The Love Wager

Hallie

“So we want the bridal party out in the hallway,” Hallie’s mother shouted, “and everyone else in the ballroom.”

Hallie rolled her eyes and said to Jack, who was holding her hand and patiently waiting for the rehearsal to get under way, “I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be in the ballroom, apparently.”

She started pulling away, but he jerked her back and kissed the tip of her nose. His eyes were warm as he smiled down at her, and her stomach did the tiniest little flip as she had no choice but to smile back.

She was grinning as she walked out into the hallway, lost in her own thoughts. So much so that she didn’t even see Ben until he said, “Hey, Hal.”

She stopped walking and looked at him, irrationally irritated by his use of her shortened name. “Ben. Hi.”

He smiled and said, “You look great.”

“Thanks.” She rubbed her lips together and looked at a spot just past his shoulders, because she didn’t want to see his warm brown eyes. She said, “Yeah, you, too.”

Of course Ben was the kind of perfect guy who couldn’t abide the elephant in the room, so he said, “Listen, I don’t want this wedding to be awkward—”

She held up a hand. “It won’t.”

“—so I hope you’ll accept my apology.”

She dropped her hand and did look at his eyes then, shocked by his words. Apologizing had never really been his thing, even when he’d ripped her heart out. Hallie crossed her arms, suddenly cold, and said, “For . . . ?”

“For everything.” He squeezed the Fiji water bottle he was holding, like he was nervous, and said, “I’m so sorry.”

She looked at him and was seriously conflicted. Part of her wanted him to suffer forever, because she could still feel the pain of his rejection. She might not want him anymore, but she’d be lying if she said that certain songs didn’t take her right back to that September and still fill her with an aching melancholy.

But a larger part of her also didn’t care. She looked at him, at his beautiful face, and all she felt was nostalgia.

She swallowed and said, “It’s history, Ben—all is forgotten.”

His eyebrows went up and he turned his head a little, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “What?”

“I’m over it, so we’re cool.”

“Wow.” He smiled, looking totally surprised, and she wondered if she’d ever be able to look at him and not feel a tiny bit sad. She’d never want to get back together with him, but she’d probably also never feel nothing for him, either. “I can’t believe you’re being this nice about it all.”

“Why?” she asked, and they both shared a smile. Because the last time they’d spoken, she might’ve called him Satan (amongst other choice words) and taken his beloved World Series baseball.

She shrugged and said, “You weren’t that hard to get over, Scarf.”

Jack

Jack: Are you cold or just really happy to be at this rehearsal?

Hallie: First of all, you will not make me look down at my own breasts with your childish behavior.

Jack laughed quietly and looked up from his phone long enough to see her stick out her tongue at him. She looked down at her device and started typing again.

Hallie: Second of all, I got sent to the principal in junior high because when Jon Carson said that exact same thing to me, I went on a rant in the lunchroom about how he obviously knew nothing about nipples. I got in trouble for saying NIPPLES and he got off.

Jack: I bet he did.

Hallie: You’re an idiot.

“Hallie, for God’s sake,” her mother said, putting her hands on her hips and yelling, “can you put down your phone for five minutes so we can have a damn rehearsal here?”

Hallie rolled her eyes and set her phone on the empty seat beside her.

Jack laughed again from his spot in the gallery. The wedding was going to be outside the following day, but they were rehearsing inside because another wedding was going on today.

Everyone else in the room had a role in the wedding, but Jack’s only job was to sit and watch the train wreck. Hal’s mom and sister both seemed to be intense about every single detail, and Hal’s ex wouldn’t stop staring at Hal, but she had spent the entire time looking bored because she was on her phone.

Texting him.

Busted, he texted.

He watched her absolutely ignore her mother’s warning as she glanced at her phone and quickly sent: Quit getting me in trouble.

Hallie

“That is disgusting.”

Hallie looked up from her phone and at Carolyn, her sister’s maid of honor, who happened to be standing next to her and grinning with her nose wrinkled. “What?” she asked.

“The way your boyfriend watches you. I want to vomit with jealousy.”

Hallie followed Carolyn’s gaze to Jack, who was giving her that sarcastic little smirk she loved. “He’s actually being a brat—that’s what that look is.”

“I don’t mean this minute,” she said, glancing toward Hallie’s mom, who was having a shitfit about the violinist. “I mean that since we got here, your boyfriend has been sitting there staring at you as if you’re the most amazing thing he’s ever seen.”

Hallie needed to remember to tell him to tone it down a little so he didn’t come off as a clingy creep. He was good at looking at her like she was amazing, though; the look he was giving her at that moment did wild things to her stomach.

She opened her mouth to downplay it, but remembered that she did actually want everyone to think Jack was the perfect boyfriend who worshiped the ground she walked on.

“He’s just, um,” she said, trying to think of the right words. “Jack is just very focused.”

“Well, bravo, Hallie,” Carolyn said, looking downright wicked as she gazed at Jack. “A focused man is hard to find.”

•   •   •

“Okay, so I bribed the server to put us at Chuck and Jamie’s table.”

“What?” Hallie asked as they walked into the lodge’s great room. Jack had immediately reached for her hand when the rehearsal ended, and she’d yet to find a way to one-up him in their current situation.

“The server told me that there isn’t a head table, so you and I were already seated together.” His thumb stroked over her palm and she felt it everywhere. “I just had her flip it so we get to sit by your friends instead of your uncle Marco and aunt Tam.”

Hallie looked up at his mischievous face and wondered how he could be so perfect. Marco and Tam were loud, obnoxious people, and that would’ve been the worst. She said, “My sister’s going to kill you.”

He said, “Are you, though?”

“You are the greatest boyfriend in the world. I could never.”

He pulled out his phone and sent a text, and her phone buzzed.

She pulled it out of her pocket and read the message.

Jack: But you could kill ME, yes?

She smiled, pulled her hand free, and replied: I’ve spent hours daydreaming about that very thing.

Jack: Freak.

Hallie: I’m not, but your girlfriend told me you like teeth on your neck.

Jack: Don’t tell her what I’m about to tell you—this is just between Hal ’n’ Jack

Hallie: Yay! The country ’n’ is back!

Jack: Told you we’d revive it.

Hallie: You’re nothing if not dependable. Anyway, what don’t you want me to tell your beautiful, charming girlfriend?

Jack: When she kissed my neck today, I was *this* close to begging her to go back to the room with me.

At the thought, Hallie’s stomach dipped and she felt a little light-headed. So . . . you wanted her to go back for more biting?

Jack: Biting ’n’ more. ’N’ much more.

“Would you two put your phones away?” Chuck yelled from his seat. “Come on, it looks like you’re at our table.”

Hallie and Jack walked over to the table, and Hallie was glad the moment had been broken, because she’d been about to beg her best friend for “ ’n’ more” all night long. She took the seat between Chuck and Jack and immediately reached for the glass of wine beside her plate and drained it.

“You drank that very fast, young lady,” Jack said in a low voice next to her ear.

She glanced at him and rolled her eyes when he gave her that funny little squint that called her out on her flustered state.

The room was set up to put Hallie’s sister in the spotlight. There was a table in the center of the room covered in white linens to accentuate her and her husband-to-be’s bloodred formal wear (yes, Riley had opted for a red suit to match his bride). A huge, glowing chandelier hung over their table, literally putting them in the spotlight.

Everyone else was seated at white tables dispersed around the room in near-darkness, aside from the candelabra centerpieces.

Hallie had to hand it to her sister; the girl knew how to create a mood.

“So what’d you two do all day?” Chuck had already loosened his tie, and it was very crooked. “I figured we’d run into you somewhere.”

“We just walked around the town,” Hallie said, thinking about the way Jack had been nervous about their facade and their sleeping situation. The way he’d referred to their friendship as something to protect. “What about you guys?”

Chuck and Jamie launched into a story about getting stuck hiking with family, but Hallie couldn’t focus. Her skin was prickly with awareness of Jack’s proximity, of zippers and calves and soapy showers.

What was wrong with her?

The minute they finished their story, Hallie stood and said, “I’m getting a drink.”

She walked over to the bar, regretting that decision instantly because she’d been able to avoid relatives all day by sneaking away with Jack, but now she had no escape. By the time she finally had a vodka cranberry in her hand, she’d spoken to a handful of cousins and three uncles.

And none of that had cleared Jack out of her head.

The meal was finally served, but she wasn’t even hungry. She was too . . . antsy to eat. She mindlessly participated in dinner conversation, and she was beyond grateful that Jack had swapped their seats, because Chuck and Jamie were keeping him entertained, so Hallie was able to silently spiral in peace.

I was *this* close to begging her to go back to the room with me.

“Hal.”

“Huh?”

Jack was looking at her questioningly. His blue eyes searched her face for something and apparently didn’t find it, because he said, “Come outside with me for a sec?”

Her heart started pounding in her chest and she just nodded.

“We’ll be right back,” he said to the table as he linked his fingers tightly between hers and led her out of the room and into the hallway. Her mind was spinning, but she couldn’t think of anything specific, which was bizarre. She just felt . . . nervous . . . ?

He didn’t take her outside, didn’t stop until he reached an unlabeled closet. He pulled open the door, led her inside, then closed the door behind them. The closet smelled like a mix of bleach and clean laundry, and it was dark except for the tiny bit of light coming through the door vents.

She could barely see his face.

“What are you doing?” she said as he turned so her back was against the door.

“Why are you freaking out, Hal?” he said, his voice deep and a little husky in her ear.

She wanted to deny it, but this was Jack. He knew her too well. Her breathing felt shallow as she said, “I don’t actually know.”

She could smell whiskey when he spoke. “Does it have to do with what I said about begging you to go back to the hotel room?”

She swallowed. “I mean—”

“I knew our games were a bad idea.” She could feel the closeness of his body, even though they weren’t touching, and he said, “I’m not losing you over sex. For the rest of the weekend, I think we should fake date without any of the PDA bullshit.”

Disappointment surged through her; his suggestion was kind of the opposite of what she’d been thinking. She said, “Well, wait a minute—that’s a little rash, don’t you think?”

He chuckled darkly in her ear. “Then what do you suggest?”

“Um,” she said, not wanting to give up the intimacy they’d shared since arriving in Colorado, “maybe we just set a hard and fast rule about sex.”

“That it has to be hard and fast?” he growled, and she felt his teeth on her earlobe.

“You know what I mean, perv,” she said in a near-whisper.

“I do.” He nuzzled his nose against her neck, his breath streaking over her skin. “We solemnly swear not to have sex this weekend, no matter how many times you bite me.”

“Exactly.” She laughed. “And no matter how nice your calves are.”

He lifted his head. “My calves?”

“I’m so distracted by them, you don’t even know,” she confessed.

He started laughing, and the sound filled the darkness.

“We should probably go back now,” Hallie said, not wanting to but knowing her mother and sister wouldn’t put up with her absence for long. “I’m sure someone will be giving a toast soon.”

“Wait.” His phone lit up the darkness, and she heard his message send before her phone buzzed.

She pulled it out of her pocket.

Jack: Since we’ve doubled down on this weekend being a one-off, can I kiss you?

She stared at the text for a long moment, wondering how to respond, and then she turned off her phone and slid it back into her pocket. She said, “We’ve kissed multiple times since you picked me up this morning. You’re asking permission now?”

The hard line of his jaw was caught in the light of his phone. “I’m not asking as your fake boyfriend.”

Hallie’s heartbeat picked up again. She felt a chill on the skin of her neck as she said, “So . . . you want to kiss me?”

His phone’s display timed out and turned off, and she heard a roaring in her ears as she waited for his answer.

“Just once,” he said, his voice gravelly. “Jack and Hallie for real, before things go back to normal.”

She seriously thought she might faint. She struggled for words and all she came up with was, “My hands are shaking.”

She felt his hands on the sides of her face, and she could hear her own trembly breathing. His mouth came down on hers, but instead of the hot, arrogant kisses she’d become accustomed to since the airport, this was . . . different.

It was an intimate, sexual kiss, the kind of kiss that was usually shared in a darkened bedroom, with one body stretched out on top of the other. Wide-open mouths, slanting for the perfect connection, the warmth of his breath on her lips, the feel of his fingertips on her skin.

His tongue tangled with hers and teased, his teeth nipping at her lower lip, and she felt herself rearing up, desperate to meet him kiss for kiss, and to do whatever it took to keep him from ever stopping.

She reached out and grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket, pulling herself closer to him, pressing her body against his. He grunted, and she felt his hands squeeze her waist, slide down to her ass, and it was her turn to let out a noise when she felt his hardness grind against her.

“Don’t you dare stop,” she breathed into his mouth, and she let her head fall back as his lips moved down to her throat.

“I have to, Hal,” he panted into her neck, sucking her skin as he pressed his body into hers. “Before we mess up everything.”

“Yeah,” she said, agreeing while also moving her hands so she could feel his thick hair between her fingers. “Good idea.”

“So . . . are we stopping?” He lifted his mouth, but she could still feel his breath on her throat when he spoke, and he sounded like he’d do whatever she said.

“Yes,” she said, letting go of his hair and saying on an exhale, “I guess so.”

“Thank God,” he replied, his voice a sleepy drawl. “Because I have a roll on my plate that I haven’t gotten to yet.”

“The rolls are trash,” she said, her hands still shaking as she fumbled to get herself together in the dark.

“Why do you have to ruin everything for me?” he asked, his voice teasing in the quiet darkness.

She touched her hair and said, “How are we going to exit the closet without looking like a couple of horndogs?”

“That’s easy. Just step out with authority, like we had every legitimate reason to be in here.”

Hallie touched her lips and then remembered she’d been wearing red lipstick. “Crap, can you see my face?”

Jack’s face moved closer. “A little . . . ?”

“I might have makeup smeared all over my face. Shit.”

“Here.” Before she could stop him, he raised his phone and took a picture from point-blank range, and the flash was blinding in the tiny closet.

“Gah, what are you doing?!”

“Trying to help—”

He didn’t finish the sentence, because he looked at his phone and started laughing. The display illuminated his face, and when he couldn’t stop laughing long enough to explain, he turned it around and showed her.

The picture of her was positively garish.

Her eyes were half-open, her lipstick was smudged, her nostrils were flared, and the photo was so up close that you couldn’t see more than her eyes, nose, and upper lip. She looked like the ghost of a drunk clown.

“I’m not laughing at you—” he tried, but couldn’t finish.

“I know,” she said, looking at the picture and losing it. She started belly laughing with him, and neither one of them could stop. He rested his forehead on the door above her while he tried to calm down, and she could feel tears ruining what was left of her smoky eye as she cackled.

She almost couldn’t breathe.

Every time she tried to stop laughing, she pictured it again.

She screamed when the door flew open behind them, dropping them both out of the closet and onto the lobby floor.

A housekeeper stood there, blinking at them with her hand on the doorknob.

Hallie quickly scrambled out from under Jack and into a sitting position as the bright lights assaulted her eyes. She looked at him, lying on the hotel floor with red lipstick smudged all over the bottom of his face and hair sticking up everywhere. He looked as shell-shocked as she felt.

He sat up, and then he looked at her.

That grin crawled all the way up his face before he threw his head back and started laughing all over again, even as the hotel employee stared blankly at them.

That was the moment she knew.