I went upstairs as quickly as I could and closed my bedroom door, flopping down on the bed. I closed my eyes and breathed, slowly getting myself under control.
Cole was back. My mistake husband, my secret shame, my stepbrother. The guy that made my body feel things I never thought I could feel. He had been so charming back in paradise, but now he seemed only cocky and brash.
Part of me had wanted him to come back, not so that I could divorce him, but so that I could get to know him. Yeah, it was crazy. We only knew each other for a few days, but still. Something felt right when I was with him, like it would be easy to be myself.
Plus, he was absolutely stunning. Even his smell drove me insane, which was totally unlike me. I didn’t usually get really into a guy’s looks, but he was something else, something I couldn’t explain. And I felt it right between my legs every time he grinned at me, even when he was being an ass.
But I couldn’t let him keep thinking that I was just some crazy stalker. I grabbed my laptop and navigated to the official marriage registrar, dealing with the agonizingly slow website until finally I found it.
Our marriage license. I hadn’t looked at it in a long time, and it felt like it wasn’t real. But I knew it was since it was from a government website and was on official government letterhead with all the seals and whatever.
As I went to hit print, there was a soft knock at my door.
“Yeah?” I called out.
“It’s me.” Cole’s voice.
“No, thanks.”
The door opened and he came inside, shutting it behind him.
“You can’t just barge in here,” I said, annoyed.
“Your dad sent me to check on you.”
I sat up, frowning. “Well, I’m fine.”
“You sure? Looked like you weren’t fine at lunch.”
“Yeah, well, you’re an asshole, and I’m looking forward to when you’re out of my life.”
He laughed, coming closer. I took a sharp breath of air into my lungs as he looked around my room, clearly judging the décor. I hadn’t updated it since I was in high school, so it was embarrassingly late-2000s, but whatever.
“Cool posters,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He picked up a Nirvana CD from my dresser. “You a fan?”
“Yes. Don’t touch my stuff.”
He put it back. “Me too. Nevermind is my favorite album.”
“Mine too,” I said grudgingly.
“See, sis, we have so much in common.” He sat down on the edge of my bed.
“Stop calling me sis.”
“What should I call you then? Wife?”
“That’d be more appropriate,” I mumbled.
“Come on, Alex. You think I really believe that shit? I know you’re just trying to get back at me for fucking you and then disappearing.”
“I don’t care about that,” I snapped back. “And I’m not lying.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up. “That’s fine, whatever. We can at least be civil.”
I sighed. “I can prove it to you.”
“Go ahead.”
I turned the laptop toward him. “See? That’s an official marriage license. Take a look.”
He pulled the computer toward him and looked closely at the screen. His face clouded over for a moment as he considered it, but I couldn’t read his expression.
Finally, he looked up. “This is impressive,” he said.
“You believe me now?”
“I mean, it’s impressive that you’d go to so much trouble. It’s a really good fake.”
I gaped at him, uncomprehending. “You think I forged this?”
He shrugged. “Sure. Wouldn’t be impossible. Doesn’t look all that real to me.”
I wanted to scream. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But it’s from a government website!”
“Is it?” He shrugged, standing up.
“Cole,” I said through my teeth, “you have to understand. We are really married.”
“Look, sis,” he said, “I had a good time with you. Frankly, I still get hard thinking about that tight pussy.”
I blushed and looked away. “Stop,” I said.
“You don’t want to hear about it? In the jungle I used to think about your body. I dreamed about making you sweat. I wanted to track you down and get you off one more time, and look what happened.”
“You’re not getting anything off. You were just an attractive stranger.”
“Glad you still think I’m attractive.”
I sighed, completely exasperated. “That’s not what I said.”
“It is, actually.” He crossed his arms, smirking at me. “Look, you can keep up this whole marriage joke if you want, but I’m not interested.”