In Love with My Brother's Best Friend: Complete Box Set (7 page)

I
wore a nice pair of jeans and a t-shirt to the airport so I could be
comfortable on the flight. Chris was dressed nice as always. That man
could make sweats and a ripped up shirt look sexy. He had on jeans
that fit his tight ass perfectly. I still had a hard time not
grabbing it. Sometimes I couldn't help myself. He also had on a
t-shirt that fit his muscles like a glove. If he liked women, we
totally would have hooked up years ago. He always joked that we
would've gotten married for sure. We are perfect friends.

We
went straight to airport after work that Friday, so we were sure to
make the flight on time. I'd really never considered that the flight
might actually not be as on time as we were. Nope, there was an hour
delay. As it was, we were going to have to get to the hotel, check
in, and be back in the car all in thirty minutes or so. I didn't
check us in ahead of time, so by the time we found out we were late,
our bags were already checked. What are the odds, right? You do know
what that meant, right? We were going to the rehearsal in what we
were wearing. I forgot to mention my hair was pulled up in a messy
ponytail. I figured I'd probably sleep on the plane and would fix it
in my thirty minutes. Nope, not going to happen either. My only hope
left was that Jackson had turned Tim down and wasn't going to be
there, but I knew better than to believe that.

I
pulled out my phone and text my wonderful brother to let him know my
plane was delayed and I would head straight to the church. He assured
me that they would hold off as long as they could, but that it would
be fine. It wasn't like the directions at the wedding were going to
be that complicated. When I text back that maybe I should just see
them at the wedding, I got back an all caps NO. He let me know that I
was expected to attend the dinner no matter what time my flight
arrived. I'd totally forgotten to tell him I was bringing someone, so
I shot back a text letting him know that I had someone with me and we
were getting on the plane. With that, I shut my phone off.

I
joked with Chris the whole flight about what kind of man we were
going to find him when we got there. So many different scenarios
played out in my mind. Most of them were hilarious. I knew it was the
right decision to bring him and was glad Rachel and Jen couldn't go.
I hadn't laughed as much just being myself as I had in a long time.
Coach wasn't the same after flying like a queen. It made me
appreciate what Cliff did for us even more. I made a mental note to
send Rachel a text for her to show him once we landed.

When
we got off the plane, we both ran for the restrooms. I brushed my
hair but put it back up when I realized there was no hope of making
it look that great. Chris came out of the restroom looking as awesome
as always.

“
Did
you get a makeover while you were in there?” I asked him.

“
Very
funny,” he answered.

We
took off for our luggage and laughed at our craziness. I pulled up a
text to Rachel while we waited for our bags to appear.

Me:
Tell Cliff thanks again for those awesome seats. I just flew coach.
I'll never forget what it felt like flying like a queen.

I
shoved my phone in my pants pocket, grabbed my bag, and took off with
Chris behind me. I got our rental car as fast as I could. We got in,
shut the door, and both fell back against the seats.

“
Your
family is crazy,” he said. “I can't believe I let you
talk me into this.”

I
wiped the light sweat from my forehead.

“
I
can't believe I forgot how hot it is here,” I said.

I
knew what church the wedding was at and drove straight there. When I
pulled into the parking lot, I let out a gasp. There were only five
cars there, and the one I parked next to was not one I had ever seen
before. Chris had his door opened before I even parked the car, which
looked ridiculous next to the one beside mine. I was right there next
to him in seconds. He was a car guy, but the beauty of that car was
not wasted on me. It was bright red with some black. I pulled out my
phone, turned around, and took a selfie of me standing with it. I was
late, but I took that extra second to post it on social media. Chris
laughed as I took one of him standing there too. We walked around it
and looked in the windows. It was immaculate inside as well. Whoever
owned that car was one lucky person.

“
Did
you forget to tell me your family is loaded or something?”
Chris asked. “Do you have any idea how much one of these cost?”

“
It's
beautiful,” I said. “I bet it cost at least two hundred
thousand. My family doesn't have that kind of money to spend on a
car.”

“
Try
well over a million,” he said, and my jaw dropped.

“
You're
kidding,” I said. “Who would spend that kind of money on
a car? Can you imagine what their house must look like? Maybe it
belongs to someone from the church or someone Renee knows. Come on.
Tim's already going to kick my ass for being late.”

I
grabbed Chris' hand and hurried to the front doors of the church.

“
You
okay?” he asked. “Your hand is shaking.”

“
Just
nervous,” I said.

“
You're
not the one getting married,” he said. “It's just your
family.”

“
I
haven't been home in a long time,” I said.

Chris
squeezed my hand and held it tight.

“
You
know they miss you, Tina,” he said.

He
was right. My parents did miss me. I felt bad about not coming home
to see them. It was nobody's fault but mine. I was letting my past
run my present and my future, and it needed to stop. When he squeezed
my hand again, I held his tight and pulled the door open.

“
Let's
find out who owns that car,” he said, and I let out a tiny
giggle.

We
didn't get far before I heard Chris whisper.

“
Oh
man,” he said. “Who is that fine looking man?”

I
look up and let out a gasp, as my eyes found Jackson at the same
moment his eyes found me. He looked better than I remembered, much
better. I could have sworn for one tiny moment that something crossed
his face. It was gone just as quickly. My mind was playing tricks on
me. My palms were sweating, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

“
I
take it you know him,” Chris whispered, and I squeezed his
hand.

I
took a huge breath in and let it out before holding on to Chris dear
like and taking a few steps forward. You can do this, I thought.
Don't let him ruin this and don't ruin it for your brother, I told
myself. Jackson was absolutely perfectly put together. He had on a
nice dress shirt and suit pants. There was way more muscles under
that shirt than there used to be. A few more steps, I told myself. My
feet felt like they had lead in them, but I forced myself to keep
moving.

Then
I saw it. His hand was on the lower back of the woman beside him. He
wasn't there alone. Of course he wasn't. Why would I possibly think
he would have come alone, I wondered? Not Jackson. He always had a
girl, or woman in that case, standing next to him.

Every
bit of confidence I had spent ten years building came crashing down
in that moment.

She
was so stunning. I didn't think anyone would have missed that. She
was tall and thin but had the perfect curves. Her dress clung to her
body and her long brown hair was perfect. She was a million times
more beautiful than I could have ever imagined being.

It
took all I had to fight the tears from streaming down my face. I held
Chris' hand even tighter. Seeing her with Jackson reminded me why I
never would have been good enough for him. It was time to finally
come to peace with that. Then she turned to face me. She was even
more beautiful than I thought. Her skin was flawless and her eyes
were big and bright. She had the sweetest smile on her face. It was
that moment that I realized I was in jeans and a t-shirt and that my
hair was pulled into a ponytail. I'd been in such a hurry and
laughing with Chris, and I'd totally forgotten what a mess I was.

My
mind started moving a million miles a second and I turned to run,
just like I had been for ten years.

Tina

“
Tiny,”
I heard Jackson whisper.

I
thought I was going to lose. I seriously thought I was going pass out
right there. Then Chris squeezed my hand and leaned down next to my
ear.

“
You've
got this,” he whispered. “Whatever is going on, I'm right
here with you. You know I've got your back. Do I need to kick some
butt?”

I
looked up at him and smiled, as I shook my head and turned back
around. It was my brother's wedding. I couldn't run. It was time to
face him. I could do it. It was only a couple of days.

My
eyes moved from Jackson's hand on her back up to his face. I felt my
heart clench tight and jealousy run through my body. It took all I
had not to snatch his hand from her back. I couldn't do that, but it
didn't make it any easier not to. I moved my feet to take that final
step. My brother turned to look at me just as my eyes saw Jackson's
hand move on her back.

That
was it. Something snapped in me. I wasn't running anymore. I'd missed
so much time with my parents and my brother because of my feelings
for him. I lived in New York because of those same feelings. I was so
tired of running. Of course he was with that beautiful woman. She
looked perfect, just like him. I felt my tears fighting to break
free, but I wouldn't let them. I wouldn't let him see what he was
doing to me. How could I still let him bother me after all those
years, I thought? It felt like everyone's eyes were on me. The room
was quiet. I felt like they were all waiting for me break, but I
wasn't going to. I couldn't do it. I couldn't let them see me like
that. Jackson's eyes were one me. I could feel his stare and felt
like he could see straight through to the mess I was inside, but I
couldn't let him see it. My hand was shaking in Chris', and I felt
like I was breaking. It wasn't going to happen. I wouldn't let it.

I
looked at Jackson's hand again and moved my eyes to his. The smile
I'd gotten so used to putting on face appeared. I'd been faking it
for ten years. In the happiest, most energized voice I could push
out, I spoke.

“
Jackson,”
I said. “This is my boyfriend Chris.”

I
could see Chris' eyes shoot over at me and felt his hand squeeze mine
so tight I thought he was going to break my fingers. Then I turned
and looked up at Chris and smiled. He looked straight into my eyes
before putting his hand out toward Jackson and smiling.

“
It's
nice to meet you, Jackson.”

Jackson

I'm
not sure why I expected Tina to be alone just because I was. Why
wouldn't she have someone in her life after ten years? That night
hadn't meant as much to her as it had me. I probably never even
crossed her mind anymore.

She
was beautiful and perfect and deserved so much happiness. It sucked
that I couldn't be the one to give that to her. She felt
self-conscious about what she was wearing. I could tell by the way
she moved from foot to foot as she talked and the way she kept
touching her hair. There was no reason for her to feel that way. She
had long, beautiful dark hair. I don't know why she had up in a
ponytail. It always looked so nice down around her shoulders. She was
wearing jeans, but they were very nice and on the dressy side. The
shirt she was wearing wasn't tight. It didn't cling to her. It was
the opposite actually. It flowed from her body and looked perfect.

I
couldn't help but look over at the asshole standing next to her. He
didn't look anything like I would have pictured for her. She was
quiet and shy. The guy looked like he was probably outgoing and
cocky. He was muscular and dressed nice. I would give him that. He
just looked, I don't know, not Tina's type. I knew I would be keeping
an eye on that fucker. He needed to be on his best behavior or he
wouldn't know what hit him.