6
CHANCE
“You’re cold,” I said to Hope as we exited the elevator on the main floor of the casino.
We hesitated before stepping out into the sizeable crowd. Many people had been on the streets the night before, but now, with midnight on New Year’s Eve just a few minutes away, it seemed like the entire state had come out to celebrate.
“What are you talking about?” Hope said, pulling me into the crowd and clutching my fingers tightly so she didn’t lose me to the masses.
I wrapped my arm around her as we passed the check-in desk and made our way toward the front door. “You texted Hale we got married right after midnight in Maine.”
It’s like she wanted to kill him.
“Time zones, Chance. I didn’t think about it.”
I wasn’t so sure I believed her with that one. If Hope could get one over on her brothers, she’d take the chance. I just hoped I didn’t end up with a broken nose because of her antics.
“It’s fine. He’s calm now. It was much easier than I expected. Really.” She paused and glanced at the floor. “Actually, it was kind of weird. Like he wanted to get off the phone.”
“Hopefully, he’s not on his way to the airport to kill me.”
Hale was the bossiest of the brothers. They were all pretty crazy, but Hale once punched his twin’s boyfriend, William, when it came out they were dating. Hale wasn’t just protective of his twin, Holly, but of Hope, too.
“Don’t be silly, Chance. He wouldn’t fly to Vegas to murder you. He’d just wait until we got home,” she said with a daring smile.
“Even better. My parents won’t have to ship home my body.”
“I’m kidding,” Hope said, but I wasn’t sure.
People poured out of the casino floor to our left, and the crowd streamed toward the front door. We found a place in the crush and let them carry us outside to the big show.
“What did he say when you told him you married me?”
We passed the door and stepped into the Las Vegas evening. The weather was chilly but still warm compared to what we left behind in Maine. The mid-fifties felt like a heatwave to us, so we forwent jackets for just simple long sleeve shirts. I’d probably have packed something cooler if we hadn’t been planning to go to Michigan, where it was also snowy.
“Hale said at least I hadn’t run off with some loser. See, he likes you,” she said with a smirk.
Couples gathered in front of the Bellagio fountains and we walked around them a little further down on the sidewalk.
“I’m not sure if that’s a great recommendation.” I pulled her sideways to avoid running into a group of partiers. They had beads wrapped around their necks and big drinks in their hands, looking more like New Orleans than Las Vegas.
Men wore top hats and women sported fancy dresses as they wandered across the street. Everyone had a festive cheer. We found a spot along a wall and I made room for Hope beside me.
“He promised not to tell our family before we made it home and I got to break the news.”
“See, when you say things like ‘break the news,’ I get worried. Shouldn’t it be ‘share the good news’?” I’d never regret walking down the aisle with Hope, but the more she talked about her brother, the more I worried I’d be seeing the inside of a hospital room soon. I didn’t want to spend our honeymoon in the ER.
She bumped her arm against mine. “Stop being silly. My family loves you.”
They loved me as her best friend, but no one ever saw me as the boyfriend. That took a different type of love.
Shit. I never got the chance to be the boyfriend.
They had to learn to love me as the husband.
Crap. I was so dead.
And Hope would never forgive me if my death sent one of her brothers to jail.
