“Yeah.” She sighed. “It sounds stupid, but I’m kind of known for my spontaneity.”
I pressed the button for the lobby. “That’s stupid?” I asked, thinking of Will.
“Okay, well, that’s not the stupid part. The stupid part is that all weekend, we played truth or dare because they know that I always do dares. I never turn them down. I’m the girl that people tell stories about—you know, how every group has that friend?”
“I do know,” I said, again thinking of Will.
“Life’s too short, you know? Blah, blah, yeah, it’s a cliché. So, part of me doesn’t want to get fake married to someone just to spite them, since they only did truths all weekend.”
“Still waiting for the stupid part,” I said as the elevator carried us down sixteen floors.
“I'm not really a spiteful person.” She shrugged.
“You said that part of you doesn’t want to get fake married to someone. Which implies part of you does?” My head was starting to spin a little, like I was getting drunk off of her company, like her ambivalence to the dare was convincing me. Was I actually considering this?
“Sure. I guess just to say I did. It wouldn’t be a legal marriage, just the whole exchanging vows part.”
It didn’t sound like the craziest thing to me. If this were an actual marriage, with the legal document binding someone to another, that’d be one thing. But I could stand up in front of an Elvis impersonator and repeat vows, couldn’t I?
“Wait,” she said, interrupting the prolonged silence between us. “Are you asking because you want to?”
“You said you never turn down dares,” I told her. “I’m weighing the risks of having a Las Vegas ceremony without the legal implications complicating it.”
“You are?” Her eyes grew wide. “Of course you are.” She laughed, a sound that I wanted to hear more of. “Okay, how heavy is the risk?”
“Virtually weightless,” I said. “We exchange vows and eventually go our separate ways.” The elevator dinged, letting a couple onto it with us. “At a time of our choosing.” Was it my imagination, or did that seem to settle her? Or was it only because it had settled me? “The only risk is the cost—”
“I’d pay,” she interrupted.
I ignored that part. “We could make a reservation now,” I told her. It made me jittery, as if this was an actual, legal wedding ceremony we were agreeing to and not something to do for fun. For the first time in so long that I couldn’t remember, I was excited about something.
Sure, we might get fake-married and then go our separate ways immediately after ‘I do’. Or, we might exchange numbers and see one another again after this crazy story. Either way, the potential rewards far outweighed the risks.
Tori regarded me for a moment longer when the elevator paused in its descent to allow more people on. We were shoved closer together in the corner and out of instinct, I wrapped an arm protectively around her when someone who had pre-gamed a little too hard bumped into her.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s do it. Wait a second. You’re not married or otherwise engaged, right?”
“No. It’s safe to assume you aren’t, either?” These were questions we probably should have gotten out of the way ahead of time.
“I wouldn’t kiss a stranger in a bar if I were,” she told me, jostling into me when she was bumped by the rowdy man beside her.
“I wasn’t really a stranger though, was I?” I asked. “Since you said you loved me already.”
“Touché.”
The elevator doors slid open, where Tori’s friends were waiting for her.
“You were gone a long time,” said the taller of the trio, a woman who looked like she’d eaten a basket of sour grapes.
“She’s still wearing her clothes, Katy,” said a woman who looked just like her, sounding exasperated. “I think it’s safe to assume they didn’t have time to remove clothing and put it back on before coming down.”
Tori gave me a mischievous grin. “Only one pair of pants was removed,” she said diplomatically.
Ignoring the women’s surprised faces, I asked, “Are we going to do this?”
Without hesitating, Tori nodded, maintaining eye contact with me the whole time.
“I’ll book the reservation. I’m not sure if there’s some kind of dress code, but I’ll go up to my room and grab a sport coat. Should we meet here in about twenty minutes?”
“You’re doing it?” the shortest one said, her voice screechy. “You’re getting married?”
Tori looked the one called Katy directly in the eyes and