“What the hell?” Jason asked, sounding pissed off.
“Sir?” the priest asked, clearly taken off guard. After all, how many times did an actual objection occur except on TV?
“I object,” Ryder said, loud and clear.
People pointed and whispered.
“Fuck,” Sebastian said from his place beside her brothers and Matthew, Jason’s best man.
Suddenly chaos erupted around them. Ryder started forward at the same time Jason lunged toward him. His best man grabbed him, holding him back from going after Ryder, whose sister, Skye, one of Sierra’s bridesmaids, ran for her brother.
“Calm down,” she heard Matthew say.
Sebastian, she noted, went directly for Ryder, stopping him from getting near her as he spoke to him. Sebastian’s wife, Ashley, came up beside him.
“Honey, are you okay?” Maggie, her bridesmaid and wedding planner, grasped her hand.
She turned to her friend, who looked beautiful in the deep purple dress Sierra had chosen. “I don’t know,” she said. And she didn’t.
What had Ryder been thinking, objecting at her wedding?
“Oh, shit. Lena’s diving into the flowers!” Rayna, her maid of honor and best friend since high school, cried, causing Maggie to leave Sierra’s side and help their friend run for the little girl, who, unattended, was pulling petals from the floral arrangements.
“Someone call an ambulance! Candy’s feeling faint!” Sierra’s father’s voice boomed through the church.
A glance told Sierra that her stepmother, an attention-seeking whore who’d worn white to the wedding, something Sierra knew because they’d stopped by the bridal room to see her, was fanning herself and causing her own scene.
“Go,” Sierra said to Joy, her final bridesmaid, who was standing around wringing her hands. “Call 911 for my dad.”
Sierra looked to Ryder again, who was deep in conversation with Sebastian, Parker, and Ethan, who, if Ryder was lucky, wouldn’t beat him to a pulp for humiliating her this way. Suddenly he glanced up and met her gaze, those green eyes looking into her soul. He’d once known her better than anyone.
She’d even dreamed of walking down the aisle to him, and her stomach twisted with an unexpected pang of regret. She stared into his handsome face, his eyes never leaving hers, and a shock of longing slid through her.
Shaken, she tore her gaze from his and headed directly for Jason, stopping in front of him.
His face was red from anger, his best man still had a hand on his shoulder, and his sister was standing beside him.
“What’s going on?” Ethan came to her side and faced Jason, wrapping an arm around Sierra.
“Jason, we can continue where we left off,” she said, meeting his gaze.
His face contorted with hurt. “Seriously? Do you think I didn’t notice you looking at him when you were walking down the aisle to me?” he yelled, outraged, startling Sierra with his outburst.
“Wait, what?” He was angry with her?
Her brother’s supportive hold on her tightened.
“The priest asked if anyone objected, and you turned around and fucking looked at him.” She’d never seen Jason this furious.
But, oh God, she had turned and looked at Ryder. But she hadn’t wanted to end the ceremony. Yes, she’d thought about Ryder briefly as she’d walked down the aisle. She’d had a moment when she remembered the past, but she’d headed toward her future. Toward him.
Ryder showed up just then, facing Jason.
“It’s him.” Jason pointed, shoving his finger into Ryder’s chest. “It’s always been fucking him. At every family function, always around. You wanted him to interrupt the wedding,” he said, accusing her of being at fault.
Ryder appeared about to grab Jason’s finger when Sebastian pulled him back. “Don’t,” her brother muttered.
Sierra blinked, tears in her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Her life was falling apart and she had no way to stop it.
* * * *
Oh, shit. What the fuck did I just do?
Ryder Hammond stared into the eyes of his best friend, who appeared ready to murder him. Next to Sebastian were his two brothers, looking equally furious, and Ryder knew he was in deep shit.
Had he really just objected at Sierra’s wedding?
He began to sweat beneath his suit. But he’d done it, the words had spilled forth, and now he had to dissect why. Ignoring the swearing men beside him, Ryder thought about the moment the big wooden double doors had opened and he’d seen Sierra in her wedding gown.
Her long light brown hair tumbled over her shoulders in perfect curls, her curves showing in her fitted dress, her cleavage just appropriately peeking out from the dipped neckline. Her gorgeous face had glowed as she walked down the aisle to another man.
He’d come today because, as a close family friend, he’d been invited. Because he thought he’d made his peace with the way things had ended between them. And for closure. Once she was married, she’d be lost to him forever. And that was the thought that had run through his head at the moment the priest asked if anyone objected.