Unhurt by K.S. Thomas Page B

it because I didn’t know either.
    “Hey,” I tugged her elbow to get her attention. “Let’s step outside for a minute.”
    She pressed her lips together tightly and nodded.
    We walked to the door, followed by random cheers and congratulatory handshakes as we moved through. The deserted sidewalk was a welcome change of pace by the time we finally made it to the exit.
    “You don’t really have to marry me, it’s fine. I mean, it was ridiculous of me to come in here asking Mattie in the first place. I was just desperate.” Joss was rambling. “But seriously, I don’t really expect you to go through with that crazy proposal you made in there.”
    “Are you kidding me? I just paid for a hundred drinks. We are getting married! No take backs, no bailing.” I reached up to grasp her hand and unfold her arms in the process. “I knew what I was doing when I volunteered to marry you. I’m not changing my mind, so don’t you. You need this, Joss. Let me do it for you.”
    She sucked in a deep breath of air, trying to ward off her emotions. It was pointless. “Everything is such a mess. Honestly, I don’t even know if this will make a difference.”
    Automatically, I brought her to me and held her tight while she continued to cry.
    “Well, we won’t know unless we try, right?”
    “I guess.” She sniffed against my shoulder. “Thank you...just, thank you.” Her head turned up at me. Her big green eyes were flooded to the point of overflowing. Between the tears and the sheer depth of what lie beneath them, I knew in an instant I would fucking drown there if I ever let myself fall in.

Chapter Six
    S ince there was a three day waiting period between getting the marriage license and being able to get married, we couldn’t follow through with Derek’s initial proposal to have a wedding the next day. We did however meet on the front steps of the court house to acquire our license first thing in the morning.
    Given the high crazy factor in our endeavor, I opted not to give Aunt Deb any details and simply allowed her to remain innocent and ignorant, believing Derek and I were getting together for a simple breakfast which she repeatedly told me could turn into dinner, wink wink . Oh, there would be dinner alright.
    By some miracle, Bobby never did show up at the bar during my little engagement fiasco the previous night, and pending any furious phone calls from him, my ‘fake marriage-real wedding’ plans were moving along without a hitch.
    “You’re not nervous, are you?” Derek nudged me in the side with his elbow as we walked up the massive steps toward the building.
    “About marrying a guy I barely know in hopes that I won’t lose custody of my son? Psh, not at all.” There was a delay between the words coming out of my mouth and my brain really registering what they were. When it hit me, I froze up mid-step. “Holy shit. What am I thinking? If anyone finds out this marriage is a sham I’ll be even more fucked than I am without a husband.”
    “No one is going to find out.” He was leaning in close to me. So close in fact, for a moment I thought our foreheads might touch.
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “Because,” he pulled back as he reached down to take my hand, “we’re not going to let them.”
    I don’t know why, maybe because I had no other choice, but I believed him.
    Still holding my hand, Derek led the way into the building. Less than an hour later we were walking out again, marriage license in our possession. The whole experience had made me feel like puking, a sensation I was getting uncomfortably used to. Although I probably wasn’t the only one having that reaction to filling out forms in preparation for a lifetime of legal bondage.
    “Well, that was different.” I glanced down at the papers in my hand.
    “Oh, you’ve never done this before?”
    My head shot up to meet his eyes. “You have?”
    He grinned. “No.”
    I shook my head and slugged him in the arm. “Asshole.”
    He