7. Jax

Jax

" Y ou're getting married?" Trent snorted. "To him?"

What the fuck did he mean " To him?"

Was it so unbelievable that I'd found someone who'd want to marry me? Just because he hadn't wanted me didn't mean no one else would. And Tanner was a fucking catch.

Our breakup had been ugly. After being found out, Trent spouted all kinds of nasty things to blame me for his actions. I'd been away too much, as though he hadn't experienced firsthand how long deployments could be. I didn't pay him enough attention because when I wasn't deployed, I took every specialist medical course I could to keep up with new techniques.

The dates, the gifts, the vacations, the small gestures hadn't been enough. I hadn't been enough.

"What do you say, pumpkin?"

"What?" I turned to Tanner, who pressed closer against me.

"Shall we tell them what we're doing in Vegas?"

The challenge was in his eyes and I wanted to kiss him so badly it hurt.

Okay, so when I said we were doing what everyone else does in Vegas, I'd meant we were having a good time. The being a couple part was implied, but getting married was nowhere on my list of fun things to do this weekend. However, Trent was rubbing me the wrong way, so before I could think of anything else, I opened my big mouth.

"Sure," I said, keeping my eyes on Tanner. "We're getting married."

To give Tanner credit, he didn't punch me or laugh. But he did worse.

"That's right, we're getting married," he said, turning to Trent and Silent Stu.

Trent coughed. "You're joking."

"Why would I joke about something like this?"

His brows furrowed.

Go on, say it. You know you want to. Tell me I'm lying and doing it to get revenge on you. Say. It.

He fucking didn't, but he called the bartender again.

"A new round, my dude. We're off to the Chapel of Love to get these two married."

The bartender turned up with a tray of drinks.

I downed mine in one, feeling the burn. I didn't have a clue what I'd just had, but it was better than sweaty balls.

"I'm taking my fiancé to the dancefloor," I declared, grabbing Tanner's waist and guiding him through the crowd.

When we were out of earshot and among the dancing couples, I whispered in Tanner's ear. "I've fucked this up. What are we going to do?"

He put his arms over my shoulders, looking way too good as he licked his lips and smiled. "I don't know. I'm weighing options."

"Weighing options?"

He nodded. "On one hand, I never thought I'd get married, but now the opportunity presents itself with none other than the sexiest doctor in Cliffborough."

I rolled my eyes.

"Don't play coy, Doctor Mitchell. You have mirrors in your apartment. As I was saying…I could do worse for a husband."

"Ouch, when I thought you'd only ever want me for my body, I find out you only want me for my body."

"It's a fine body."

Right back at you , I thought.

"We can't go through with this charade, Tanner."

"Why not? It's unlikely they'll stick with us all the way to the chapel. Let's draw this out until he leaves us alone, and then we go back to the hotel."

"And what if he doesn't?"

Tanner closed the small gap between us, placing his mouth next to my ear. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, fiancé ."

Okay, I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't affected by Tanner's words. I was only human and had been harboring a twelve-year-long crush on him.

Tanner was wrong. Trent didn't leave, and even though I could tell Silent Stu was getting bored of our attempts to drag the night out, he stayed.

After a few more rounds of drinks—which still didn't get me buzzing enough to think it was a good idea to get married in secret in Vegas—five karaoke songs, and an impromptu flash mob we found ourselves in the middle of, there was no stopping Trent.

He'd researched the necessary documentation on his phone and filled out the marriage certificate paperwork for us. A short taxi ride later, and we were in front of the one and only Chapel of Love.

When Trent excused himself to go to the restroom, taking Stuart with him, I pulled Tanner aside.

"What the hell are we doing?"

"I really thought he'd be gone by now."

I ran my hands through my hair, noting it needed a cut. "We can't go through with this. We'll have to come clean or say we changed our minds."

"We can't do that. He's going to have the smuggest face that's ever smugged." He looked around before his eyes settled back on me. "Look, it's the weekend. Nothing happens during the weekend, right? They can't file the paperwork until Monday. Let's do this, and before we fly back tomorrow, we'll come here and cancel it."

With that decision made, we waited our turn as a few more couples tied the knot ahead of us.

Vegas was a conveyor belt of bad decisions, and we were about to officially add our names. I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh about the absurdity of it all or run as fast as I could.

Tanner held my hand as we waited.

"Nervous?" I whispered.

"A little. You'll never believe it, but?—"

Tanner was interrupted by someone calling our names to go in.

We stood before the officiant, hands shaking and smiling awkwardly at each other.

"Welcome, friends and loved ones," the officiant started. I tuned out most of it because Tanner's blue eyes on me and his warm hands keeping me rooted in place were the only things I could focus on.

His lips curled into a secret smile, and I was immediately taken back to my eighteenth birthday when he'd come to my party dressed in jeans and a brand-new polo shirt. He'd given me his gift, a bunch of Tamagotchi-themed things, and then he'd smiled and disappeared into Jodie's room.

If I hadn't been so busy hiding my crush on him, I may have noticed that a straight guy would never put so much effort into his girlfriend's brother's birthday gift. Now, looking at his sea-blue eyes, I wanted to believe he'd had a crush on me then, that maybe we could be more than friends.

I managed to come out of my memories in time to answer the yes or no question and repeat the standard vows. We hadn't been in the room longer than twenty minutes, and suddenly, we were husband and husband.

The words paralyzed me. Tanner's lips briefly touching mine sealed our deal. There was no time to process what we'd just done or that, however brief it was, I'd kissed Tanner because we were ushered out of the room with a piece of paper thrust into our hands.

When we got outside, the city felt different. I couldn't tell what it was because nothing had changed in twenty minutes, but at the same time, everything had changed.

"Jax, Tanner, congratulations," Trent said. "Tanner, do you mind if I steal your husband for a moment?"

Tanner squeezed my hand briefly and nodded.

We took a few steps away from Tanner and Stuart. I remained facing Tanner because I couldn't take my eyes off him. Did he feel different too? Or was this all a figment of my imagination and teenage dreams?

"I have a confession to make," Trent said. "I didn't think you'd go through with it, but I can see I was wrong. You and Tanner make a cute couple. I really wish you all the happiness…and I'm sorry I was such a dick."

"That…is really nice of you to say. There's no bad blood between us, Trent, and I hope, one day, it'll be your turn. Maybe Stuart? He's the silent type, isn't he?"

"Stuart?" he snorted. "He talks when the occasion calls for it. He's just my stepbrother. Maybe I'll find my own Jax or Tanner. Your new husband is hot."

I laughed because I couldn't disagree with him.

"Want to grab a celebratory drink with us?"

"Nah," he said, looking at Stuart. "We should get back. Believe it or not, tomorrow we have a family wedding, so we should probably get some sleep."

When the guys left us, I couldn't resist grabbing Tanner by his waist until he held on to me.

"Oof, how possessive of you, husband. You know you don't need to pretend anymore."

"I know. Come on, it's almost the sunrise, and I heard there's a place in the city to watch it from."