1
Vick
“You’re fidgeting,”the man with eyes as dead as stone but as piercing as a sharp knife pointed out.
“I am not.” I squirmed one last time in the black dress. The tulle hung loosely over my waist and down to my mid-thigh. Unfortunately, the corseted lace across my bodice left little to the imagination.
I should have ordered a size up.
My best friend, Brey, was marrying a musician-turned-music-app-nerd and every person was recognizable past the lush, expansive row of bushes. If I was going to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid, I needed to look freaking amazing doing it. I just didn’t know how if I couldn’t take a breath. I pulled at the strapless sweetheart neckline digging into my cleavage one last time.
“Are you about done? You’ll look fine if you just stop squirming like a bee flew up your dress.”
Jett Stonewood. The groom’s brother. And the devil of a man who Brey paired me with for this ceremony. The other bridesmaid had been paired with Jaydon, the younger, fun-loving brother of the groom. Jett, on the other hand, was who you talked with if you wanted humor to die, your smile to disappear, or your belief in all things joyful to disintegrate.
Still, my knees buckled a little when I saw him in his suit. Stonewoods wore suits better than any other men on the planet. Jett wore his best. His broad shoulders set a perfect line for the jacket to sit on, accentuating his thick neck and strong jaw. Every part of him screamed masculinity and my body responded.
I licked my lips, turned toward the ceremony, and pointedly ignored him as best I could. The music started, a soft instrumental version of one of Jax’s songs. His one album had gone triple platinum, an album he admitted he wrote just for Brey. Then he effectively retired, saying he wanted her to hear it and didn’t care about the rest of the world.
My eyes watered thinking of their story.
Lush green rolling hills swelled up from the horizon of the private golf course. Clouds as white as cotton fluffs spotted the blue sky. The centerstage’s gondola overflowed with stargazer lilies and roses. The backdrop of it all was the sea, lapping at the sand. The sun hit the clear water in such a way that it looked as if diamonds sparkled everywhere.
I peeked around the corner to get a glimpse of everyone before Jett and I had to walk.
Jett growled, “What are you doing?”
“Just trying to see how it all looks,” I whispered.
“Probably about the same as it did when we rehearsed.”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to be rude. So I shrugged. “The wedding planner said the sun would start to set over the ocean. The shimmer on the lilies with the Swarovski crystals would be out of this world.”
He looked toward the sky and took a deep breath, like my presence was an annoyance he could barely handle.
Yup, definitely trying to be rude.
Before I could say anything more, the wedding planner cued us. I gripped Jett like my life and reputation depended on it as my heels sunk into the sand with each wobbly step.
I did not want to fall face first in these heels when my best friend was about to get her happily ever after.
When we passed the wall of lush shrubs, I closed my eyes.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
It was a sound I heard only in my head. The same rhythm every time. The same high note, sounding off that I was still alive.
Barely.
I opened my eyes and drowned out the beeping with what was right in front of me. The sun shined on precious stones that had been positioned in white-and-red bouquets along the aisle. The flower arrangements stood tall in glass vases. They’d decorated pillars with more crystals and draped tresses of flowers around and above us. The sun basked every guest in their best light. With the waves crashing in the background, the music couldn’t have sounded better.
“This is stunning,” I whispered to Jett, choking back a sob.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said under his breath.
His words were so final, and filled with such anger, I forgot where I was. I halted to glare at him.
He nudged my arm, widening his eyes. “What are you doing?” he whisper-yelled at me.