Marriage by Law

I shook my head walking around the table. “My secret,” I replied, leaning down to take a shot.

The game was nearly done. There were less than four balls on the table. But at the same time I didn’t want to go back home. We had a great day. I had met his friends who turned out to be hilarious, telling me stories about all the mischief they got up to during business school.

Something rammed into my backside, making me crash onto the pool table. I looked behind to see it was one of the guys, who decided to hi-five my butt with his and I glared at him when he smiled.

“Shouldn’t have been standing so close.”

Darius narrowed his eyes, taking a step toward the guy. I shook my head at him. He raised an eyebrow, silently questioning me when my lips curved into a smile.

The guy wanted to play like that, didn’t he?

The teenager smiled, flicking his brown hair out of his hazel eyes and leaning back against their pool table smirking at me.

I turned around to take a shot. I exaggerated my movements, my back hand causing the end of the cue stick to rib him. I smiled when I heard his grunt. I turned around to see I had a pretty good shot. Hit him right in the ribs, hard.

“Shouldn’t have been standing to close,” I muttered, walking around to give the cue back to Darius who was smiling, and shaking his head.

“What?” I asked innocently, looking up at him as we swapped again.

“Your dad told me you have a temper.” He smiled. “I like it.”

And my stomach flipped, not only because of what he said, but what I saw when I placed my hand on the edge of the table. “Um, Dairy?” I asked, my cheek going red.

He looked up.

I smiled sheepishly. “I think I lost your ring.”

CHAPTER FORTYSEVEN

I kicked my feet as I lay on the couch flipping through the magazine. It was still fairly early in the morning and somehow I just couldn’t sleep and was up and out of the bed. I was surprised. I loved my sleep.

I sighed as I flipped to the next page and turned my head to see the picture. Another famous star, another scandal. Didn’t the paparazzi have anything else to do?

Well, then again, it was their job.

I hummed a song as I heard sounds upstairs. What was that? I paused, half way through flipping a page. It was like something was knocking everything over.

Something sounding like hulk. I smiled.

I guess he was awake.

Thankfully, we did find the ring when we were leaving. Adrian had picked it up when he saw it on the flooir. So that made me get rid of the guilt I felt after I realised I could have lost it. Note taken. Never wear his rings again.

There was a louder thud.

Did he knock the lamp over or something? But my answer came fast enough when I saw him, or more like heard him, come down the stairs yelling my name.

The sound was like an elephant crashing into the walls, but it was only my husband crashing against the wall as he came down the stairs, sending what few photo frames there were on the wall to the ground. I winced.

“You know, I really don’t like this house either, but you don’t need to demolish it to the ground,” I joked as I flipped the page. I heard him grunt as he banged into the railing.

“Do you mind giving me a hand?”

My eyes flicked up and I held back a giggle seeing him currently stuck, or tangled, which ever describes the situation best, in a black shirt.

“I could,” I said, sighing and stretching my legs out. “But I’m so comfortable here.”

This couch was comfortable, and I didn’t really mind the view either, his shirt riding up and flashing me. It was a good view.

He grumbled something under his breath and I sighed. Fine, if I had to.

“Fine. Walk straight.”

He stopped moving around and froze. “What?”

“If you want me to help you, come over here. I’m too comfortable to get up.”

He made a noise, which was probably him getting frustrated at me and ended up grumbling. “Where?”

“Straight.”

He took a hesitant step forward. Really? Was it that hard to get out of a shirt? Just pull it off and then put it back on.

“No, no, no, no. Stop!” I yelled as he nearly ran into the coffee table. He froze, so close to the coffee table. We can’t have the glass antique break now, can we?

“Ivory,” he warned and I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. Now turn. No, the other way. Okay, wait, you turned too much. Um,” I knotted my eyebrows in concentration. How was I supposed to do this? Maybe it would have been easier for me to just go up and do it myself, but too late now, and he was so close.

I really couldn’t be bothered getting up when he was within arm’s reach.

“Hurry up.” I winced and placed my magazine on my stomach. “Alright, turn three degrees to your left.”

“I thought you failed maths,. Are you sure it’s three degrees?”

I gasped, my cheeks warming up. “Excuse me, I did not fail maths,. Who told you that?”

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