Page 31 of Meant For Love
“There isn’t even any blood on you.” I get up, putting my hands on my hips.
“Why would there be?” He turns to look at me, his eyes a softer blue in the sun reflecting off the water.
“You stole his sister and married her without telling anyone,” I huff. “Wow, it’s like he doesn’t even love me. He didn’t even hit you once.”
He chuckles. “We did exchange some blows,” he admits, and now my eyes go big. “Verbally.”
“Maybe you coming here wasn’t a good idea,” I say softly.
“We’re married,” he informs me, “and I have ninety days for you to fall in love with me. You being here for two weeks cuts into that time.”
“I never agreed to the ninety days,” I remind him. “We still have a lot to talk about.” He walks to me, and I can see the look in his eyes, so I hold out my hand. “My cousin is waiting for me on the beach, and if we do what I think you want to do, everyone is going to know we are in here having sex.”
“We’re married,” he scoffs, “and this is our honeymoon. Of course we’re having sex.”
“Can you stop saying that?” I throw up my hands and walk back out to get my luggage. “And I think we should perhaps not share a room while we figure this out.”
“Okay,” he says, surprising me, “I’ll just sneak into your room at night.”
I open my luggage, grabbing the first bikini I find, and go into the bathroom to change, closing the door behind me. He laughs as I undress and slide on the white bikini bottom with two gold straps at the sides. The matching top is white, and the straps over my shoulders are gold. When I walk out, he’s sitting on the bed with his phone in his hand, and he looks up. “Hmm,” he hums, taking me in from head to toe. “I’m going to fuck you in that bikini before we leave.”
“Great.” I pretend to be annoyed. “Good to know.”
He smirks, then looks back down at his phone. “I have to call my parents.” I stand by my luggage. “The news has hit them.”
“Oh,” I squeak, wondering how this will make me look. What kind of woman marries a man without meeting their family? My heart sinks when I think of the fact his mother could hate me. “I’ll just leave you to your phone call,” I offer, needing to get the fuck out of here. “I’m going to be on the beach.”
“I’ll find you,” he assures me, and I’m about to walk out of the room when he calls my name, “Zoey.” I turn around. “I should give you the heads-up that I sort of maybe threatened your brother.” I blink slowly. “I told him if he made you sad, I would take you away from here, and I’m not kidding.”
“You said what?” I’m not sure if I actually heard what he said.
“If your family wants to be pissed at anyone, they can be pissed at me. But I will not let them shit on you.”
“Um,” I say, putting my hand to my stomach to stop it from freaking out, “okay.”
“If I see you sad, we’re leaving.” He looks back at his phone. “And I’m not backing down on that. They’ll get over it, but in the meantime, they will not make you feel sad.”
“Okay, Nash.” I walk over to him without even realizing my feet are moving. “Thank you for that.” I stand between his legs, and his hands run up the back of my thighs to my ass, and then he holds my hips. “Also, same goes for you, I guess. If you don’t feel comfortable with anything.”
“I can handle that, baby, but you’ve already cried once, and I’m not interested in seeing that face again. Ever.” The air vacates my body, leaving me almost panting. “I’ll meet you on the beach, yeah?” I nod and bend to kiss him. My hand automatically comes up to hold his face, something I’ve always been doing with him, and I don’t even know why. It’s just an extra touch, but it’s an extra touch I love doing. Which is silly and which I will not think about.
I let go of his lips and grab my phone before walking out of the room when he says, “Hey, Dad.” I want to sit and listen to the conversation, but I don’t think I have it in me if they start shitting all over me. I walk away with my head down, heading toward the sound of music and the daybeds by the beach water littered with my family members. Luckily, Zara spots me and waves me over. I have to stop what feels like a million times before getting to her. Everyone is laughing at the fact I eloped, and not one person has said anything negative. Some even give me a high five for doing it the way I wanted to do it.
“I got you a drink,” Zara says, “but I drank it, so the guy is coming back.”
“My sister-in-law.” I see Ryleigh approaching, followed by Gabriella and Abigail. “I’m so excited.” She gives me a hug and gets on the bed next to Zara. “I want to know all the details.”
“Oh, yes, I want to know all the details.” Gabriella slides onto the bed, followed by Abigail. “One, let me see the ring.” She leans over, grabbing my hand and gasping. “Oh, he did good.”
“Damn,” Ryleigh says, “he is not playing.”
“It was,” I start to say and stop when the server comes back with a pitcher of strawberry mojitos, and we each get a glass. I take a sip. “It was a mistake,” I finally say. “I thought the Elvis guy was a fake.”
“Shut up.” Ryleigh snorts, laughing. “But Nash is here.”
“He is.” I look around. “He wants me to give him ninety days to fall in love with him.”
“Oh, like 90 Day Fiancé,” Abigail says. “Just you’re married already.”