This is Reckless (Checkmate Duet 3)

“At least pretend like you like each other,” Mom says and pushes Courtney and me closer to each other. I glance over and smile at Court, and she smiles back.

“Now you’ll loop your arms together and walk down the aisle when I say go. It’s very simple but needs to be timed just right. Everyone understand?” Mom has taken on the role of wedding planner, which is fine for everyone—even Viola.

I turn and look at Viola who’s behind us with our father. I give her a wink, and she smiles back at me. Travis is standing at the front of the church with the minister, waiting with the most genuine, happiest smile I’ve ever seen him with. To say I’m happy for them is an understatement. I’m fucking ecstatic.

I stand next to Travis and watch as the girls walk down the aisle. Courtney’s the last to walk down before Viola and when I make eye contact with Travis, and he gives me a head nod then reverts his eyes back to my sister. I know this isn’t the real thing yet, but the way they look at each other is intoxicating. They have that all-encompassing raw love that I’ll find one day.

The minister runs through the verbiage, then I hand over the ring, and they kiss. The violins explode into the wedding march and Viola and Travis exit, then Courtney and me, followed by everyone else.

As we make it to the back of the chapel, I can see Courtney’s been crying though she’s smiling the whole time.

“Need a tissue?” I ask.

“Nah.” She sniffles. “But weddings get me every time.”

“You’re cute,” I say, and I swear her grip tightens just a little. Once we’re in the foyer and so is everyone else, Viola makes an announcement.

“So, I’ll see everyone bright and early Saturday?” She’s smiling so big as Travis has his arm tightly wrapped around her.

The group bursts out into laughter when Courtney makes a joke. Travis glances down at her still attached to my arm and gives me a look, and it feels so natural I didn’t even notice. I’m feeling too comfortable with her.

Courtney eventually lets go. She walks to Viola, and they exchange big hugs. They’re standing there hugging and crying in front of everyone, mascara running down their cheeks. Travis comes to me and gives me a hug, making a joke out of it, and we pretend to cry on each other’s shoulders. They both turn around, and Viola flips me off.

“In church? I’m telling the minister,” I quip.

She gasps. “I cannot believe I just did that in the house of God.”

“Drew deserved it,” Courtney adds, smiling at me.

I shake my head at her. “I will tickle the shit out of you.”

She gives me a mean face before she and Viola walk off.

Travis stands close to me and watches them walk away.

“So…” Travis lingers.

“Yeah?” I’m confused at his tone.

“You and Courtney finally do the dirty deed?”

I scrunch my nose and step back. “Dude, no. You know it’s not like that.”

He grins, rubbing the stubble along his jawline as he looks intently at me. “If you say so. Although, you’d be more convincing if you weren’t smiling like a fool.”

“Don’t make me give you a black eye before your wedding, King.” He knows I’m giving him shit, but he glares at me anyway.

“Viola would mount your head on the cross of Jesus herself.”

“Yeah, she’s good at getting her revenge.” I laugh, knowing he’ll get the reference. Viola and he nearly killed each other before they finally admitted their feelings and hooked up.

“Yeah, she’s good at getting what she wants.” He looks at me and smiles. “Must be a Fisher thing.” He chuckles, amused.

“Well, she’s soon to be a King,” I say. “She’s your responsibility.”

“She’s soon to be my queen,” Travis says, staring at Viola across the room.

“You two are disgusting.”

He bursts out laughing. “I know. And I love it. You have no idea how dirty your sister can be.”

Gross. “And I don’t ever, ever, ever want to know.”

COURTNEY

One day before the wedding…

At work, I’ve become a professional daydreamer. Travis has demanded I get to work so many times over the past week that it’s now an inside joke. Even when I’m working, he demands I get to work. I’ve used the excuse that it’s wedding week for three weeks now and so far, it’s worked, so I keep riding that wave while I can. But in an hour, the bachelorette party begins, and I’ve got so much fun stuff planned for the girls. Thankfully, Travis agreed to let me have a paid half-day. If he didn’t, Viola would’ve withheld sex for a week. I totally made that up, but he believed me enough not to test it.

The other girls in the wedding party were Viola’s dorm roommates from college. Ashley and Kayla are sweethearts, and over the last few months, we’ve all become great friends. The bonus is we all like the same things, so planning was easy, except the fact they all requested Drew to be the stripper for the night. I had to remind them it was Viola’s brother and how weird it would be the night before her wedding to see his hot little ass. While it might scar Viola for life, it’d be something I’d never forget. But it was a big n-o.