PROLOGUE - JAMES
My wife looked stunning in her white wedding dress as she moved across the reception hall. Occasionally, she stopped to mingle, give a soft smile, or say something that made people laugh.
My wife.
"Strange, isn't it?" my best friend, Derek, said.
"What's that?" I asked, eyes still locked on Katie as I tried to memorize the way she moved tonight. She noticed me looking, tucked a hair behind her ear, and winked before turning back to our guests.
Logan shifted in his chair, his dark eyes clouded as he considered his next words. "Forever. That's the idea, right? But can you really love one person forever? People change all the time. What happens if you two change in different directions?"
I gave him a soft punch on the arm. "Save it. It's my wedding night. I'm planning to enjoy forever, not sit around wondering how it'll go."
"Right. You're right," he said, but there was something in his eyes I didn't particularly like.
I licked my lips, considered asking him, and then let the topic drop as I got up to circulate around the room with my drink in hand.
"Another scotch?" The bartender held up the bottle as I passed.
I shook my head, raising my still-full glass. "Thanks. Trying to remember this night."
He smiled knowingly. "First day of the rest of your life, right?"
"Something like that."
What was it with people saying that like it was a prison sentence instead of something to celebrate?
My brother Chase clapped a hand on my shoulder, nearly making me spill my drink. "There's the man of the hour." His words were slightly slurred. "Did I mention how honored I am to be your best man?"
"Only about fifty times." I smiled, used to Chase's drunken affection. He'd always been the emotional one between us.
He stumbled slightly and caught himself on my shoulder. “Dude. Did I show you the fish I caught last weekend?”
“You told me about it,” I said, grinning. Chase was an obsessive fisherman, and always had some new trophy to brag about.
“Forty pounds,” he said, opening his phone and fumbling for his camera roll. I was watching the screen as a text popped up.
A text from my wife.
On my brother’s phone.
Only an hour after we said our vows.
I leaned forward as the world shrank in around me.
Chase’s eyebrows rose, and he drunkenly tried to swipe it away. Instead, he tapped the message and opened it for both of us to see.
I saw Katie in what looked like a bathroom stall. She had her tongue out, almost casually. She was winking at the camera and she had her wedding dress pulled down so one of her breasts was in plain view. My blurring eyes drifted to the message below.
Katie:Your turn. You look hot in that tux, so send me something for later.
Everything suddenly felt too tight. My tie. My suit. The air pressing in around me and the laughing, dancing people.
I blinked through a suffocating tangle of emotions just as I saw Katie come walking out of the bathroom hallway. She gave her dress a little tug, as if readjusting it, spotted me, and blew me a kiss.
I felt numb as I looked at my brother, eyebrows drawn together. I realized I was waiting for him to explain, as if therewasany possible way to explain what I’d just seen on his phone.
His face was pale. “James?—”