by Robin Leaf
I looked toward the door and my eyes met his.
I felt a surge of electricity go through my entire body. I’d almost forgotten how gorgeous he was. He cut his hair short, which just upped his gorgeousness level two hundred percent. And he was dressed in a white button-down shirt with the first two undone and a jacket that looked like it was made just for him. Jesus. My heart did that thing like in one of those cartoons where everyone could see it leaping out of my chest, but I couldn’t tell if it was trying to reach him or trying to punch him.
Fucking him.
Brody Heroux.
Locked in a stare off with me.
The disgusted look on his face said it all.
Now my fists joined the “I wanna punch him” party.
This was the last place either of us expected to see the other. That much was obvious.
I watched him take a deep breath to control himself, but he didn’t look away. I had a handle on the anger rising in me due to years of practice. The trick was to find some small detail and focus all my energy on that one thing. Right now, I was transfixed by his flaring nostrils. He almost looked like a bull ready to charge.
Well, bring it, Brodacious. I’m even wearing red for the occasion.
The moment was broken when Emily hugged him and led him away.
I had to lean into Dugger so I didn’t stomp after him to find out why the hell he was here.
“Why do you look like you want to rip Brody’s head off, Sugar Bug?”
My head whipped to Dugger. “You know him?”
“Well… yeah. He’s Emily’s cousin. He stayed with them after Christmas to secure some big-time computer deal or something. We helped him celebrate afterward. He’s cool as hell.”
She’d talked to me about her beloved cousin. I remember stories about how she loved going to visit him and how they were so close. She said that their mothers were twins who were pregnant at the same time, and she joked that he felt like the third twin to her and her twin sister, Etta. I was currently trying to remember if she ever once uttered his name. Brody isn’t exactly common. You’d think I’d have recognized it.
Keaton told me her cousin was in the wedding party… paired with me.
Fuck!
“I’m sensing bad vibes here, Bug.” Dugger put a finger under my chin so he could look into my eyes. “Care to fill me in?”
I looked around at the people assembled in the vestibule. “I can’t. Not here.”
Right when he took my hand, I again locked eyes with Brody, who stared at Dugger’s hand in mine. Those nostrils flared again.
Dugger pulled me gently down the hallway in the opposite direction. When we got safely out of earshot from the rest of the crowd, he tugged me to a stop and whipped me around in front of him.
“Spill.”
And spill I did. I couldn’t control the words as they flew quickly out of my mouth beginning with the flight and ending with the moment we locked eyes right before he pulled me down the hallway. I spoke animatedly but barely above a whisper, and Dugger patiently watched me tell him the story in less than two minutes while he casually leaned against the wall. He knew me as well as Keaton did, and in some ways, better. Douglass Van Cleef was the guy I went to as a teenager for the guy advice, the stuff I couldn’t ask my brother. I think while advising me, he learned some pretty valuable intel about females as well.
“So now I have to face him for this stupid wedding, and he made it perfectly clear when he walked in that he wanted about as much to do with me as I do with him.” I folded my arms across my chest and sunk against the wall. “Which is nothing, in case you’re wondering. I certainly don’t want to breathe the same air as him, much less walk happily down an aisle looking like an eggplant.”
“Wait, I’m confused. Did he say you look like an eggplant?”
“No. The bridesmaids’ dresses are purple, and last night, I dreamed when we walked down the aisle, we all turned into eggplants, Violet Beauregarde style.” I leaned toward him and put my forehead between his enormous pecs. “What am I going to do, Dougie?”
I felt him cup my head and kiss the top of it right before his muscles stiffened, probably from whoever was approaching, which made me tense up as well.
“Excuse me,” came the voice of Mrs. Sullivan. I sighed in relief. “Kaelyn? Dugger? We need to get this started.” She sounded like she was trying to not lose it. “Please, go into the church and find the wedding planner.”
I stepped away and followed Mrs. Sullivan through the wooden doors.
Dugger grabbed my elbow. “Holy shit,” he whispered in my ear. “Did you see Nathaniel Slaughter out there?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes. He’s with Emily’s sister. Gosh, you really need to pay attention to what’s going on around you, Dougie. Emily told us the whole story last night at dinner.”
He smiled. “Sorry, but after the waitress stuck her tongue in my ear…”
“Ew, no. Don’t say another word.”
He looked over my shoulder at the rest of the people, then leaned down to whisper in my ear.
“What’s my play here, Kae? Are we gonna let him know we’re just friends,” he smoothed his fingertips down my arm and grabbed my hand, “or do we make him think you moved on?”
I turned around to see Brody’s nostrils flaring again, and my heart literally skipped a beat… like I felt it stutter in my chest. His expression softened, and I swear I saw a flash of sadness before he looked away.
“Let’s feel this out first. I’ll get back to you on that.”
Twenty
Brody
I really wanted to punch Dugger.
And I liked Dugger. We hung out before I left California, and he was one of the best guys I’d ever met. He was a fun guy, sure, but he had a pretty level head on his shoulders. He seemed like the type of guy who would jump into a fight to save the little guy and the type everyone would want with them when it was necessary to drink their problems away.
What a shame I wanted to knock him the fuck out for touching what should be mine.
I’d never hit anyone in my life. Ever.
And I’d never felt this way… proprietary over a woman. My rational side was a champion for equality and feminism one-hundred percent.
I wasn’t really rational at this point.
It certainly wasn’t rational to want a woman I knew practically nothing about, except how to make her come, to be mine and only mine.
I had watched them since I arrived (mostly, I watched her in that siren-red dress with those red lips to match) and noticed they seemed awfully familiar with one another. And he looked at her like she was his precious, treasured princess. I wondered if they were together and for how long. If they’d been together as long as their level of comfort dictated, they both cheated on each other… he went home with some barfly the night we celebrated, and she cheated on him… with me.
I only half listened as the wedding coordinator droned on about what we were supposed to do. My job? Stand here.
Cool. I can do that.
Until I saw her walking down the aisle in that fucking red dress.
My heart raced. The breath left my lungs.
My dick lurched for her.
God, I wanted to run my hands all over her body.
I wanted to kiss her until those hate-filled eyes looked at me the way they did on my birthday.
I wanted her to wrap those wicked, red lips around my cock and suck me dry.
I wanted to fuck her relentlessly, punishing her for rejecting me, until her glorious pussy squeezed the life out of my cock.
I wanted to make seven orgasms look like the beginner level.
Fuck.
I had to stop this. I was in a fucking church fantasizing about hate-fucking this woman.
The woman I wished was mine.
I sent up a quick prayer, mostly asking that no one noticed my hard-as-fuck boner.
If she was walking down first, that meant she was paired with me.
; Which also meant she was Tater’s sister.
What are the fucking odds that the girl I met on the plane would be my soon-to-be cousin-in-law’s sister?
The last time we were together, she wasn’t wearing underwear. I wondered if that was true now, too.
Okay, the boner was beginning to border on painful, like if I didn’t get some relief soon…
“Vanessa!” Riley almost screamed before running to the middle of the aisle.
Let me say that nothing kills a boner faster than a pregnant woman almost falling. We all scrambled to her aid.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she assured her husband. “That muscle I pulled when we…” looking around at all the faces, she blushed, “…were doing yoga. I really should’ve stretched first.”
Right… they were doing “yoga.” There was no doubt how she really pulled that muscle.
Riley lifted her and sat down in the closest pew, feeling everywhere on her he could.
“Sheesh, Riley, I’m fine.” She waved his hands away. “I didn’t even fall, and lord knows if I did, my ass has enough cushion.”
“I don’t think you can say ‘ass’ in church, Ness,” Emily joked.
“It’s in the Bible, isn’t it?” Vanessa jabbed back.
I zoned out when Etta took over, assessing Vanessa with all her physical therapist questions and medical knowledge. That allowed me to catch a whiff of her… with the sunshine and heaven scent that haunted my alone time, which brought back the other memories that also haunted my alone time.
Memories of her swallowing my cock, of her gloriously naked, coming, moaning…
God, she smelled good.
Boner danger, DEFCON 2.
I had to walk away to get it under control. Binary alphabet to the rescue.
“Okay, new plan,” the wedding planner announced. “Emily, I know you didn’t want to do it this way, but I think the boys will need to escort the girls down the aisle.”
Em nodded. “I was going to suggest that.”
“Alrighty then, let’s do it.”
We walked toward the entrance of the church when Miles nudged me with his elbow.
“Dude, you’re so lucky you get to walk with KaeKae,” he whispered to me. “She’s so hot.”
I put my arm around Miles and pulled him close. “Here’s a life lesson, little cousin. Don’t refer to attractive women as ‘hot.’ Always use the word beautiful. It sounds classier and will get you in better with the ladies.”
He saluted me. “Gotcha, Cuz.”
The wedding planner lined us up and explained how we should do this Saturday night. Again, I could only half listen because, out of the corner of my eye, I watched Kaelyn’s chest heave slightly as she stood next to me, her lips pursed and her eyes forward.
I almost missed the planner’s cue to start down the aisle.
“Shelley, aren’t they supposed to lock arms?” Aunt Mae demanded almost desperately.
Kaelyn rolled her eyes so hard, I almost felt the wind from it. She forcefully locked her hand around my elbow.
“C’mon,” I patted her hand. “You can handle holding my arm for thirty whole seconds, Cher.”
She squeezed my elbow, probably in an attempt to cause me pain.
“Do. Not. Call. Me. That.” She said through clenched teeth.
Holy hell, was she cute when she was pissed.
Hey, let’s poke this beast, shall we?
“You sure did like it last time we were… together, Cher.”
She took a deep breath to control her response and kept her voice low. “Things change.” We stepped forward slowly. “And by the way, I think you are the last person to give advice about women to your impressionable cousin. Your batting average with the ladies seems to be zero lately.”
I smiled at her for making this too easy. “Oh, I don’t know. I think I’m battin’ at least seven, don’t you think?”
I swear she actually tried to shoot venom out of her eyes when she whipped her head to look at me. After letting go of my arm, she all but stomped to her mark. When she turned around to face the others walking down the aisle, she worked a little too hard to make it look like she wasn’t doing everything in her power to ignore me.
I had to fight a smile. All that sass did nothing but turn me on more.
I would have this woman again… if it fucking killed me.
***
I left the restaurant early to go set up for the “pre-party” I allowed Emily to talk me into having at my house when she and Tater helped me unpack my kitchen the other day. The plan was to meet at my house before the party split by genders. The girls were supposed to go to some male strip club in Houston on Richmond. Emily was catering to her preggo friend on that one. The men decided to stay here and play poker, so I had to find my poker chips and clean off my table.
As I drove to my house, I thought about this shit with Kaelyn. She and I sat at opposite ends of the table during dinner. I was seated between Riley and my Uncle Collin, while she sat next to Dugger. She must have been trying to slip in some work the way she occasionally concentrated on the phone in her hand. I still couldn’t get a feel for their relationship. They were familiar, but it didn’t feel romantic. Yeah, Dugger looked at her like she hung the stars, but she did not return the favor. And they never really touched, no more than what would be considered friendly.
Yes, I spent the whole dinner watching her and trying to be discreet about it. Everyone else was too busy to notice me. Riley worried about Vanessa. Etta obsessively questioned Riley about his movies and his life. Nate brooded over Etta’s attention to Riley. Emily and Tater were busy mingling. Miles had his head in his phone. Tater’s mom, Jennifer, explained to Aunt Mae why she wrote under a pen name, showing excerpts from her books, which made my aunt giggle and blush. I just sat there watching how Kaelyn interacted with Dugger, half-ass listening to my uncle complain about all this “stupid wedding bullshit.”
I hurried when I got home, busting ass trying to get everything situated. I had just enough time to find the poker chips, take off my jacket and roll up my sleeves before the doorbell rang.
Everyone arrived at my house pretty much all at once, and I gave them a quick tour of the main space. Now, we were just hanging out. Etta set Riley up with a tennis ball to rub Vanessa’s back. Everyone else just relaxed with some drinks.
Yes. Kaelyn was here… in my house, the one she knew I had built for a future with another woman.
And she had yet to look at me. She was really good at trying to pretend I didn’t exist.
Well, that was about to change.
I felt a hand on my arm. “Hey, Brody, can you show me to the bathroom?” Etta asked.
She gave me the eye, the one where she made it clear that she wanted to talk to me.
“Sure, cousin.”
She followed closely behind me, and when we got around the corner, she pulled me to a stop.
“Hey, are you okay? You just… well, you haven’t been yourself all night.”
I just stared blankly.
“I know about the break up, Brody, and I know with all this wedding stuff, it can be hard. So, are you okay?”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“But you seem –”
“Really, I’m fine. Some people weren’t meant to be, Etta.” I opened the guest bathroom door and turned on the light for her. “And some people are. Nice to see that you and Nate finally pulled your heads out of your asses.”
She stepped past me. “Yeah, it only took us ten years.”
She shut the door, and I dropped my head.
I would not make the same mistakes she and Nate did. I would go after what I wanted.
Right the fuck now.
I needed to know what I did to make her give me the brush off, so I walked back into the living room with a purpose… find Kaelyn and make her talk to me. She stood off to the side and typed something on her phone, smiling.
That smile.
God, I wanted to kiss if off her f
ace.
I took a step toward her, intent on grabbing her arm and pulling her to my bedroom, when someone shushed the room.
We heard what sounded like a cabinet slam and some loud moans.
“Etta, I asked you a question,” Nathaniel’s voice demanded from the bathroom. “Tell me who’s fucking you.”
Yeah, Nathaniel and Etta were having sex. In. My. Bathroom.
Someone giggled.
“Who is?” Nate demanded.
We heard another muffled slam. “You are, Nathaniel.”
The memory washed over me like a tsunami.
“Who fucks you hard against the wall, huh? Who fucked you hard all week.”
“Only you, Kyle.”
I almost fell to my knees. If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have said watching my best friend fuck my girlfriend really didn’t affect me that much, but apparently I lied to myself. The alcohol must have muffled the original blow.
Well, and Kaelyn.
The sound of Etta’s and Nate’s endings pierced through my skull, rattling around like dimes in a tin can.
“Do we just attract the loud sexers, or what?” Kaelyn said lowly next to me.
She… she didn’t make it any better. What I lost… both of them… all in two days. It was just too much.
I only moved to put my hand on the wall for balance.
“Hey, are you okay?” She placed her hand on my shoulder, and it both calmed me and lit me on fire.
I looked up at her, and the expression on my face made her drop her hand. She had to know it wasn’t completely directed at her.
“It just…” I stammered. “The words… they brought back…” Swallowing the lump collecting in my throat, I looked in her eyes. “…what I saw…”
Her eyes widened and she touched my forearm. “Brody… I –”
“Holy shit, another one already, Etta?” Emily said loudly, and the rest of the audience laughed.
“Are you with him?” I blurted quietly, stepping closer to her.
Her eyes turned stony, and I watched her jaw grind. “Why should you care?”
I was about to respond when Dugger stepped up to her. “Y’all okay?”
