Join the Club - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,6

never, ever read Bourne.

It’d been somewhat of a game between my sister and I, trying to see who could guess what he was thinking and feeling.

Ever since he’d started spending more and more time with us over the years since Asa’s birth, I’d always been unable to read him.

The only time I ever saw him smile was when he was with Asa. Not even when he was with his brother did I see that calm, blank façade crack.

“What’s wrong?” Bourne asked almost immediately.

Obviously, I wasn’t a blank mask.

I gestured toward where Copeland was still talking to Jamie.

“That woman made the offhand comment that my dogs weren’t worth what I sold them for. Said that I was asking too much and she would never waste her money on it.” I paused. “And Copeland, the man that I was telling you about and his son? He kind of went all ‘I won’t put a price on my kid’s life’ on her. So I got up and left.”

Bourne winced. “Some people just need to learn to keep their mouths shut.”

“Agreed,” Sammy murmured. “Fuck, I’m tired. I was up all night last night, then we had that SWAT call this morning. I feel like my eyelids are lined with sandpaper.”

“Agreed,” Bourne murmured. “I have to work in the morning, too. But it’s not every day that you see one of the men you never expected to get married do just that.”

The groom shrugged. “When it’s the right one, it’s the right one.”

I offered my hand to them both, introducing myself.

“I’m sorry to crash your wedding. Thank you for extending the invite,” I said softly.

Ellie, the bride, only smiled. “I’d do anything for Copeland.”

With that cryptic comment, she tugged the groom away and directed him toward another crowd of people.

The moment they were gone, I turned to look at Bourne.

“Why did you say that about never expecting them to get married?” I asked the moment that they left.

Bourne’s friend, Jason, who was also a police officer, had apparently been the world’s biggest player ever. Then he’d met Ellie, and he’d changed his ways.

At least, that was what Copeland and Janvier had said. Jamie had laughed and said that it wasn’t going to last. That Jason had always been and always would be a player. There’d been a suspicious gleam in her eye when she said that, making me feel like maybe she had firsthand knowledge of how he would do with marriage.

Whatever the reason, that had been the start of me not liking her.

“Jason’s a player. I hope that this marriage lasts for him, but with the way his eyes keep straying around the room, I’m not seeing how it’ll happen.” Sammy paused. “That was kind of rude of me to say, wasn’t it?”

It was, but when it was the truth? Who knew? Maybe it was just something that was hard to swallow because you knew it was right. Even if you didn’t want to be.

“A bit.” Bourne looked at me. “You want a drink?”

I’d had cake, and that was only because someone had brought it over for Jamie, who said that she didn’t eat carbs during the week.

Whatever that meant.

I ate carbs all the damn time.

I was my sister’s official taste tester, too. So on any given day, I had at least one donut.

See, my sister owned a donut shop. But it wasn’t just any donut shop. My sister specialized in gourmet donuts as well as cutely decorated ones.

For instance, today’s set of donuts that she’d brought home were shaped like flip-flops.

Needless to say, I’d eaten the cake and had only stopped when I couldn’t stand the nuts on the outside of the cake.

Who the hell put nuts on a wedding cake?

“Umm,” I hesitated. “I’m okay. Thank you.”

He rolled his eyes but turned away from me to lift his chin up at Sammy. “Anything for you?”

He shook his head and I watched him go, wondering if I should’ve asked him if Sammy could give him a ride home.

“What’s that look for?” Sammy asked.

I blinked, turning my head so I could gaze up at him.

“What’s what?” I blinked innocently.

He grinned and gestured to my face with the bottle of beer that was in his hand.

“That look that said you’d rather run out of here screaming than wait for Bourne to get back,” he answered.

I sighed. I did have some problems when it came to infidelity.

My one and only boyfriend, when I was fifteen, had slept with my best friend. My best guy friend.

And that was