“Am I sure I want to marry your brother? Is that what you’re asking me?”
“It’s soon.”
“No, it’s not soon. It’s what we both want. Where’s this coming from?” She felt a tickle in her stomach, having an inkling and hoping she was wrong, as Tanner stared at her deep in the eyes.
She’d played in the sandpit with him, scampered around kindergarten, and biked and played tag. They’d gamed and shared the same water bottles. But they’d only been friends, just as she was with Saint and Pasha.
She hoped it was just her friend making sure she wasn’t making a mistake.
“Sunny…”
“What?” she asked. If she hadn’t been looking at Tanner when he lunged, his lips would have touched hers. Despite the speed, she saw everything in slow motion. Reacting quickly, she pushed him, his lips grazing her cheek as her hands connected with his chest.
“Are you for fucking real right now? What the hell, Tanner!”
“Shit.” He cursed, putting his fist on the wall. He cursed again, his dark head bent. He was a mirror image of his father, and in a few years, he’d have the same frame and would be devastating to all women. Tanner admired Seb, but felt inferior. He probably didn’t realize he was brilliant in his own right; he was handsome and capable. He didn’t need to walk in Sebastian’s shadow. There was plenty of room for both Priest boys to shine. But Tanner and his bruised ego had to realize that for himself.
She sure as hell wouldn’t let another man—Seb’s brother, of all people—try to kiss her because he was feeling inferior or left out.
“Fuck,” he said and turned to her. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t…”
“No, you shouldn’t have. Are you nuts? Or do we blame it on alcohol?”
Tanner shook his head. “Sunny, you gotta know…”
She held up her hand and stopped him from going any further, fearful that if he did, any friendship they’d have in the future would be strained.
“I don’t have to know anything, and if you were smart like I know you are, you’d forget whatever you were about to say. Sebastian is your brother, so I won’t be sharing this with him, because it would gut him to know. He loves you so much, and he’s always talking about how proud of you he is. You’re my friend.” She stated firmly, holding his gaze and seeing how her words hit him, but she couldn’t feel bad for not feeling what he wanted her to. “And you’re about to be my brother-in-law. You’ve been very aware of my wanting for a long time.”
“Yeah,” he replied, nodding gravely. And he left her standing there, watching as he strode out of the clubhouse without looking back.
Sunny exhaled.
It wasn’t her intention to keep secrets from her future husband, but this was one thing he didn’t need to know. And she hoped and prayed that Tanner would get over this blip so they could be one big, happy family.
As she retook her seat with Harper, she had a sinking feeling that she would be part of the Souls’ infamous wedding history, where something always went wrong.
But as long as she and Seb exchanged their vows, she didn’t care if a herd of geese gate-crashed their wedding buffet.
But instead of worrying about geese, she worried about her brother-in-law standing up when Pastor Danny asked if anyone objected to their marriage.
Great. Just great.
TWENTY-THREE
Sebastian
“Someone is fucking with me, Dad. I want him found.”
Sebastian had been pacing for thirty minutes after emerging from a meeting with Rider, Hawk, and Alpha, who sat in on most club-related matters these days, as he would one day lead the club. Seb’s father had been waiting at the bar for that meeting to end, and now Seb was trying to get a handle on his temper.
The slashed tires were deliberate.
The brick through his backyard window was deliberate. He’d discovered that one when he returned from taking Sunny home.
If it were an attack on the Souls, others would have been hit, but so far, it was only petty shit done to Seb.
Whoever it was must have been watching him. That’s what stuck in his gut. They’d seen him leave his house with Sunny. And they must have staked the house out to know there were no outside security cameras.
