Page 28

The sun had sunk beneath the tree line, casting sloping shadows over the lake below. I was exhausted, I could admit that. Day four of Roderick and Juniper’s Wedding Extravaganza had been fun but trying in a lot of new ways. The previous night, after Alex and I had taken a much needed post-sex nap and enjoyed our sandwiches, we’d stayed up late helping Mom prep for today. “Bachelor and Bachelorette Party Day.”

This morning had been spent setting up the obstacle course for the “Wedding-Lympics” that Roderick had insisted on. And as soon as the adults had begun to populate that, Alex and I had been assigned on kiddo babysitting duty in the main lodge hosting arts and crafts on two of the long wooden tables.

He’d periodically had to go out and take calls. A few from his mom, who he called “Nadine”, as well as a couple vendors who were anxious about their roles in the parties tonight. Aside from that, we’d stuck together all day .

There were a lot of craft options.

Shrinky Dinks galore, keychain making, and my personal favorite—friendship bracelets.

I hadn’t really meant to make a pair of them for me and Alex.

It’d happened without me consciously recognizing what I’d done. When I realized I was nearly finished, however, it felt silly not to commit. So I tied them off and resolved myself to hide them in my backpack later—a keepsake of my first “real” boyfriend, even if he was fake.

There was no way, just by looking at them, he’d realize what they were.

At least, that’s what I told myself when Alex came to check on me and my group of preteens and caught me red-handed. The pair of bracelets were matching. One blue, one yellow, with silver charms with a respective G and A on them. In retrospect, it was pretty obvious.

“How’s it going over here?” Alex asked, one of his younger cousins, probably six or seven years old, hanging around his neck. There was another attached to one of his legs, smaller, chunkier. But both had the James family dark hair and uncannily pale eyes.

“Good,” I reassured, hiding the bracelets beneath my palm as sneakily as I could. “We’re nearly done.”

“So are we.” Alex glanced back toward his side of the table and the marker-laden mess that’d been used to make the Shrinky Dinks. “Mrs. M’s gonna cook our masterpieces.”

“Right.”

Creating Shrinky Dinks was one of the only parts of camping I’d actually liked as a child. Back then, we had to wait until we got home to bake them. That was one of the nice things about cabins—they came with ovens.

I’d been giddy as a kid, sitting in the kitchen with eager anticipation as the colorful charms we’d drawn and cut out of thin plastic would harden and “shrink” in the oven’s heat. Over the years, we’d made a variety of fun keychains and decorations for the room Joe and I had shared growing up— hanging from the windows, our bed frames, and our backpack straps when school came around again.

The kids that populated the Shrinky Dink station looked just as enthusiastic as I had been at their age. Alex did well with them, kind and playful. He had no problem helping—and I’d caught glances of him several times leaning over some of the younger kids shoulders to aid them as they drew.

His work was gorgeous, I could admit that. All straight lines. He definitely had artistic talent.

But what I found most enlightening, was how very patient he could be.

He really would make a good dad.

And Christ, did that thought make my chest constrict.

“What are you hiding?” Alex asked curiously. I was so distracted thinking about him in dad-mode that my reflexes were too slow to stop him. Apparently, I hadn’t been sneaky enough because Alex wrestled my hand open, and the friendship bracelets I’d made were revealed.

It was innocent.

Or.

It would’ve been.

If not for the charms—one to each—with our initials.

Alex gaped at the blue one with the little A like he had short-circuited. He stared at them, spreading them out on the table, long tan fingers tracing the lengths. “Are these…for us?” he asked, voice hoarse.

I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t really meant to make them? Except, that I totally had. And his reaction was just—wow.

He looked floored.

Like he didn’t know what to do with himself.

As wrong-footed as I often was.

“Yes.” My pulse was skipping all over the place.

“ I love them. ” Alex blinked, still staring like the bracelets were something monumental and not a silly mess of string looped together. “Do you…wanna pu t mine on?” I made a sound in affirmation, too choked up to find words as I reached for the blue one. “No. Um. The other one.”

Right.

Of course he’d want the yellow one with the G. I should’ve expected that.

My hands trembled as I tied it around his wrist, making sure to double knot it so that it wouldn’t pop free. The charm made a clinking noise when it knocked against his watch, and Alex grinned. “Your turn.” He made an impatient waving gesture, and I offered him my wrist so he could tie the blue one on.

It carried a weight to it that neither of us was ready to acknowledge.

A weight that we lifted together as we finished up with the kiddos, cleaned up the mess, and watched as their parents took them to dinner.

We hadn’t had to discuss our schedules—or the fact that neither of us was willing to part with the other. “My plans” and “his plans” became “our plans.” Alex was right there when I helped my mom and siblings. And I was there when he needed help setting up the tandem bachelor and bachelorette parties.

He was simultaneously the “Man of Honor”, his words, and “Best Man” so he’d been given a lot of responsibility. I’d already known he planned the whole wedding too. I would’ve had to be an idiot not to notice how much effort he’d put into everything.

Dealing with vendors with kindness—though still delightfully firm.

I had a competency kink, and Alex hit every mark.

Joe helped us set up, because he was great that way. He and Alex hauled the loungers from the trucks down to the lake. They’d be set up for floating beer pong, with cups full of water taped to the plastic, and ping-pong balls made out of fish food.

I set up the picnic tables with the actual drinkable beers, sectioning off a portion so that the balls in cups on the water could coincide with cups on the table.

The James twins were nothing if not environmentally conscious.

Alex worried about my burned hand, but I assured him I was fine. The blisters barely hurt anymore, and besides—as long as I didn’t have to get wet, I was happy. It wasn’t like I was going to keel over and die while lining up red Solo cups. Christ.

Roderick’s party was easy to prepare. The loungers and the picnic tables were the worst parts, aside from filling cups of beer. We had a few mishaps with the loungers spilling into the lake—but since the cups atop them were full of water—and simply needed to be taped again, it didn’t matter all that much.

Joe assured me everything would be fine.

And considering how much he loved animals, I believed him.

“You have got to be kidding,” I laughed, after we’d finished getting the lake area ready and Alex informed me that a pizza delivery man was coming by to bring food. He shook his head, obviously proud of himself.

“I’m really not. You’d be surprised what someone will do for the right price.”

“Jesus Christ.”

Alex shrugged. “Roddy wanted pizza from his favorite pizza place in Columbus—and I live to please.”

“The delivery guy isn’t a stripper, is he?” I teased.

Alex shook his head, expression one of mock offense. The friendship bracelet on his wrist caught the light as he crossed his arms over his chest. It looked good next to his watch. His broken watch—that I was dying to ask about but never had. Not after he closed up anytime things got remotely real.

“Absolutely not.” He arched a brow like I was the naughty one for suggesting it.

Joe tripped in the sand down by the edge of the water, and we both held our breath, then sighed in tandem when he righted himself without face-planting. Dude was big enough if he hit the dirt he’d cause an earthquake.

“You okay, buddy?” I called. Joe just nodded, then went about his business.

“Lucky save,” Alex whistled, then turned his attention back to me. “Before you ask, there will be no strippers at June’s party either.”

“Yeah?” I cocked my head at him, figuring there was a story there.

“We don’t like it,” Alex shrugged. “June and I. It’s an opinion we both share. Not to judge, of course, everyone likes different things.”

“So, when you get married, you won’t be going to strip clubs in Vegas?” I don’t know why I was pushing. Well…actually I did. Because I definitely wanted to know. Especially considering the fact that I had been burned by infidelity before. Every couple has their own rules when it comes to things like that. And I could admit that I was curious if Alex and I would be compatible in this way.

Testing the waters, even though I knew it was fruitless.

“Definitely not,” Alex agreed. “I think the whole concept of ‘seeing what you’re missing out on the day before your wedding’ is gross. Why would you be ‘missing out’ on anything if you’re marrying the person you want to spend your life with? It doesn’t make sense.”

I was oddly relieved.

“What about you?” Alex was testing me and it was even more blatant than my test had been.

“Ah. No. I don’t like that either,” I said. “Something small and personal like this is nice, though. However, I wouldn’t pick beer pong or pizza delivery.”

“Yeah?” Alex grinned. He slung an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into him as he steered us away from the empty party skeleton and up the hill toward the cabins. Next, we were setting up Juniper’s “spa” night. Alex had informed me that he’d be doing all the heavy lifting—despite my protests—but that I was welcome to do anything else that might not involve bumping my injured hand on things.

No matter how much I told him I was fine, he didn’t listen. Which I supposed was fair, considering the fact that he was the one dressing my wound every morning. He hadn’t protested me making friendship bracelets—but then again, it would be very difficult for an accident to happen when one was tying string.

“I always thought a joint party would be nice,” I admitted. “Because if you’re getting married, you’ll be joining family and friends. So…it only makes sense th at it would not be a separate endeavor.”

Brendon had liked to keep his friends separate.

“If you think about Brendon one more time, I can’t promise I’ll behave.”

I jerked, startled. Alex was watching me like he always was, and though his words were extreme, there was a spark in his eyes. A dangerous spark. One I did not want to test—unless, maybe, I did?

The thought alone was enough to make my heart skip a beat. Did I…want to be punished by Alex? Yes, yes I did. But I was also nervous. The last time I’d been spanked had not gone well. Brendon had?—

“ George .” My name was little more than a growl. I had hardly any time to react before my back was against the cabin we’d been walking by and Alex’s tongue was in my mouth. I moaned around him, fingers catching in his shirt as he licked behind my teeth, curling tongues with mine.

Alex kissed me so goddamn hungrily all thoughts fled my mind entirely. Until I was simply drifting, nothing but a mouth meeting his with sticky sweet glides of our tongues and lips. By the time we parted, I couldn’t even remember my name, let alone what we’d been talking about.

“There we go, that’s my pretty kitty,” Alex said silkily when he pulled back far enough to see my face. His hand was on my throat again. I couldn’t even recall when it’d moved there, but I didn’t mind. In a way, it felt like a collar, and that was…soothing.

“Kitty?” I echoed, too dazed and kiss-swollen to properly snark.

“That’s right,” Alex pecked me again, giving my neck a squeeze. “You just need to focus on me, okay? No one else.”

“Okay.”

“Good boy.”

Alex stole at least a dozen more kisses over the course of the next hour. We set up the bridesmaids’ cabin the way Juniper had specified, massage chairs across the main floor, and a table full of cupcakes for dessert. There was a pedicure station that genuinely looked delightful .

I made a mental note to visit later, if it was allowed.

I’d been in the bridesmaids cabin only once before, when June had interrogated me about her veil, and I could honestly say—standing back to observe our work—the place was nearly unrecognizable. With pink and green streamers hanging on the walls, and a giant balloon arch that Alex had paid an obscene amount of money to have delivered—there was no denying that it was gorgeous.

“She’s got a flair for the dramatic,” Alex explained, noticing the way I was staring. “Roderick doesn’t care about the frills, June does.”

“Right,” I agreed, though my attention was now on him. “You…are amazing.” The room was truly magnificent—like something straight out of a magazine. Alex shrugged, embarrassed.

“It’s not a big deal.”

How could he act so nonchalant about something so impressive?

“It is a big deal,” I argued, keeping my tone tender but honest. “All of this had to take so much work.”

“I hired out a lot of it.”

“But you managed it. That’s like ninety percent of the battle. I’m sure it means a lot to Juniper.”

Alex’s cheeks were red. He didn’t often blush, and I couldn’t stop butterflies from filling my stomach at the sight. He scratched the back of his neck, thick arms and chest flexing as he cast his gaze to the side, almost shyly.

This room alone had to have cost thousands of dollars. Way more than I was comfortable contemplating. I mean…I figured Alex’s family had money—given the obvious signs, but this was on another level.

“The masseuses are supposed to be here in…” Alex deflected, checking his phone to distract me. He smiled when he saw the bracelet I’d made him sitting next to his watch. “Shit. Five minutes. Just in time.”

Everyone was still around the bonfire, enjoying a second round of s’mores while they waited for us to finish setting up. Personally, I thought it was a bit strange that no one else had offered to help aside from Joe, but Alex had assured me that he had it handled, and that it would just stress him out to have to command a bunch of people.

Funny, seeing as that was all he did.

Privately, I wondered if he’d simply preferred to put more work in just to spend time alone with me. Or maybe, it was because as dismissive as he’d been of his own efforts, he’d wanted to have a hand in physically preparing for June’s big party.

“Alex…” I caught his arm when he was walking past me—presumably to rearrange something. I tried again, hoping this time he’d listen. “This really is impressive.”

For a moment I worried he was going to brush me off a second time. Which bothered me. He deserved to know how goddamn good he was.

Instead, he paused, twisting to look at me.

There was an unreadable expression on his face, like he didn’t know what to do with the sincere compliment when forced to acknowledge it. Then, like a pad of butter on a hot pan, he melted. The look he gave me was so gooey-hot it made me feel like I was melting too.

“ Thank you, Georgie.” Alex stepped closer. He pecked my cheek, a soft brush of his warm, warm lips. My grip on his arm softened. “I worked really fucking hard on this. So that was—yeah. Thanks. I appreciate that.”

Alex was a hard worker.

And so talented.

But most of all, he had a huge fucking heart.

“June’s been having a rough time,” Alex admitted. “Our dad was in an accident recently. He’s fine—” he was quick to add. “But…I just—I wanted to cheer her up.”

I got the feeling June hadn’t been the only one having a hard time.

“I’m sorry about your dad, Alex,” I said softly, aching for him. My fingers slid lower, toying with his watchband absentmindedly as I spoke. “I’m glad he’s okay.”

“Fuck. Me too.” Alex’s eyes took on a faraway sheen. “It’s been a tough few months… So I just…I just really needed this to be perfect. For her.”

“It is,” I gave his wrist a squeeze and his smile returned. His forehead leaned against mine, his pale eyes drifting shut. For a second, we just stood there, absorbed in each other. My heart fluttered, my fingers tugging on the friendship bracelet around his wrist, tracing the knots.

He cared so much and so deeply.

Maybe Alex wasn’t the only twin who’d gone out of their way to cheer the other up?

Suddenly, I understood June’s matchmaking efforts a lot more.

Though I pushed those thoughts aside quickly, so I could focus on Alex.

“Mmm, you’re so great.” Alex sighed, nuzzling my temple. No longer running around—a man on a mission—he wrapped his arms around my back, forcing me to release his wrist, and hauled my body against his. Pressed flush together, head to toe, my heart began to riot again. “I needed this, thanks, sweetheart.”

“No problem.”

It felt like something new had shifted between us. But I didn’t get to dissect it—because someone knocked on the door, and Alex was gone. Our moment of peace was over and chaos descended. Noise filled the gaps in my head as the bridal party entered the room with a squeal, closely followed by the masseuses that Alex had hired.

The rest of the night was a blur of activity.

Alex and I had our toes painted, feet in the pedicure tubs I’d eyed earlier. Yellow and blue, to match our respective friendship bracelets. He’d made a point to tie mine on me, and every time I felt the brush of string a flurry of butterflies filled my belly.

I’d made the damn things—and yet…it felt like Alex was the one that’d staked his claim. Like seeing that dangling silver A on my wrist filled him with immense satisfaction.

We both skipped massages in favor of plying Juniper with cupcakes and mimosas like the queen she was. She bickered with Alex. Poked fun at his last hockey game—and the fact that he’d been “stingy.” Stingy with what? I had no idea. The puck?

She also kissed him a lot. Smooched his cheeks until he pushed her off with an annoyed huff and a pleased curl to his lips. She made it obvious how much she appreciated all he’d done. Half drunk on Mimosas, June didn’t hold back.

“You’re such a good brother,” she said. “Which pains me to say, because it’s like, against sibling rules to acknowledge. And your boyfriend is here.”

I flushed, holding on to her glass so she wouldn’t spill—because she’d shoved it into my hands.

“You’re drunk,” Alex said. He arched a brow at me. Following his cue, I set June’s drink as far away from her as I could. She looked adorable and ridiculous, cucumbers on only one of her eyes—because she’d wanted to “see”, and toe spreaders keeping her…well…toes spread? So that the polish dried properly.

“I just want you to be happy,” June sobbed, laying her head on Alex’s shoulder, her solitary cucumber slipping down her cheek. “You look so happy.” Her hand smacked his cheek. Alex caught it, thwarting the next hit, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

“I am happy,” he said.

“But for how long?” June questioned, quieter. “But for—” When Alex released her hand, she patted his cheek again, squishing his face with enthusiasm. His lips puffed out, the devastating fondness in his eyes turning sad for a moment. “How long, Alex?”

I excused myself, because the conversation felt private .

Alex kept glancing at me, like he was uncomfortable with me overhearing. And the last thing I wanted was to betray his trust. Not when he’d been so goddamn thoughtful when it came to mine.

Lacey—because she’d been invited as one of the bridesmaids—kept giving me looks that I ignored, at least until now, seeking her out to distract myself from the twins and their drama.

She was across the room, feet in a pedicure bath, an attractive man kneading her shoulders.

I flopped down beside her, amused to find that she’d painted her toes the same color that I’d painted mine. The masseuse moved on to the next client to offer us some privacy.

“Having fun?” I asked. She paused, fingers on the keyboard of her phone, gaze barely flicking up. Like she hadn’t been watching me the entire time I was here. Judging me.

“Not as much fun as you.” Lacey’s lips curled into a smirk. God, everyone was smirking at me this weekend. I was tempted to abandon her, but of my family, she was the one I’d spent the least amount of quality time with.

“Ha, fucking ha,” I huffed instead of leaving.

She was my little sister. I suppose it was…okay she was giving me shit.

“Mom’s been telling everyone she found you your soulmate,” Lacey informed me.

Of course she was.

She was a gossip connoisseur.