Face-Off at the Altar
Page 19

Had he done that?
Had the stress of his cheating ass made her lose weight?
Was she losing weight for another guy?
Clenching his fists, he blatantly drank her in, which Avery noticed. He knew they were best friends and Avery was by far Team Mekena—hell, he was Team Mekena—but couldn’t she see that he’d never meant for this to happen? Apparently not, because within seconds, Avery was glaring as she whispered something to Mekena. He didn’t care what she said back; he was too busy memorizing everything about her. He wasn’t sure how long it would be until he saw her again, and he couldn’t get enough of her fair skin, how the white of her shirt complemented her dark hair in the most satisfying way. Her pants were high on her waist and so damn fitted that he could see the perfect curve of her ass. For a moment, he wondered if his sweet girl didn’t have panties on.
But as soon as the thought came, he scoffed it away.
Mekena, not wearing panties? That was crazy talk. She was too good. Too sweet. She was exactly the girl Tom Petty sang about in “Free Fallin’.” She was a good girl, and he was sure she loved her mama. Now that song was stuck in his head, awesome, but he was okay with it because it was Mekena’s song. He assumed he was the bad boy in the song who broke her heart. But unlike that guy, he had missed her. He missed her so much he couldn’t stand it. He missed talking to her, listening to her laugh, and touching his lips to hers.
He wasn’t supposed to be with someone like her. Someone so smart and witty, she was way out of his league. He was the dumb jock who was skating headlong into his dreams. She had her whole life calculated out, and all he wanted was to be factored into those numbers. He had been for a little while…until he fucked it all up.
“The whole gang is here. Let’s get a round, Benji should be back in a moment,” Lucy said, pulling Markus’s attention away from Mekena and back to her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t watching his girl. As she sat on the stool, her back was very stiff, her hands working on the clasp of her clutch. She wanted out of there. She wanted away from him, and he couldn’t be an ounce of mad at that. He didn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as her.
“Stop looking like a shelter dog with no possibility of adoption,” Jace whispered in his direction.
“Jeez, that’s depressing as hell.”
“Which is how you look,” he said under his breath. “Yeah, you fucked up, she hates you. Move on, nothing you can do about it.”
Markus didn’t like that either. He wanted to do something about it. He wanted to fix it, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t even know if there was a way how. How do you apologize for sleeping with your girlfriend’s sister? He didn’t think there was a solution, only a special place in hell for him. Maybe there would be pizza there. Probably not, he’d slept with the girl’s sister.
God, he sucked. “Markus, what’s wrong with you?” Lucy called out, and he looked up, planting a grin on his face.
“Nothing, I’m dead on my feet. Practice kicked my ass.”
“No one’s fault but your own for being the new guy,” Benji said then, joining the group around the small table.
But even with the small table, it felt like Mekena was so far away. Hell, like she was at the bottom of Florida and Markus was at the top. He wanted to talk to her, ask her how she’d been. But she wouldn’t even look at him. She just stared at the table or Avery or whoever was talking to her.
“New guy?” Claire asked, and Markus nodded.
“I got called up,” he said, and Jude let out a whoop before smacking his back.
“Well, hell! Let’s toast to that, screw the people getting married,” he joked, holding his glass up. Everyone followed suit except Mekena.
But maybe it was because she wasn’t drinking.
Or because he was a big pile of poo and she’d rather toast to the dog that was unadoptable. Even Benji was holding his cup of Coke in a toast. Yeah, it was the latter.
“To our adopted brother, a man we are proud to say we wanted and not one we got stuck with, like all these other people. May he kick some ass and take some names. Congratulations, brother. Don’t fuck it up,” Jude said, and everyone laughed as they clinked their glasses together.
“Thanks, guys,” he said after swallowing back the bitter liquid. “I really appreciate that. I’m excited. Nervous, but excited.” Swallowing hard, his gaze chased back to the gorgeous girl with thick, black-rimmed glasses. Looking over at Lucy when he realized everyone was staring, he said, “But, hey, it’s not about me. Let’s toast to the bride and groom.”
Lucy and Benji grinned at each other before holding their glasses up. “I’ve watched a lot of these Sinclairs fall in love, but you guys are by far my favorite.”
“What the hell?” Baylor asked.
He laughed. “Other than Baylor and Jayden,” he teased, and they all laughed. “I strive to be in your shoes, Benji, to find a great girl who keeps me on my toes and whom I can love unconditionally—”
“You’ll just cheat,” he heard. He paused, but he wasn’t sure anyone heard Mekena except Avery and Jace, who looked away awkwardly.
“Yeah, so, congratulations, I’m glad I can be here.”
Clinking their glasses, Benji toasted to Markus. “So are we, brother. Thanks for supporting us.”
Markus slowly drank his beer, his eyes cutting to Mekena, but she didn’t move. Her eyes were narrowed, her breathing a little elevated as she ran her finger along the rim of her glass of soda.
“Markus, have you met Mekena?” Lucy asked, and his eyes jolted to hers. In the periphery, he saw Mekena look up too. Everyone around him except Jude, Claire, and Benji went stiff. As he held his breath, Lucy continued, “She’s our photographer. I think she’s also done Ashlyn’s and Dawson’s pictures too, right?”
“Yup, she’s awesome,” Baylor choked out. “And by the way, Mekena, I think I want to sign up for you to fly out for his three-month photos. It’s next month, would that work for you?”
Thank God for Baylor Sinclair.
Mekena nodded, her eyes meeting Baylor’s. “Of course, I would love to.”
“We’ll pay for everything like last time,” she said, and Mekena nodded.
“That’s great, I will make it work. Just give me a date.”