Page 65

My spine straightens at his tone. Clenching my jaw, I wait for him to say something else, anything, and thankfully, he puts me out of my misery and continues. I press my lips together, my jaw still clenched as he speaks.

“They can’t take Thea from you, but they can attempt to make it difficult. If we’re married, you have my protection in more than one way. With money in the bank, you’ll be able to prove you can provide, because I can fucking provide. And you’ll be doing your massage therapist shit, so even without me, you can take care of our girl. There’s power in numbers, babe.”

My entire body relaxes at his words.

Power in numbers.

And he’s right. I know he is. There is power and protection that he can offer me when it comes to my parents. They’re being ridiculous, though, and while I don’t think it would even make it to a courtroom, I can understand his concern. Because I have my own.

“Let’s do it,” I whisper.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

And that is how we decide to get married. It’s not romantic or conventional. But nothing in my life has been that way—not before Brock and certainly not after. “You need a dress,” he states. “And we need to preregister for a license so it’s faster.”

Placing the bottle on the little nightstand, I sit Thea up and begin to burp her as I stare at this man who has just told me to go online and preregister for a license like he’s done this a million times in his life.

“How do you know about that?” I ask. “Because I didn’t even know you could do that online.”

His lips twitch into a smirk. “Dare and Chassis got married not long ago. That’s the only reason I know. Never been married, babe.”

I let my exhale out in a whoosh. I don’t know why that makes me feel at ease, but it does. I’m not sure what I thought he was going to tell me, but I’m happy he’s never been married before.

Inhaling a deep breath again, a calming breath, I let it out slowly before I nod my head once. I’m going to say yes. I’m going to marry this man, a practical stranger, although we’ve already had a baby together. We have the rest of our lives to get to know one another.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

He gifts me a wide smile. “Let’s fucking go, babe,” he says with a chuckle.

He moves up the bed, now sitting at my side instead of my thigh. My breath hitches when he lifts his hand and cups my jaw. His thumb slides across my bottom lip. My breathing becomes heavier as I inhale deeply, then let it out slowly. I can’t believe this is happening.

That this is real life.

But it is.

Brock leans forward, and I feel his lips press against mine, right where his thumb just touched me. He doesn’t deepen the kiss, even though I very much want him to do just that. Instead, his tongue slides across the seam of my lips before he shifts back slightly.

I watch as he bends slightly and touches his mouth to the top of Thea’s head before he straightens and his eyes find mine again.

“I have a meeting I need to go to with Dare, but we leave here at two, and we’ll get everything sorted.”

I’m not sure what to say. I need to shower and change. I need a dress. Brock’s lips curve up into a grin, then he opens his mouth and speaks. “Let’s fill out the pre-paperwork online now before my meeting.”

I nod a few times, still trying to wrap my head around this whole situation. I’m not sure how this happened the way it did. I mean, my dad sent an email that caused everything to spiral, but at the same time, I didn’t expect it to unravel this way. Or to implode this way. I can’t deny that I’m excited about the future, though.

A few moments later, we’ve got the paperwork filled out, and I learned more about him during that than I have so far. I’m about to become Keely Mercer, and Thea will be Thea Mercer. I don’t know why, but I absolutely love the sound of that.

“Okay, now that’s all done, I do have a meeting. Maybe you can call some of the old ladies to help you with a dress and stuff?” he asks. “We’ll need to be at the license bureau before five, so I’d like to leave here around three at the absolute latest if possible.”

I’m not sure if it matters what I’m wearing, to be honest. The only people who are going to be there are me, Brock, and Thea. But if he wants me in a dress, then I guess I’ll get a damn dress.

I start to answer him and tell him that I’ll be ready when he shoves his hand in his pocket and pulls out a wad of cash, deposits the money in my hand, then turns around and walks out of the room without another word. I’ve still got a ton of money from when he left. Thea and I only went to the grocery store for supplies and food while he was gone.

After talking with Two-Pump, I decided that I wasn’t going to stress about Clare any longer. She was a friend from my past, but she’s not a friend for my future, and that’s okay. At least I tell myself that it’s okay. I’m not sure when I’ll really feel that way.

Looking down at Thea, I wonder what the future holds for us here. What the friendships and family are going to look like, because where it stands, I don’t think it’ll be anyone from our past, except maybe my brother, who surprised the shit out of me when he reached out.