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Brandt since he was Colton’s brother, but definitely not loving him either. “Meh,” I said. “I guess he can be your best man if you insist.”
Surprise filled Colton’s face and his mouth even parted in shock before I realized what I’d just said.
Hell, I think I’d pretty much just proposed to him.
I opened my mouth to somehow talk my way out of my inference, but he only smirked and pressed his finger to my lips before grinning. “Deal.”
COLTON’S EPILOGUE
Two & a Half Years Later
My wedding day started just shy of seven o’clock on a warm June morning, about two weeks after my twentieth birthday. It was the summer break before my senior year of college. My soon-to-be wife had graduated two years earlier and was actually working for Ten’s architectural firm, in the accounting department. And we’d been living in our own place—no other roommates—for about eighteen months now.
I liked to tease her about becoming my nerdy, numbers-crunching accountant wife while I peeled off her conservative cotton panties and stripped her bare. She’d just blink at me dryly and then demand I go down on her in reconciliation. I didn’t exactly mind: eating my favorite pussy wasn’t the hardship for me she seemed to think it was.
But this morning, there was no stripping or pussy. I woke on Noel and Aspen’s lumpy, too-short couch to two-year-old Lucy Olivia and five-year-old Beau watching me curiously. I swear, their faces were like two inches from mine. It freaked me out so bad I nearly pissed myself.
“Holy shit!” I yelped, jerking upright and slamming my hand to my chest. “What the hell?”
Little kids should never be allowed to do that to people.
“It’s your wedding day,” Beau announced, popping around the room while his sister crawled into my lap and demanded I snuggle with her.
Yawning, I cuddled her close and then breathed in the smell of breakfast cooking from the kitchen. “Yeah,” I said, my brain not quite able to function further than that. “My wedding day.”
I’d much rather have woken up in Juli’s arms, much the same way I had for the past two and a half years with her lovely figure draped across me, but Sasha and Tyla would’ve had my balls on a platter if I’d dared to sneak a visit to my bride before I saw her in the church today. So yeah…getting the shit scared out of me on my wedding day worked too. It definitely woke me up, anyway.
Lucy Olivia could only snuggle a few seconds before both she and Beau were tugging on my hands, urging me to follow them into the kitchen, where Noel and Aspen were at the stove together, talking quietly to themselves as they fried my favorite, French toast.
“There’s the groom!” Aspen cheered when she saw me. “Are you ready for today?”
She’d healed completely from her postnatal depression, and actually, she and Juli had attended group therapy together for a while. They’d gotten close over the past few years, but not quite as close and Julianna and Sarah had gotten. That friendship was what surprised me the most. Julianna and Sarah had grown as thick as thieves. Sarah was actually going to be a bridesmaid today.
“Sure,” I answered, sitting at the table and yawning some more. It already felt as if Julianna were my wife. To me, this whole wedding business was just a formality. But I knew the women were making a big deal about it, so…okay. I’d be excited or whatever.
Mostly I just wanted people to stop telling me I couldn’t see Juli until such-and-such a time, like when she was walking down the aisle. Fuckers. Life was better when I got to see her whenever I wanted. So I was just ready to get to that point again.
My niece and nephew flanked me on either side, chattering animatedly, while Noel and Aspen served us breakfast. I smiled, thinking back fondly to when I’d lived here with them as their legal ward.
I didn’t want to return to those days; I liked where I was now, and who I was with, who I’d become. But I still felt a bit sentimental, realizing this probably was the last time I’d ever eat breakfast with them as one of their immediate family. I’d been raised with them since I was eight, they were my secondary parents. I’d always remember the amazing foundation they’d provided for me. But after today, all that changed. I was no longer their responsibility. I’d just be their younger brother and uncle to their kids.
It was about time things returned to how they were always meant to be.
After breakfast, I showered and changed into my tux. I was standing in front of the mirror tacked to the closet door of Beau’s room cursing over my bow tie, when a voice asked, “Need some help?”
I dropped my hands gratefully from my throat and spun toward Aspen. “God, yes, please.”
With a smile and eyes sparkling as if she was actually honored to assist me, she stepped into the room and lifted her hands to my throat. I lifted my chin and bent slightly at the knees to make it easier for her.
As she began to twist the material expertly, she said, “I feel as if I should say something important right now.”
I chuckled. “Like what? That you can’t believe your little boy’s all grown up and about to get married?”
She huffed out an amused sound and straightened the bow tie. “Well, you are. And I’m so very proud and pleased by the man you’ve become.”
When she blinked rapidly, I had to clear my throat. Stupid dust in my windpipe.
“Want to know something crazy?” I asked as she dropped her hands, finished with her task.
