Running for it, p.9
Running For It, page 9
“I’m not agreeing to this,” I argued.
Hunter tilted my chin and met my gaze. “Please? Marry me?”
When we’d gotten to the chapel, they wanted a marriage license, and the courthouse wasn’t open yet. Did that stop us?
“Hang on. I know a guy.” Ramsey already had his phone out.
I swallowed hard as my gut threatened to revolt again. Holy fuck. I’d married my ex-but-not-boyfriend’s boyfriend.
Chapter Fifteen
This would be fine. Between Hunter and I, we could plan anything, and Ramsey was a master of executing those ideas—even when we were too drunk to think right apparently. This didn’t even require a complex plan. “We can get it annulled? Do we even have to do that much? We can just ask the chapel not to file the paperwork? No one but us knows about this.”
“About that...” Hunter was still staring at his phone. “These photos? They’re on the Miller for Senate social media pages.
“How—” Ramsey was on his feet in a flash, bolting back into the bedroom. “Shit.” His shout echoed through the entire suite.
I pulled myself up to sit on the edge of the tub. Given the situation, this seemed like a good place to talk about it.
Ramsey returned and handed me my phone. “So, you know that interview I did last night?” He was uncharacteristically sheepish.
“Yes...” I was torn between checking my phone now and flushing it before I saw if I was caught in the fallout. I wouldn’t be able to think until I knew, though.
“I saved some photos from the interview to a shared cloud folder. And I saved the wedding photos to the same place, so Debbie shared them.”
As Ramsey spoke, I saw the text from Luna. It just said congratulations. There was no !!! No :) In Luna speak, it said fuck you. “No,” the word tumbled past my lips. She thought I’d hidden this from her.
“I don’t care where you accidentally put them. Debbie had no right.” Hunter’s anger grabbed my attention again. He jabbed his screen hard enough I wondered if he was cracking the glass, the brought the phone to his ear. There was a short pause. “Save it.” He clipped off the word. “No part of my personal life crosses into Ramsey’s campaign... I don’t give a fuck what you found there... Bullshit. You knew better... No. Don’t do anything until you hear from one of us.” He disconnected and swung his arm as if he wanted to throw the phone. Then pressed it to his hip, as if looking for a pocket.
Right. We were all still naked. I pushed to my feet, legs shaking from uncertainty rather than hangover. “I’m going to get dressed.” I walked past both of them. The numbness in my mind was going to vanish any minute now. The panic would set in. I’d rather be wearing clothes when it did.
I yanked on panties. A bra and T-shirt. Jeans.
Numbness was still there. I sank onto the edge of the bed.
Ramsey and Hunter were shirtless, but at least they’d tucked away the dangly bits. How distracted was I that I didn’t care if their dicks were hanging out?
“We have to undo this.” I was stating the obvious, but I couldn’t find anything smarter.
“It’s not going to be that easy,” Ramsey said.
I started at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. He must be, because the words coming out of his mouth didn’t make any sense. “It’s very much that easy if Hunter and I both agree. I had a friend go through a no-fault divorce. We sign some paperwork—a lot of paperwork—and we’re done.”
“Or, we could stick to the plan we made last night.” Ramsey was still speaking in gibberish. “The one where this makes things easier.”
I blinked several times, until he was a blur, then squeezed my eyes shut and watched the sparkles behind my eyelids. I finally looked at him again. “This is what I’m hearing—we got drunk and did something stupid. Let’s all lie to everyone and tell them we meant it. Do you remember why you and I broke up?”
“Vividly.”
“And you’re asking me to lie to the entire world—not just a few cameras—and tell them this entire thing was on purpose. You want me to stay with Hunter because... Why? Not that I dislike you, Hunter, but marriage?”
Hunter puffed out his cheeks and sucked them in when he sighed. “I get it. No explanation necessary.”
“That makes one of us, because I need to know why you’re not taking my side.”
“There are rumors about Hunter and I,” Ramsey said. “People are noticing what we are. The rumors are quiet now, but they’re getting louder.”
I was clearly missing something. “So own it. “Maybe it’s time—”
“This marriage isn’t a big deal.” Ramsey sounded like he believed that. “I’m only asking that you play along until we—”
“Figure out how to spin a divorce?” I didn’t appreciate being talked over. “If it wasn’t a big deal, you wouldn’t be asking me to play along.”
Ramsey frowned. “Please, Violet.”
I couldn’t... What was going on? “If you ask me to do this, to pretend I’m married to someone I wouldn’t otherwise choose, for your political career, and I do it? That’s the end of us.” I hated the words, but I meant them. I wouldn’t out Ramsey and Hunter, but what they were asking me to do was a personal line I wouldn’t cross just so he could be elected.
“He’s not doing it for his campaign.” Hunter’s voice was quiet. “He’s doing it for me.”
Was it possible to drink oneself into an alternate dimension?
“Are you sure?” Ramsey asked.
Hunter nodded.
“Fill me in. Now.” Before this drove me over the edge.
Hunter pressed his back to the closest wall and turned his gaze to the ceiling. “It took me a long time to figure out my preferences, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t put a lot of thought into it when I was younger. My parents are religious, and so was the community I was raised in. If you think hetero is the default assumption, multiply that by one-hundred and press that weight on a kid whose entire world expected great things from him.”
I’d seen that before. I’d heard it from more than one of the kids in my shelter. There was what most people experienced just from existing, and then there was being paired with the opposite sex from the time a kid was old enough to walk, for appearances. For isn’t that cute? Isn’t he such a lady killer? Moments.
“Anyway.” Hunter sighed again. “Fast forward through a couple of decades of denial that I’ve told my therapist about so you don’t need to hear it, and a series of events that forced the pieces to fit, and I realized I’d been in love with my best friend for as long as I could remember. Telling Ramsey was the most frightening thing I’d ever done.”
I couldn’t be jealous of that. Not of the pain or sincerity in Hunter’s story.
“Fortunately that went well,” Ramsey said and squeezed Hunter’s hand.
Hunter’s mouth twitched in an unformed smile. “He went with me to tell Mom, and that was the second scariest, because she’d always been my biggest supporter.” His frown was back. “She dropped a bombshell on me, too. Assured me first she still loved me. All the stuff a parent is supposed to say, but Dad had been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer less than a week earlier. This will ruin your father, she said. You know how he is.”
“I’m sorry.” My sympathy felt ineffective, but I didn’t have anything else to offer.
Hunter tugged his hand free from Ramsey and crossed his arms. “He only had six months to live. Mom begged me not to send my father to his grave knowing his only boy was queer.”
Goddess, my heart was breaking for Hunter.
“Dad’s still with us, thank God.” Hunter’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “But he hasn’t recovered, he’s simply holding on because he’s a tough bastard. And every chance my mother gets, she reminds me, begs me, to keep the secret just a little longer.”
I couldn’t believe I was considering going along with this, but the reasons had changed, and I’d heard variations of Hunter’s story—seen the negative fallout—too many times to fault him for his decision. “How long are we talking?”
“After the elections, Hunter will be out of the public eye. No scrutiny. No one is going to notice or care if he quietly divorces, and his parents will think he gave marriage a try.” After the elections. Ramsey wasn’t talking about the primaries.
“November?” I couldn’t hide my disbelief. “It’s January.”
“November is the worst case scenario, right Ramsey?” Hunter’s voice was pointed. He didn’t want to be married to me any more than I did him. “We’re not going to stop looking for solutions. All I’m asking is that you work with me on a plan that doesn’t involve having papers drawn up right now.”
Money and connections get things done, but frequently not the important things. Hunter’s words from the plane bounced into my thoughts. Something neither he nor Ramsey ever did, remind me of the favors they’d done for me in the past. I was going to do this. Please don’t let me regret it. “Okay. But the ring?” I held up my hand. “I can’t wear this.” It was Ramsey’s ring for fuck’s sake, and now that it was on my finger, I could admit to myself I’d hoped it would end up there. But not like this.
“Of course not,” Hunter said quickly. “We’ll get you something more appropriate to us.”
“You can’t tell anyone this isn’t real.” Leave it to Ramsey to drive home how important the facade was.
More pieces of reality sank in. “But our friends...” Shared friends, thanks to Lyn’s relationship with Owen and Kingston. “When Hunter and I break up...”
“We’ll tell them this is why there’s been friction between you and me, because of you and Hunter.” Ramsey had figured too much of this out too quickly. “But on this trip we talked, and we’re all friends again. And then you’ll have an amicable break-up.”
Which would make it harder to be with Ramsey after. This was such a fucking mess. “I have to tell Luna. I won’t lie to her.”
“I’m fine with it as long as she will be,” Hunter said.
I still didn’t know if I was.
Chapter Sixteen
Talking to Luna, making things right with her, was my top priority. I sent her a text, We’ll talk as soon as I get home. This afternoon. I’m sorry.
Her reply was instant—it’s fine.
All lower case. Period at the end. She was furious with me.
Hunter had a slew of messages to sift through, and a lot of them were from family who wanted to know more about this mystery Violet woman. The one from his mother said Not Ramsey’s ex-Violet.
My other texts and voicemails were more happy sounding than Luna’s. Various versions of Congratulations. Lyn’s made my stomach churn all over again. You should have asked for more time off. It’s not a big deal. Take a honeymoon. Enjoy each other.
No, no, no. I already hated walking away from work with short notice yesterday and today.
We don’t want to make a big deal out of things. It’s why we kept things secret. As I typed, I shared the message with Hunter and Ramsey. Hunter was doing the same so we knew that we weren’t giving anyone conflicting information. This was one reason lying sucked so much.
Lyn replied. It’s okay. Take the days. At least the rest of the week.
I couldn’t. That would devour me. Please don’t make me do that. I’ll be there tomorrow, like I’m supposed to.
Lyn’s Fine. I can’t force you to not come in wasn’t as fatal sounding as Luna’s, but it still made me frown.
Ramsey didn’t have many messages, especially considering the news went out on his accounts. One was from Kingston, asking if Ramsey was okay with Hunter and me, and one was a voicemail from Ravyn. Ramsey played the short snippet for us.
“Really?” Ravyn’s tone was flat.
She wasn’t buying it. Smart woman.
As we packed, rode to the airport, and got on the plane, the conversation was all next steps. Tension tightened in my neck and throbbed in my skull with each new thing I had to do or remember. Any peace I’d achieved over the last day was gone, and I just wanted to curl up in a leather plane seat and sleep for a billion years.
We’d tell people a story that was mostly-true, but still had to open with a lie. Hunter and I had been together for a while, and that was why Ramsey and I clashed. Partly because of my past with Ramsey but largely because he’d hated keeping my relationship with Hunter a secret.
When my barking laugh slipped out at the last bit, Ramsey shot me a withering glare. I shrugged. “At least own it with those of us who know better.”
“So, Violet should keep her apartment.” Hunter interrupted before Ramsey could counter. “But she’ll need to move in with me. We can take our time, but anything you need, I’ll have brought in,” he looked at me.
“And when people ask why now?” I couldn’t imagine anyone would buy this story.
“Vegas, especially the party, made the two of you see how tired you were of hiding the truth and keeping your distance, so you let impulse take over.” Ramsey’s immediate answer wasn’t a surprise, but at least his flat tone said he didn’t like this arrangement either. “You meant to tell your families and friends first, but someone leaked the news.
Ramsey raked his fingers through his hair. “Fame is fleeting if you’re not pursuing it. If your relationship isn’t constantly on display, people will forget.”
“Our friends and family won’t forget. And not many will understand if it looks like I went from you to Hunter and back to you.”
The longer we lived this lie, the harder the break-up would be on everyone around us. The harder it would be to find my way back to Ramsey without questions. Yeah, I went years without seeing him, but twenty-four hours ago I was excited to be giving us another try.
“This gets shittier the longer I think about it.” Hunter couldn’t have echoed my thoughts more perfectly.
“We’ll find a solution fast,” Ramsey said. “We’ll keep our explanations brief. Stay low-key.”
I didn’t believe it. “You’re not capable of low-key.”
“I am for the two of you.” Ramsey’s sincerity would have meant more if this entire conversation were about anything else.
We landed in Salt Lake far too soon for my liking.
Hunter would take me to Luna’s, and then back to my place to pack enough to stay at his.
When we reached the house where Luna rented the basement, I asked Hunter to drop me off. “I need to have this conversation alone.”
“I get that. I’ll be at the coffee shop a few blocks down. Call me when you’re ready to go.”
I nodded. Before I could climb from the car, he grabbed my hand and tugged me back.
He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I know this is a universally bad idea, but there’s no one I’d rather be accidentally married to. We’ll figure this out fast.”
“Okay.” I couldn’t think of anything better to say.
I heard his car drive away as I headed up the side path and down the stairs to Luna’s door. I knocked, and waited.
There was no answer, but Luna’s car was in the driveway. The curtains in the tiny window next to the door moved. Probably not the wind.
I knocked again. Still nothing.
I sent Luna a text. Please talk to me.
I’m not home, she replied.
The exchange would have made me smile if I weren’t so stressed. I didn’t say I was at your apartment. Please let me in. I’ll explain.
You don’t have to explain to me who you love.
As I read Luna’s reply, I heard the deadbolt thunk. The door opened, but there was no Luna. I stepped inside.
“Congratulations.” Luna’s flat tone startled me. She swung the door shut behind me. “I would have gotten you a wedding present if you’d ever even bothered to mention you were dating him, let alone in love enough to get married. But I’m sure your boyfriend—husband—will shower you with all sorts of gifts.”
“It’s not real.” Goddess it felt good to say that. I turned to find Luna standing with her back to the door and her arms crossed.
Her frown deepened. “What’s not?”
“You have to promise not to tell anyone, and please don’t be mad at me. Please.” The day’s stress weighed me down and made my voice crack.
Luna’s expression softened. “I promise I won’t tell anyone, and I won’t be mad.” Her tone was kind. “What’s not real?”
I collapsed on the couch. “This all stays between us.”
“Always.”
I didn’t know how far back to go. Too much had happened since that first charity dinner, leaving a smear in my memory. “So... Ramsey and Hunter are a couple, and they don’t want anyone to know, because Hunter’s dad doesn’t know he’s gay—bi? Pan?—and Ramsey and I were going to try dating too, not exclusive, cuz of the whole Hunter thing, and all three of us were good with it. And then last night we had way too many free drinks and decided it would be a lot easier to keep all of our secrets if Hunter and I got married and the news got leaked and now we have to figure out how to do damage control and end this thing without too many people getting hurt and Goddess, I am never drinking again.”
Luna studied me with sympathy. “It’s my fault, isn’t it?”
“What? No. How would this be your fault?”
“Ramsey told you what he did for me, and he forced you to do this in return?”
Apparently my day could get more fucked-up. “What did Ramsey do for you?”
“Oh.”
Not the answer I wanted. “Luna?”
She perched on the arm of the couch, feet on the cushion next to me, and stared at her fingers. “I don’t know for certain it was him, but I don’t know who else it could have been, so I always assumed he did it to win you back.”
“Luna?” Had I missed the Alice-in-Wonderland-style Drink Me label on those drinks last night?
“Remember when I was arrested, and my plea bargain and sentence were so much more lenient than we expected?”
Pieces were clicking for me. “Yeah...”
