Page 90 of Keep Me
“Which are?”
“He wants to meet you.”
I scrunched my nose. “Me?”
Matty shrugged and looked away. “Because you’re my wife and his daughter-in-law. He came to the game last week, and I’m sure he could tell I’m obsessively in love with you.”
I took in a sharp breath but didn’t know what to say. I really wished he’d stop saying things like that, because it threw me off.
“He won’t give me the paperwork until we’ve had dinner together. Dinner, as in you, me, and him.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. Dinner with Matty’s dad under these circumstances was one of the last things I wanted to do.
Waving my hand in front of me, I tried to think of a different way out of this. “Can’t we just order replacements?”
“We can,” he drawled out. “But the website said it can take anywhere between six to seven months to arrive.”
“Six to seven months?” My heart rate increased. “That’s insane.”
“It’s also the government for you. Apparently, it needs to go through the system before we can request new ones, and Idon’t know how long that will take. Could take a week or seven months.”
I huffed out an annoyed breath. What the hell would my parents think if they found out I got married in Vegas? Sam, Max, and Bryce would kill Matty. None of them saw me get married, and it was only now hitting me how sad that was. I just didn’t want to think about this anymore.
“Unfortunately,” Matty continued, “that doesn’t include actually filing for the divorce, which can take at least six months to process.”
The timeline was adding up in my head, and I didn’t like the answer. This could go on for a year if we didn’t get it started soon. The visuals of a family photo shoot were going through my head, taunting me into a migraine. Matty in the middle with his child on his lap while Olana and I stood on either side.
What in the fresh hell?
I didn’t want that.
This couldn’t be happening. Wife and stepmother. My first marriage would be finished before I started my first official job.
“This is terrible.” I ran a hand across my face and groaned. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t believe I let my heart do the thinking that night in Vegas. I knew it was too good to be true at the time, but I still went through with it. I should’ve protected myself better.
Silence stretched between us. There wasn’t much more we could say to each other. We were at an impasse. We’d made a huge mistake, gotten married after seeing our friends’ wedding, and now we would have to face the consequences. I was a big girl; I could admit when I’d done something wrong, but knowing Matty’s family was now involved just hurt more. Also, knowing I’d never be able to tell mine was heartbreaking.
“Britt, I—”
I raised my hand; I didn’t want to hear any more excuses.
“Please. Stop talking. One dinner.”
“What?”
“I will have one dinner with your father so we can get this stupid marriage certificate and move on. We need to get this wedding annulled before my family can find out. Okay?’”
“Really? Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“What were you expecting me to say?”
He threw me another smirk. “Well, I was hoping we could keep this going, and maybe I could give you a real wedding instead.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No. I’ve lost my wife, or she gave me up.”
Was he serious? “What did you expect me to say?”
