Power Couple: A Marriage of Convenience Romance (The Nashvegas Series Book 1)

by Laramie Briscoe

  “Who the fuck do they think they are?” He reaches up, grabbing something, I don’t know what. But when he throws it, it shatters against the opposite wall. “Playing with our feelings like this? What kind of people would do this to other people?”

  I drop down to the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest, resting my head on my knees. “I mean, it makes sense,” I whisper, feeling like my entire world is crashing in around me at this moment. “They forced this.” I hold up my left hand in front of me, the engagement and wedding rings glittering, almost mocking me.

  “They didn’t force it, babe. If you remember we did it and then they went with it. We got married because deep down we knew we’re meant to be together.”

  His voice is slightly more controlled as he speaks to me. I want badly to believe what he’s saying, but I know, I know they own me. They own him. They own us both and I’m not sure either one of us will ever be able to get away.

  “But they made sure we stayed together when our first instinct may have been to let all of this go.”

  He drops down beside me. “So maybe we should be thanking them. They forced us to come together and figure out how to make shit work.” He grabs my hand, flipping it over so that my palm fists with his. His big finger traces the lines, as I delve into the darkness that can be my own mind.

  “If we don’t do what they tell us to do, they’ll make our lives a living hell. We don’t even know the lengths they can and would go to. We still have a life to lead.”

  The smirk he gives me is pure bad boy. “When have I ever done something I haven’t wanted to do?”

  “Uhhh, you stayed married to me when we woke up next to one another, not sure what the hell we’d done.”

  He turns toward me, slipping his hand under my hair, palming my neck. His gentle force tilts my head so that our eyes meet. “That’s where you’re wrong. They can suggest, they can try, but they have never forced me to do something I didn’t want to do.”

  The meaning to what he’s saying is there in his eyes, and makes me warm all over. My emotions are all over the place, but one thing I know is I love this man. I get up, smiling when he spreads his legs, making room for me in between them. Knowing he’ll catch me, I bend, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulls me to him, falling back onto the floor. “I love you,” I whisper, burrowing my head into his chest.

  “I love you too,” he whispers back. “We’re gonna get through this.”

  Tears well in my eyes, prickling, my throat clogs as I try to push them back. It’s always been important to me not to show my vulnerabilities. This business has made me hide who I really am and what I feel. We’re always told to be unflappable, never let them see you sweat, never let someone know they’ve upset you, have a thick skin. I’ve been that person and done all of those things. This though? This kills my soul, and right now I wish I was anyone but who I am. The tears start falling, and when EJ’s arms get even tighter around me, they don’t stop.

  I’m a shuddering, shaking mess as I go through every single emotion in the span of however long this is. EJ’s shirt is plastered to his body, wet from the evidence of my distress.

  “You feel better?” His voice is soft as I calm down, almost as if he doesn’t want to startle me.

  Honestly, I’m not sure what will make the tears start again, so all I do is sniffle and nod. I don’t pull away from him so that we can see each other though. I’m not ready to look into those green eyes of his. I’m scared of what I may see there.

  “What are we gonna do?”

  Somehow he stands with me in his arms, walking us over to the couch. He sits down, holding me across his lap. “Babe, what do you wanna do?”

  I don’t want to say the wrong thing, what if he doesn’t want to be married to me anymore. “Are you looking for a way out?” I push the words through my tight throat, hating them, hating what they stand for.

  “The fuck? No! What’s going on in your head right now, Bri? You have to talk to me, we have to be a united front in whatever it is we do.”

  In reality I know what he’s saying is true, but when you’ve been in the situations I have for most of my life, every single vulnerability you have comes to the forefront and does it’s best to sabotage your life. “What if they threaten our careers?”

  “Does your career mean more to you than me?”

  Pain crosses his face, and I know it’s because of me. I’ve never wanted him to be in pain, never wanted to be the cause of it, but I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know what’s right and wrong here, all I’m doing is the best I can. But my head is so damn confused.

  “You’re asking me if my career means more to me than you?” he says the words slowly.

  “I don’t know what I’m asking, EJ. I’m so confused about everything.” I start to cry again.

  “You’re confused?”

  He’s shutting down and I can tell. It’s obvious as those warm green eyes of his turn cold and his body stiffens. “Aren’t you?” I plead with him to see my side of things.

  “No.” He shakes his head, standing up, dropping me off his lap.

  I’m cold with the loss of his warmth in so many ways. Luckily, I put my feet down, preventing me from falling. This is all going so fast, I just want it to slow down, but EJ’s not slowing, he’s still questioning.

  “I’m not confused in the least, Bri. My life with you these last few months have been some of the best of my life, and I thought we were building something special. You’re the once in a lifetime my parents always talked about, the woman I’ve been waiting on. That thing I can’t live without, the happiness that always seems to have eluded me, you’re the calming force Dad always told me I’d find. At night with you, the bed wasn’t so lonely, knowing you were at the side of the stage when I was on it made me feel like the fucking king of the world, but more than anything, Bri? You took me at face value and you loved me for me, but that’s not really true is it?”

  His face is turning mean, a sneer replacing the normal smile. “No, you’re twisting it all.”

  “No I’m not, I think I’m finally seeing shit clearly. You love me, but only when I’m doing good things for your career.”

  “No!”

  “I thought everything else meant something to you, I thought we were building a life.”

  “We were,” I cry. “We are! Just stop, Everett, please just stop.”

  But he’s going on, telling me all about who I am and what I think. Being just as bad, if not worse than the people at the record company. They’ve always treated me like I have no brain, but him? Not too long ago he made me feel like I was the smartest, most amazing person on the face of this earth.

  “I’m going out.” He grabs his keys, heading for the door. “I don’t care if you’re here when I get back. If your career means that much to you, babe, then please go and save it.”

  The door slams, causing me to jump. The tears come again, this time making me howl in deep sobs, regurgitating the emotions running through me, the pain, the loneliness, and the betrayal. It feels like hours that I lay my soul bare. It goes on until I have nothing left.

  With what energy I have, I grab my phone, calling a number I haven’t called enough, hoping like hell this is the right thing to do. When the other person picks up, I hesitate, but then I go for it.

  “Hannah, I really need someone to talk to.” My voice cracks, tears, even though I thought I didn’t have anymore, make new tracks down my face.

  “Oh honey, EJ’s already called Garrett. I’m on my way.”

  And as I hang up, I hope maybe, just maybe one person in this entire world will understand exactly where I’m coming from.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  EJ

  I ignore all the rules of the road as I drive to my parents’ house.

  Red light? Blow through it.

  Speed limit? It’s just a suggestion.

  Other driving flipping me off? Flip them right back.

  When I get there, my mom�
�s SUV is gone. Seeing as how she’s one of the only people Bri knows in Nashville, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where she is. I’m sure she’ll side with Bri too, then she’ll yell at me and tell me how good I’ve had it my whole life.

  Before I can even turn the engine off, Dad’s out on the front porch, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest, waiting on me. I open the door, get out, and walk toward him, thinking about all the important shit he’s been there for in my life.

  There have been many times he’s stood like this waiting for RJ and I to come home after long nights out, when we should’ve been home, but we’d ignored curfew. I distinctly remember the time he stood like this when I had my first car accident. As I got out of mom’s SUV, he’d watched me the same way as he does now. And just like that time, as soon as my foot hits the first step, he’s got his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

  Didn’t know how much I needed it, but I don’t want him to let go. Don’t want him to let me fall apart, because right now, the arms of my hero are all that’s holding me together.

  “Come on.” His soft voice is the calming presence I need in this crazy storm. “Let’s go out back.”

  “She said her career means more to her than our marriage.” I blow out a breath of smoke, hoping that one of the five cigarettes I’ve smoked since I left the house will be the one to calm me down.

  “Are you sure that’s what she said?” Dad asks, handing me a beer.

  I pop the top on that fucker and take a gulp. The alcohol doesn’t help the way I thought it would, but I’ll use whatever it takes to get me through this mess. “It’s what I heard.”

  He shifts in his seat, seeming to not be comfortable with the answer I’m giving him.

  Chaos comes out around this time, through his doggy door. He doesn’t even go toward Dad, he comes to me, laying his head at my feet. Leaning over, I give him a few strokes, wishing I could be as content as him in this moment.

  “What?” I lift my eyebrow up, daring him to question the fight Bri and I had. I came here because I expected him to be on my side, like he always is. In the back of my mind, I wonder if there are sides to take.

  Shouldn’t I have grown up from sides?

  In marriage is there a side? Something other than me or her. Shouldn’t there be a me and her?

  There was, the voice in my head taunts me. Until you walked out on it.

  He takes another drink, seeming to steel himself. “Quit being like me, you little fucker. I’ve always been the person to get pissed and think later. I hoped you would be different.”

  “Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I give him a smirk, pressing my cigarette into the concrete, snuffing out the burning end.

  “This is real-life, Everett.”

  My stomach drops and anger makes my gaze red. Out of anyone, he would know how I feel. “Don’t you think I know that? It’s my life. My wife.” I stop, clearing my throat. “My wife asked me if our marriage meant more to me than my career. Then she turned it around. Fuck, I don’t know if I’m coming or going with any of this.”

  Dad takes a deep breath, holding his arms out. “Can you blame her? Look how the two of you started.”

  “Can I blame her? What the fuck does everybody take me for here? Am I being unreasonable by saying I won’t stand for someone ruling my life and telling me what to do in this situation?”

  “I think it’s a fair question,” he speaks in a calm voice, trying to talk me down from where I am. “Are you wanting to stay with her because ‘no one will tell you what to do’ or are you wanting to stay with her because you love her?”

  There’s no comparison. There’s only one answer. “Because I love her.”

  “Then you’ve got to show her, and not by being an angry fuck when she questions your motives. She’s young, EJ, and she didn’t come from a great family. One of the things you deal with in marriage is your spouse’s insecurities. If this is a big deal for her, you have to be there for her.”

  “But she questioned me, Dad.”

  Even I can hear how stupid this sounds now.

  “No, she didn’t,” he argues. “She questioned the situation, which is more about her than it is about you.”

  “Sure as fuck didn’t feel like it.”

  My heart fell to my stomach when she asked about our careers. I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in my life. And maybe he’s right, maybe that’s on me. I’m selfish and can only see what I want to see. Fuck, it still feels like a betrayal though.

  “Marriage is about compromise, but sometimes it’s also about getting the other person out of their own head. EJ this is confusing. It would be confusing to me too. What you have to do is be patient with her and with yourself. Don’t fly off the handle and leave. If you need to take some time apart, go to the backyard, the other side of the house, what the fuck ever. You don’t leave though, my man. Take it from me, who made this mistake a dozen or so times. Don’t leave. One day you leave, she might not be there when you get back.”

  As pissed off as I was before, the thought of her not being there when I get back is even worse. I’m used to her being in our house, look forward to falling asleep with her at the end of the day, and thinking about her not being there? Fuck that shit hurts.

  “She called your mom, so she’s there.”

  A sigh of relief escapes my throat to know my assumption was right. “I’m glad, but I’m still not sure I’m capable of being an adult when I go home.”

  “You will be. For now you can hang out here, drink some beers, have a conversation.”

  There’s one thing I wanna do, something I haven’t done with my dad in years. “What do you think RJ’s doing?”

  “No idea.” He shrugs. “Why don’t you text and ask him?”

  I’m almost nervous to ask, and I’m unsure why. Maybe it’s because I’m admitting I need my dad, I need the intelligence of someone else sometimes. But as I ask the question, I know nothing is more right.

  “If he’s not doing anything, think we can play a pickup game?”

  Dad grins, a look of relief on his face. “We haven’t done that since he was in high school. I might not be able to move tomorrow, but it would be my pleasure to kick your ass.”

  “Whatever old man,” I punch at him in the arm.

  RJ answers my text quickly, telling me that Montgomery is on her way to my house. Looks like Bri will have her girls and I’ll have my boys. Which is honestly as it should be. Even in the midst of marriage, we still need our friends. Maybe not like we once did, but as we seem to have demonstrated. Things aren’t going to be perfect all the time. “He’s on his way.”

  “Let me go change, I have a pair of shorts you can wear too.”

  Before he goes in, I yell his name to stop him. Now’s the time to thank him, not only for being my dad, but for being the type of man who isn’t scared to talk his son through his first fight with his wife.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks, I don’t know what I would do without you, and I honestly never want to find out.”

  He pulls me into his arms, hugging me tightly. “You won’t, I’ll always be here to help you through your marital strife.”

  “I hope one day I can be as good a dad as you are,” I tell him softly.

  “If you’re already thinking of that with Bri, then you’re a goner, son. I’ve never known you to make statements and not mean them.”

  It almost scares me how much I mean this one.

  “Should I call her?” Now I’m torn on what to do, I don’t know what’s expected of me in this situation.

  Before I would’ve just never spoken to the girl again, or avoided her at all business functions.

  I’m an asshole.

  It’s true.

  But with Bri, I don’t want to give up, I don’t want to be a statistic of this business, or of others infringing on our marriage. I want to be everything to her, and do the right thing for us.

  Which is why I cam
e here, and it’s why I’m listening to every piece of advice my dad wants to give.

  “I’d let her calm down too. You’ll know when it’s right. It won’t be a question, you’ll just be ready for it.”

  I’ve trusted this man with every part of my life so far, and he’s never let me down. All I have to do is look at the marriage my parents have to know he’s doing something right, and I hope like hell I haven’t done too much wrong.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Bri

  “I don’t even know how it all turned into this,” I sob against Hannah’s shoulder.

  If this were any other situation than the one I’m in, I’d be amazed I’m being comforted by a woman I’ve looked up to for so long. Every article I read about her, every social media account I followed of theirs, I always watched the way she was with her family.

  It was everything I wanted to be a part of.

  There were moments in my life I prayed to have a mother like this at my disposal. Now I do, and I’m sadder than I’ve been in a long time.

  “Everett’s a lot like his dad.” She brushes my hair back from my face. “Back when we first got together, before we even got married, his first reaction was to run away.”

  She laughs slightly. “Actually, the first time he ever told me he loved me was during an argument we had in Las Vegas. He was irritated because he didn’t think I stood up for myself enough, and I was irritated because I felt the person making the comments wasn’t worth standing up to at all. He yelled, I cried, and eventually he told me he loved me before he left.”

  “Did he come back?” My voice is hoarse with the dryness of tears.

  “Obviously,” Hannah laughs. “But it was scary for me in the waiting. Somehow I knew he would be there for me, I didn’t think it was completely over, but,” - she wraps a piece of hair around her finger in thought- “he was only the second boyfriend I’d ever really had, and the first one hadn’t been great. I didn’t trust easy and I had a lot of self-confidence issues. He had to wade through a lot of crap to get to the bottom of it all. If there’s anything I know about EJ, it’s he listens to his dad. If he’s over there right now, Garrett’s telling him to let you calm down before he attempts to come back. He’s telling him this is a normal part of dating and marriage.”