“What’s wrong?” she asked.
My mind started swirling with ways to get out of this mess. I had to get home. I had to fix whatever the hell I’d gotten myself into. And I couldn’t do it with Lauren breathing down my neck. I’d married one of her brothers for fuck sake. She would kill me if she ever found out.
“Sam?”
“Sorry, thought I heard my phone buzzing. Something’s come up with work and, like an idiot, I didn’t bring my laptop,” I said.
“You always pack your laptop.”
“You can blame it on the flustering news of your brothers changing flights without telling me,” I said. “But I have to get back earlier than I thought. It’s a massive story, and my boss has handed it to me.”
“Oooh, that sounds big. Oh my God, did you get chosen to cover the Royal Wedding?” she gushed.
“I don’t have all the details, otherwise I’d tell you. But I do have to get back. I’m so sorry.”
“I know, I know. I get it. I had a feeling your time in France would make you a hot commodity,” she said with a grin.
“I need to get in here and change my flight. See if I can get it pushed up or something.”
“Well, when you’re done, I at least want to have lunch or something with you before you go. Okay? This was supposed to be my Bachelorette party, and you’re dipping out.”
“We’ll do something if I can. But if there’s an early flight, I have to take it and get back to my laptop.”
“Yep. Just come knock on my door before you head out. If we can squeeze something in, I want to.”
“You got it,” I said with a smile.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I shut the door. I hated lying to my best friend, but I couldn’t stick around after what I’d done with her brothers. And after that, nothing. Not a damn clue as to where the night went from there except the ring and a mangled marriage certificate that looked as official as it could get.
I threw some clothes on and shoved my things into my suitcase, including the ring and the marriage certificate. I needed to get home and figure out how I was going to get myself out of this colossal mess with minimal damage.
The rest of the day was a blur. Thankfully, there was a flight back out to Los Angeles at ten in the morning, which meant I didn’t have to lie to Lauren anymore. I hugged her and promised her a weekend with only the two of us before she got married, then I left. I got out of there before any of the brothers rolled out of bed. I sat on the plane and held my breath, and it felt like I didn’t let it go until I landed back in California.
Even though the ring wasn’t on my finger, I could still detect its lingering presence.
I tossed my suitcase onto my bed when I got home and unzipped the front compartment. I pulled out the marriage certificate and the ring, my eyes trying to figure out the name on the piece of paper. But the more it dried and crumpled, the more unreadable the name became.
I’d married one of the brothers, but I didn’t know who.
And the worst part was I couldn’t remember any of it.
CHAPTER 8
LIAM
I picked up my car after landing at LAX and drove straight to Samantha’s place. She’d taken off from Vegas without so much as a goodbye to any of us. Lauren had told me that Sam had gotten called away for work, but I wasn’t buying it.
I wanted to make sure Samantha was okay. After the night we’d all shared, I needed to know that she wasn’t regretting everything that had happened, or worse, feeling bad about it.
I pulled up and knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer. I pressed my ear to the door and listened for her, but there was no movement.
I walked back out to my car and called her. I closed my eyes, willing her to pick up. Willing her to talk to me about what was going on, because I knew Samantha, and I knew something wasn’t right.
“Hello?”
“Samantha. Hey. It’s Liam.”
“I know,” she said.