Page 69 of The Best Man Wins

“Did you sleep at all?” I ask her.

She shakes her head. “I couldn’t sleep. I’m too excited. Aren’t you?”

“Sure.” I stroke my fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face. Her hair is so soft, and her waves snag around my fingers.

“You’re giving your sister away today.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Susie shifts back up and says, “Hey.” She presses another one of her soft kisses to my lips. “Smile.”

“One more. And then I’ll get up.”

Susie kisses me and I cup the back of her head, holding her there for a moment longer. We taste each other.

“There’s no time to be cute,” Thom interrupts, and I seal the kiss quickly, forgetting we have company. “It’s game time, best man. If you’re going to hang with us, you have to get your war face on.”

“Hooah.” I roll out of bed and get to my feet.

Thom is already dressed up in a layered coffee-brown vest while Marlee adjusts her cardigan around her lavender dress. Each fit a small Bluetooth device over their ears. They’re wedding ready, and they mean business.

“We’re going to stop by the house and get dressed,” Susie says. “We’ll meet you there.”

“See you!” Marlee says cheerily.

“Don’t get distracted,” Thom says, eyeing me pointedly.

Message received. He has a point. We have a bad habit of getting distracted.

We leave them to finish preparing and head down to the car. As I drive us closer and closer to the farmhouse, I can feel the wedding ring burning a hole in my pocket.

I’ll be glad when all this is over. I’m happy for them. Truly. I am. But I’m more anxious for Cora than I thought I would be.

“How are you feeling?” Susie asks me as elm trees fly by us on the side of the road.

“Antsy.”

“Aw. Wedding jitters. Is this your first time?” She pats my thigh.

“I’ve been to weddings before.”

“Yes, but one you cared about?”

I have to think about that. “No.”

Susie’s hand rests on my leg. A comforting gesture. “I’ve got this,” she tells me. “I promise. I won’t let your sister down.”

“I know.” Hearing her say it, however, does take the edge off some of my nervousness, and I feel my shoulders relax.

There is an army of cars outside the farmhouse. For an intimate affair, this is turning out to be quite the event. It looks like half the town is there, milling around the back of the house.

The second we step out of the truck, Susie and I are split up.

“Braxo!” I look up and see Ray waving wildly at me. “Come on, best man! Suit up!”

“Go ahead,” Susie says. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Right.” I almost lean in to kiss her and then stop myself.

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