We sat on the edge of my bed and mindlessly ate, watching as the sky grew brighter with the sun. I knew it would only be a matter of time before one of my brothers came knocking on my door. Only a matter of time before Jessica went looking for Andrea. But for the time being, neither of us seemed to care. We needed to take the time to allow our reality to dawn on us. For our circumstance to settle on our minds so we could come up with a plan.
I had married Andrea Faith last night.
The issue? I wasn’t sure if that was such a bad thing to begin with.
THIRTEEN
Andrea
I picked at the breakfast on my small plate as I sat next to Everett. Deep down, I was in full blown-panic mode. One hundred percent. I stared out the window of his hotel room, feeling his powerful energy next to me. I had been ready to excuse my actions with regard to sleeping with him. I had been ready to admit what we had done and move on from there. I would’ve gone back to my room, taken a long shower, and come up with something to tell Jessica had she gone and tried to find me last night after the rainstorm.
But this? This had no explanation.
The ring felt foreign on my hand. It felt rough. I kept glancing down at it, anxious to work it off my finger. I didn’t want it there. It didn’t belong there. But for some reason, I was worried about offending Everett. I didn’t know why that was a concern, or why I thought he would even be annoyed in the first place. But I didn’t want that to happen. I’d had my outward panic. I’d gotten my ring tangled up in my hair in the middle of a fit. I needed to tone it down until I could get out of his room.
But my heart rate kept skyrocketing.
I glanced over at him as he cleared his plate. He got up and went to go get more food as I picked at the miniature cheese Danish on my plate. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell at him and tell him how stupid we were for doing whatever the hell it was we did the night before. So many drinks. His bank account was full of transactions at bars in the area. Had we gone drinking alone? Had someone been with us?
Holy hell, did others know we had gotten married?
I wasn’t hungry. I was too flabbergasted to eat. I set my plate off to the side on the bed and put my head in my hands. I didn’t know what to do. I’d married a stranger in Las Vegas. Me. The girl who hadn’t had sex since high school. The girl who hadn’t even thought about a relationship life since getting her heart broken and moving away from her father. Me. The one who ran the youth center downtown and made her entire life about kids she wanted to help when she was younger.
I married a stranger.
I stood up and walked back over to the windows. There was no way. This was an elaborate hoax. It had to be. I didn’t get drunk. I didn’t sleep with stranger. And I sure as hell didn’t marry strangers. Nope. Something was very wrong with this situation, and we had to figure out what it was. This was Jessica, all the way. It had to be.
“Do you think someone slipped something into our drinks yesterday?” I asked.
I turned around and looked at Everett as he tossed a strawberry into his mouth.
“What?” he asked.
“Do you think we were roofied and set up?” I asked.
“Someone still would have had to use my card. And if that’s the case, then they got into your room as well and placed an outfit in here for you to use.”
“So, it’s possible.”
“Andrea.”
“Don’t take that tone of voice with me. I know myself, Everett. I have a drink or two. I don’t get drunk. I had my heart broken in high school and I haven’t dated since. I don’t have sex with strangers. I don’t marry men I don’t know. This isn’t something I do.”
“Vegas makes people do a lot of things they don’t normally do.”
“I want to go to the doctor and get tested.”
“What?” he asked.
“You’re taking me to the doctor to get tested for drugs. Those can still be detected in the system after twenty-four hours, right?”
Everett cocked his head and sighed. Shit. I knew I was grasping at straws. I knew I looked crazy. But there had to be an explanation. None of this was like me. Not a damn bit of it. Had I lost my mind? The only thing I could think was that I had been drugged and dragged around town. Or drugged and dumped into a bed with someone else who had been drugged.
“Are we sure it wasn’t the brothers and Jessica?” I asked.
“Andrea.”
“I still don’t like that tone.”