You Had Me at Get Lost (Sibling Goals #4)

Chapter One

Briggs

"You're late," my brother, Harlan, growls, appearing in the church doorway like some timekeeping demon, his face set in a dark scowl. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago."

"Take it up with Jesus and the traffic." I grin at him.

"I got here as fast as I could. Any faster, and we'd be having a different conversation right now.

" I glance at the parking lot behind me, where friends' cars are scattered across the first couple of rows.

"With a whole lot of Chicago's finest behind me, trying to take me down. "

Harlan grumbles under his breath like he wants to argue, but my point is solid.

There's only so much a motherfucker can do about traffic in Chicago on a Friday night without divine intervention.

And if there is a God, I don't see him stepping in to part the seas to get me to my brother's rehearsal dinner.

The world is a shitshow. He's got more important things to do.

"Come on. Everyone is waiting," Harlan says as I duck past him into a grand foyer.

The tile floors gleam at my feet, the crucifixion hanging overhead reflecting off them.

Benches and floral arrangements line each side of the foyer, with lines of scripture carved into the walls.

It's ostentatious, but unsurprising for a church big enough to hold half of Chicago.

The big ones are rarely known for subtlety.

A giant sign announcing Harlan and Sophie's wedding stands in the center of the antechamber, with one of their engagement photos above the date.

"You nervous?" I ask my brother, clocking the way he tugs on his suit jacket, trying to get it just right. He's already more put together than he's ever been, not a wrinkle or crease in sight.

"About marrying Sophie? Fu…I mean no," he says, casting a furtive glance around, like he's afraid Jesus is going to pop out of the flowers and strike him down for almost cursing.

"I've been ready to marry her since Tye's wedding.

" He rakes a hand through his hair. "Worried about our mother showing up. "

"Ah," I say, nodding. Once, she might have made the guest list simply to keep the peace.

That changed almost two years ago, when we found out she was trying to force our baby sister, Hattie, to attend Tye's wedding with a man who doesn't even deserve to breathe the same air as her.

Tye, Harlan, and I handled the situation with the help of Sidney Hawkes, Hattie's now-husband, and none of us have been on speaking terms with her since.

Frankly, I'd prefer to keep it that way. But our mother never goes quietly. She's done nothing but cause problems, especially once she found out that Hattie and Harlan were both getting married.

I'm the last motherfucker standing out of my siblings…and our mother hasn't been to a single wedding. No, she isn't taking it well. Not in the least.

That's on her.

"She won't show up," I promise Harlan. "I made sure of it."

"What?" He looks startled. "How?"

"We had a conversation."

"You had a conversation."

"Yeah, a conversation. I said some shit.

She listened." I shrug like it's not a big deal, but we both know it is.

I never willingly speak to her if I can help it, not after all the shit she's pulled.

That doesn't really matter, though. What matters is that she isn't going to show her face at the wedding, not if she doesn't want the whole world to know what kind of mother she truly is.

The only thing that our mother loves more than money is being the center of the right attention. Trust me when I say she does not want the world to know half the shit she's said or done over the years. What little bit of standing she has left would crumble, and she'd really be alone then.

Harlan stares at me for a long moment, gratitude etched across his face. "Thanks, Briggs. I mean it."

"Don't mention it." If our roles were reversed, he'd do the same for me.

But he's the one getting married, not me.

And it's not like he even lives in Chicago to deal with her.

Trying to plan a wedding from the other side of the country has been hard enough for him and Sophie.

Someone had to deal with our mother for him.

She can hate me for running interference if she wants.

So long as she stays away from my sister and brothers, I don't fucking care.

I stopped caring about her a long time ago, right around the time I realized that she was a monster who hated her own daughter.

She made our sister fucking miserable out of sheer spite and jealousy.

And Hattie wasn't the only one. I never felt good enough because of her, because the only thing I've ever been to her is a bank account and a paycheck.

It's not like that now. Hattie is out of her reach, and she isn't getting a fucking dime from me ever again. I'm done being her piggy bank, so fucking done.

"Come on," Harlan murmurs, leading me into the sanctuary, which is all decked out for the wedding in dusty blue and ivory.

The scent of hundreds of flowers fills the space, but it isn't overwhelming, just…

pleasant. Photos of him and Sophie line the front of the sanctuary, set on stands beside a flower-covered arch on the stage. It's elegant, beautiful.

We pass through, then duck through a side door, exiting into a hallway. The low hum of voices reaches us as Harlan stops in front of another door.

"We're having dinner in here," he mutters, "and then we'll run through the ceremony."

"Still can't believe you're getting married in a church." Harlan hasn't been inside a church since we were kids, but there isn't much he wouldn't do for his ballerina.

"It's what she wanted," he says, his voice soft as his gaze drifts toward Sophie.

She looks stunning in a white mini dress with a large bow at the back resembling a train.

Even from across the room, she glows. "Her parents got married in this church before they tore the old building down to make room for the new one. "

I just grin at him, proud. "Dad would have loved her, you know."

"Jesus," he rasps, startling slightly. The swell of emotion in his gaze chokes me up. I hate that our father will never get to meet the women my brothers chose, or the man who brought Hattie back to life.

"It's true." I clasp Harlan on the shoulder. "She's perfect for you."

Harlan has always been a little too serious and a bit of an obsessive pain in the ass at times.

Sophie is as dedicated and driven as he is, but she's also full of life.

She keeps him on his toes and doesn't just bow to him.

He needs someone like her, someone fierce enough to call him out when he deserves it and soft enough to let him lead when he's earned it. Sophie is good at both.

"Yeah, she is." He smiles that same fucking smile he always wears when he talks about Sophie, like he can't believe she chose him.

And for a split second, I'm envious as hell, not because his ballerina chose him; God, no.

I've never been interested in Sophie like that.

But I'm jealous as hell that he found his person.

Part of me always thought I'd be the one to get married and start a family first. It's what I've always wanted. Unfortunately, it just hasn't been in the cards for me.

Anytime I tried to date, I spent the whole fucking night just waiting for it to end.

No one ever made it past the first date.

No one ever made it to my bed, either. The whole world would probably lose it if they knew that I'm a twenty-seven-year-old virgin, so I don't publicize it, but it's not something I'm ashamed of, either.

I've seen plenty of teammates fall into bed with anyone willing.

That never interested me. I've always wanted what I thought my parents had when we were kids, back before I realized my mother was a lying, hateful bitch.

My dad doted on her, worshipped the ground she walked on.

That only changed when she decided our baby sister was her competition instead of her child.

Until then, Dad would have done anything for her.

And I've always wanted to be a man he would have been proud to call his son. His fairytale didn't work out. Maybe it's stupid to think it can be different for the rest of us, but that's what I've always wanted.

If happily-ever-after isn't meant for me, though, at least my siblings will know what it's like to love like our dad did. I can live with that.

Harlan pushes open the door, and we step into a massive fellowship hall, decorated in the same dusty blue and ivory color scheme.

Thousands of fairy lights twinkle overhead, with more photos of Harlan and Sophie hanging from gossamer strands along the back wall.

A massive dining table dominates the center of the room, with floating candles and floral arrangements stretching down the center.

Their closest friends and family are clustered in groups, scattered around the room, chatting and laughing. Most are holding wine goblets or beer bottles.

I shoot Harlan a questioning look. "Since when could you drink at church?"

"Since we signed a contract, took out insurance, and jumped through nine hundred hoops to ensure we were abiding by their rules," he mutters. "Only beer and wine, and only for tonight. It's why we opted to have the reception at a different location."

"Ah," I say, shaking my head. And then I catch sight of the woman standing beside Sophie, her head thrown back, her blue eyes shining as laughter spills from her lips.

Fuck.

She's short, her midnight blue dress fitted to her curvy body in a way that has my pants growing tight.

The way the light catches on her creamy skin gives her this ethereal, unreal quality, like I'm not really seeing her at all.

Except she's absolutely standing right there, her soft laughter spilling across the room.

"Who is that?" I ask my brother, nodding at her.