The Wild One (Forever Wild #3) (3 page)

“I still can’t believe you told your sister I was your boyfriend.”

We sat in a small, dark
, corner booth in a pizzeria. Valerie suggested going home, but I had to continue on with our tourist tour of Chicago and that included Chicago-style pan pizza at a place that barely had any lighting except for some small, stained-glass lamps above the tables that barely did anything to light the dark-paneled room.

“What else was I supposed to call you?” She took a tiny sip of her drink.

“I honestly didn’t even think you were going to mention me to her, so I guess it’s better than nothing,” I said before taking another bite of pizza. The deep dish thing was huge. I didn’t know what I was expecting when we ordered, but something that was an inch thick and had enough cheese in it to wrap around my fist, was definitely not it.

“I’m not going to just hide you in the closet when my sister comes to visit. Besides you may get along with her boyfriend. You two can talk about sports or something.” She absently waved her hand in the air.

“Or talk about how hot the Wilder sisters are?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know where you think you’re going with all that sweet talk, Wes.”

“And I don’t know why you can’t look in the mirror and see how beautiful you really are.”

She didn’t respond, just looked down at her lap and lifted her napkin, placing it back on her lap. Once. Then twice. Before she could do it a third time I grabbed her hand and she gasped, her eyes finally meeting mine. “I mean it, Valerie. You’re gorgeous. Inside and out. Not many girls would take an almost stranger
home with them from Vegas. No one else has ever shown me the kindness that you have. Do you understand how amazing you are? How many guys would kill for a girl like you? And how damn lucky I am that you happened to fall into my lap?”

She bit her lip, which only made me want her more. I couldn’t deny that my cock hardened just looking at her. But then she sighed and took a sip of her drink, pulling her hand back. “Wes, we can’t. I-I-I can’t. This wouldn’t work between us.”

“Why? Why wouldn’t it?”

“Because guys that look like you don’t end up with girls like me. As much as you think you’d like a girl like me, you don’t.” The tears started to well up in her eyes. “I know you have the past and the former fat kid story. But with the way you look now I’m always going to wonder if I’m good enough for you. I’m always going to worry that other women ar
e going to be looking at you or trying to fuck you. Or flirt with you or what have you. I’m a jealous bitch and I know that.”

“So you can’t be with me because you’re going to be jealous of other girls?” I scrunched my face. “You’re the one that had some random guy show up at your apartment looking to fuck the other night, not me.”

She shook her head. “It’s more than that, Wes. I have too much baggage. It just can’t work between us. The couple who woke up married in Vegas? That’s not the way one starts out a happily ever after.”

“Fuck happily ever afters and preconceived notions of what’s right. I want to make our own story. One that doesn’t need to have some storybook romance that starts out with first dates and roses, but if you want roses and dates, I’ll do that. Hell, I’ll grow a whole damn garden for you. Just give me a chance, Valerie. That’s all I can ask for.”

She sighed. “I guess if you’re going to try, I can’t argue with that, but what happens when the thirty days are up and the papers are signed? I put down a lot of money on that divorce attorney and I can’t just say fuck all of that for you to get sick of me in a few months.”

I took both her hands in mine, brushing her knuckles against my lips. “Give me the next three weeks. If things are going great, we can say fuck the papers and throw them out, or still get the divo
rce and just keep dating. Your call. If it doesn’t work, the papers are still signed, no harm, no foul Sound good?”

“This is crazy. This whole situation is absolutely nuts, you know that, right?” She shook her head.

“Yeah, but there is nothing wrong with being a little crazy, darlin’. ”

Valerie left early for work the next morning, so it just left me and Dexter in the apartment. At least
, I thought it was just me and Dexter until I walked out of the bathroom and saw Paige laying on the couch.

“Hey, cowboy,” she said, looking up from her phone. She was wearing nothing more than a small tank top and a pair of shorts that were bar
ely enough to cover her ass. I had to look away when she sat up so she didn’t flash me. But that didn’t stop me from getting a view of her tits that were falling out of her tank top.

“Morning, Paige.” She usually wasn’t this friendly. She
usually never even acknowledged my presence. Something was up. And I didn’t like that I just had a towel wrapped around my waist as I stood in the doorway, so if I had to run away from her my ass would probably be naked.

“So
...” she smacked her lips together. “Looks like stripping kept you in pretty good shape.”

“Yes, ma’am. That and I played football and did construction before that. I’ve always been pretty familiar with the weight room.” I was trying to be nice, hospitable
, since she was letting me crash at her place and didn’t yell at Valerie to kick me out, but there was something creepy about Paige being friendly.

She stood from the couch and then slowly walked over until she was standing right in front of me.
This close, I noticed just how much makeup she actually wore and it looked like it was at least half an inch thick, caked onto her already olive complexion. She ran her long fingernails along my bicep before she pinched it. “Wow, you really do have a rock-hard body. No wonder Valerie can’t keep her hands off of you.”

I swallowed hard. Sure
, I’d slept with plenty of girls. That was the one thing I was good for, being the guy girls could fuck around with and then leave when they were done. But I wasn’t going to fuck Valerie’s roommate. No way.

“I have to go get dressed.” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but there was a hint of a squeak to it as I tried to dodge to the side.

Paige was stealthier than I thought she would be and butted in front of me, bending forward ever so slightly so that her giant fake tits were pressed against my chest. “Do you need any help?”

“No, I can handle that myself. I’m a big boy.”

“I bet you are.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“I don’t think Valerie would appreciate this ...”

She leaned up on her tippy toes and whispered seductively, “What Valerie doesn’t know, won’t hurt her.”

I stepped back, shaking my head
, and held my hands firmly on my towel. “No. I’m not going to do that to my wife. Sorry, Paige. That’s not fucking cool. At all.”

She scoffed and put her hands on her hips. “I can’t fucking believe this.”

“What? That you just tried to sleep with your roommate’s husband? Whether you like or not we’re still married and—”

“No, you fucking dumbass.” She cut me off with her sharp tone and I raised an eyebrow. What the hell? She went from seductive back to bitch mode in two seconds. “I was trying to seduce you to see if you were
actually into Valerie or playing this all as an act. But it’s true. You really do fucking love my roommate.”

Love.

I’d never said the words out loud or even thought it. Hell, I’d never even thought it was possible for me to feel that way about another human being. I said the words to Myra, but actually felt it? No. It wasn’t the same rush of energy that I got whenever Valerie walked into the room. It wasn’t the urge to make myself a better person that Valerie gave me. Paige was right. I did love Valerie. Shit. I was in trouble now.

I swallowed hard and then let out a deep breath  before I nodded.
“Yeah. You’re right. I do love Valerie. What are you going to do about it?”

Paige crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not what I’m going to do about it, Tex. It’s what you’re going to do. Does she know that you’ve got this lovesick thing going for her?”

“She knows that I care about her, a lot. But love? No, that word hasn’t exactly come up. We just kind of jumped into the marriage thing and then the bedroom. She wants to go through with the divorce and ...” I groaned. I didn’t think Paige would ever be my ally, but I didn’t have anyone else to talk to about what was going on, so I gave in and poured out my feelings to her. “It’s just ... I do. I really do love Valerie and I want to be with her. She makes me a better person and I’m trying to be the one for her. I just worry that I’m not good enough.”

“Well, in my opinion, no one is going to ever be good enough for my girl, but I do have to say that you’re a lot better than that pompous asshole, Max, so I’ll give you that,” she said.
Yep. Bitch Paige was definitely back in full force, but at least the anger wasn’t directed at me. At least not completely.

“Gee, thanks.”

She groaned. “Look, I’m not the best to give relationship advice, but what I can tell you is just to be honest with Val. Just show her how you feel and be good to her. You already got her to marry you once, so all you have to do is keep slathering on that southern charm and I’m sure she’ll keep your goofy ass around. Now, whether or not two will stay in my apartment is another story.”

“Aw, I knew you kinda liked me, Paige.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Tex. I tolerate you.”

“And I tolerate you, too.”

She smirked. “Now get your ass dressed because we’re going out this afternoon. You and me.”

“Don’t you have to work or something?” I arched an eyebrow.

“This is work. I’m helping a charity case and, honey, you could use all the help that you can get.”

“I don’t think this place is really in my budget ...”

As soon as I saw the blue awning I knew I was in trouble. I shouldn’t have even let Paige talk me into jewelry shopping, but I thought if she was trying to be nice I should give in. I also never really did give Valerie a proper wedding ring. The chapel did give us each a small ring that looked like it came out of a coin machine at the mall with our $49.99 wedding package. Mine barely fit on my pinky and I think Valerie lost hers before we even left the place.

The thought had crossed my mind more than once to get her a real ring, but despite what all the movies portrayed, male strippers didn’t exactly make bank.

“Anything is in your budget when you love someone. Come on, they should have something you can work with.” Paige dug her claws into my arm and dragged me into the store.

Instantly I felt suffocated. Everything around me sparkled. Not just the diamonds in the case, but the carpets, the chandeliers, it
was all too much for a kid who was raised dirt poor. I didn’t belong in somewhere that nice. I had to get out. “I’m not feeling so well, Paige. Maybe we should just do this another day ...”

Before I could turn to leave an older woman in a blue suit with her thinning hair pulled into a tight bun on her head approached us. “Hi, welcome to Tiffany’s, how can I help you today?”

“Hi,” Paige said warmly, pulling me forward. For being such a tiny thing she had much more strength than I thought she would. “I’m here with my roommate’s, uh, boyfriend and I’m helping him pick out an engagement ring.”

The woman
smiled warmly. For someone who worked in a place with a high-class reputation I expected her to treat a guy who was wearing faded blue jeans and an old T-shirt like a piece of garbage, but she didn’t act like I was different than any other customer. “That’s wonderful. Why don’t you tell me a little  bit about your fiancée to be and we can look at some options for rings.”

She folded her hands together in front of her and looked at me expectantly, blinking her large blue eyes slowly.

“Yeah, Wes, tell her about your fiancée.” Paige nudged me in the ribs and I had to keep from wincing. I wondered where the girl kept all her power at. I swear it was like she was hiding a linebacker underneath her tits or something.

“Well, Valerie is definitely something. She knows what she wants and goes for it, but still cares about what other people think. She’s the kind of girl who will spend hours getting ready in the morning even if she isn’t going to see a single person but me. She looks just as good dressed up
as she does in a T-shirt and she wears it just the same. She takes pride in everything she does and that’s what I love about the girl. She doesn’t do anything that she doesn’t put her whole heart into.”
Except maybe marrying me ...

“Wow, that was an impressive explanation. One of the best one’s I’ve heard. Maybe the best,” the woman said, clutching her chest
, and I swore that I saw tears in her eyes.

“Yeah, Tex, you even impressed me,” Paige said.

“Naw, you’re just saying that cuz you want me out of your apartment.”

Paige looked me straight in the eye, her expression serious. “No, if I wanted you out of my apartment I wouldn’t have said that.”

The saleswoman cleared her throat and I turned back toward her. “Okay, now that I know a little bit more about Valerie, do you know what kind of style she would want? You said that she likes to spend a lot of time getting ready, so is she more of a princess cut type of girl?”

“Oh, yeah, Valerie is definitely the princess cut type,” Paige said.

“Sure, I’ll go with that.” I slid my hands into my back pockets, unsure what else to do with them. I’d never actually been into a jewelry store and I felt like a bull in a china shop. Like I didn’t belong in somewhere that nice and I would probably break something fancy at any minute.

“Are you thinking solitair
e? Three stone? Diamond band?” She fired off all of these questions one right after the other and I didn’t even know where to begin in answering them.

“With his budget, let’s go with a solitaire,” Paige spoke for me.

The woman nodded with a tight smile on her face. “Very well, follow me and I’ll show you our selection.”

We followed her past rows of glittering display cases where happy couples looked at sparkling rings and bracelets, all handing out their gold credit cards. I didn’t have any of their money and not even sure if I had more than three hundred dollars in my checking account
, plus the fifty bucks that Mrs. Flowers paid me for the personal training session. I didn’t think that Tiffany’s was exactly up my alley for an engagement ring. This definitely wasn’t where I belonged.

The sales
woman stood behind a glass case and unlocked it. “Now, when looking for a diamond you want to remember the four Cs. Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat.”

She took out a ring
with one stone in the middle that sparkled along a platinum band. It would have looked amazing on Valerie’s finger and I could just imagine how her eyes would light up if she opened up the box and saw the ring inside. “This is our most popular engagement ring. It’s one-point-two carats with a platinum band and we can fit it to her size.” She looked up at me expectantly. “We can also do a payment plan if you’re interested.”

Paige pushed me out of the way, grabbing the ring and putting it on her finger. “Oh, it’s gorgeous!” She held it up to the light. “I mean
, a little small for my taste, but you know good for your budget and I’m sure Valerie would appreciate it.”

“Is this ring for you or for Val?” I asked, watching as Paige stared at her hand in one of the mirrors on the
glass tabletop.

“What?” Paige turned slowly toward me, blinking her eyes like it took a lot of effort, which it may have because I’m pretty sure her lashes were fake. That, or she had way too much makeup on them.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her closer, hoping it wasn’t too rough and the saleslady wasn’t staring at us as I lowered my voice. “I appreciate what you’re doing, Paige. I really do, but I don’t think I can afford any of this.”

“Oh em gee!” She wiggled out of my grip. “Do you have some Sweet Home Alabama fiancée back home that already has a big ol’ rock and that’s why you can’t buy Val one? Is that why the divorce papers are still sitting on the counter and you haven’t signed them?
Are you planning on bringing Val down to meet your family in the country to show off your big city wifey?”

I glanced around the store
and immediately saw a few people look away. We definitely had an audience. Paige had a thing or two to learn about volume control. I looked back down at her and gritted my teeth, keeping my voice low. “I don’t have a fiancée back home, but I did have a serious girlfriend before she cheated on me, not that it’s any of your business. Now if we can just get out of her before you embarrass me anymore, that would be ideal.”

“Did you two decide if you’
d like to purchase that ring?” the saleslady beckoned from the counter.

“I think we’re going to have to pass for now, but we’ll take your card and you can write the ring information on it,” I said with the biggest smile I could muster. If I though
t things in Vegas were twisted, Chicago was about fifty shades of fucked up.