2
MCKENNA
“I’m so happy for you, Brayden.”
I could just hear the big, sloppy grin on his face. “I just wanted to make sure you got the invite. I couldn’t get married without my little sister there.”
I twirled the big envelope between my fingers. I didn’t tell him I hadn’t opened it yet. What was the point when I already knew the details? “I got it. Julia already asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.”
“And what did you say?”
“What did I say? Of course, I said yes. What sort of a idiot do you think I am?”
“Thanks, sis. I knew I could count on you.”
“So, who all did you invite?”
“What do you want to know that for?”
“I’m just curious. Did you invite any skeletons out of your closet?”
Brayden hesitated. I could just see his face, and he wasn’t smiling now. “You know I don’t have any skeletons in my closet. I just invited friends and family. Julia doesn’t want any drama at the wedding, so it’s not gonna be a big grand to-do. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, I know how it is. The clan can be a mess when they get together. A big sloppy, drunken, hairy mess.”
“That was one time!”
“Uh you and I know the Bradford boys never forget losing a fight.”
“Ha, valid point. Poor Aiden.”
“Yeah poor Aiden, never saw my bear comin’. I almost feel bad for him. Anyway, I better call Julia to discuss all the wedding details. I’m really happy for you, Brayden. I know Julia’s gonna be great for you, even if she’s human.”
“Hey no human digs and she already is. I’ve never been happier since I got together with her.”
“I know. I’ll talk to you later.”
How much can you really talk about a wedding with a guy? I punched my speed dial to get Julia on the line. After the initial excited screaming, we settled down to talk about the dress fittings, the cake, the decorators, the honeymoon plans—everything.
Julia was the best thing that could have ever happened to Brayden. Since they started dating, I was lucky enough to get hang out with her too, and since then we had become really close.
“You have to come with me to the pick out my dress, Mckenna,” Julia said excitedly. “I couldn’t face all the choices without your style sense.”
“I’m all over it,” I told her. “When do you want to go?”
“How about next Tuesday? And I want you to come over and take a look at the flower magazines. I get confused by all the choices. I need your practical head.”
I laughed at her. “My practical head could still choose something you don’t like.”
“No, no. That would never happen. You always make the right choice.”
Always? Maybe not always. Especially when it came to guys. Brayden didn’t say anything, but I couldn’t help wondering. Did he invite Ellis Johnson? I knew they hadn’t spoken in a while. Maybe they had a falling out, and Brayden cut him off.
“Hey, Julia,” I breezed, “do you know everybody on the guest list?”
“Just about. Why?”
“Did Brayden invite anybody you don’t know?”
“He invited some people from work, and he invited your cousins from Indianapolis. I don’t know them. He invited a few of his old bowling buddies—don’t ask me why. He had a laundry list of social acquaintances he wanted to invite. I didn’t even look at the list. I just let him invite whoever he wanted. I got my friends on the list, so I didn’t make a federal case about his peeps. You know?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. I was just wondering if he told you anything about who he invited.”
“He tried, but I got lost once he started to explain them all. The clan is so hard to keep track of. I’m sure I will get to know them all eventually.”
I listened with half an ear while Julia rambled on. Brayden never found out about my fling with Ellis, and I could never come right out and ask him if he invited Ellis to the wedding without raising his brotherly suspicions. What would it be like to see Ellis again?
I never met any guy who turned me on like he did. For years, he was nothing but Brayden’s other shifter friend. His couldn’t stop making those moronic jokes to save his life. He and Brayden went to high school before me. By the time I got there, Ellis had started lifting weights and packing on the muscle. Holy hell did he get hot. He could make the girls pass out in the hall when he went to his locker. Every girl on the block wanted a piece of that. Girls used to break down crying if he smiled at them.
His straight brown hair fell over his soft hazel eyes. His mouth twisted up when he smiled or laughed, and his jokes improved, so he always made everybody laugh. He liked to get everyone in a room watching him.
All of a sudden, he started noticing me, too. Every time I turned around, I caught him staring at me. He would lose track of his train of thought when I walked into the room. I suppose it was inevitable we would wind up trying each other out.
Once it started, it just wouldn’t stop. We did it all the time, in every possible way, as long as Brayden didn’t find out. Ellis kept finding ways to see me, even after all three of us went to college. His eyes made me tingly all over. He used to track me down so he could corner me into some shadowy place. He’d have his hands all over me before the first kiss. And my bear couldn’t get enough, it was like he was my mate or something insane.
Then, almost overnight, he just dropped the whole thing. He didn’t call. He didn’t come by the house. He just vaporized off the face of the Earth, even when he was still around.
I could kick him in the nuts for the way he dumped me like that. He didn’t even have the balls to say he didn’t want to see me again. I got really sad about it at the time. I always wanted to see if the thing between us would turn into something more, but he never gave it a chance.
I made the mistake of sending him a few friendly texts, just to ask how he was doing and if he wanted to get together sometime. He never even responded to them, the prick. That’s how much he cared about me.
I thanked God Brayden never found out. He would have a guy’s nuts on a platter if he wiped his ass with his sister like that. Brayden couldn’t stand anybody being rude to me or not respecting me. He threatened guys with the shotgun if they looked at me the wrong way. He took the whole overprotective brother thing to the next level. There weren’t many shifters out in the community back then, I think that was part of his nature.
Maybe, just maybe, Brayden found out about us messing around. Maybe that’s what drove a wedge into their friendship, too. The more I thought about it though, the more I didn’t think that was possible. They stayed friends for years after Ellis and I stopped seeing each other. Their friendship sort of tapered off, but not until long after I left the picture. I was too proud to come right out and ask Brayden what was going on with Ellis.
Ellis probably found somebody else. He could have any girl he wanted with the snap of his fingers. He probably spotted some hot ass on the street and got distracted. He didn’t want to screw around with his best friend’s little sister anymore.
Well, screw him, too. I went out and jumped three other guys just to show I could. I forgot all about him—right up until I got that invitation in the mail. Then it all of the emotions I blocked out came flooded back. I couldn’t stop thinking about meeting him in the hall outside his dorm room. He would check to see if anybody was around, but he couldn’t stop kissing me. He would hustle me into his room and pin me against the door.
I used to love the way his shoulders flexed under my fingers when I slipped my hands under his shirt. He used to suck his breath through his teeth when I raked my fingernails up his stomach. He used to grunt under his breath when he contracted his abs to shove his hips against mine.
Would he still be like that? Would he still be tall and big-shouldered and hot as hell? I would have loved to find out. I would have loved to see those magnetic eyes of his, just one more time. Not to do anything with him, of course. I could never do anything with him again after the way he treated me.
None of that was going to happen at the wedding. I could guarantee that. Brayden probably didn’t even invite him. Even if Brayden did invite him, Ellis might not show up. He might not care about Brayden anymore. He might be so far out there in left field he could turn his back on his oldest friend and never blink twice.
If he did show up, I might have to stand around and watch him hit on some other girl. Chances were he went right back to not even noticing I existed. I would do better to ignore him completely. I made up my mind to keep my expectations low. Non-existent, to be exact. Then I wouldn’t be disappointed.