Page 29 of Shameless
The man returned. “It’s okay. I need you to sign a paper, then I can leave you here.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”
“Si. Right this way.”
“Sure.”
We followed him to a set of stone stairs and up a walkway to the hotel, passing the site for the wedding we were about to attend. Guests had started to arrive and even though we didn’t know those people, I wanted to hurry so we could blend in. Like I had told Sarah, I’d never crashed a wedding before. I assumed most people hadn’t, and the thought of going to something and pretending we fit in made my heart race.
Once inside the hotel, we headed over to the front desk. The tour guide spoke in Spanish again, and then the front desk clerk handed him a notepad and pen. He scribbled something on it and then handed it to me.
“Please sign.”
Every word was in Spanish and I had no idea what I was signing. “What does it say?”
“Let me see.” Sarah held out her hand.
I handed it to her. “You can read Spanish?”
“Some.” She looked over the paper. “It has the hotel’s name on it, and it appears to say he left us at this hotel, per our request.”
“All right.” I grabbed the notepad back from her and scribbled my name. Did it matter what it said? He was the one who needed me to sign that I was staying at the hotel and not returning in his boat. I gave the man the paper and pen.
“Gracias, señor. Adios.”
“Adios,” I replied, slipping him some cash. I turned to Sarah. “All right. Let’s get ready for a wedding.”
* * *
Giventhat I had nothing except the T-shirt and board shorts I was wearing, I made my way to the lobby gift shop, purchased a white Guayabera button-down, then freshen up in the lobby restroom. I used water and my fingers to comb through my saltwater hair, and then I was done.
Waiting for Sarah to finish, I sat in a chair just outside the restrooms, my mind going back to almost a week ago when I was the one about to get married. Now, I was going to watch two strangers make lifelong promises to each other and pretend to be happy for them. Would I ever be happy enough to want to get married again? I had never thought marriage was in the cards for me, but Stacey had somehow worked her way in over the years. We hadn’t been looking for a relationship, but once she came back into my life when I opened my first club, I had been reluctant to let her go.
Then she let me go.
What would happen when I arrived back at our apartment tomorrow night? The entire time I had been in Mexico, I’d tried not to think about what I would face after the trip, but now that it was ending in less than twenty-four hours, reality was getting harder to ignore. I still loved Stacey, but if she asked if I wanted to work on our relationship, would I want to get back together with her after she left me embarrassed and heartbroken? Did she regret her actions? It was one thing to break up with someone on a random day, but to leave someone at your wedding was unforgivable, right? And then there was Sarah. She had been a bright light in my darkness and we were about to go our separate ways. Would anything come of our time together? Would I find someone else back in Houston? Would I go to San Francisco? Somewhere else? Start over and find someone I had no history with? Or would I slip back into my old ways and not settle down with anyone ever again? Too many questions ran through my head as I watched the wedding guests in the distance take their seats.
Finally, Sarah emerged from the restroom, her long blonde hair in some sort of messy yet elegant bun on top of her head. Her flawless tanned skin seemed to glow, and another thought entered my head: I had to know what her kiss tasted like before we parted ways.
“Ready?” I asked and held out my elbow for her to take.
“I still can’t believe we’re doing this.” She slipped her arm through mine and we walked toward the back doors.
“The worst thing that can happen is they kick us out and we go back to our resort. It’ll be fine.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Are we going to have fake names or something?”
“Do you want to?”
“I mean, we could, but what’s the point?”
“True.”
“Plus, we’re already Mr. and Mrs. Blake Montgomery. We can just keep up that ruse,” I suggested, referring to the first night at dinner.
“That works.” She grinned.
We walked outside and, to blend in, we found middle seats on the groom’s side. It didn’t take long before all the seats filled up and the groom escorted the mothers up the aisle. I overheard a couple in front of us say how handsome Levi was, and then when the bride walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, the same woman gushed about how beautiful Katie was.
