Braydon(6)

The thought had her mind wandering to Braydon. Over the last month, ever since Ethan got married, Braydon had started to pull away. She, Brendon, and Braydon still spent time together, but the sex had come to an abrupt halt after Braydon’s declaration that he was done, which, truth be told, Jessie was okay with. From the threesome perspective anyway. Their easy friendship had become more and more strained in recent weeks, and they were all getting good at pretending that nothing was unusual.

It wasn’t that Jessie didn’t know what was going on. It’s that she didn’t want to discuss it. Neither did they. And probably because they had all clammed up, the tension was soaring to astronomical levels.

“You look like a princess,” Zoey told Vanessa, pulling Jessie back to the moment.

“I feel like one,” V declared as she stared back at Zoey. “It’s just . . .”

“What?” Kylie asked when V didn’t continue.

“Nothing. I’m just nervous.”

“Which is perfectly acceptable,” Zoey assured V.

“Right. Because we all know you were a jumble of nerves on your wedding day,” V huffed, a radiant smile lighting up her entire face.

“I was!” Zoey imparted with a disbelieving chuckle. “You should remember, you were there.”

“Yeah, but you were nothing like this,” V argued, glancing at herself in the mirror. “At this rate, I’m going to trip on my gown and fall on my face before I even make it down the aisle.”

“You’ll have Jerry to make sure you don’t fall,” Zoey reminded V.

A few months ago, Regina, V’s mother, and Jerry, a man Regina had dated years before, had opted to rekindle their long-ago love, this time with Regina giving her all to the relationship. As it turned out, Jerry just so happened to not be married or attached; therefore, when the two of them began officially dating, the man had picked up his relationship with V as though she were the stepdaughter he had always hoped for. To top it off, Jerry had stunned them all when he asked if he could have the honor of giving V away on her wedding day.

“And if that doesn’t work, I’ll make sure to warn the guests sitting near the aisle. I’m sure someone will reach out and catch you,” Zoey said sweetly.

“Thanks,” V snorted with a choked laugh.

“What are friends for?”

“So what’s left to do?” Kylie asked as she moved around the room.

“Nothing but wait,” Zoey told her.

“Yes, freaking wait,” V retorted. “My best friend here is a stickler for being on time, so what did she go and do? She got me ready half an hour early. Now I have to fight the urge to throw up for thirty more minutes.”

All the women giggled at that, including V.

“Where’s your mom? And Lorrie?” Jessie asked, realizing the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom weren’t there.

“They stepped out to make sure everything was going as planned,” Zoey explained.

“I think they got tired of listening to me freak out and they needed to get away,” V inserted.

Funny that V continued to claim she was nervous, because from where Jessie stood, V was the epitome of calm and collected, despite her frequent contradictions to the fact. She was backlit by the windows, her long white gown shimmering in the midmorning sunlight streaming in, a vibrant contrast to V’s flawless olive skin. Her dark hair was pulled into a fancy updo on her head while a few wispy pieces framed her face. Her makeup was minimal, but the woman didn’t need makeup. She was naturally beautiful.

And her smile was present and accounted for.

Ever since Jessie had been introduced to the Walker clan, she’d become close friends with Zoey and V. The two women had embraced both her and Kylie with open arms. Jessie had understood their welcoming her sister into their fold because Kylie was a Walker—technically before they were—but for them to include Jessie . . . Well, she considered herself incredibly lucky.

It was probably a little strange for them all when Kylie, who’d married Travis when she was just eighteen, came waltzing into their lives unexpectedly years later, only to be pulled back into the fold when she and Travis reconciled. They had Gage to thank for that, although Gage probably didn’t think he’d done anything all that heroic, considering his blatantly underhanded way of handling the situation, but Jessie wasn’t one to judge. It had worked out in the end, and that’s all that mattered.

Regardless, Zoey and V were the most down-to-earth women Jessie had probably ever met and the only women, aside from her sister, who she could truly call friends.

“Please tell me you haven’t seen Zane yet today,” Kylie said to V.

V and Zoey both laughed at that, and Zoey was quick to reply with, “I managed to keep him away.”

“You did?” Jessie asked in disbelief. This was Zane Walker they were talking about. The man had come up with an entirely new definition of the word “persistent.”

“Well, I orchestrated it, yes. I left it to his brothers to keep him as far from her as possible.”

“This is Zane we’re talking about,” Kylie reminded them, giving voice to Jessie’s thoughts. “I’m sure they’ve had their hands full.”

“I’ll say.” Zoey giggled. “Zane showed up at the door about an hour ago with Kaleb and Travis in tow. They were threatening to tie him up and gag him if he didn’t behave.”