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Reagan huffed. “And how many other girls do you say the same crap to?”
I looked right into her bright blue eyes. “None. You’re the only one.”
“You expect me to believe that?” She narrowed her gaze, challenging me.
“Believe what you want,” I fired back. “I’m not the one lying to myself.” Her mouth gaped and I left her in the car, loving that I had the last word. Shewaslying to herself. I could see it in her eyes that she wanted me; it was the only reason I gave her such a hard time.
I rang the doorbell of Carter and Emma’s beachfront Santa Monica home just as Reagan slammed my car door. Carter answered the door and his gaze shifted to Reagan storming up the walkway.
“Seriously? Do you two ever get along?”
I smiled at him. “Eh, Reagan loves me. She just doesn’t realize it yet.”
Reagan grumbled something under her breath and walked past us into the house. Carter shook his head and laughed. “Better watch out, she’s going to kick your ass.”
She rushed outside to join Emma at the patio table by the pool. “Don’t threaten me with a good time,” I joked. “I love it when she fires back at me. She does it every time; it never fails.”
Carter slapped a hand on my shoulder. “She’ll come around one day. Look at Emma and me. She hated me for the past four years, and now we’re getting married.”
“That doesn’t compare to this,” I said, shaking my head. “You and Emma had something going on when we were teenagers. Reagan has always fought against me.”
Carter’s eyes shifted to Emma and Reagan, and I focused on them too. Reagan lit up around Emma, and it was nice seeing a genuine smile on her face; she was so fucking beautiful.
“You know what the problem is, don’t you?” Carter asked.
“Yeah,” I grumbled, “she has her head up her ass.”
He burst out laughing. “True, but I know Reagan, Braden. She’s just like her sister. Emma pushed me away, thinking I’d break her heart. You just won a title, and from what I hear, you’re one of the top sexiest eligible bachelors in the country.”
I smirked. “Number one, actually. Get it right.”
Carter faced me, his expression serious. “All I’m saying is, Reagan might be tough as sin in the ring, but I bet her heart is the one thing she’s protecting above all else. You can have any woman you want. But, if Reagan’s the one for you, you have to show her she’s the only one.”
“Easier said than done,” I scoffed. “I think she enjoys the fight.” Who was I kidding? So did I.
Carter’s lips tilted up. “Come on. I grilled us some hamburgers, and we have a cooler of beer waiting for us.”
We walked outside and Emma waved at me while Reagan kept her attention on the wedding notebook splayed out in front of her. Carter opened the grill and scooped all the burgers onto a platter along with corn on the cob and other veggies.
I glanced over my shoulder at the girls. “Where’s Reagan taking Emma for their sisters’ weekend?”
Carter shrugged and looked at them. “Not sure. Reagan’s been a little secretive about it. Why?”
I side-eyed him and smiled. “I have an idea.”
CHAPTER5
REAGAN
The guys ate with us, and once they were gone, Emma and I got back to wedding business. I went down the checklist and started marking things off; everything was done. The two main things had been completed just two weeks after she and Carter got engaged. First, she’d found her wedding dress, and then they had the venue all picked out. They were getting married at the Oak Island beach house Carter’s family owned in North Carolina. It was going to be beautiful.
“Okay, so the flowers are all set to go. I talked to the florist yesterday. They know exactly what you want,” I said.
Smiling, Emma tucked her dark hair behind her ears. “And I spoke with the caterer this morning to finalize the menu.”
After scanning down the entire list in my notebook, I breathed a sigh of relief. “Who would’ve thought we’d get a wedding planned in this short amount of time.”
Emma sat back and giggled. “Ah, I knew we could do it.”
