Perfectly Wedded (Perfect Crush #1)

26. Vale

TWENTY-SIX

Vale

“ W hat were you thinking about?” Leo says on the ice at practice the next day.

“What?” I say, spinning toward him. I glance around the ice for the puck we were passing. It’s nowhere in sight.

“Look behind you, idiot,” Leo says with his trademark smirk, pointing his stick to where Tate’s picked up the puck that I totally missed.

Lucian skates over and flicks the puck my way. “So unlike you, MacPherson. You’re totally checked out.”

“So I’m a little rough around the edges on my first day back,” I say. “Cut me some slack.”

I’m not going to tell them the truth. I was thinking about my upcoming wedding, and more specifically, the wedding night. They’d laugh me off the ice if they knew we still hadn’t made this marriage official in the old-fashioned way.

Ever since Sloan agreed to go through with another ceremony—finally making our relationship more than a marriage of convenience—my thoughts are anywhere but here.

Leo skates backward, studying me. “Maybe you should take the job as water boy for the team instead.” He whips another shot toward me, slightly off mark, forcing me to scramble to chase it down.

Unfortunately, I don’t see Rourke behind me and crash into his brick wall of a chest.

“Somebody’s distracted,” he mutters.

“Not distracted,” I say. “Leo set that one up.”

“Don’t blame me,” Leo defends. “You’re the one who missed it.”

“I know what the problem is,” Rourke says, circling back to me while doing some quick stick work. He stops in front of me. “You can’t wait to give your little wifey a kiss.”

The others snicker.

“I think you’re just jealous,” I fire back. “Because you don’t have anyone to kiss.” I pucker up and make kissing sounds with my lips.

“The only thing you can kiss is this.” Rourke turns around and smacks his backside.

“Guys, are we twelve?” Leo asks, rolling his eyes.

“Wait until you find someone, Leo,” Tate says. “You’re gonna be twice as distracted as Brax and Vale.”

“What are you saying about me?” Brax asks from the other side of the ice.

“Nothing!” I answer, trying to end this conversation.

“Just discussing Vale’s marital problems,” Lucian adds.

I shake my head. “We are definitely not discussing my marital problems.”

“What problems?” Brax skates over, his brow creased.

“He can’t concentrate,” Rourke says.

“We think it’s Sloan’s fault,” Tate says.

“His shots are off,” Lucian adds.

“I’ve heard most problems start in the bedroom,” Leo says, like he’s the expert. “You need a marriage counselor?”

“No!” I say, the irritation rising in my chest. “This has nothing to do with my marriage!” I skate away from the guys .

Leo frowns. “Why are you so touchy? We’re trying to help you.”

“Oh, is that why you’re making up problems for me? You’re trying to make me feel better about myself?”

Leo frowns. “No, why would I do that?”

“Ignore them,” Brax says. “I’m sure whatever it is can be solved by hitting the weight room.”

“Can’t,” I say. “Sloan asked me to come home right away and finalize some of the wedding plans with Jaz.”

Leo grimaces. “I thought you lucked out not having to go through the misery of wedding planning?”

“Well, somebody’s wife was pretty ticked she didn’t get to go to our Vegas wedding.” I give my brother a pointed look.

“Don’t look at me! It’s not my fault the woman loves weddings,” Brax mutters. “Plus, Mom was fully in support of the idea.”

“She won’t admit it, but I think Sloan needs the full wedding experience,” I say, heading off the ice. “If we don’t have it, she’ll always regret not having a real wedding. It’s one of those things girls dream about from the time they’re little, starting with the proposal.”

“Where did you propose?” Tate asks as all the guys circle around me on the bench.

“We went to the gala, and it sort of happened,” I say, unlacing a skate.

Leo stops. “Wait—what do you mean it sort of happened ?”

“I said, ‘Let’s get married in Vegas’ and then we did. ” I glance up and notice all the guys are staring at me. “What?”

Brax’s eyebrows rise. “You skipped proposing?” He shakes his head. “Dude, that’s bad.”

“Not on purpose,” I say. But I realize the mistake I’ve made. I once read an article about babies who go straight to walking and bypass the crawling stage. Sometimes they have to loop back to the part they skipped, just to connect all the dots in their brains. And I wonder if this is Sloan’s issue too. We’ve done everything backward and have skipped parts, without her realizing how much she needs it. That’s why it’s hard for her to trust me, to believe this is it between us and I’m not leaving.

“You said you want her to have the full experience,” Leo says. “And girls get into proposals.”

I frown. “But she already has the ring. How am I going to propose without it?”

“Does she ever take it off?” Tate asks.

“I don’t know,” I say. “Maybe?” Now that I think about it, I can’t remember if she’s ever taken off the ring. This could be a problem.

“Just wait for her to remove it, then steal it,” Rourke says. “It’s that simple.”

“I don’t know about this,” I say, running my hands through my hair. “Seems risky.”

“Then let us help. Team effort,” Lucian the captain says, then puts his hand in the middle for a team huddle. “We’ll make sure she gets a proposal to remember.”

The guys join him, hands stacked on top of each other.

I look around and my stomach flip-flops. Then I add my hand to the pile.

This could go very right. Or very wrong.

I’m about to find out which one it is.

I’m calling it Operation Proposal. Tonight, it’s Sloan’s night to wash dishes, and hopefully, she’ll take off her ring. Once she does, I’m counting on the fact it won’t be hard to distract her, and Brax will slip in and steal the ring.

Tate gives an overdramatic yawn as he takes his plate to the sink after dinner. “Think I’ll head to bed early tonight.”

“You never go to bed early.” Sloan frowns, studying Tate like he must be coming down with the plague. “You feel okay? ”

“Yep, just tired.” He bounces up the steps, taking two at a time.

“I’m heading to the store. Need anything?” Leo asks no one in particular.

“Can you pick up some glazed donuts? I have an early morning practice,” Sloan says.

“You’re giving your skaters donuts and not sharing them with us?” Leo looks almost offended by this.

Sloan squeezes dish soap into the water before sliding her ring off and setting it on the lip of the sink. “I never said you couldn’t have any, Leo.”

“I’ll pick up extras.” Leo grabs his keys and heads out the back door. I make eye contact with Brax, who’s already noticed the ring.

He stands and heads to the living room couch, turning on the TV just like we planned.

Sloan plunges her hands into the soapy bubbles. I wrap my arms around her waist, hugging her from behind.

“Well, hello, you ,” she says with a grin. Her head turns slightly, and I kiss the soft hollow of her cheek, then her earlobe.

“Looks like we’re alone, finally.”

“It appears that way,” she murmurs. She seems reluctant, or maybe just has a lot on her mind, I can’t tell which.

“I was hoping we could spend some time together.” Which is code for kissing her as long as possible.

“And by time together, you mean doing the laundry, right?”

“Not exactly,” I laugh.

“Well, let me finish these dishes first, and then I’d be happy to.”

“Dishes can wait,” I say, taking a dripping plate from her hands. I need to get her away from the sink now before she finishes and slides on her ring. I slowly turn her so she’s facing me. “Why don’t we go for a walk? If we leave now, we’ll see the sunset.” I grab her hand and lead her toward the door.

She tilts her head. “Why are you in such a hurry? ”

“No reason,” I say. “Other than I don’t want to miss the sunset.”

She frowns. “You’re up to something, Vale MacPherson.”

I straighten my face. “I’m not.” Except I am and now she’s onto me.

The sound of a car engine in the driveway turns her attention toward the window that faces the drive. “The girls are home.” She opens the front door. “Any luck?”

Jaz crawls out of the car with my mom beside her. “We got a wedding haul for you.”

Mia unloads several bags from the back seat as Sloan meets them at the car to see what they bought.

I spin around and catch Brax sneaking toward the kitchen. “Now?” he whispers.

I wave him toward the sink and mouth the word, “ Hurry .” Brax disappears into the kitchen, and a few seconds later, he mutters, “Uh-oh.”

When I run into the kitchen, Brax has his hand down the garbage disposal.

“What are you doing?” I ask, hoping that the sinking feeling in my gut is not correct.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he grumbles.

“It looks like you’re risking a limb.”

“Yes, for you, in fact. When I picked up the ring, it fell down the drain.”

“You dropped the ring in the garbage disposal?” I whisper-shout. This is horrifically bad timing. Especially since Sloan isn’t finished with the dishes.

“Is there any other reason I’d stick my hand down this filthy hole?”

I glance out the window and see Sloan and the girls are making their way up the steps. I point at Brax. “You have exactly five seconds to find that ring, or I’m going to turn on the garbage disposal.”

His eyes bulge. “You should be thanking me right now. ”

“Right now, I’m furious at you. You had one job,” I say holding up my finger to his face. “One. Job.”

Just then Leo enters from the back, mysteriously empty-handed. “Where are the donuts?” I ask.

“Donut shop was closed,” he says before he looks at Brax. “Did you get it?”

“The ring fell down the drain,” Brax mutters. “And my fat fingers can’t seem to grab the slippery sucker.”

“Let me try.” Leo elbows him out of the way as the front door opens and laughter spills into the house. Leo shakes his head. “The things I do for you.”

“Vale, come see what the girls found!”

“Be there in a second,” I singsong, before I mutter through gritted teeth, “We’re gonna be busted in two seconds.”

In one swift movement, Leo jams his hand into the disposal and fishes out the ring just as the girls enter the kitchen. He shoves his hand in his pocket as we all wheel around.

“Look at these adorable...” Sloan stops as she notices our guilty-looking faces. “What’s up with you guys?”

“Nothing,” Brax says, shaking his head quickly.

Sloan frowns. “Why are you standing in a line at the sink unless...” She pauses and walks toward us. We’re so busted. She stops and peeks over my shoulder. “Are you doing the dishes for me?”

Leo nudges me in the side.

“Um, okay, it was supposed to be a surprise, but you caught us.” I spin around and start washing a dish and then hand it to a confused Brax. Leo hands him a dish towel.

“Take the night off,” I say. “We’ve got this.” I have no idea how we’ll hide the fact that her ring is gone.

She blinks. “I thought we were taking a walk?”

I wash another dish and hand it to Leo, who passes it to Brax. “Another night? I know you’re busy with wedding planning, and we only have a week.”

Her face melts into a smile. “Thank you for understanding, Vale. That’s really sweet.” She leaves a kiss on my cheek before returning to the piles of bags in the hallway.

It’s only going to be a matter of time before she realizes her ring is gone, but at least that gives me a chance to come up with an excuse.

And since Brax actually did drop it down the sink, he just gave me the best excuse in the world.

I hand Leo a dish rag. “Trade?”

He sinks his hand into his pocket and plucks out the ring. “I have to do dishes too? I never agreed to this.”

I pocket the ring. “Anything for love, right?”

He shakes his head and plunges his hands into the sink.

Part one of Operation Proposal is a success.

Now I just need to get her to say yes... and pull off a few more secrets up my sleeve.