I manage to finish one slice of toast, and am rewarded with a grin when Conal looks at the plate to check my progress. I smile back at him, as my mind helpfully tells me,He’s your husband.
My phone vibrates with a text that I expect to be Ember, but it’s from Bliss and simply says, “Call me.”
I set my plate on the table, hug the blanket to me, and unfold myself from the chair. “I’m going to call Bliss,” I say to excuse myself before I retreat to the privacy of the bedroom where I woke up.
These rooms are so big that if I sit near the headboard of the massive bed, I should be able to talk quietly without being overheard, but returning to the bed is a mistake. My stomach does belly flops that have nothing to do with the alcohol I drank last night.
The sheets are rumpled and the room is filled with the masculine scent of cologne, or maybe a blend of colognes.What happened in this bed that I can’t remember?That’s a question that Bliss likely won’t be able to answer.
I stab at my friend’s contact and arrange the blanket on my lap as I wait for her to answer. I’m not cold, but covering myself provides a sense of security, however small it may be.
“Hey, good morning. How was your night?” Bliss’s tone tells me that she assumes I had the wildest time of my life. “Has your cherry been well and thoroughly popped?”
“Bliss!” I hiss at her in a low whisper.
“Hey, I know you’re a married woman and all, but you can’t blame me for making the joke. You know … the song?”
I groan. I’d forgotten about “Pop Your Cherry.” It was one of the Pythons’ earliest hits. Did those explicit lyrics play out here last night?
Throwing the topsheet out of the way, I scan the bed for evidence to confirm I lost my virginity, but I don’t see any blood. That’s not proof it didn’t happen, though.
“Bliss, I have a big problem.” I grip my phone tightly and hold it close to my mouth, not that I didn’t already share my secret with Conal. “I don’t remember last night.”
“No?” She sounds surprised and sympathetic. “What part?”
“Everything from midnight on. I didn’t know where I was when I woke up this morning.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Hazel. I had no idea you were that drunk. You didn’t show it. You just seemed really happy—and with good reason!”
I’m sure the champagne affected my mood, but I do remember being happy to be with Conal long before midnight. It was such a wild surprise whenhe and his brothers invited us to party with them. It was so surreal actually, that I might not have agreed if Bliss hadn’t insisted we go. She’s much more daring than I am.
“Were you there when we got married?”
“Sure was. Got a phone full of pics to prove it.”
My phone pings with an incoming text, and I tap it to see a picture pop up. Me, in this dress, my face and hair looking much better than they do now. I’m holding the bouquet of flowers that are here on the table, and Conal is lifting my hand toward the camera, showing off the wedding ring. His brothers are on either side of us, and I’m smiling like there’s no tomorrow.
“Do you remember when Conal proposed?” Bliss asks.
I shake my head, even though she can’t see me. “No.”
“Oh, what a shame. You were so excited. You said you knew it was wild and impulsive, but you never felt more sure of anything in your life.”
Good to know, but even with this information, it’s still impossible to imagine how I went from meeting a famous stranger to getting married in just one night.
“You said it would be the perfect start to a new year. The security guys drove us all to the license office, then the chapel, and one of them showed up with a dress and flowers for you—amazing how fame and fortune can make things appear like magic! The next thing I knew, you and Conal were sayingI do.
“I have a video of the ceremony. I can come up and show it to you after I shower. Oh, also, I have your clothes and things from our hotel. Some of the security team took me there last night so I could pick up my stuff.”
“Okay.” It’s a lot to absorb, and it’s hard to imagine it ever fully sinking in, even with video evidence.
“They put me up in a beautiful room last night, Hazel. If only I had a couple of rock stars here to enjoy it with, like you did.”
When I’m silent, she says, “So you don’t remember anything that happened after you got back to the hotel?”
“No.”
“What a pity. But I’m sure there will be many morefun timesin your future. Have you seen them naked?”
