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Seven
It was tempting to be smug when he was the only one who woke up the next morning without a hangover. Except... He couldn’t say with confidence that he didn’t have a hangover of some variety. Of the Shelby Sohappy variety, in point of fact. Because that woman had turned him inside out. Had left him completely wrecked.
He had had a whole lot of sex in his life, but he never had anything quite like that.
He couldn’t explain it. It was just her. The look of her, the feel of her, the taste of her.
“Hey, assholes,” he shouted, experiencing a great amount of satisfaction when all of his brothers groaned. “Chance is getting married today, so you all better deal with the hangover situation.”
“Do you think yelling at us is going to help?” Boone asked.
“I’m not trying to help.”
“Why are you not hungover?” Chance asked.
“Superior genetics?”
“We have the same genetics.”
It was his brother’s day. He should be thinking of best-man things and being responsible, maybe even being happy perchance, but instead his mind was firmly fixed on the events of the night before. Of Shelby, and what it had felt like to finally touch her. To finally kiss her. To finally be with her. She had been everything, and they had been incendiary. It had been more than he had ever imagined being with her could be, and he had imagined quite a bit. She had been a revelation. There had been a connection between them for years. An ember that had burned bright, and last night it had exploded into a flame that had threatened to consume them both.
He knew that he was the first man she’d been with since her husband’s death. He felt that. Like it was a weight to carry, a burden, and yet, he couldn’t say he minded. Not really. If someone was going to be that man, it was better that it was him. Because he had wanted her for a hell of a long time, and there had been nothing he could do about it.
Well. Not again. And today they needed to focus on his brother and her sister. That’s what it was all about.
So he rousted those idiots he called brothers, and got them fed, got everybody’s suits ready to go.
Boone looked at him as he finished tying his tie. “Where were you last night?”
“What do you mean? I was with you.”
“You see, I wasn’t all that drunk. I noticed you leaving. And I noticed that you didn’t come back for a couple of hours. So, where were you?”
“Maybe I was working on a surprise for Chance.”
“Yeah. Maybe you were. Maybe you were working on a surprise for Chance, and that’s all legit. But... I have my suspicions.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Do you, now?”
“I do. I think that you found the maid of honor.”
“And why do you think that?” he asked, his voice flat. Dangerous.
“Because you want her. Because you have wanted her for a record number of years. I think we all know that.”
“That’s interesting thatyouknow that, Boone. BecauseIdon’t know that.”
“Liar. Fucking liar. You want her. You know it. And I think something finally happened between the two of you.”
“I think that I didn’t ask for your opinion, Boone. That’s what I think. So maybe you should take a little bow tie and get ready to go stand at the front of the church. Otherwise, we might recast you. You would make a charming flower girl.”
“I would,” Boone said. “I’m happy to tiptoe through the tulips anytime. But none of that deflects from the fact that I think you’re a liar.”
“Well. That is brotherly love, isn’t it? You think that I’m a liar. What an asshole.”
“Yeah. I’m an asshole. But hey, don’t worry about it. I’m sure that Chance would be thrilled to know that you hooked up with his sister-in-law.”
“Chance doesn’t need to know. Does he?”
