by Cate Ashwood
“How was yours?” Alec asked, and I practically vibrated with excitement.
“It was fucking awesome,” I replied, sitting up a little taller in my seat.
“Oh yeah?”
“Definitely. We have reason to celebrate tonight.”
“What are we celebrating?” Alec asked, his interest obviously piqued.
“Remember when I came home all grumpy as fuck because Marcus had won the bid for your neighborhood and I was pissed off that the bad guy had won?”
Alec nodded and waited for me to continue.
“Turns out he was a worse guy than we thought. As it happens, he’s been accepting monetary compensation from businesses looking to get into the areas he develops, and he was turning around and using some of the bribe money to grease palms to have his designs chosen over mine.”
Alec beamed. “No fucking way. I can’t believe you didn’t lead with that.”
“Yep. He and two of the committee members were fired today and escorted out of City Hall by security.” I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. “I got the whole fucking thing on video.”
I handed to the phone to Alec and watched with delight as he witnessed Marcus get his comeuppance.
“Anyway, obviously the design he submitted for your neighborhood is being chucked out and mine is going to be implemented instead.” I was sitting so far forward on the edge of my seat that my ass was barely on it. I couldn’t help the excitement, though. I didn’t know if I’d ever had news this big to share. “I get to be the one deciding what the area around Liberty becomes. It also means that for the time being I’m going to have to pick up the slack that Marcus left, taking over his unfinished jobs, but it’s worth it. It’s so worth it.”
“I am so proud of you,” Alec said, and I could feel the pride in his words. I’d never felt better about anything. “Does this increased workload start immediately?”
“Probably not. There’s a pile of red tape that needs to be cut before I can officially take over, so it’s likely I have a week or two before the shit hits the fan.”
“That’s good because I was thinking…” Alec started, leaning back in his chair.
I sat quietly, waiting for him to go on.
“We only have a few days left as husbands.”
“Uh huh…”
“We should skip out on Webster’s this weekend and get out of town for a few days.”
“Like a road trip?” I asked, intrigued by the idea.
“Yeah. It could be kind of a last hurrah for us. The honeymoon we never had. We can fuck like bunnies… really see this thing through to the end.”
I laughed. “That’s the perfect way to round out our fake marriage.”
Alec grinned at me, his expression of happiness reaching all the way to his dark eyes. “Where should we go?”
“I don’t know. Does it matter? Are we going to see more than the inside of the hotel room?” I waggled my eyebrows at him, and he chuckled.
“Maybe not, but it’d be nice to have something to do in case your ass gets too sore.”
“Giving yourself a lot of credit, aren’t you?”
Alec pulled out his phone and tapped away for a few seconds. “New York?”
“God, it’s been forever since I’ve been to New York. Remember the trip we took to see Eminem during your wannabe gangsta phase?”
“Do we really need to stroll down that particular block of memory lane?” Alec asked, one eyebrow lifted.
I mimicked his expression and sat up taller in my seat. “Uh, yes we do. Every chance we get. The baggy pants worn below your ass, the backward ball cap, the swagger. Thank Christ I was able to talk you out of bleaching your hair.”
He cringed. “Good thing I had you to keep my ass in line, huh?”
“Damn straight.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I still can’t believe I actually agreed to go to the concert with you,” I said, a wave of nostalgia pulling me down hard.
“You have nothing to complain about. It’s not like we ever made it there.”
“Good point, and ending up lost somewhere in Yonkers was more entertaining than the show would have been anyway, and that’s saying something.” I laughed. “Fuck, your mom was so pissed when she realized there were an extra 500 miles on her Tercel.”
Alec grinned. It hadn’t been all that funny at the time. At seventeen it had seemed like one of the worst weekends they’d spent. A carefully planned scheme had gone sideways when it became apparent I couldn’t read a map for shit, and the trouble Alec had gotten in when we came back hardly seemed worth it for a greasy burger at a rundown diner rather than the sold-out show we’d been anticipating.
Now, though, more than a decade later, my memories were shaded in joy rather than the misery I’d felt as a teenager.
The waiter arrived with plates of sushi, and my mouth watered. It had been too long since we’d done dinner here, but I planned to stuff myself until I burst to make up for it.
“This will be a very different trip than the one we took when we were seventeen,” Alec said as he pulled his chopsticks from the paper wrapping and maneuvered them into his hand.
“You don’t want to grab a burger in Yonkers for old time’s sake?”
“Uh, no, thanks.”
“New York does sound good. Let’s do it.” I picked up a piece of the spicy tuna roll and popped it into my mouth, my mind already whizzing forward to the weekend and all the possibilities of being alone in Manhattan with Alec.
“Okay. I’ll start making arrangements tomorrow.”
Excitement lit in my belly. I’d been feeling anxious for days, knowing our fake marriage was coming to an end. This whole worrying about relationships thing was new ground for me, completely foreign territory that, frankly, I had no business traipsing around in. But here I was, tying myself up in knots thinking about what would happen when this was all over.
With five days left in our thirty-day sentence, I couldn’t help but preoccupy myself with how everything would turn out on day thirty-one. We’d more than crossed the line of friendship. We’d fucking obliterated it and left it in shards miles behind us, and less than a week from now, we’d have to deal with the fallout from that.
I wasn’t this guy. I wasn’t the one fixating on feelings and emotions, worrying about what might come to pass. Up until the bet, I was the live-in-the-moment, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may kind of guy. I wished everything was still that simple, but this wasn’t a random man I’d picked to be my temporary husband. This was Alec, and the thought of losing him absolutely fucking terrified me.
At the forefront of my mind, I knew there was more to it. I’d be destroyed if our friendship was ruined over this, but it wasn’t only that. There were more than just years of friendship on the line.
I took a swig of my beer and shoved another piece of tempura in my mouth. Alec smiled at me and my stomach flipped—fucking flipped—because this wasn’t just fucking around, was it?
How the hell was I supposed to give this up?
I had five more days to figure that out.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alec
Friday afternoon could not have crawled any slower. Even though there hadn’t been any major—or minor, for that matter—issues to deal with, the minutes stretched out to infinite proportions. Trying to escape was as daunting a task as ever too. Most Friday afternoons, the shop clears out within two minutes of the clock hitting five, but because I was anxious to get out of there, everyone wanted to stick around and shoot the shit.
I finally managed to escape twenty minutes behind schedule, making sure to lock up behind myself as I left. The last thing I needed was a phone call from the alarm company while Chase and I were in New York. I didn’t want anything to spoil this.
It wasn’t the first time we’d gone away together. While in college, we’d managed a couple of road trips during summers and we always had a blast together. This time was different. It felt like there was more riding on this.
Our relationship, as it had existed for the previous month anyway, was coming to an end. I had no idea what the next month or the next six months would hold, but whatever happened, I wanted this weekend to be one for us to be able to look back on with fondness.
I’d still been too cowardly to talk to him. I wanted to. I wanted to tell him I’d fallen completely in love with him and coming back from this might kill me. I was still terrified he didn’t feel the same way. There were moments, mostly the quiet ones that were just us, sitting at home or falling asleep together, where for an instant I thought I saw the love I felt for him reflected back at me. I couldn’t be sure, though, and that made me crazy.
I was frozen between wanting to admit everything to him and keeping my stupid mouth shut. With only three days left in the month, the latter was more likely. The risk of aborting the relationship before I’d seen it through to thirty days was too much to take. I was selfish. I wanted every last second with him, even if it was all a façade.
After a quick pit stop, I hurried home, knowing Chase would be waiting for me. I’d packed the night before, so everything was ready to go. We wouldn’t get to the hotel until late, but it also meant we’d miss most of the traffic on the way down, and spending as much time away as I could with Chase seemed like the best plan.
I stepped in through my front door, excitement already building.
“I stopped on the way home and picked up an extra bottle of lube, in case we run out,” I yelled as I walked through the apartment looking for Chase. He wasn’t in the living room or kitchen, and when I entered the bedroom I saw the bathroom door was closed.
“Chase, I’m home,” I called through the door. “I’ll throw the last of my things into the bag, and we’ll head out whenever you’re ready.”
“Alec?” Chase’s voice wavered as he said my name. A knot formed in my gut. Something wasn’t right.
I moved closer to the door. “Are you okay?”
For a moment there was no response. I reached for the doorknob when he finally answered. “I don’t think so.”
I turned the handle and pushed the door open to find Chase sitting on the floor, his arms crossed over the toilet seat and his head resting against them.
He looked up at me as I entered.
His skin was ashen white, and his eyes were glassy and half-lidded.
“Jesus Christ. You look like death. Are you okay?” I asked again, my voice knotted with concern. I crouched down next to him, and he turned to look at me. His movements were measured and slow, and I could see the perspiration that dotted his forehead, his hair soaked with it.
“I might actually be dying.”
“What happened?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. I felt normal this morning, and by the time I finished with the department meeting at ten, all my energy was drained. By the time I got back to my office, the nausea had started.”
“Department meetings’ll do that to you.” The joke landed flat. Chase attempted a weak smile, but he looked like he was in pain. I sat down next to him, then reached up and threaded my fingers into his hair, pulling him toward me. His head came to rest on my shoulder, his forehead pressed against the side of my neck. He smelled like vomit and he was soaked with sweat, but in that instant I didn’t give a shit.
“How did you get home?” I asked, softening my voice. I remembered the last time I was sick like this. I thought I was dying too.
“Jesse drove me. He had to pull over four times so I could puke onto the side of the road. Fuck, I hope this isn’t contagious.”
“He’ll be fine,” I assured him, although I had no idea if that was true or not. “You’re burning up,” I said, moving my hand to his forehead. It was too hot. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Can you turn the light off? It’s too bright.”
“Sure.” Chase stood and steadied himself against the toilet once more. I didn’t like the way this was going. Even without a thermometer, I could tell his temperature was far too high.
I turned off the lights and went to the storage closet to grab what I needed before returning to the bathroom. As I lit the candle, Chase hunched over the toilet, throwing up violently. I set the candle down and knelt next to him once more, brushing his damp hair back from his face.
“Thank you,” he said, wiping his mouth with toilet paper. “I think this is the most romantic setting I’ve ever barfed in.”
I laughed. “Happy to be of service. Do you think you can keep these down? They should settle your stomach and bring your fever down a bit,” I said, handing him a couple of pills. I filled a cup with some water from the tap and handed it to him. His movements were slow, but he managed to swallow the pills before looking up at me and offering me another weak smile.
A minute later, those pills came back up. I rubbed his back gently as he retched, feeling helpless to do anything to help. I hated it. When the pills and the few sips of water he’d taken had been flushed, I stood. “Maybe a bath would help to bring the fever down. I don’t know if that will help with the puking, but it’s worth a shot.”
I turned the tap on for the bathtub, adjusting the temperature until the water was a degree or two cooler than Chase usually liked it. As the tub filled, I grabbed one of the big bowls from the kitchen in case he needed to throw up while he was in the bath. I didn’t think there was much left in his stomach, but always better to be on the cautious side when it came to puke. On my way back, I grabbed my phone and called the hotel, canceling our reservation. It killed me to do it, but Chase certainly wasn’t in any shape to be going anywhere.
He was shaking by the time I helped him out of his clothes and into the tub.
“Fuck, that’s cold,” he said as he sank into the water.
“Sorry. It feels cooler than it is because your body temperature is so high. Once it comes down some, it’ll feel more comfortable.”
I watched as Chase settled into the water and shut his eyes. His skin was still ghostly white, and although I knew he’d only been sick for a few hours, he looked almost frail to me. It scared the shit out of me. I grabbed a towel and set it down on the floor next to the tub, then lowered myself onto it and leaned my head back against the wall.
“Hey,” Chase said, his eyes still closed.
“Hey,” I said back.
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. This wasn’t your fault. I just want you feeling better.”
“We could still go… Maybe this will pass by morning.”
“I don’t think so. We’re staying put and you’re getting as much rest as you can. New York will always be there.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, then rested his head back once more and closed his eyes.
I wondered if that was a lie. Of course New York would always be there, but I didn’t know where we stood after this. I’d had vague plans of talking to him, of explaining how I felt, while we were caught up in the magic and romance of the Big Apple. Those were flying out the window. Somehow confessing I was in love with him didn’t have the same effect sitting on the bathroom floor as it would have in a romantic hotel near Central Park.
I sat with him, refilling the water when needed so it wasn’t too cold. He seemed to be more relaxed, but when the thermometer still read 102 degrees after nearly an hour, I began to worry. I pulled the plug, and as the water drained from the tub, I helped Chase to his feet. For a second he wavered, and I thought his knees were going to buckle. I stepped into the tub, soaking my socks as I did, and pulled him, naked and dripping wet, against me. With one hand I held him securely while I grabbed the towel off the rack with the other. He leaned his head against my shoulder, and I wrapped the plush fabric around him, drying him gently.
“C’mon. Let’s get you into bed.”
I helped maneuver him out of the tub and into the bedroom, where I pulled back the covers so Chase could climb in. I sat with him until I heard him snoring, then did the only thing I could think to do. I called my brother.
/> It took forty-five minutes, during which Chase dry-heaved repeatedly into the mixing bowl, but Daniel arrived, his daughter’s hot-pink toy medical bag in hand. “I’ve come prepared for all manner of possibilities.”
“You really are a dickhead, you know that?” I said as I opened the door to let him in.
“Yep. We both got that gene from Dad.”
“Thanks for coming anyway.” I was too tired for the normal banter Daniel and I exchanged. I just wanted him to fix whatever was wrong.
Daniel smiled at me, his expression knowing. “It’s no big deal,” he said. “We do all sorts of stupid shit for the people we love, don’t we?”
I had a feeling he was talking about more than showing up to check on my fake husband’s health when he should be home spending time with his family.
“He’s most likely going to be fine. I figured, why not take advantage of having a doctor in the family, though.”
“Let’s have a look at the patient, then.”
I led Daniel through to the bedroom where Chase was still tucked snugly into our bed. “He’s been puking since noon, and he spiked a fever sometime this afternoon. I tried to give him Tylenol and Dramamine. It’s all I could think of to help with the vomiting, but he couldn’t keep it down. Even after a bath, his fever’s still high.”
Daniel nodded and set the pink kit down on the end of the bed. When he opened it, I saw he had packed it with medical supplies. He took out the stethoscope and the thermometer, as well as a blood pressure cuff. It had been a long time since I’d seen my brother in action. As soon as he slipped the stethoscope around his neck, he transformed, slipping seamlessly into physician mode.
“Hey, Chase,” Daniel said in his doctor voice. “I’m going to check you out, make sure you’re going to survive the night, okay?”
Chase attempted a smile, but it looked like it took considerable effort. “Sure. Whatever you gotta do. Not going to complain about two Monteros looking after me.”
Daniel chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do about making you feel a bit more human.”