Chapter 1

This was my fourth attempt to marry my boyfriend, Torin Calder. We'd just reached the Office of Civil Marriages in Las Vegas.

He and my best friend, Blythe Mercer, suddenly froze.

No matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't make either of them take a single step.

I knew they were playing the freeze game again.

There was no warning. They simply stopped and competed to see who could hold their pose the longest.

When we'd gone bungee jumping over a canyon, we'd agreed all three of us would take turns jumping.

But the second my safety rope was secured, they shoved me off the platform, even though I was terrified of heights. Then they stood there without moving.

When the staff brought me back to the platform, my legs were shaking. I demanded to know why they'd done it, but neither of them responded.

Finally, Torin said, "Whoever moves or talks first loses. You know the rules."

When he proposed, I blushed and held out my hand, waiting for Torin to slip the ring onto my finger.

He froze.

He left my hand hanging in the air.

People passing by lowered their voices. "Did he change his mind? Doesn't she get it?"

Torin didn't put the ring on my finger until my makeup was streaked with tears and I was about to leave.

"Sweetheart, it was a joke. Why are you crying again?"

Blythe linked her arm through mine affectionately.

"Relax, Seren. You have to learn to enjoy yourself."

I'd thought I would get used to it eventually.

But before we'd left that day, I'd begged them over and over not to play.

At least not while we were exchanging our vows.

Yet there they were, doing it again.

Exhaustion washed over me, and I stopped trying to pull them along.

I would never get used to this game.

I was done playing.

……

People passed us, whispering.

"The wedding's about to start. Why are they still out here?"

"Look. She's the only one pulling him along. Only one of them wants to get married."

Their voices were quiet, but I heard every word.

I gripped our marriage license, its edges digging painfully into my fingers.

I looked at Torin Calder. "Are we still getting married today?"

He said nothing.

He wouldn't even look at me.

I gave a bitter little laugh at myself.

I already knew the answer, but I'd still had to ask.

I let go of his hand and took two steps back.

Surprise flickered across Torin's face.

But he still didn't move.

"Keep playing, Torin. I'm out."

I turned away from them and left.

No footsteps followed me.

They wouldn't come after me until the game was over.

It took me more than an hour to get home alone.

No one called. No one even texted to ask if I'd made it.

I replied to the transfer email my manager had sent the previous week, accepted the move to our Seattle branch, and started packing.

I had so little left that it only filled half a suitcase.

When I'd moved in, I'd brought three full suitcases.

Then Blythe Mercer had suggested the freeze game.

The penalty for losing was to give her my things.

The first was an emerald pendant I'd saved up for three months to buy.

I didn't want to give it up, but Torin reassured me. "A bet's a bet. Don't spoil the fun—I'll buy you a better one."

Three years had passed. I was still waiting.

The second was a pair of silver pendants we'd had custom-made at an artisan jewelry shop for our first anniversary, engraved with each other's names.

We'd barely reached the shop's door when he and Blythe started the freeze game again.

I pulled and pulled. Neither of them would budge.

More people gathered to watch until I finally broke down. "Do you have to humiliate me to have a good time?"

Only then did Torin put his arms around me. "Okay, I surrender. I even lost the game to make you feel better."

So Blythe took the engraved pendant I'd given him.

"It has my name on it," I said. "You're giving it to her?"

Torin ruffled my hair. "You made me lose. She can't win and get nothing."

The anniversary gift I'd spent so long choosing ended up in Blythe's hands.

The third was the gemstone brooch my mom had left me before she died.

I was so feverish I could barely stay conscious, and I begged Torin to take me to the ER.

He and Blythe wouldn't move.

Only after I passed out from the fever did he take me to the hospital.

The price was the brooch. He'd wagered it and lost.

I nearly got down on my knees and begged him.

"It's the last thing Mom left me. Torin, don't make a joke out of it..."

His voice was gentle. "I don't want to, either. But rules are rules."

"If you hadn't insisted on going to the hospital, I wouldn't have lost."

There'd been so many other times that I couldn't remember them all.

I'd asked Torin why they were the ones playing, yet it was always my things they gave away.

"We're a team," he'd said. "What's mine is yours."

Once, those words would have touched me.

Now they just made me sick.

I was putting the last piece of clothing into my suitcase when I finally heard the lock turn.

Then I heard Blythe's voice.

"Seren, he lost again because he came back for you. Guess what the penalty was this time?"

"We just got married at a chapel. The officiant has already signed the paperwork."

"I'm his wife now."