The men all walked toward the Monroe’s huge SUV. Evan and Mitchell headed toward the back door when Mr. Monroe said, “Mitchell, why don’t you ride up front so you can give me directions?”

Evan looked at Mitchell and rolled his eyes as he mouthed, “Fuck.” Mitchell chuckled before he said, “Yessir.” He changed places with

Grayson so he could ride shotgun.

As soon as they turned on the road, Mr. Monroe said, “Boys, let’s have a good day. We’ve got time to get to know each other, and I don’t think the girls would appreciate black eyes in their wedding pictures.” He looked in the rearview mirror at Evan and Grayson as if they were five years old.

Evan saw Mitchell’s shoulders shaking and knew he was laughing, so he kicked him under his seat. Mitchell’s right hand snaked around the back of the seat to flip Evan off.

The rest of the ride to the Gregory’s house was quiet. Mr. Gregory and Thomas met them in the driveway at the house when they pulled up. Evan and Mitchell got out the passenger side of the vehicle, laughing at their silent conversation. Thomas walked up to Grayson and shook his hand. “We’ll start the brothers’ club. Believe me, I know they love our sisters, but you don’t want to be around them when they start talking. I wanted to beat Mitchell’s ass the first time I saw him and Kayla together,” Thomas said with a welcoming smile.

“Thanks, man, ‘cause I don’t know what to say to Evan.”

“Give him some time. Evan is…protective,” Thomas said with a shrug.

Grayson grinned. “Yeah, I can see that.” He looked Thomas in the eyes. “Look, I really was unaware that she was pregnant. I wouldn’t have pushed so hard if I had known. Can you help him understand that? I want to be around my sister, but I don’t want to cause any problems.”

“Listen, Ginger is fine. Her passing out definitely didn’t help your case with Evan, but I give you my word, he loves her fiercely.” Thomas shook his head. “None of us have ever seen him like this with a girl. I never thought I’d see him want to settle down, but your sister rocked his world. Then the baby put him in overdrive.” He chuckled. “Just be gentle with Ginger, and he’ll come around.”

Grayson nodded. “Is he really into the sex club scene?” He cocked an eyebrow and leveled Thomas with his stare.

Thomas looked at Grayson as if his head were on fire. “Um, I don’t know. He was away from here for five years, and I don’t know what he was into. Sorry, but you’ll have to ask him that.”

“I don’t want him cheating on my sister to do that.”

“Evan doesn’t cheat. It’s not in his nature. They’ve been together for a while now, so whatever he’s into, he’s into it with Ginger and only Ginger.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Here’s a rod and reel, Grayson. You know how to use this? Can you bait your own hook?” Evan asked with a cocky grin on his face.

“Yeah, I know how to use that, and I can bait my own damn hook,” Grayson said as he took the rod from Evan.

“There are bass and catfish in the pond,” Mitchell said. “Whatever we catch, Thomas and Grayson have to clean. We know y’all don’t want our hands smelling like fish on our wedding night. Your sisters will kill y’all for letting that happen.” A gleam of mischief danced in his eyes with a grin to match.

Thomas narrowed his eyes at Mitchell. “What the hell? We had an agreement, dammit,” Thomas said while Mitchell walked off laughing. He looked at Grayson. “See what I mean?”

Grayson sighed. “Dude, my sister is pregnant. I know what they’ve been doing.”

The guys walked in different directions with stringers for the fish, but as the day wore on, Evan and Grayson drifted toward each other. By early afternoon, they were side by side.

“Are you going to make it hard for Ginger and me to have a relationship? For me to be an uncle?”

Evan didn’t look at Grayson but cast his rod. “Are you going to upset her again?”

“I swear on a stack of Bibles that I didn’t know.” Grayson’s voice was full of exasperation. “If I could’ve talked to her, I wouldn’t have done any of it.”

“You would’ve just tried to take her from me without knowing anything about me?”

“Honestly?”

“Yeah,” Evan said as he turned to Grayson.

“Yes. I saw the reports from the Reno bust. How could I stand by and let me sister be with someone who enjoys sharing women?”

Evan cast again. “I can see your point. I had planned on telling Ginger all about it the weekend you sent the emails. I just didn’t want to do it so damn early in the morning. We had already promised an honest relationship with no secrets. That weekend we told each other everything about our past relationships.”

Evan felt the tug on his line and hooked a fish. As he reeled it in, Grayson pulled out his stinger to help him. Evan continued to reel as he said, “Even though that picture took Ginger to a bad place, I’m glad you sent it. It helped me show her how different I am from Fuckhouse.”

Grayson chuckled as Evan got the fish to the bank. “I still think that name suits him better. What do you mean bad place?”

“I don’t know all of the details, but I know enough. Apparently, there was more to his cheating than just being with another woman. It made your sister feel that no man would think enough of her to be faithful. We’ve had a few battles along those lines, but she finally gets that she’s more than enough for me,” Evan said as he took the fish off the hook and put in on the stringer.

Grayson squatted to put the stringer in the water. When he stood back up, his face was red and his lips were pursed. “I should’ve beaten the asshole a little harder then.”

Evan laughed. “That would’ve been great. Thank you for looking after her before I met her, but I’ve got her from now on, understand?”

Grayson took a deep breath. “Evan, I need to clear the air, and I hope you understand.” Grayson looked him in the eyes, so he knew he wasn’t backing down. “She’s my baby sister. I will always be there if she needs me. I know you’re pissed that I caused her stress where y’all are concerned, and the baby, but you need to put yourself in my shoes. I find out the man my sister is with is an undercover agent, worked a sting in a damn sex club, had sex in the club with multiple partners, and kept his membership in the club as well as one in Denver.”

Grayson continued to stare at Evan. “Yeah, I know about the sex clubs. Don’t look so surprised, Evan. I was very thorough in my research. Does your family know about your sexual inclination?”

“We’ve never discussed it, but Ginger knows, and that’s all that matters.”

“And she’s okay with it?”

“Grayson, I’m not discussing our sex life with you. She and I are in complete sync, and that’s all you need to know.”

“Yeah, I don’t need to know anything else,” he said as he shook his head. “So back to my original question. Are you going to cause trouble for me to be an uncle to my niece or nephew?”

“Probably not, but I don’t think Ginger’s forgiven you yet either, so let’s take it slowly. Deal?”

“Fair enough.”

* * *

The guys had no sooner pulled out of the driveway when the girls started painting their nails. Kayla giggled. “It’s been years since we’ve done this.”

“I know, right?” Cat said.

“I don’t think I’ve done this since I left Breckenridge.”

The photographer arrived and took pictures of the crew setting everything up from the tent people to the florist. Every now and then, they’d pop in to take a picture of the girls if they were doing something different. They had just left from getting a picture of them doing their nails when Kayla said, “I can’t believe this is finally happening after all these years.”

“You’ve had years to think about it. We’ve only known each other a few months,” Ginger said with a smile on her face. “I can’t believe how much I love him in such a short time.” Tears welled in her eyes.

“You two need to stop this shit. I don’t know if I’ll ever be where you are, so be grateful and happy,” Cat said pointing between the two of them.”

Click, click, click. The photographer grabbed a few more shots as they applied their makeup.

“Ladies, let’s put on your dresses and take a few outside, then you can come back in here to touch up your hair and makeup and cool down before the ceremony begins. Make sure you grab a snack and water to stay hydrated. I don’t want to take pictures of you face planting,” the photographer said as he walked out the door.

The girls finished with their hair then slipped on their dresses and followed the photographer outside for a few shots of the three of them.

Kayla wore an A-symmetrical dress that stopped at the knee in the front but flowed to the calf in the back with a fitted bodice and princess neckline. She topped it off with cowgirl boots.

Ginger slipped into a fitted dress of white lace. The neckline was at her collarbone and clasped at the nape of the neck then opened in the back down to her waistline. Lace covered her shoulders in a cap sleeve.

As the girls cooled down after the pictures, Kayla asked, “Cat, what did you mean earlier? You know you and Thomas are going to get married, right?”

Cat shrugged. “I don’t know. We don’t seem to be on the same page right now. I hope my new job will settle down soon, but until then—”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying our schedules aren’t cooperating for us to spend much time together,” Cat said a little too forceful as she stared at Kayla.

“Give it some time, sweetie. Y’all will figure it out,” Ginger softly said.

“Maybe,” Cat whispered.