Page 66 of Clear Shot

“Well, yeah. Why else did you marry her?”

Why, indeed?

That’s a loaded question.

But I’m starting to see the answer.

I married her because I was already invested.

I married her because it was the excuse I needed to get out of the damn friend zone.

I married her because I was already halfway in love with her.

Now I just have to get the rest of the way there.

“You look a little terrified,” Vaughn says with a grin.

“Everything happened really fast,” I admit. “And now I have to leave on a road trip. We don’t even have a place of our own anymore. I had to borrow a suit from Jordan because all of mine were either ruined or need to be dry cleaned and none of the places I use are open yet. And she’s upset about losing something called… Louboutins?”

Vaughn arched his brows. “Were they ruined?”

“You know what they are?”

He chuckles. “Uh, yeah. Very, very expensive shoes. Like, thousand-dollar shoes.”

I grimace.

I had no idea.

And they were destroyed.

A thousand dollars?

It seems extravagant but I’m not one to talk considering my five-thousand-dollar TV and the tens of thousands of dollars I’ve spent on motorcycles over the years.

“That might be a nice gift for her when you get back,” he suggests softly. “I know we’re looking around at all this post-hurricane devastation and thinking something like that is wasteful, but there are people suffering all over the world. We’re doing our part to help—but we still get to live our lives. And you still get to show your wife thoughtfulness and caring. That you listen. That her needs are important to you.”

I think about the picture frame I hadn’t noticed, the one of the two of us on the day we met. She was thoughtful enough to print and frame it, put it up in our apartment, and I never noticed.

I won’t make a mistake like that again.

Going forward, my wife—and her needs and feelings—will be a priority.

“You’re right,” I say, nodding. “But first I need to figure out what size she wears.”

“Those are things you need to commit to memory,” he replies. “Shoe size, clothing size, even her weight. Know those things like you know your own.”

“Got it.”

There’s a lot to this being married stuff but I’m up for the job.

Unfortunately, there’s no time to think about my wife because a group of at least fifteen people just walked in the front door.

“Back to work!” Vaughn says, nudging me.

Chapter 23

Hana