Shine Not Burn(66)

Typical Bradley. He was doing me a favor being harsh. I just needed to get this done with. “Two years ago I went to Las Vegas with Candice and Kelly.”

“The bimbos.”

“No, Bradley, they’re not bimbos.”

“I beg to differ. Anyway, as you were saying…”

“I went to Las Vegas with my two best friends. And while I was there, something happened.”

“You broke up with Luke and got laid. It’s no big deal, Andie, people do it all the time.”

The way he said it gave me a weird feeling, like he was being defensive instead of understanding. I shoved it aside because all this garbage had to be said, and I was on a roll. “Yeah, well, it was more than that.”

“What? You fell in love with the guy? You want to get back together with him? Please, what a bunch of horse shit. You’ve been with me for two years, Andie. I’ve invested two long years of my professional and personal life with you. Do you know what two years is like in my life? They’re like dog years. Multiply them by seven and that’s how long we’ve been at this thing together. Fourteen years is too long to play games. Just tell it to me straight, because right now I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

Dog years? Since when did our relationship get measured in dog years? “I’m trying to tell you, but you keep interrupting.” He was irritating me now, making me see some of the things Ruby saw in him, reminding me of the things that used to bother me about him before we started dating.

“I’m sorry,” he said, toning down the jerk a little. “Please continue. I’ll wait until you’re done before I comment again.”

“Thank you. As I was saying … I went out to Las Vegas. Luke broke up with me by text on the way out, as you might recall. I got really drunk and met this guy named Gavin. He’s from Oregon, and yes, we had sex. And then the next thing I remembered was waking up in the hotel room with Candice next to me and Kelly in the other room. The guy was long gone and I never saw him or heard from him again.”

“So?”

“So, when I applied for our marriage license last week, I found out that there’s a marriage license with my name on it out in Nevada.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“It means I married him. I married the stranger.”

“You said you f*cked him.”

“Well, I didn’t say that exactly, but yeah, that’s the idea.”

“So he wasn’t a stranger. And you’re with him now, too, right?”

“Yes. I came out here to get him to sign the divorce papers.”

“Okay, fine. So get the * to sign the papers and then get your butt back here. We have a wedding to put together.”

I held the phone out and looked at it, not really believing what I was hearing. How could he be so casual about it? I frowned. Probably because he didn’t know the worst part yet. Deep breath. You can do this.

“Did you hear what I said?” he was asking as I put the phone back to my ear.

“Yeah, but … I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“What do you mean it’s not going to happen? We’ve been planning this for six months! People have plane tickets in hand. Non-refundable ones.”

“I know but … I’m sorry, Bradley … I … shit,” I pressed my fingers into my forehead and crushed my eyes closed. “I slept with him again. Last night.” I let out a huge breath. “I’m so, so, so sorry. You didn’t deserve that. I’m a total jerk, I know.” I had to swallow several times to keep the bile down. Admitting to being a slut with zero morals is quite a step down for me. I had expected it to be somewhat cleansing, but instead I just felt dirty.

“Did you go out there to do that?” His tone had calmed down considerably, which made it even scarier than his anger would have been.

“No. Hell no. I came out here to get divorced, that’s it.”

“That’s interesting, don’t you think? That you went out there to get divorced and instead f*cked him?”

“Bradley, please don’t.” I sighed shakily. This was going to be ugly. I deserved it, so I sat there, preparing myself to take it in. My punishment.

“Why? Why shouldn’t I just come right out and say it. It’s what everyone else is going to say. Bradley couldn’t hold on to his woman. She married some dumb f*ck redneck out west and left his ass at the altar.”

“No one’s going to say anything, because the only ones who know are you, me, him, and Ruby.”

“Oh, I’ll bet Ruby’s dancing a goddamn jig over this one.” I could picture Bradley running his hands through his short hair in frustration. He did that when he was upset and only out of the view of other people.

“She’s not, Bradley. She might be glad that we’re breaking up, but she’s not happy that I hurt you.”

“Breaking up? We’re not breaking up. Don’t be ridiculous.”

My eyes nearly crossed. “What?”

“You heard me. We’re getting married. This doesn’t change anything.”

“Are you insane? Of course it changes things!” I laughed a little hysterically.

“It doesn’t have to.” He went from angry to courtroom convincing in the space of half a second. “Listen, let’s be honest … we’re perfect for each other. We both have the same goals, the same drive, the same reputation.”