Wright Together, page 26
“Hey Mom!” West said, veering into the picture and waving.
Her eyes lit up. “West. I heard that you and your brother are bickering.”
Whitt leaned over. “We were doing no such thing.”
“Correct,” West agreed. “Whitt was just trying to dictate what I wear.”
Our mom’s eyes raked his tie-less button-up. “Are you wearing Converse?”
Whitt and I both cracked up and said, “Yes,” at the same time. West shot us a dirty look.
“It’s fine, Mom,” he grumbled.
“I just want you to dress appropriate for your brother’s wedding,” she said.
“Half-brother,” Whitt muttered.
It was our turn to glare at him. West and I had adopted Jordan and Julian like they were Mom’s kids too. I didn’t see a difference except that we’d been denied the opportunity to grow up together.
“Whitton!” Mom snapped. “Don’t you dare bring that attitude to his wedding today. It’s supposed to be celebratory.”
He nodded. “Sorry.”
“You should have come,” I told her. “Bonus mom!”
She laughed at that addition. “I’ll come back down eventually. Just couldn’t get away from work and Grandma.”
I exchanged a look with my brothers. Grandma had been diagnosed with dementia ages ago. She was about the same she’d always been, but the official diagnosis had leveled Mom. The only time she’d come to visit had been to move me into my dorm in the fall.
“Next time,” Whitt said tactfully. “We should get going.”
“Okay. Love you three. Have fun and send me pictures when you can!”
We all agreed that we would. I hung up the phone and put it back in my purse. “Shall we?”
The boys nodded and then we headed out to my little Kia. Mom had wanted to get me something fancier for the fucking horrid twenty-seven hour drive from Seattle to Lubbock. But I knew that fancier meant money from Owen, which meant strings attached, which meant hell. So I’d been happy with what we could afford. She’d served me well enough so far.
Not that Whitt agreed. “I should just drive the Lexus,” he said, looking mournfully toward the garage where his shiny silver car rested.
“Sure,” I said automatically. A wicked smile coming to my face. “And since I’m the DD, I can drive you all home in it later.”
Whitt blanched. “Fine. No. You’re not driving my car.”
Whitt didn’t let anyone drive his big boy car. So it was my Kia after all.
West piled into the backseat and Whitt took the passenger as I sank into the driver’s side and connected my phone. David Bowie blared through the speakers. Whitt jerked to life and reached for the stereo.
“Christ, do you even have ear drums at that volume.”
I blinked at him lazily. “Ear splitting is the only volume to listen to David Bowie.”
“She’s right,” West agreed, putting his fist through the middle of the seats. I bumped him and we both laughed at the look on Whitt’s face.
Jordan and Annie’s wedding was on the south side of town at the vineyard that Jordan and Julian opened with their friend Hollin Abbey. The place had come a long way since its conception with award winning wine and a booming event business. Jordan had told me once while touring the place that it had started as a line dancing dance hall and it was where he and Annie had first gotten together.
It was hard to picture that as I drove up to immaculate venue. The barn that he’d told me had been half-falling down was strong and sturdy with fresh wood stain and a new roof. The vineyards were in their first couple weeks of bud breaking, blooming green everywhere in the spring weather. The lawn between the barn and the cellar was rich green and covered in white chairs and florals. The happy couple couldn’t have asked for better weather. Lubbock was notoriously unpredictable in the spring, alternating between eighties and fifties, breezy days and dust storms, sunshine and flooding.
The parking lot was already packed with what looked like half of the town to celebrate the occasion. I parked at the back of the lot next to a fancy Porsche sports car. West whistled at the shiny red exterior when he stepped out.
“Nice ride,” he said.
Whitt sucked his teeth. “My Lexus is just as nice.”
“Be for fucking real,” I muttered as I admired the car.
“This is a Porsche 718 Cayman,” West said, his voice dripping with lust. He’d always wanted something like this. “This thing goes zero to sixty in less than five seconds. It tops out at a hundred and seventy something miles per hour.”
“Come along before you have an orgasm over the thing.” I pushed him in the back and he shot me a look.
I just grinned at him and the three of us headed toward the vineyard.
“My car is just as nice,” Whitt muttered again.
I patted his shoulder. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“I wonder who it belongs to,” West said. “Need to see if the guy will let me drive it.”
“Excuse me. It could be a woman.”
West laughed. “Sure, but it’s probably not.”
I looked to Whitt for help but he just shrugged and agreed with West.
“Y’all are the worst. One day I’m going to stop all this gendered shit from you two.”
West threw his arm around my shoulder. “And one day we’re going to stop you from using the word y’all as if you’re from the south.”
I pushed him away with an eye roll. I’d adopted y’all as soon as I moved to Lubbock. It was just superior to other options. My brothers were just ribbing me.
We stepped into line with the rest of the crowd. I’d only been in Lubbock for a few months and didn’t know all of the Lubbockites. I’d met my Wright cousins—Jensen, Austin, Landon, Morgan, and Sutton—as well as their respective partners. The other guys at the vineyard were familiar as well as the girls who were on the red soccer team I’d subbed exactly one game for. I’d played casually in high school, but my joy from the game had been more…social than fitness related. Everyone else at the wedding was a relative stranger.
Including West’s roommate, Nora, who was super into. Even if he hadn’t exactly admitted it.
Finally, we reached the front of the line. West and Whitt were engaging with the ushers while my eyes roamed the outdoor space. Now that I had a full view, I could tell they’d sunk money into this wedding. Good for them.
I turned to try to wrangle my brothers when my eyes landed on a guy dressed in a tailored navy suit. My breath caught at the sight of him. Beautiful and pouty and tortured perfection. The consternation that played across his bold features was at odds with the occasion. As if he’d walked into the wedding off the street and was trying to figure out what he was doing here.
The light played across the soft curl of his ash blonde hair, highlighting the golden strands threaded through the darker color. His eyes were a blue that shouldn’t have been legal. Like falling into a pool of water. And they kept glancing up at the altar and quickly away as if he didn’t want anyone to see him looking. His hand kept going to the inside pocket of his suit like he needed whatever was in there for courage.
For a split second, it was as if he could feel my eyes upon him. His gaze swept my direction and then they locked upon me. My mouth went dry. My body felt like it had been electrified. Every nerve stood on end. Just from a glance.
With those high cheekbones, a razor sharp jaw line, and pretty pouty lips opened slightly on a question, I was a goner.
And I didn’t even know his name.
“Harley,” West called.
I jumped, breaking eye contact and turning back to my brother. “Huh?”
“Let’s get our seats.”
I nodded and followed them down the aisle, closer and closer to the man that had captured me in one look. I was still looking at him when I nearly ran into Whitt’s back. He gave me a strange look and then turned into the row.
I was momentarily frozen as I saw that I was directly across from him. He caught my gaze again and a smirk crossed his features. The first look that wasn’t full of irritation. My stomach flipped and heat came to my cheeks.
Then the music began. The wedding was about to start. His frown returned, bigger than ever, and he sank into his seat.
I quickly took mine, coming back to myself in increments.
I had no idea who he was.
He had to be ten years older than me.
My brothers would not be chill with this.
Fuck.
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to everyone who helped me write this book. This was my first book that I wrote after I had my son, and it was an effort in patience to get back to myself. I might have been slower, but dare I say, the words made me even more proud. I managed to write them this pretty even through sleep exhaustion and nursing and all the hard but beautiful baby things.
So thanks to Squish and his incredible dad who was a SAHD through all of this so that I could bring you these words!
The soundtrack to this book was: Taylor Swift’s Hits Different and All the Girls You’ve Loved Before, Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo, Look at Us Now by Maren Morris and Marcus Mumford, and Kelly Clarkson’s album chemistry.
About the Author
K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team.
She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling to far off destinations, baking insane desserts, and dancing in her spare time.
She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.
Visit her online:
www.kalinde.com
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K.A. Linde, Wright Together
