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Bride

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Chapter 28: Bride (Jules's POV)

"Stall it, stall it, stall it," I ground out as we slowly approached the front desk. 

"What?" Christian mumbled in confusion. 

"If we wait till the others leave, we can get a second room without them knowing," I huffed, stopping at the counter before removing my hand from his. 

He stared at me for a moment and then ignored me, turning to the receptionist. "There should be a room booked under Christian Lukov, we would like to check-in, please," he said. 

"Christian, I'm serious," I hissed, nudging him. 

He grabbed my arm as I continued to elbow him and jerked me forward, silencing me with surprise. "So am I," he said, neither one of us looking away. 

"Mr. Lukov, please fill in this form for us while I bring out your room key," the woman smiled politely, handing over a clipboard to him before turning around. 

"Why are we sharing a room when we have the option to do otherwise?" I questioned, glaring at him. Just because things had been going well for the most part, and we were finally cooperating with each other didn't mean I wanted to share a room and bed with the man. 

"We're staying in the exact same hotel as your family, Jules, as your entire family." He glanced at me as he continued to fill out the form with his information. "Let me remind you that if anyone ends up with a room near ours and learns that we aren't staying together, it'll be your loss." He finished up with a signature at the bottom of the page before sliding it back to the employee. "Not mine," he ended while meeting my gaze. "So let's be logical and practical without taking that risk. Let's stick to the plan." 

"Here's your key," the woman said, clearing her throat and holding it out. 

Suppressing a sigh, I took the key from the employee while a bellboy came and took our luggage, heading towards our room first. Christian, on the other hand, turned his attention back to me after making sure none of our stuff was left behind. "Do you really think we're at the stage where we can share a room without strangling each other?" I asked. 

"We've been around each other a lot these past few weeks and we haven't strangled each other yet," he replied. 

"I'm very tempted right now," I shrugged. 

"Then I'm afraid you must wait till we're upstairs, Milaya," he smirked before taking my hand and slipping his fingers between mine as we walked back to my family. 

"Checked in?" my Dad asked us. 

We nodded simultaneously. 

"If you're hungry, the hotel has twenty-four hours of room service, so you guys can order," Audrey shrugged before taking all her shopping bags. "I'm going to call it a night. Bye guys, bye Mr. and Mrs. Declan," she smiled at them before rushing forward to get into the elevator. 

"We were heading out for a late-night stroll. But you two should rest up," Dad said, patting Christian's shoulder before leaving with Mom. 

"And then there were four," Naomi chuckled softly. "Do you guys want to grab a drink?" she offered, pointing at the hotel bar behind her. 

I glanced at Christian only to find him already staring at me. "Actually, we're really exhausted from the flight," I half-lied, offering her a sheepish smile. "Maybe tomorrow?" 

"We were hoping to just unwind and settle in tonight," Christian added. 

"Oh yeah, of course. You guys must be pretty jet lagged as well," she grinned, waving a dismissive hand. "Goodnight, then." She began leading Alex towards the bar but stumbled right back when their hands remained linked but he refused to move. "Babe?" Naomi stared at him in confusion. 

"I need to talk to you," he said to me sharply. 

"Oh, here we go," Christian snickered softly. 

I peered up at him. "Don't," I whispered. 

He watched me for a minute before sighing in defeat and letting go of my hand. 

"Sure," I told Alex before moving aside with him. "What's up?" 

"Why did you bring him?" he questioned immediately. 

"What?" I laughed dryly. "He's..." I paused and then shrugged casually. "He's my fiancé, why wouldn't I bring him? Who else would I bring?" 

"To my wedding, Jules? Really? You know how much I hate that guy." 

"I know how much he hates you too but he's trying to be civil, isn't he? Can't you do the same? You're getting married, Alex, I don't think Christian should be your concern, you should be enjoying it with Naomi." 

"I can't enjoy anything when he's around," he scoffed, glaring over at him. 

"Mom and Dad demanded that I bring him." 

"Mom and Dad don't know him," he mumbled. 

"I know him," I countered defensively. 

Alex's gaze snapped over to mine. "Do you really?" He huffed in annoyance. "Whatever. Just keep him away from me." After pausing he nodded at me once in appreciation, "I am glad that you're here though. Everyone's driving me crazy with this wedding stuff." 

"Well, you'll only get married once, I don't blame Naomi for wanting to go all-out." 

He chuckled, rolling his eyes and I cracked a smile. 

"She seems really excited, Alex, I'm really happy for you." 

"Thanks," he replied. "Anyway, Dad's right, you should rest up. Big day tomorrow." 

"What's tomorrow?" I asked in confusion. 

"Wedding dress shopping," he whispered like it was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. 

"Okay," I whispered back mockingly, "Goodnight," before laughing to myself as I made my way back to Christian. His eyes narrowed upon Alex and I steered him away. "Let's go," I sang, diverting his attention. Elbowing his ribs, I scolded him, "Don't glare at my brother like that." 

"Then tell your brother not to glare at me like that," he countered instantly. 

"I can't tell him to do anything, he's the groom. What do you think of the bride?" I asked as we entered the elevator. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, whether you like it or not, you know Alex. You know my parents and me. Do you think she'll fit in?" 

"It seems like your parents like her," he nodded. 

"My parents adore her," I chuckled. "She's a really nice girl." 

"She doesn't talk much," he shrugged. 

"Neither do you," I teased, "but she doesn't know you, maybe that's why. I like her. Alex is happy with her." 

"Really? At least someone knows how to make him happy. I've never seen that asshole do anything but glower at me." 

I eyed him in amusement and couldn't hold in my laugh as we got out on the tenth floor where our room was. "I can't believe the immaturity you both have. Look, I don't know why you hate each other so much, but whatever it was, it happened years ago. If you can't get over then at least for the sake of this wedding, put your past issues aside. Most importantly, leave each other alone. You," I warned, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Don't go poking the bear. And I'll ask Naomi to tell Alex the same thing." 

"Fine," he muttered, unlocking our door and then holding it open for me. "I'll try." 

"Effort counts. You get bonus points in my book," I mused, walking past him and into the room, taking everything in. 

As soon as you entered, there was a long full-body mirror to the right, plastered on the wall. To the left was the door that led us straight to the huge bathroom where a round bathtub sat on the very right with a showerhead planted directly into the ceiling and a huge mirror, sink, and counter, front and center with the toilet to the left behind a black shiny sliding door. Continuing forward in the bedroom, there was a TV hanging from the wall with a cabinet and mini-fridge below it, a desk to the left of that, and a balcony right beside that with a beautiful view of the Perissa beach. 

A closet was built into the wall next to the balcony and in the center of the room sat a huge king-sized bed. The left side of the bed had an open view of the glass wall and the bathroom, removing any privacy, but the blinds could be drawn too. 

Blinds first then. 

I walked over and grabbed the chain, pulling the blinds down, and cutting the entire bathroom out of sight while Christian strolled in beside me, noticing what I was doing without commenting on it. 

"It's a cozy room," he remarked. We both stared at the bed for a minute. "Why is the bed so fucking huge?" he asked. 

At the same time, I questioned, "Why is the bed so fucking small?" Our gazes snapped to each other. "Are you kidding me? The bed is tiny. One of us better sleep on the floor and it won't be me," I scoffed. 

"Jules, you're being ridiculous. The bed is perfectly big enough for us to sleep in and I promise..." He walked over, stopping barely an inch away when my back met the glass window of the bathroom. "Our pinkies won't even touch." He watched me, entertained before nudging my chin upward using his knuckles and then stepping back and plopping down on the left side of the bed. "You can build a pillow wall or whatever you want to, but I'm not giving up the bed and sleeping on the floor." 

"This is exactly why I said we should get two rooms," I scoffed, glaring at him with my arms folded across my chest. 

"Why? Because you're too scared to get in bed with me?" He smirked while emptying out his pockets onto his nightstand. "I don't bite," he said and then added, "unless you ask. But you know that, don't you?" 

I huffed, shaking my head at him, "You're impossible." Rounding the bed, I settled down on my side, watching him as he laughed to himself and unzipped both our suitcases, leaving mine for me to unpack myself. "You're having too much fun," I commented, my eyes following him everywhere he went while hanging some of his clothes in the closet. 

"Left side is empty for you, Milaya," he sighed before taking his toiletry bag and disappearing into the bathroom. 

While he freshened up, I unpacked my things, hanging some dresses in the closet, pausing to stare at his clothes. I took the sleeve of one of his button-ups and traced the cuffs before letting it fall. Swiftly, I shut the closet door as Christian strolled back out. 

"Freshen up," he said while grabbing a change of pajamas from his suitcase. "I'll change out here." 

I grabbed my things, pajamas included, and entered the bathroom only to come back out and assess the blinds, peeking through them to check if he could see through them.

"I won't peek," he whispered in my ear from behind, startling me. 

I jumped and spun around, covering my ear where his lips tickled my skin. 

He chuckled, relishing in my misery. "I won't look, Jules. Trust me." 

"All right," I mumbled before going into the bathroom and locking the door. 

Desperately, I was hoping nobody suspected anything tonight. My family aside, Naomi was the first test. She wasn't just the bride but she was also the first person Christian met who was witnessing our relationship from the perspective of an outsider. If she was convinced that we were madly in love, then we weren't too far off from fooling the rest of my family. 

We just had to wait and watch while pulling on our Oscar-worthy performances.

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Chapter 28

One bed trope >>

also flashback to when I said this book wasn't a slow burn but it's almost chapter 30 and they haven't even kissed yet lmaoo

ig it is a slow burn atp just not as long or as slow as Terms & Truths

still missing Evie and Rowan tho <3

next ch: dress