Page 5 of Honeymoon Phase
Everly, on the other hand, has this uncanny ability to make people say yes to things they wouldn’t normally say yes to and somehow thank her for it when it’s all said and done. In some ways, I’ve missed her scheming. Being so far away from her this past year while she was abroad for school has sucked, but I’m proud of her for branching out. My niece is braver than all four of us Fletcher brothers put together. Maybe I need to channel some of Everly’s bravery in my own life to help me get over Roe.
“I couldn’t have written this better myself.” Everly rips me out of my inner musings as she begins tapping her fingers on her chin, clearly deep in some sort of plotting mode. “The universe is basically handing you this love story. You can be her husband!”
“No, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because Roe doesn’t want me. She doesn’t even want to be married. She doesn’t want love. Ever. She’s anti-love. Anti-kids. Anti-anything traditional. Has been since the moment I met her, making it damn near impossible for me to confess even if I wanted to.”
“Why is she anti-love?” Everly asks, her brows pinched together in confusion. Her innocent, naive heart knows no different than love and happily-ever-afters.
“That’s just how she is,” I reply, refusing to give Everly any more because some heavy shit happened to Roe when she was younger, and I would never betray her confidence by blabbingabout her trauma to my niece. “I just know that whoever Roe finds to marry, it’s strictly going to be a contractual business arrangement. They’ll stay married for a year until she can fulfill the trust fund’s requirements and then she can take ownership of the lumberyard. After that it’s divorce court and ‘peace out, sucker.’ She’s already got a prenup written up.”
“So, you can be the sucker,” Everly chirps, her body vibrating with urgency. “You two are friends so this makes perfect sense. Volunteer to be her husband.”
“I can’t do that, kid.”
“Why not?”
“Because I already have,” I snap, and my voice echoes down the mountain like a fucking siren call. Holding my breath, I turn around to see if my brothers heard and exhale with relief when they all still seem engrossed in their domestic infatuations. I don’t want to hear my brothers’ take on my situation, especially when they all seem so happy and in love. I don’t need an audience for my failure.
“I wrote her a letter a few months ago and she rejected me. She wants a stranger. She has literally been going on dates with random guys on Tinder to try to find someone. That’s why I got desperate and wrote her that stupid fucking letter that she laughed at. It’s all fucking nonsense, and I told her that but she’s so bullheaded, I can’t get her to listen. I’m worried sick about her.” I yank off my hat and slice my hands through my hair, hating how heavy this subject makes me feel.
“You’re worried because you love her,” Everly says quietly. “Not like a friend. Like a wife.”
My lips thin as my niece pegs me better than even my own brothers have. It’s embarrassing how long I’ve been harboring these feelings. Roe’s made it incredibly clear where she stands when it comes to relationships and I’ve tried to respect that. I’ve tried to let these feelings go.
But I just...
I love her.
And I hate myself for it.
It didn’t hit me all at once either. It was a slow, comfortable build. Like a great steady hike in the mountains where the ascent is gradual enough that I earn every step, but easy enough I can maintain my pace for miles. So I climb and I climb and I climb and don’t even realize I reach the top until I look out and see the stunning view that is my friend and realize... holy fuck, this is what I’ve been missing.
It’s her.
And when I realized that, I felt both annoyed at myself, for making that pact with my brothers after we all had our hearts broken, and terrified because the woman I loved could never love me back. This was setting up to be even worse than the Robyn situation I found myself in.
I had hoped that inviting Roe to my brother’s wedding in Mexico could be my opportunity to possibly push past her hard outer shell. We’d see each other outside of Boulder. We’d lie by the pool or walk on the beach and dance to some music. I even hoped she’d connect with Trista, who I think is a lot like Roe in the sense that neither of them come from traditional families. I wanted her to see a different type of family. I wanted to show her that some people are worth taking a chance on. I wanted to also break the pact I was in with my brothers because they both have obviously moved on from that. Maybe it was my turn now too.
Then on night two, she dropped the bomb on me.
Told me she’s looking for a marriage of convenience.
Not love. Not soulmates. Not a happily-ever-after.
Just a simple contract.
So, we slept in our separate rooms in the villa, behaving like friends because that’s all we were and that was all we’d ever be.And after we got back, I lost my ever-loving mind and wrote her that letter, trying to save her from her dire circumstances, to which she rejected me like I was a joke.
Now I’m preparing for my friend, who I’m in love with...to marry another man.
“If you love her then you have to go for it, Luke,” Everly says, sounding desperate.
“I already tried once.”
“You didn’t try hard enough!” Everly urges, her blue eyes wide and excited. “We have to help her see. We need to spell it out for her. We can go deeper than a letter. Maybe we can write up a pros and cons list of all the reasons a friend would make a perfect fake husband. Things that will make her see that choosing you is so much better than choosing a stranger.”
