While I’m on the plane I try to think back to the last time I was in Chicago. I’ve been in New York for almost ten years now, and I’m pretty sure I’ve only been home once in that whole time. I’ve seen Luke and Trent a couple of times when they’ve been in the city for business, and Mom had flown out once a few years ago to visit. But overall our visits have been few and far between.

The closer we get to O’Hare, the more apprehensive I get about this whole thing. Seeing them all again is hard enough, but to try to live out this lie with Celia is worse.

Celia. Just thinking her name gives me an instant shot of adrenalin. I still can’t believe I convinced this gorgeous creature to pretend she was marrying my sorry ass. To be honest, I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to get anyone to buy it — she’s so far out of my league that it’s like trying to convince people that the princess really wanted to marry the pauper. I can only hope they’ll all be too distracted with Trent’s wedding to pay much attention to my own supposed upcoming nuptials.

The plane touches down at O’Hare and I wait while the slowest people on the entire planet all start unloading their bags and jackets from the overhead compartments. I try to keep my impatience to myself but by the time I finally get around to deplaning I’m edgy with irritation.

I enter the airport and make my way to the baggage claim, where I have another wait, and more time to psych myself out.

By the time I head into the arrivals pick-up area, I’ve half convinced myself I should just get on the next flight back to New York.

“Jace!”

The voice is like a punch to the gut. I spin around.

“Luke!” My brother is standing in front of me, grinning. There’s a moment of hesitation, and then he opens his arms and wraps me in a bear hug.

“It’s good to see you, man,” he says, clapping me on the back.

“You too,” I say, squeezing him back. I’m surprised to find that I mean it.

“Where’s your better half?” he asks, looking around for Celia.

“She had a few things to wrap up in the city — she’s flying out tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Luke grins. “I’m starting to think you might have just made her up. Come on.”

If only he knew.

We head outside, where Luke’s SUV is parked, and climb in.

“Everyone’s hanging out at my place this afternoon,” he says as he pulls out of the airport’s labyrinthine complex. “Trent’s there with Hannah now, and Mom’s going to come by tonight. She wanted to come with me today but they needed her down at the home.”

“The home?”

“Oh, sorry. The Chalmers Retirement Home. She volunteers there now. A lot. She says the people there make her feel young.”

“Ha.”

Luke glances over at me. “She’s glad you’re here.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“It’s hard for her, you know.”

He’s watching the road now, but I can feel the loadedness in his words. But he’s not telling me anything I don’t already know.

“Yeah,” I say. I clear my throat. “I’m here now though.”

“Yeah.” Luke’s face lightens. “And that’s great. Trent’s thrilled too.”

“I can’t wait to meet Hannah,” I say, trying to change the subject.

“You’ll love her,” Luke swears. “She’s a doll.”

Knowing Trent, probably a Barbie Doll, and with about the same amount of brains. My brother’s tastes are nothing if not predictable.

Luke’s place is about an hour outside of Chicago proper, and we manage to keep up a steady stream of conversation while he drives. For all his success, Luke is still pretty down to earth — he’s even still wearing the same plaid shirts. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear this is one of the actual shirts he owned last time I saw him.

By the time we get to his house, I’m actually feeling more relaxed. When we pull up in front of a Luke’s place, I let out a low whistle.

Luke grins. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should. Wow.” Makes me glad I never invited Trent or Luke back to my shithole apartment in New York. This place is practically an estate. It looks like it was once a farmhouse, but it’s been restored to within an inch of its life, and the grounds are massive and perfectly manicured.

I grab my bags out of the back and follow Luke up the steps to the huge wraparound porch. Before we even reach the front door, it’s swinging open and Trent saunters out.

“There’s the man of the hour,” he says, then pauses. “Oh, wait, that’s me.” He flashes me a grin as I drop my bags and then he embraces me in a hug.

“Just an hour?” I tease. “I’m surprised you haven’t claimed the whole fucking year yet.”

“I’m waiting for Time Magazine to do that for me.”

“Keep dreaming,” Luke snorts.

The three of us are laughing, and I stand there on Luke’s porch looking back and forth between them. My brothers.

“Luke, where do you keep your sugar?”

A woman’s voice comes from inside the house and then she steps out on to the porch with us.

“Oh!” She says when she sees me. “I didn’t realize you were here. You must be Jace.” She wipes her hands off on her sundress and wraps me in a hug.

I hug her back even though I have no clue who she is. She’s petite, with long chestnut-colored hair that falls in waves over her shoulders. She’s cute, in a Wisconsin dairy farm sort of way.

When she pulls away she turns back to Luke. “Sugar?”

“You don’t think I’m sweet enough?”

“Luke.” She puts her hands on her hips, pretending to be stern with him.

“Hannah,” he mimics, putting his hands on his own hips and grinning. “It’s in the cupboard right above where the cutting boards are stacked.”

“See, now was that so hard?” She twists a smile at him.

I’m not listening anymore though. That’s Hannah? When I found out Trent was getting married, I had pictured a tall, regal-looking blonde, someone more like the women Trent has always gone for in the past.

Hannah is … nothing like that. She’s cute and seems sweet and the way she’s gazing up at him right now with the softest smile is enough to know she’s head over heels for the guy.

And judging by how he leans in to kiss her, he feels exactly the same way.

Huh. What do you know? Maybe there’s more to my brother than I thought.

“Do you want a beer?” Luke asks, turning to me.

I realize I would love one. “A beer sounds great, actually.”

We wander into the house and Luke opens the cupboard first, passing Hannah a bag of sugar before going to the fridge and taking out four bottles of beer.

“Lakehouse,” he says grinning and showing off the label.

“God, haven’t had that stuff in years.”

“Figured you’d enjoy the trip down memory lane.” He twists the cap off and hands me the beer. His expression turns concerned. “Wait, did I do that right?”

I take the beer from him and frown. “Do what right?”

“Serve you the beer. I mean, I’m in the presence of a master bartender right now, aren’t I? I don’t know how the pros do it.”

I take a sip of my beer. I could get surly — it’s no secret my bartending job isn’t good enough for this family. Or I could just let it go, get through this week without picking a fight over dumb shit like this.

I swallow another mouthful and then pull the bottle away from my lips. “You did all right,” I say. “But no way you’re getting tips with a face like that. The best you could hope for is a few pity tips.”

Luke’s mouth gapes while Trent snorts into his bottle. “He’s got you there, Luke. You don’t have a face for bartending. Or for much at all, really.”

It’s a lie, of course — the three of us look incredibly alike, except that I’ve got blue eyes to their brown. But it’s still satisfying to rib Luke, especially because he’s always been the most antagonistic one out of all of us.

“You boys play nice,” Hannah says, measuring a heap of sugar into a cup and then dumping it into a bowl. “Or I’m going to have to tell your mother, and then you’ll all be in for it.”

Trent shrugs at Luke and I. “What can I say? You don’t mess with a woman on her wedding week.”

Hannah grins as she dumps the sugar into a big bowl and grabs a wooden spoon off the counter.

“That’s right.” She points the spoon at Luke and me. “Let that be a lesson to you all.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Luke says, giving her a mock salute.

Trent gets up to toss his beer cap in the trash and runs his hand along Hannah’s arm as he passes behind her. She turns to him and stands up on her tip toes so that she can kiss his lips. Luke and I both look away, smiling.

“Okay, lovebirds,” Luke says, after it’s been a minute and the kiss is starting to verge on something inappropriate for company.

“Sorry,” Trent grins, turning back to us. He glances back at Hannah. “Actually, I’m not sorry at all.”

“Hey,” I say. “You don’t have to be sorry. Just maybe let’s make this a no-tongue zone, okay?”

Hannah laughs, covering her mouth and blushing, while Luke clinks my bottle with his.

“Yes,” he says decisively. “This is my house and I declare this kitchen a no-tongue zone.”

“Fine,” Trent says, glaring at me. “But that’s going to apply to you too.”

“And who exactly would I even be tonguing?”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize my mistake. Trent raises his eyebrows as he takes a sip of his beer.

“I mean, Celia and I actually know how to behave in public. Unlike some people.” I swallow a mouthful of beer and shake my head teasingly at Trent.

“Don’t let them get to you, honey,” Hannah says, ruffling his hair as she crosses behind him to get to the fridge. “They’re just jealous.”

“Damn right they are.”

* * *

The rest of the afternoon passes basically the same way. We clean out most of the Lakehouse Lager from Luke’s fridge and eventually end up out in the back yard, where Luke somewhat drunkenly grills us all up some burgers. It feels surprisingly good to be hanging out with them again. Even the ribbing doesn’t seem to get to me the way it usually does.

When I see everyone is getting low on drinks, I offer to head back into the house and grab a fresh round. I make my way to the kitchen and I’m just rummaging through the fridge when I hear someone behind me.

I pull another beer out and turn around.

“Hey,” Trent says. He shoves one hand into his pocket. “You got a sec?”

“Sure.” He looks a bit nervous, and my mind is already racing, wondering what’s up.

“I wanted to ask if you’d be a groomsmen at the wedding. I know it’s last minute, but I wasn’t sure you were actually going to come and …” He pauses and takes a breath. “It would mean a lot to me to have both you and Luke standing up there with me.”

I’m floored. Trent mistakes my speechlessness for hesitation.

“I’ll take care of the tux and everything, don’t worry about that. And you don’t really have to do anything, just stand up there at the ceremony with us.”

I finally grin. “I’d be honored, man. Really.”

Trent’s face finally relaxes and he grins back. “Good. That’s great, Jace.”

He grabs a couple of the beer bottles off the counter and I take the other two and we walk back outside together.

“You think Celia will mind if you’re in the wedding?” Trent asks.

Right. Celia.

“I don’t think so,” I say. “I think she’ll be happy. As long as you don’t make her sit at a table with Aunt Evangeline.”

Trent shakes his head, laughing. “Don’t worry — you can both sit at the head table with us.”

For the first time, I feel a pang of guilt. Celia sitting at the head table — would they be so keen on including her if they knew the real nature of our relationship? And will we be able to fake it well enough to not raise any suspicions?

As the night wears on, I watch Trent and Hannah to see how they behave, hoping I can get some clues about how to act when Celia arrives. I take in the lingering glances, the way they can’t stop touching each other, even in the most innocuous moments. It’s clear that Trent is head over heels in love with the girl, and I can’t help but be happy for my brother.

I also can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever have that. I’ve never wanted for a woman to share my bed, but I’ve also never shared such a smoldering gaze over a passed bottle of ketchup or had the number of inside jokes these two seem to have. Those normal little moments that couples have. Trent and Hannah actually make it look almost like … fun.

I think of Celia, scheduled to arrive from New York City tomorrow. At least I know one thing for sure — it’ll be easy to fake it with her.