had hope. And love. And a bright-eyed view of what the world could be for him.
I just hoped he could keep all of it.
“The Soirée was fun last night,” Logan said, changing the subject yet again. One thick eyebrow ticked up as he appraised me. “Seemed like you found yourself in some drama, big bro.”
Jordan narrowed his eyes. “What drama?”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said to Jordan before giving Logan an incredulous look. “I showed up and did my job just like I do every year.”
“You also ticked off the future State Representative of North Carolina,” Logan shot.
I scoffed, draining the last of my beer before slamming the empty can on the table between us. “That guy’s a douche. And I was nothing but polite to him, even though he didn’t deserve it. I treated him just like all the other buyer’s.”
“Did you dance with all the other buyer’s fiancé’s, too?”
Logan waggled his brows, and I glared at him before thumping his arm.
“Ah,” Mikey said, a shit-eating grin spreading on his face. “Ruby Grace’s fiancé is in town, huh? Does he know about that close call you two had on your front porch after poker last weekend?”
“Shut it, Mikey,” I warned, at the same time Jordan asked, “What close call?”
“Did you kiss her?” Logan asked immediately after, a grin sliding over his face. “You sly dog. You kissed her, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t kiss her,” I growled, letting my feet drop off the porch railing and onto the wood below my chair.
“But you wanted to,” Mikey said. “I saw you two. If I hadn’t shown up with that root beer float, there would have been some lip lock action and you know it.”
Logan and Mikey chuckled. Jordan just watched me, waiting. I leaned forward, elbows balanced on my knees as I tried to school my breaths, tried to think of anything I could say to get them off my back, but I knew it was useless.
I could deny it all day long, but these were my brothers. They’d see right through me.
I shook my head, letting it hang between my shoulders a moment before I lifted it again, eyes scanning the fading sun over Mom’s yard. “Yeah, okay. Maybe I did want to kiss her.”
“I knew it,” Mikey chimed.
“But I didn’t,” I pointed out again, glaring at my youngest brother before I acknowledged the other two. “And it doesn’t matter anyway, because she’s getting married in less than five weeks.”
“If she’s so set on marrying that guy, why has she been spending so much time with you?” Mikey asked.
I shrugged, eyes falling to the porch. “I don’t think she actually does want to marry him, to be honest. She’s young, under pressure from her family. From what I know about her, this isn’t the life she wants at all. But I think she feels… stuck.”
Logan frowned. “That’s sad.”
I nodded. “It is. You know, when I first met her, I thought she was just another prissy, privileged rich girl. But she’s so much more than what her family portrays her as. She’s smart, and caring, and funny. She volunteers down at the nursing home, did you know that?” I shook my head. “That whole place lights up when she’s there. And she had dreams of finishing college, going into AmeriCorps. But she’s dropping out of school to be Mr. Asshole’s wife — all because that’s what she’s expected to do.”
My brothers were quiet for a long moment before Mikey spoke again. “I’ve never seen you like this before. You usually have girls lined up who want your attention, and you can never be bothered.”
“Not for more than a one-night stand, anyway,” Logan chuffed.
Mikey grinned, but it slipped when he faced me again. “You really like her, don’t you?”
My stomach clenched, and I wished I hadn’t drained my beer. I needed something to do, something to hold or drink or anything to keep my hands from tightening into anxious fists.
I couldn’t answer that question.
I guessed I didn’t really have to.
“Of course, she’s under pressure from her family. She’s a Barnett,” Jordan reminded me after a long pause, as if that was a fact I could ever forget. “And that’s even more reason for you to stay away from her.”
“I disagree.”
We all looked at Logan, then, who was never one to speak out against Jordan.
“I’m just saying, if there’s something between you two, maybe she needs more time to see what you already see — that she’s making a mistake. If you were around her