Page 49 of Finding Hayes
So, if she wanted to stalk around the house like a child for the next week, she could have at it. I wasn’t going to apologize for telling the truth.
We’d gone the entire week without speaking in private, all while putting on a show of being newlyweds in public.
Everyone at the firehouse was stunned that we’d gotten married so quickly. The harder sell was my friends.
They were shooting endless questions at me, as were their significant others.
And I couldn’t ask my wife how to field all these questions because she wasn’t speaking to me when we were at home. She’d been staying in the guest room on the other side of the house. She made dinner every night, and she was a damn good cook,but she took her plate to her bedroom because apparently, she couldn’t stand the sight of me.
We’d been to Whiskey Falls with everyone to celebrate our wedding, but they didn’t grill her the way they’d grilled me. Or maybe she just handled the questions better than I did.
She never seemed uncomfortable with any of it in public.
I’d just spent the last three days at the firehouse, and tonight we were taking Cutler to dinner at the Golden Goose. He’d been the one that I felt the worst about because he genuinely seemed hurt that I’d gotten married without him being there. My sister Saylor hadn’t been happy that she wasn’t invited, but she loved Savannah so damn much that she let it go because she said all that mattered at the end of the day was that I was happy.
Cutler didn’t seem to share that sentiment.
“My pops says the farmhouse is looking so good,” Cutler said. “And my Sunny said that you’re getting famous from the social studies.”
Savannah’s head tipped back in laughter. Why did I love the sound of her laugh so much? Maybe it was because I’d barely seen her over the last three days, and she hadn’t uttered more than three words to me since getting here today. She did stop by the firehouse to bring everyone little gift bags filled with chocolate-covered popcorn, so she was holding up her end of the bargain, even if she barely looked at me when she’d stopped by. She’d gotten pretty good at faking it in public, and she’d given me a big hug and giggled when I’d made a joke, but she still wouldn’t look at me.
And I was about done being ignored by my wife.
Fake or not—it was bullshit.
“I bet she meant to say social media,” Savannah said, as she and Cutler each reached for a french fry and dipped them in their ketchup at the same time before taking a bite and laughing.
“What does that mean to be famous on the media?” he asked, as he reached for his grilled cheese.
“I started building my social media a while back when I worked at this big design firm, and people who liked my style followed me. And then when I came here, I shared that I’d be renovating this old farmhouse. The first few posts I made were of the bathroom being gutted, and they went viral. So I’m having fun with it.” She smiled at Cutler and then straightened her features when she looked at me.
For fuck’s sake. This is ridiculous.
“How about you stop glaring at me,” I said, as the words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Cutler’s eyes widened, and he looked between us. “You mad at Uncle Hayes, Savvy? He can be a big grump sometimes. But he loves you. That’s why he got married to you, right?”
Her gaze softened, and she cleared her throat. “Yes. But sometimes you can be mad at people you love, too.”
“I was kind of mad at Uncle Hayes for getting married without me.” Cutler shrugged.
“Well, that makes two of us that were mad on our wedding day.” She smirked.
How did this turn on me again?
“Were you mad that he didn’t invite me, too?” Cutler asked.
“I should actually take the blame for that, Beefcake. We were just so excited to get married, and I didn’t have time to tell my dad or my brother, and so I felt bad having anyone there if we weren’t including everyone.”
Cutler’s head tipped back in a fit of laughter. “You two must really love each other because you couldn’t wait for your family to come to the wedding. So I’m not mad anymore. And you shouldn’t be mad at my uncle because you just got married, right?”
“I couldn’t agree more. We’re newlyweds, after all.” I quirked a brow, knowing I was pissing her off. But I’d rather have her angry at me than ignoring me.
“Then you shouldn’t have said what you said on our wedding day.”
Why was she so hung up on this?
“Oh, man, what did you say to my girl, Uncle Hayes?”
