“Tell us!” Mandy begged, ripping June out of her musings.
“Yes! What could be worse?” Jaz prompted.
“Well… he might have made me another bet. This time we weren’t playing cards. I promise. It was just a stupid thing he said, and I felt- I don’t know. I don’t know if there is a way to describe how I feel about all of this.”
“Fucked up?” Mandy suggested.
June grinned. “That might be it. Uh- he asked me to spend the weekend with him. He wants to try and prove to me that this marriage could work or could be fun or something. I don’t know. It sounds crazy.”
“Because it is crazy,” Jaz cut in.
“It is crazy,” June agreed. “Very crazy. This whole thing might just be bat-shit.”
“So, the bet is he wants you to try and have fun and if he proves you can, then you have to what? Stay married?”
“Good guess.” June turned to Jaz. “Yeah that was pretty much it.”
“That’s- how could he think that two days would be an indication of what a marriage would be like?”
“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t think that,” June admitted. It was easier to try and make Brock out to be a lunatic. That way, her friends would stick on her side. “He- he said he doesn’t really believe in love. He’s tried it a few times and it hasn’t worked out. I- well you guys know what my history has been. We know that I never pick the right guy. That aside, he didn’t think two days would tell. He just wanted to show me that we might have some things in common and if we enjoy being around each other, that might lead to something else.”
“Like what?” Mandy leaned forward.
“I don’t know. I guess staying married and trying to figure it out.”
“Like, long distance?” Jaz studied June’s face for answers that weren’t going to be forthcoming, since she didn’t have a clue what they were.
“I don’t know,” June admitted. “I guess so. I don’t even know where he lives.” She shook her head. “This is just so crazy. So crazy! I just couldn’t say no. He can be very convincing. And I kind of thought that there wouldn’t really be any harm in having fun. The deal is if he pays for us, all of us, to go out and do some things together, then I’ll give it an honest shot at trying to enjoy myself and maybe consider continuing this in some way.”
“What? You’d leave us!” Mandy started her shallow breathing again and June really considered getting up and searching the room for a paper bag. They’d splurged on candy apples the morning before and she thought she remembered them coming in brown bags.
“No! Of course not!” June shifted and wrapped her arms tightly around Mandy. Jaz joined in on the hug. “I would never leave you guys. You’re everything. You’re all I have, other than my parents and my brothers, and god knows they’re not fit to fill in for girl’s night out.” Jaz and Mandy giggled. “I said I’d agree to give it an honest shot at considering what he said. I never agreed to move to wherever he lives or that I’d even consider not getting this marriage dissolved. I just- he looked sad when he talked about his past shit and it made me think about all the times I’ve failed. He was very convincing. You’ll meet him. You’ll see.”
Mandy and Jaz looked at her with two sets of glistening, excited, far too hopeful eyes. June wanted to protest. She wanted to cut her friends off right there and make them swear to her that they wouldn’t get romantically involved in this. That they wouldn’t go all gaga over Brock just because he was jacked and sinfully handsome and nice enough and…
“I almost forgot,” June cut in. “Those bags I set down when I came in have all sorts of breakfast. I ordered like ten things and of course we didn’t eat any of it. I brought it back for us.”
“He let you charge it to his room?” Jaz asked, stunned.
“Really?” Mandy echoed. “Is he rich? What was the room like? Was it an expensive hotel? Maybe we can convince him to take us on something exciting, like a helicopter ride!”
June held back a groan. Great. So much for her friends being on her side in this. She was losing them already and they hadn’t even met Brock yet. She knew when they feasted their eyes on the tower of muscle and sex, she was going to lose them. Brock would gain two allies in his quest to, for some reason, keep their marriage afloat.
Puh-lease. Not that it was a real marriage. It was a shitty decision neither of them could remember. Just because it was legal, didn’t make them married. Okay, well even if it does, he’s not my real husband.