Page 34 of Honeymoon Phase
“You deserve to bleed!” Addison roars, and her face appears over mine, the veins in her forehead protruding in a really angry way. “You were the slowest, most boring climber of the day and then you decided to scare the shit out of everyone right at the end.”
“Yeah... I didn’t mean to do that part,” I groan, feeling an ache in my back.
“Of course you didn’t,” Addison snarls and stares up at the pole, clearly fuming. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“But I did it.” I smile and when she looks down at me, she does not smile back. She ismadmad.
“You lost. Badly. You won’t even place in the top ten so it wasn’t even worth it.”
I sigh heavily and wince as I touch my chin and see blood on my glove. “Can we talk about this later? I think I might need stitches.”
“No, we can’t talk about this later, Luke. We will talk about it now because if I marry you, you can’t be a moron like this, okay?”
“Huh?” I blink up at her. Am I concussed, or did she really just say she was going to marry me?
“I mean it... if we do this, you need to at least try to compromise on some stuff or we’re never going to survive a year of this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Marry me, you asshole.” She scowls down at me like she didn’t just say the four most magical words I’ve ever heard.
I swallow the knot in my throat... and I think I swallow some blood before I reply, “But I lost.”
“Trust me, I know,” she sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Marry me anyways because...” A soft look sweeps across her face as she looks down at my body that I really hope isn’t mangled but since I still haven’t been able to see anything but faces and sky, I have no idea. “Marry me because you’re my best friend and I need you.”
I open my mouth, but am unable to say anything because a pair of EMTs come over with a stretcher and move Addison out of the way. “What is that for?” I ask, staring at the yellow board.
“It’s protocol for anyone who falls more than twenty feet,”one guys says as he begins tucking the board under half of my body. “We need to ensure there’s no spinal injuries.”
“Oh shiiit,” I groan as the men manhandle me onto the stretcher, strapping my forehead and body down and making it impossible for me to move in any way. They stand up to haul me away and my mind is reeling with everything that just happened. How bad am I hurt? Where is my family? Where is Addison?
Finally I find my voice and yell, “Wait, wait, wait a second. Roe? Roe, are you here?”
I call out her name and after a few seconds she appears above me out of nowhere, her black hair fanning her cheeks, her eyes full of concern. “What? What is it?”
I smile up at her and she frowns. “Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.” I hit her with the most dazzling smile and have a moment of wondering if all my teeth are in place.
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, but you better not be paralyzed. If I have to wipe your ass on the toilet, I’m going to ask for alimony after our divorce.”
My body shakes with laughter and then I wince, everything hurting all at once. And as the two guys carry me away from my future bride I think... having her wipe my ass sounds like a decent way to spend the rest of my life.
Chapter 13
Fact or Fiction?
I want a... mustache ride?
Addison
“Oh my God, what is that on your face?” I burst out laughing as I climb into Luke’s truck outside the lumberyard on a sunny Friday afternoon.
“Does it look stupid?” my best friend asks, glancing at himself in the rearview mirror. He runs his fingers over the hair on his upper lip. “I can shave it off if you think it’s awful.”
I turn in my seat to fully take it in as Luke pulls out of the lot, self-consciously touching his face now that I’ve literally pointed and laughed at him. I wasn’t trying to be a bitch, I was just... not expecting this on a man only thirty-three years old. I’m used to old man mustaches like my dad’s or the yard guys. Those mustaches are stained by coffee and frozen with snot in the cold winter months. Or I guess I’ve seen those weird swirly hipster mustaches on some bartenders in town, or the obvious creepy pornstaches.
