CHAPTER ONE
Joey Dougall held Bailey McDonald in his arms as they floated across the dance floor. Normally, he wouldn’t return home for something so ridiculous, and common, as a wedding but his mother had begged him.
“Come on, Joey. Everyone will be there. We miss you and you haven’t been home in a while. We know that you’re busy but these are your friends getting married,” said his mother.
“I know, Mom, it’s just that there’s a lot going on here as well. I’ll think about it, okay?”
She wasn’t happy with his response but he did end up returning for the wedding and damn if everyone wasn’t there. He and Bailey had been friends since they were kids but he never thought it was anything more than that. A few years younger than him, he’d always thought of her as a little sister and nothing more.
Suddenly, he was getting signals that made him see that Bailey definitely thought there was more to it. He was honored, flattered even, but Bailey wasn’t for him. He knew it in his heart.
“So, are you seeing anyone, Joey?” she asked innocently.
“Nope and I don’t plan to be seeing anyone,” he replied harsher than he intended.
“Oh. I see,” she said pushing back from him a bit. He regretted his tone immediately and held tightly to her, wanting to find a way to apologize.
“What about you, Bailey?”
“No.No one,” she whispered.
He looked down at the disappointment on her face and realized they needed to have a conversation that he, at least, never thought they would need to have.
“You know, Bailey, one of the things I’ve always loved about our friendship is that we can be honest with one another, tell each other everything. Having that kind of friendship with a woman is unusual for a man my age.”
“I know,” she nodded. “I love that as well and feel the same.”
“I think of you as my friend, Bailey. My good, good friend,” he said staring into her beautiful eyes. “I care for you, like I would care for a sister. I love you like a sister.”
“Joey. I get it,” she smiled realizing that he was trying to let her down easy. “I don’t expect anything from you. We’ve just been friends for so long and, well, it seems others have followed the path of friendship to more. It’s okay. I’d rather be your friend than not have you in my life.”
“Thanks, Bailey. Mom said everyone was supposed to be here but I don’t see Brooks, Mitchell, or Marissa.”
“Oh, Brooks and Mitchell are both deployed. Their SEAL team is on assignment somewhere. Marissa is working on her master’s degree.”
Joey just nodded and luckily, Bailey didn’t notice the look of disappointment in his eyes.
She was happy that they’d parted as friends, wishing one another the best. For Bailey, her life took a fast turn while searching for her brother Cole. She reconnected with an old friend of the team and fell madly in love.
A few months later, it was her and Angus’ wedding, along with Cole and Layla. Joey watched from the side of the dance floor, remembering their encounter just a few months before.He was happy for Bailey but there was also a hint of regret laced with his joy. What if Bailey was the ‘one’? What if he wouldn’t get another chance at his happily ever after?
“I guess you missed out on her,” smirked Quinn, Bailey’s cousin.
“Quinn! How are you brother?”
“Good man. I thought for sure you and Bailey would end up together.”
“Naw, man. We’re better as friends. I don’t see the other triplets,” smirked Joey.
“I hate when people say that shit. We’re individuals. The fact that we were born at the same time shouldn’t matter. But to answer your question, the guys are deployed and the girls are either in school or working in other cities.”
Joey nodded, not giving anything away. It would be best if he held his feelings to himself. But the truth was, well, he wasn’t even sure what the truth was. He knew that he’d always felt something different when he saw Marissa. Even when she was in high school, he knew that she would be a beauty one day.
She was like the others in the Jordan family. She was tall, lean, blonde, with beautiful blue eyes and a quick wit. She was intelligent, working on her master’s degree in chemistry from Duke University.
He’d only seen her twice in the last five years but each time he saw her, she looked more grown up, more mature, and more beautiful. But there never seemed to be a right time to talk to her and get to know her as an adult.
If her damn brothers weren’t guarding her, it was her cousins. Someone was always hovering over her. Maybe when he returned to North Carolina, he’d make a plan to spend a weekend in the Raleigh/Durham area.
