Victoria.
“Hey,” I say as we reach the car.
She stops and faces me with her hand on the handle. “What’s up?”
It takes me a second to say anything. How do you express gratitude to someone for marrying you? That’s not normal. But it still needs to be said. “Thank you. For doing this.”
She smiles. “What are wives for, right?”
“I’m serious. I know it’s been a weird few days, but…it means a lot to me. Playing in the NFL is the only thing I’ve wanted since I can remember. So, thanks for making it possible.”
The teasing glint in her eye dissipates. “You’re welcome. I’m just glad one of us knows what we want with our lives because I sure don’t. So”—she heads for the car door—“you gonna take me out for a celebratory lunch or what, husband?”
“Name the place. Is it cool if we go talk to my agent afterward?” Zach will be floored when he finds out we’re back in business.
“I called in sick, so I’ve got all day.” She ducks into the car.
I smile bemusedly as I open my door and climb in. She called in sick to get married.
I don’t think this day could get any weirder.
7
TORI
Being married isn’t sobad. I’ve finally found a man who can out-eat me,andhe paid for my food. I wouldn’t call Luca an open book by any means, but at our post-marriage celebratory lunch, I get to crack the pages a bit, and my husband seems like a pretty cool book.
“So, this agent of yours,” I say, taking a sip of my drink. “Does he know about all of this?” I gesture between us.
Luca shakes his head and drips more hot sauce on what remains of his second burger. “He’s been traveling the past couple days.”
“So, we’re surprising him.”
