“Ah, there she is,” a familiar voice said.
“The beautiful blushing bride.”
I glanced up and saw four gorgeous men before my eyes. My heart beat began to quicken as my eyes followed the breathtaking line of O’Conner brothers before me: Dylan, Wyatt, Andrew and Caleb.
Have mercy.
It was like looking at the cover of a GQ magazine, southern gentlemen edition. The same butterflies that flew in my belly for them in the past were back in full swing. All four brothers were clad in suits, tailored specifically to their tall muscular features.
They each had dark hair and green eyes. Their facial bone structures and sun-kissed skin made them stand out in any room.
The O’Conner brothers were tall and well-built. They had broad shoulders and muscular physiques.
I used to think that watching them walk away was as satisfying as watching them walk toward me. They all filled out a pair of jeans in a way that was downright sinful.
I embraced them all with bear hugs.
“Hey guys. It’s so great to see you all,” I said, while holding back tears.
“Well, it’s about time, doll” Dylan said, using the nickname he’d had for me since I was a kid.
“We were beginning to wonder if we’d have to wait till you walked down the aisle for your debut,” Wyatt said.
“You look beautiful tonight, pretty lady” Andrew said, using another nickname.
“Stunning. But, wait a minute. Since when do you drink wine?” asked Caleb.
“Oh, wow one at a time boys. I said with a grin. “And to answer your question, Caleb, I’ve been drinking this stuff for years.”
“I can dump it and get you a decent beer if you want,” Caleb said.
“I’m good. The last thing I need to be doing is getting drunk at my rehearsal dinner,” I said.
“Who said anythin’ ‘bout gettin’ drunk?” Andrew asked.
“I just want to make sure Michael knows I’m not getting wasted over here, okay?” I asked.
“Katie, is everything all right? There’s somethin’ in your eyes that’s not right,” Dylan inquired with concern in his eyes.
He always knew how to read me. They all did. I should’ve known better than to think I could hide my feelings from them.
“I’m not sure I’m making the right choice,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Very smooth Katie. Throw all your troubles on them the first minute to see them.
“What? Why not?” Wyatt asked. “He done somethin’ to you?”
“I’ll beat his fuckin’ face in,” Andrew said.
“Slow down, guys,” I said.
“Yes. Give Katie some room to breathe and process,” Dylan said. “When she’s got her thoughts together, she’ll talk.”
“Thanks, Dylan. I just—he called me ‘stupid’ earlier.”
“Okay. Where the fuck is he?” Dylan asked.
“You got Dylan cussin’. Shit got real,” Andrew said.
“You think he’s getting cold feet like me?” I asked.
“Cold feet is when you don’t know if you should be walkin’ down the aisle in front of hundreds of people. Callin’ an educated woman ‘stupid’ is straight uncalled for,” Caleb said.
“I’m gonna knock his fuckin’ head off,” Wyatt said.
“What else has he done to you, Katie?” Dylan asked.
“Guys really it’s nothing serious. He’s just… being distant. Not really talking to me. I doubt he even realizes I’m not at the table right now,” I said.
“The fuck you wanna marry someone like that for?” Caleb asked.
“It’s not too late to back out,” Dylan said. “Doesn’t sound like you’re happy.”
“Doesn’t look like it, either,” Caleb said, murmuring.
“But he was there through everything. Mom. The treatments. Flying me back and forth—”
“You think you owe him somethin’ for that?” Andrew asked. “That’s what you do for someone you love, not some favor he did you.”
“I’d done the same damn thing if I were in his position,” Caleb said. “Wouldn’t mean you owed me your future.”
“I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “I just don’t know.”
“Like I said, if you need anythin, you ask us, doll,” Dylan said.
His hand came down onto my shoulder as I drew in a deep breath. It was warm and welcoming like I remembered the brothers to always be. I threw back the rest of my wine, grimacing as it went down. I hugged them all one last time before I made my way back to my seat.
As I locked my eyes onto Michael, I was begging him to look at me, to pull his gaze away from his friends at the table and acknowledge my presence. That was all I needed to settle my soul and know I was doing the right thing, to know that neither of us was going to waste our lives away with someone we shouldn’t be with. I counted the seconds in my head.
One.
Two.
Three.
But instead of a glance my way, I saw a waitress come up alongside him and tap him on his shoulder. I watched him turn around and smile up at her, his eyes sparkling and his smile beaming.
Then I watched his eyes slide down to her chest as he began to stare.
I wove my way through the tables. He was smiling up at her in a way he hadn’t looked at me in some time. His hand was on top of her hand as she rested it on his shoulder, and I tried to reason everything away.
Until I saw her slip him a piece of paper into the palm of his hand.
I stood there, frozen in my spot as I looked at him.
He unfolded the note and showed it to his friend, who automatically gave him a thumbs up. Like a fucking teenager in high school. I felt tears crest my eyes as I watched his eyes dance with happiness. His fingertips gracefully folded the piece of paper back up before he tucked it into his pocket.
He was keeping it.
The bastard was keeping the waitress’s number.
Oh... hell to the no.
“I can’t do this,” I said.
I must’ve said it a lot louder than I’d intended because the room slowly quieted down as Michael’s eyes whipped up to mine.
At least I had his fucking attention now.
“What?” he asked.
“I can’t do this,” I said as tears crested my eyes. “I can’t marry you.”
Gasps ricocheted across the room as I began to backpedal toward the door. People were beginning to murmur as I heard a chair scrape along the floor. I turned, ready to make a run for it with the boots that covered my numbing feet.
But I felt a pressure on my upper arm as my body was whipped around.
“You can’t marry me?” Michael asked. “Since when?”
“Since I watched you take that waitress’s number,” I said.
“She didn’t hand me her number,” he said. “She handed me her email address.”
“For what? Does she have some sort of case she needs help with? Were you having a consultation with her when you were staring at her tits?”
“I would advise you to keep your voice down unless you want this whole room thinking there’s going to be no wedding tomorrow,” he said.
“Michael, there isn’t,” I said. “We aren’t right for this. We aren’t right for each other.”
“You’re calling off the damn wedding? After all I did for you? All the money I spent flying you to and from this wretched state? The funeral I planned at your side? Have I not shown myself to be a devoted man?”
“You called me stupid ten minutes ago, and you’ve hardly acknowledged my presence all night.”
“Because everyone is here, Katie, and you act like it’s your show. This is for both of us. This is our wedding, not only yours. People didn’t fly in just to see you. They came to see me, too. And I’m not ignoring them because my bride-to-be is pissed that the spotlight isn’t on her all the time.”
“I don’t need the damn spotlight on me. You know it. Is it too much to ask that my husband-to-be acknowledge me?” I asked.
“You were like that all through college, but I leveled you out. I was the one that stood by your side while you were off partying. I was the one that held your hair back when you got sick. I was the one that kept checking in on you until you could plant your feet firmly on the floor like a woman should do. That was me, Katie. Because I loved you.”
His words hit me like a punch in the gut.
Loved?