Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“Yes,” I said forcefully.
“Good.” He nodded his head at me and leaned back against the bar.
The girls had been at the spa and salon all morning, doing who knew what. Ashleigh would have known, but I didn’t have any interest in my meddlesome sister being here. In fact, I was glad that it was just us. That was what I wanted. No second-guessing, no drama, no wondering if Wrights and Sinclairs were going to come to blows as she walked down the aisle. All that mattered was that this was what we wanted. The rest could be worked out later.
Maybe Blake was right that this wasn’t me. I wouldn’t have ever even thought about something like this before Harley. I’d dated Kennedy for years before I even let her move in let alone before I bought a ring. Annie and I’d had a marriage pact for a decade. None of those situations had been right.
Meanwhile, Harley had moved in basically as soon as we started dating, and only a few months later, I was so certain I wanted to marry her that I’d engineered an elopement. Fuck everything else in my life. Harley was the one constant that I knew for certain was right.
“What about you?” I asked Blake.
“Me? You know, same old, same old.”
I shot him a look. “And Bailey?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What about her?”
“All right. If that’s how you want to play it. I’ll pretend I didn’t see you miss a whole fucking step at the sight of her.”
“She’s…not like other girls,” he admitted.
I laughed. “Oh fucking hell, man. You’re screwed, aren’t you?”
“Screwed up, you mean,” he said. “I definitely screwed it up.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“You can’t leave me hanging like that.”
Blake blew out a breath. “All right. Last time, we hooked up, and she left her number, but I never called.”
“As per usual.”
“Right. Right.” He gestured to me. “I treated her just like any other girl.”
“Oh, I see where this is going.”
“Yeah. She didn’t like that.”
“I don’t think any of the girls like it, man.”
Blake poured himself more whiskey. “It’s never mattered before. I thought it wouldn’t matter with her either. When I saw her yesterday, I thought we’d have a fun weekend.”
I smirked and waited for him to finish that thought. Bailey had stayed out with him last night. Surely, they’d had the night he had imagined. No one turned Blake Holliday down.
“So, what happened?” I prompted when he was still lost in thought.
“She turned me down!” he said in frustration. “We had a drink. We were talking up late. And when I made my move, she walked.”
I could barely contain the laughter bubbling up in me. “Maybe you should have called.”
“Maybe I should have,” he said thoughtfully. “Now, she won’t give me the time of day.”
“No more than you deserve.”
His eyes were distant for a moment. “It’s probably fine, right? She’ll come around.”
“Uh, you’re probably going to have to earn her trust back.”
He looked at me skeptically. Blake had never had to work for anything in his life. He’d been handed nearly everything on a silver spoon. Working for a girl’s attention for her trust was not in his cards. He didn’t even know what that meant.
But he wasn’t getting anywhere with Bailey if he didn’t try. Which made me think…he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Bailey. I wished I’d gotten to see the look on his face when she turned him down.
“We’ll see,” Blake said. “But we’re here for your wedding, man. Let’s focus on what’s important.”
I laughed and let him change the topic. That was fine. He probably had a fight ahead of him, and he’d have to figure that out on his own.
Hours later, I stood at the center of the lodge with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the bare ski slopes beyond. I faced a grand staircase that spilled out into the lodge from above. In the winter, a towering Christmas tree took up most of the space with twinkling lights on every available surface. But today, the room was lit by the summer sun. The smell of a dozen enormous bouquets littered the tables. I wasn’t sure if Ivy had brought them in for the wedding or if they were always there. Either way, it brightened the room.
Part of me had wanted to wear a black suit for the occasion, but I couldn’t help myself when I pulled my tuxedo out of the back of my closet. It felt right. So, I’d gone with it. Blake stood next to me in his. Though he’d grumbled when I made him get his out. He was the witness on my side.
The only other people in attendance were the rest of Blake’s siblings—Caleb, Griffin, and Ivy—a pianist, Tawa, that they kept on staff, and the officiant, Hannah, who had shown up early to review the planned ceremony with me. She’d asked if we’d written our own vows, but on short notice, there hadn’t been time. She promised that she had it all covered. Now, her hands were crossed in front of her, and she was watching the staircase in anticipation with the rest of us.