Perfectly Wedded (Perfect Crush #1)

8. Sloan

EIGHT

Sloan

“ Y ou got married in Vegas?!?” These are the first words out of Jaz’s mouth when we arrive home.

After texting her a brief note that said, I’ll explain everything when I get home, she sent five more messages, three GIFs, and six phone calls.

She’s not mad, exactly , but she’s also not happy that I sent my reply right before our plane took off. I waited until the last possible second, knowing she’d be furious.

Growing up, we always promised we’d be each other’s maid of honor. Now I just broke that promise. Not only did I break it, but I didn’t even invite my sister to my wedding. I’m the worst sister in the world.

I worry my lip, and glance at Brax who stands behind her with his arms crossed. I feel like I’m being interrogated by the secret service.

“I know it happened fast, but we both realized we were in love,” I say casually, just like Vale and I rehearsed on the plane trip home. I glance over my shoulder at Vale. He gives me a smile that says, You’re doing great.

Jaz tilts her head, propping a hand on her hip. “You say it like you just got groceries or something. ”

“For the record, it wasn’t planned. Kind of like my grocery trips.”

Jaz shakes her head. “This isn’t like shopping at Trader Joe’s. It’s marriage. A serious commitment.”

“I know,” I say. “I was kidding about the grocery comment.”

We couldn’t be more different when it comes to organizing our lives. Jaz color-codes her to-do lists while I go to the store with no list and buy whatever looks promising. We’re opposites in so many ways. She’s the planner who takes care of everyone, while I’m the spontaneous one who keeps things interesting and fun. It kills me to keep the truth from her, but I know she wants me to be well again as much as I do.

“I can’t believe you didn’t text me right away. How did it happen?” Jaz presses, not moving from her stance in the middle of the entry hall. She doesn’t want me hiding in my room until she gets the full story.

I look at the floor. “Well...” It’s one thing to pull this off to a stranger, but telling your sister a story that’s only half true feels downright criminal.

Vale touches my elbow. “You want to tell her or me?”

“Sure. You tell the story so much better anyway,” I say, giving him a grateful look.

Vale wraps an arm around my waist, tucking me into his side. “When I moved in, Sloan was still recovering, and I knew it wasn’t the right time to start a relationship. But when we were at the skating gala, we realized our feelings for each other were mutual, so we decided to go for it.” Vale pulls me even closer to his body. I know we made up the rules for this game, but he’s really playing into rule number two.

Brax and Jaz don’t say anything for a moment, and my stomach feels like it’s going to lose the lunch we were served on the plane.

Jaz’s lips curve into a smile. “I knew it!” She claps her hands. “I knew you liked him, but I had no idea it was that serious! ”

“You knew?” I ask. If it was that obvious to Jaz, then... does Vale know, too? My stomach twists at the thought.

Brax finally cracks a wide smile. “Congratulations, you two. This is the best news I’ve heard in months.”

“Really? Then why did you look so mad?” I ask. “Like you wanted to break your brother’s neck.”

“Oh, that was because Jaz told me to look that way. In case Vale talked you into this and now you’re regretting it.”

I glance at my sister. “You were going to let Brax do that?”

“I’m just protecting you,” she says. “To be sure you hadn’t made an impulsive decision in a moment of weakness.”

If she suspects that our marriage is based on my impulsive nature, what will she say when Vale and I break it off... that she’s not surprised?

“We should definitely celebrate,” Jaz says. “Throw a big party with the entire hockey team and our families. What do you say?”

“I don’t know if we need a big party,” I say. “We’re already married.”

“Of course you do. And I won’t take no for an answer.” She pulls me into a hug.

I lift my eyebrows. “Is that really necessary?”

She steps back and gives me one of her looks. “Yes, it’s necessary. Otherwise you’ll always regret not celebrating.”

“But that’s the whole point of eloping. So you don’t have to.”

“Sloan,” she says. “Let me throw you a party since I couldn’t be at the actual wedding. I need to do this.”

The note in her voice is unmistakable. She feels hurt she wasn’t there. She’s not asking—it’s something she wants to do as my sister.

“Okay,” I say, already feeling weird about it. She doesn’t know we’re not really in love, that I don’t deserve this.

“Well, I’m feeling pretty tired,” Vale says. “And we have a press conference early in the morning, so I’ll just head to bed.”

Jaz looks between us. “That’s another question you need to figure out. Whose bedroom are you using?”

I freeze, glancing at Vale. We hadn’t even discussed this tiny yet monumental detail. Obviously, everyone expects us to share a room—it would be weird if we didn’t. But the thought of actually doing it sends my mind spinning. Do we head upstairs to Vale’s room, right next to the other hockey players? Or stay in my bedroom next to Jaz and Brax’s room? I swallow hard, my pulse quickening.

Vale clears his throat, flashing a quick smile. “Your room’s cozier,” he says, trying to cut through the tension.

“Cozy it is, then,” I say, giving a half-hearted shrug and heading toward my room.

Once we reach the bedroom, Vale shuts the door behind us and lets out a relieved sigh. “I think that went well.”

I sit on the bed and kick my shoes off. “That depends on how you define well. ”

“What do you mean?” Vale asks.

“I feel terrible not telling my sister the whole truth. I know we agreed to only tell her what was needed. But I left out so much.” I look up at him. “Do you really think this is the only way?”

“What’s the alternative?” Vale asks. “We tell them, and the news gets out, and insurance refuses to cover your medicine? That’s not an option. No way.” Vale crosses his arms. “I don’t want them to have to keep the secret. It’s too risky.”

“Which is why I hate that I dragged you into this mess.”

“It’s not a mess,” Vale says, sitting next to me on the bed. “It’s marriage.”

My stomach flips. Will I ever get used to him saying words like “married” and “wife” when there’s no truth behind them?

“If it helps,” Vale continues, “I can sleep on the floor. That way it won’t be... weird .”

I bite my lip. It seems wrong to ask him to sacrifice good sleep just so we can pull off this charade. But I’m not ready to have him next to me in bed either. There’s so much that could go wrong.

“You don’t have to do that,” I weakly protest.

But I know the truth. He absolutely does have to sleep on the floor if I ever plan on sleeping again. Because having Vale next to me all night? Game over. I’ll die of insomnia.

“It’s okay,” he says. “When I said I’d do this, I meant it. Hard floor and everything.”

“Maybe we can take it in stages,” I suggest. “Eventually we’ll share a bed, just like a sleepover.”

Vale shakes his head, a soft smile playing on his lips. “I can’t ever think of sleeping next to you as a sleepover, Sloan.”

The way he looks at me makes me feel like caramel over too much heat. His gaze holds mine just long enough for alarm bells to go off in my head.

“Well, time for bed!” I chirp, flying off the bed and hurrying across the room.

I root through my dresser to find the most modest pajamas I own, a pair of lightweight cotton pants and a Carolina Crushers T-shirt. Then I head to the bathroom before Vale sees the flush across my face.

Anytime Vale gets that look in his eyes, it makes me want to run far away. Not because he’s done anything wrong. But it feels dangerous, like he’s the forbidden fruit and I’m a starving woman.

From the bathroom, I hear Jaz’s laughter float through the house.

I peek out the door and catch Brax and Jaz in the kitchen, his lips brushing her cheek in what’s meant to be a private moment. Their connection is so effortless, so natural, it stirs something inside me—a longing for that kind of intimacy, the kind I wish I had with Vale. It makes me wonder if I can really pretend to be married to Vale without actually getting my heart crushed. Who am I kidding? I can’t pretend to care for him, then switch it off when this is over. I’m not built that way.

As I tiptoe across the hall, looking over at Brax and Jaz, I run face-first into a very solid object. Vale’s chest.

I give a muffled oof before taking a dazed step away from him .

“Sorry, babe,” he says, loud enough for Brax and Jaz to turn our way.

“Babe?” I mouth to him. That’s almost as bad as sweet cheeks .

His eyes swing to his brother, as he tucks a hand around my side, trying to lean into rule two again. His fingers find the hem of my T-shirt, and the bare spot of skin peeking out where the shirt rides up a little. His fingers rub circles on that spot, flooding me with heat, while he’s totally oblivious to how he’s torturing me.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you.” I lightly tap his chest where I head-butted him just a moment ago. I can feel the curved ridges of muscle underneath his soft henley shirt.

“You couldn’t hurt me,” Vale says, glancing down at my hand on his chest. I can’t tell if he feels as awkward as I do, but I make a point not to move it, remembering rule two.

“Look at you two,” Jaz croons. “Whenever I run into Brax, I always make sure to give him a kiss. It’s tradition for us.”

“Is that why you kiss so much?” Vale says to his brother.

“We don’t need a reason,” Brax says.

Vale takes my hand, the one splayed across his chest and lightly sweeps his lips over the tips of my fingers. An electrical current shoots from my fingers through my arm, and I’m left wondering how much longer I can pretend this doesn’t affect me.

“Just a warning—Tate and Leo hate it when we show any kind of affection around them,” Jaz says. “But we understand what it’s like to be newlyweds. So don’t feel like you have to hold back for us.”

“Hold back? Oh, we won’t,” Vale says, tugging me so close, my body might as well be attached to his hip. His hand travels up my back, lightly brushing my spine. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to head to bed. Don’t we, babe? ”

A laugh escapes my lips. “Sure do, my little Honey Smacks .” I look up at Vale and smile. It feels good to get even.

With a fire in his eyes, he leans forward and kisses my cheek, right next to my earlobe, and I swear my knees almost buckle .

Then he gives me a sexy half-smile before whispering, “That’s for calling me Honey Smacks .”