Page 11 of Married to Lies

People around us turned to look back at the farmhouse where Bryce grew up, and I followed their lead.

Rei stood by the back door, her arm hooked with another man’s. Bryce’s brother who had tattoos on almost every visible patch of skin and a smirk that never left his face.

Jealousy roared in my chest, saying it should be me standing next to her, but I couldn’t focus on him for too long with Rei looking like that.

My mouth went dry.

Her navy-blue dress had long sleeves and a plunging neckline that both covered her from the cold and tempted me like none other. A slit parted her floor-length skirt nearly to her hip, showing her leg as she walked, coming in and out of view. Just that patch of skin, the curve of her soft thigh, nearly did me in.

And her face... Rei didn’t typically wear makeup around the office, and she was beautiful in her natural state. But now she had smoky eyeshadow accenting the shape of her eyes and dark lipstick demanding my attention be drawn to her mouth.

Lustful thoughts commandeered my mind, running through everything she could do with her mouth, the stains that lipstick would leave. Thank God the coat I wore concealed just how much that mental image affected me.

When Rei and Bryce’s brother parted ways, relief softened my tense shoulders. They stood on separate sides of the aisle, but some primal part of me decided that wasn’t far enough. Even though his brother was married, I wanted her away from any man who could charm her when the animalistic part of my mind craved her myself.

Everyone around me stood up, and I realized I was staring for just a moment too long. Aaric nudged me, and I rose to face my friend’s bride. Her skin was dark and rich like mine, contrasting a flowing white dress that moved around her like water. While we all admired her, she had eyes only for my friend.

Despite all odds, despite the compressed timeline, despite pressure from Simon and confusion from everyone who didn’t know the reason for the rush, I saw love in her eyes. When I looked toward Bryce, I saw that love mirrored in his gaze.

An unexpected crush of envy made it hard to breathe. I wanted someone to look at me like that. And I had been so focused on finding the perfect moment to introduce myself to Rei that I’d given up days, weeks, months to build something like what Bryce and Jada shared with each other.

I was done holding back when it came to Rei.

As Jada reached the end of the aisle, my eyes slid over to Rei again, beaming for her friend.

She was so pure. Transparent enough to be read from one moment to the next, so unlike the woman who’d broken my heart before and made it hard to trust again.

The preacher’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Welcome, everyone, to my favorite celebration—the joining of a man and woman in holy matrimony...” While he continued, Bryce and Jada were speaking to each other, lost in their own world.

But then Bryce stopped the pastor, talking quietly with him.

For a second, my breath stalled. If the wedding got cancelled, it would be horrible for Bryce on multiple levels. Selfishly, I knew it would be that much harder to meet Simon’s demands with his prognosis as a proverbial ticking time bomb.

Looking up and over, I saw a murderous look on Jada’s grandma’s face. With the disruption in the ceremony, that woman looked ready to unclip her brooch and use it to stab someone if her grand baby got rejected in front of all these people.

Bryce’s conversation with the pastor ended, and my muscles felt tight as I waited for the pastor’s announcement that we should go home.

Except he didn’t dismiss the crowd.

He smiled.

“Jada, do you take this man to have and to hold, from this day forward, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” she breathed, her voice amplified by the pastor’s mic.

He asked Bryce the same question, receiving an identical answer.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

My eyebrows drew together just as their lips did, and I gave Aaric a confused look. “Is that it?”

Aaric shrugged at me, shoulders brushing his straw-colored hair. On my other side, Cruz looked just as lost as I was. But everyone cheered around us, clapping for the couple. Bryce’s family was the loudest of them all, and a little girl happily threw yellow flower petals in the air.

Bryce took the microphone and asked, “I need Fletcher, Gen, Glamma, and Rei to come here, please.” There was a tension to his voice despite an amicable smile on his lips.

Was everything okay? I worried there was a medical issue, considering Fletcher was a doctor. Then my stomach sank.

Jada was pregnant.