Claimed By The Best Man

I could give up. I could tell myself it’s hopeless, that a girl half my age could never feel anything for an older guy like me. But I wasn’t trained in the art of quitting.

I wasn’t shown how to surrender or how to tell myself to give up when the bullets start singing past my ears.

No.

I’m a Marine and I’ll see this through to the end, taking whatever end result I get, knowing I’ve given it a hundred and ten percent.

“Me neither,” I tell her simply. Hoping she reads my true meaning with those two words.

Happier than hell there’s no one standing between me and her, and happier still when she turns to look up at me again.

“Really?” she asks, trying to hide her own growing smile.

“Really,” I confirm.

Feeling myself relax for the first time in what must be twenty years as I notice her smile stick for the rest of the way back to her place.

A smile I vow to keep in my memory forever.

The first night we really met.

Chapter Four

Piper

Mom never mentions Reeve, and Rhys? Well, he’s more into my mom than talking to me about his best friend.

So when I hear from Reeve’s lips that he’s single, I just about burst with joy.

That damp patch between my legs threatening to leave a freaking puddle in his truck seat.

Am I still kidding myself, like I’d actually stand a chance with someone as perfect as he is?

Maybe he thinks I’m just a kid still?

God, I hope he doesn’t remember that time I threw up all over him… He probably does. Who could forget something like that?

But he’s too much of a gentleman to even mention it.

Sure, he’s old enough to be my dad, but age is just a number.

I mean, look at the guy.

I’d never have picked him for a day over thirty, but I know for a fact that he and Rhys are the same age, forty-two. Give or take a few months.

Reminding myself I promised only to keep it as a fantasy, so as not to feel hurt, I’m buzzing all over by the time we get back home.

Already planning the coffee or snacks I can prepare for him, any excuse to keep us talking, keeping us close before mom and Rhys…

Get home.

Pulling up to our house, I can see they’re already there.

“They must’ve beat us home,” I murmur bitterly.

“Rhys is a bit of a lead foot,” Reeve sighs.

Once inside I’m hit with the double-whammy to boot.

“Honey? Why don’t you run along and get changed? Us grown up’s have something to discuss with Reeve,” Mom tells me, making me turn red with embarrassment.

Talking to me like I’m a little kid all over again.

Rhys gives a sympathetic but knowing look, matched only by Reeve’s look of sudden annoyance.

But, I have to remind myself: Her house. Her rules.

“Fine,” I snap, giving mom a look so fierce, so angry, I couldn’t care less anymore about her or her stupid house.

Maybe she can find another bridesmaid too.

This freaking sucks.

I try not to act out like a brat, but my thumping feet and bedroom door slamming behind me are all I can hear through the thoughts in my head and the tears I know I can’t stop.

I feel stupid as I flop onto my bed, not caring about the damned dress that still doesn’t fit.

Punching my pillow. Wanting it to feel the same hurt I do.

Thinking about Reeve. About how we just spoke. Having him brush against me.

Stupid.

Thinking a guy like him… And me…?

Who am I kidding?

My tears die down after a while and a kind of detached state of nothingness comes over me after a good cry.

Not a feeling of confidence, but a feeling like nothing really matters.

That the worst has maybe already happened before it even began. And all in my imagination.

“Go away,” I growl when there’s a hollow knock on my door, imagining its mom come to say sorry for the millionth time in my life.

“Piper?” A familiar, deep voice asks. “Can I come in?”

Reeve!

I bolt upright, sniffing back my emotions and wiping the tears with my palms.

Catching a glimpse of myself in my mirror, the phrase ‘looking like shit’ would come as a compliment right about now.

“Just a minute,” I croak, working double-time to slip out of my dress and into some sweat pants and a sweater, opting for no bra or panties.

No time for that.

I unlatch my door and trying to act nonchalant, I raise my brows in question as I look up at Reeve.

“You okay?” he rumbles, looking down at his feet before shifting his eyes to mine again.

I can only shrug, afraid if I try to speak I’ll throw myself at him, needing to feel his arms around me.

“Your mom… Uh… They wanna talk to you,” he murmurs, as I realize he’s not shy or nervous.