Page 56 of Their Greatest Strength

Releasing Nova, I let her have him first. She runs right into his chest and clings onto him with a strength that doesn’t seem natural for such a tiny thing. Oliver holds her even tighter and kisses the side of her head over and over again.

“Love you, peanut,” he breathes out.

“I love you too, Ollie.”

I look away from them long enough to catch a tear falling from my dad’s eye. Chomping down on my tongue to keep from cursing, I face forward again before I have a complete breakdown.

My brother’s waiting gaze doesn’t help at all.

I wait for Nova to step to the side and then yank him into my arms. He slaps my back and squeezes tight as my shoulders shake.

It’s a bomb of emotions going off in my chest.

“I’m so proud of you, Oliver. So fucking happy. You got the girl after all.”

“I got more than one.”

“That little girl adores you.”

Pulling back, Oliver keeps his hands on my arms and drops his voice nice and low. “There’s another baby on the way, J.”

I laugh, a fierce wave of happiness slamming into me as the news settles. “Of course there is.”

He smiles and pats my arm as we quickly collect ourselves. Maddox and Braxton are close now, and I take my spot beside my brother before I delay anything.

Cooper and Adalyn are next, then Noah and Tinsley. The final groomsman and bridesmaid to make their way down are Easton and Amelia, the youngest of the entire group.

They’re also the only two people in our friend group that can’t stand each other. Amelia is Cooper’s seventeen-year-old sister, and she’s, well, she’s Easton’s female equivalent.

I thought the whole sassy behaviour and winding up in trouble was a phase, but it’s been four years since she started acting out, and it’s only gotten worse.

Her dark green dress has been hemmed shorter than the rest of the bridesmaids and looks like she stapled tulle onto it . . .

The music changes, and everyone stands, their attention zeroing in on where my sister-in-law comes into view. I swallow the emotion in my throat and peek at my brother.

His awestruck expression only grows in intensity when he whispers, “Fuck me.”

Avery is so focused on him that for a moment, I worry she’ll trip on her long dress and fall. It’s like their eyes have become so locked that even if the world were burning, they couldn’t look to see.

A sharp sensation tries to dig through my happy haze. The reminder that when I’m in my brother’s shoes, my bride won’t love me in the way I’m witnessing right now. I won’t have the weight of my family’s support and approval like Oliver does with Avery.

It will be a media circus, one designed for the benefit of everyone but me and Blakely.

With a jerk of my head, I toss those thoughts far away and focus on my brother, his beautiful wife and daughter, and the life he’s about to make with them.

18

JAMIE

It’stwo in the morning when I make it home, bumping into the front door and grunting like an animal. I nearly forget to turn off the alarm before going inside and sagging against the wall.

My head is spinning from the alcohol I’ve consumed, and my shirt is only half-buttoned. I’m still not sure how I made it into an Uber and away from the venue once the media arrived.

Fucking reporters were everywhere. My eyes are still sore from the burn of camera flashes that attacked at the end of the night. At least my brother was already gone by then.

The media wasn’t even there for him. From the shouts and number of fans chasing the reporters’ tails as I was diving into the SUV, it’s safe to say they were there for Noah. Who knows how they found the location of the wedding with how well it was kept hidden, but they wasted their time.

My cousin was gone three hours into the reception.

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