Accidentally Married to Brother's Best Friend

by Sofia T Summers

  At least Lyric had seemed kind as she’d made sure I was all right before going to tear Tenor a new one. I decided I’d let her handle her brother. I’d give Tenor a few days to cool off and then give him a call, see if he could forgive me. I was torn about the whole thing. On the one hand I agreed with Lyric that we were adults and it wasn’t anyone else’s business what we did, and we didn’t need Tenor’s permission for anything.

  On the other hand, Tenor was my best friend and I wanted him to feel respected. We hadn’t been going behind his back, at least not intentionally. We didn’t even know what we were to each other, how could we explain that to someone else?

  …what were we to each other?

  I’d thought that I’d crack open a bottle of wine last night, we could relax, and I could propose, now that the marriage was going to be over, we start dating properly. Without any legal issues. We actually become a couple and see where this could go. I knew the distance between Boston and Amherst might cause a bit of a problem but we could work it out. I missed Lyric already, and I wanted to have her in my life.

  But how to tell her that when this thing with her brother had just exploded?

  I spent the morning trying to figure it out—and then my phone rang.

  It was my bank.

  That was unusual. “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Everything’s fine,” the bank manager replied. “Or so we think. We just wanted to double check something with you, sir. Your wife came in to get added to your account to be able to access funds. We felt that was something you’d normally tell us yourself, so we wanted to call you and confirm it with you before we did anything.”

  …what the fuck?

  My heart sank like a stone.

  I’d trusted Lyric, and instead she’d turned around and stabbed me in the back. Had I given her the idea last night, when I’d talked about joint assets? Had the idea sprung into her mind then? It must have, otherwise she would’ve done something like this during any of the days prior. Was this revenge for failing to get our marriage declared invalid? She’d seemed to have calmed down and gotten over that but maybe it was all an act. Maybe she’d just been waiting to figure out how to get me where it hurt.

  There was only one thing to do. I wasn’t going to take this lying down and I also wasn’t going to involve other people in this and make it an even bigger mess. I wasn’t going to call, this required a face to face conversation.

  I told the bank manager to send me the documents that Lyric had submitted to prove she was my wife, and then I got into my car and drove straight to Amherst.

  26

  Lyric

  I’d missed Preston all of last night. I’d thought I was going to get this relaxing, intimate time with him and instead I’d had to lecture my brother and drive all the way back to Amherst. Not exactly the best day ever.

  So when I opened the door to my apartment and found Preston standing there, I had a hope that he had missed me just as much as I’d missed him.

  I hadn’t said anything yet, but I’d been thinking all last night—about how much I wanted him, still. About how nice it was whenever we spent time together. Maybe we could give this relationship thing a shot. The only real thing standing in our way was the distance between Boston and Amherst, and my own fears.

  “Good morning,” I said, smiling and letting Preston in. I hoped he’d start the conversation, because I wasn’t sure how to.

  But to my surprise, Preston whirled on me, fire in his gaze. “What the fuck did you think you were trying to pull?”

  My jaw dropped open. “What are you talking about!?”

  “Did you really think you could get into my bank account that easily? That they’d let just any random woman claiming she was my wife swoop in and get my money? I thought you were smarter than that, Lyric.” His last sentence had a horrible, mocking tone to it.

  I stared at him in shock. I had no idea what he was talking about. “What?”

  Preston scoffed. “Oh, don’t play coy with me. Although you do it very well. You also do indignant and angry pretty damn well, but it’s my turn for that.

  I felt like I’d been slapped in the face. “Preston, I don’t know what’s going on. What are you talking about? A bank? What the fuck?”

  Preston shook his head. “Don’t you play coy with me. I know what you’re doing. And obviously I blame myself here, too, I know I’m not innocent, I’m the one who gave you the fucking idea in the first place, but how dare you—”

  “Oh my fucking God.” Temper flared up in me. “Tell me exactly what you’re talking about, Preston, or I swear to God I’ll kick you out of my house!”

  “The bank, Lyric!” Preston snapped. “You went to my bank and tried to get money out of my account, as my wife!”

  …what? That was ludicrous. “I don’t even know who your bank is! What the fuck! I never touched a bit of your money and I never would.”

  “You submitted paperwork to try and syphon—”

  “I don’t have any fucking paperwork! I’ve been letting you handle the divorce! I would never do something like that to you.”

  Preston’s expression didn’t soften, and my heart sank. He was so angry and spiteful—and now I had to wonder, was he lying to me before when he said he’d never told anyone about our night together? If he was capable of being so angry and spiteful right now, who was to say he hadn’t been feeling spiteful for some reason all those years ago in college?

  I felt sick. I wondered briefly if I might actually throw up.

  “Get out,” I told him, pointing at the door. “I never want to see you again. How dare you come here and accuse me of this, how dare you think for even one moment—you can mail me the divorce papers, I’m not coming into Boston to sign them. I’m not going to see you again, not ever. Get the fuck out of my house and get the fuck out of my life.”

  Preston glared at me for a second, then gave a curt nod and stormed out without a word.

  My legs felt numb as I stumbled to my couch and sank down into it. Fuck. What the fuck had just happened? How could he possibly believe that I would do that to him? After what we’d shared, after last night… well. If he thought his friendship with Tenor was ruined before, it sure would be ruined now. I was definitely telling my brother about this. I didn’t want someone like Preston anywhere near my brother, not if he acted like that.

  But I didn’t feel any righteous anger or surge of triumph. I just felt sick. Sick and heartbroken, the dreams I’d only just started to let myself think about now dashed to pieces.

  Very quietly, since nobody could see me, I cried.

  27

  Preston

  I sat to work on the divorce papers the very next day.

  There was no reason to delay it. I’d been dragging my feet because I didn’t want to lose the chance to see Lyric again, but now I knew what kind of person she was, and I wasn’t going to be tied to her for a second longer than I had to. This would all be easy to compile and send to her for her to sign electronically. I could get everything submitted and the divorce finalized by the end of the week.

  My email pinged, and I paused to check it. Ah, from the bank. Excellent.

  I pulled it up, and saw the various paperwork that Lyric had submitted to them to prove she was my wife. There was a copy of our marriage certificate, to start with. I’d gotten that from the priest in Colorado, so Lyric must’ve gotten a copy from the state. I scrolled through—and paused.

  Wait.

  Squinting, I double checked. Yes—on each of the forms in the middle initial fields there was a ‘K’ written.

  But that wasn’t write. Lyric’s middle name was Note. Her mom had given her kid an absolutely crazy name to go with her obsession with music. Why would Lyric write down the wrong middle initial? She wouldn’t have changed her damn middle name, who would go through all the bother of doing that?

  I scrolled down further to where Lyric’s full signature was, and everything fell into place.

  That
wasn’t Lyric’s handwriting. I knew Lyric’s handwriting from the copy of the marriage certificate that I had from the priest, and this didn’t match. Furthermore, it did match the handwriting of someone else, someone whose handwriting I knew well because I’d been seeing it all my life.

  My sister’s.

  God fucking damn it. Katrina had tried to sabotage Lyric, again, and make her look bad. And I’d fallen for it, hook line and sinker, like a fool. A horrible suspicious fool. How had Lyric had the time to drive her brother from Boston to Amherst last night and then get back here early enough to go to the bank, and then get back to her apartment in Amherst before I got there? It was theoretically possible, I supposed, but it sure as hell wasn’t probable.

  I’d assumed the worst of Lyric at the first opportunity. Fuck. She must have hated me now.

  I didn’t even bother going to see Katrina in person. I just grabbed my phone and dialed her number.

  “Gooooooood morning!” Katrina said cheerfully into the phone. Of course she was cheerful. She probably thought I was calling her to complain about what an awful gold digging person Lyric was.

  “I just have one question for you, Katrina,” I said. “Why the fuck did you think you would get away with this?”

  The other end of the phone line was silent. “What?” Katrina said at last, sounding tentative.

  “You didn’t even bother learning what Lyric’s middle name was?” I asked. “And you had a copy of the marriage certificate from the state, with her signature on it, and you couldn’t be bothered to practice it so your signature on the bank forms at least looked a bit like hers? How lazy are you?”

  “I—I—what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Katrina really was a horrible liar.

  “Don’t play dumb, Kat. You’re already dumb enough without it. I’m talking about the fact that you went into the bank and pretended to be Lyric knowing the bank would call me so that you could make her look like some shallow hussy out for my money.”

  That was the other part I should’ve thought about—Lyric was a smart person who had started her own business, which had most likely involved getting a loan from the bank. She’d know that she couldn’t just waltz in and take my money. Why had I thought her so stupid when everything she’d done had shown me she was a smart and capable woman?

  I felt like the world’s biggest heel.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Katrina replied. “If Lyric tried to take your money then you need to accept what kind of person she is, Preston, not make up excuses because she’s got you wrapped around her stupid little pinkie finger.”

  “I warned you not to talk about her that way,” I growled. “Katrina, you realize what you’ve done is illegal, right? I could have you arrested for fraud.”

  “What!?” Katrina sounded panicked. “I’m your sister! You couldn’t do that to me!”

  “I can and I will. You really don’t think about the consequences, do you? What could happen to my reputation, to my money? What if I’d had Lyric arrested this morning? Or taken her to court for our divorce? All of that humiliation, and all because you decided you just couldn’t handle us being together. I never even fucking confirmed we were together, how’d you find out about the accidental marriage?”

  “Bree,” Katrina said at once. “Bree told me. She got it from her maid of honor who was there when it happened.”

  …of course. Lyric and I hadn’t exactly been quiet when we’d been yelling about the whole issue and the priest and organist had probably talked to some people as well, explaining why the wedding planner and the groom’s cousin were in such a huff. It would’ve been the easiest thing in the world to overhear everything and then spread gossip about it.

  Which was probably exactly what had happened with our little affair at college. Someone heard, maybe even saw us go into the laundry room together and then eavesdropped, and told Katrina.

  Katrina had then done the rest.

  “Well, good on you, thinking to ask the state for a copy of the certificate,” I sanpped. “That was the only clever thing you did in this entire business. You could’ve gotten both Lyric and me, your own damn brother, in legal hot water. You committed fraud. And you need to give me a damn good reason why I shouldn’t get you charged.”

  “How are you still taking her side!?” Katrina burst out. “You always take her side, always! Even though she was popular and she got all the attention and I never got anything! It wasn’t right! I’m thin and rich and beautiful and Lyric’s fat and poor but everyone still liked her. That’s not how it’s supposed to be! Everyone should like me!”

  Katrina’s voice was getting close to hysterical. I sighed, suddenly feeling a hundred years old and exhausted. “Kat. Nobody liked you because you were a spoiled brat. You gossiped behind people’s backs, you made up hurtful rumors, and you bullied people. And nobody likes you now because you’ve become a mean, vindictive woman and you still act like a five-year-old.

  “You don’t need to one up Lyric, or prove a point, or get her out of your life. What you need to do is get therapy. And you’d better get used to Lyric while you’re at it, because she’s a part of the family now.”

  I hung up.

  Katrina was probably reeling over that last part. Lyric’s part of the family now. Katrina was the only one of my family who knew that I was married, unless she’d told other people, or Bree had told Chad. But I doubted that the gossip had made its way back to him and Katrina, going by her behavior just now, wouldn’t have told anyone. She wanted me to hate Lyric and quietly get her out of our lives.

  My parents were going to be surprised, to say the least, if they found out.

  When they found out?

  I contemplated this. I’d been angry just now when I’d said that to Katrina but… I did have feelings for Lyric. That was why her supposed betrayal had hurt so much. I’d trusted her and I’d been trying this whole time to open her up to the idea that we could be together romantically, even after the divorce.

  What if we just didn’t get divorced at all?

  I wanted her in my life, and I wanted to be with her romantically. I wanted us to be an official couple. If things went wrong I could just submit these no-fault divorce papers that I’d already drawn up, all she’d have to do was sign them. Why not keep ourselves married and take a leap of faith?

  So far, Katrina had tried to keep us apart, but the universe—it felt like—was trying to keep us together. Why not take a damn risk for once in my life and go for the girl? I wanted Lyric, damn it. I wanted her and I wanted to stay married to her. I wanted us to build a life together.

  I told Gigi to cancel my meetings and to take messages if I got any calls, saying I had a quick family matter to deal with. Gigi had probably overheard something of my conversation with Katrina and, well. The whole damn firm knew that my sister was a piece of work. She probably assumed it had something to do with Katrina’s antics.

  If only she knew.

  Driving back to Amherst took a while, but it didn’t take away my determination. In fact it only solidified it. I’d been half in love with Lyric from the moment I’d laid eyes on her again. I’d spent five years unable to truly forget about her or stop thinking about her. Why fight it? I didn’t want to live without her, and those were the facts.

  I contemplated stopping to get some flowers or something, to really drive home the apology, but decided against it—and I was glad of that decision when I got to Lyric’s apartment and saw she wasn’t alone.

  Tenor’s car was parked out front.

  I climbed up the stairs and knocked on the front door, not at all surprised when Tenor entered. After how I’d treated Lyric earlier, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d asked Tenor to deal with me.

  “Hey.” I cleared my throat. “You mind if I talk with Lyric for a minute?”

  “No.” Tenor seemed tense but not hostile, like he definitely would be if Lyric had told him about my treatment of her earlier. �
��But can I talk to you outside for a minute?”

  I nodded and stepped back to let him join me. Tenor closed the front door and leaned against the wall. “So. Lyric did a lot of lecturing me last night. And she’s got a point. But I don’t like the idea of you using someone so important to me for a one night stand when you can get that from just about any other girl in town.”

  “Lyric’s not a one night stand,” I promised. “I understand that you feel that way, and so I never would’ve done it if I hadn’t had feelings for her. I had… I was attracted to Lyric at college, before she transferred. And she doesn’t know this yet because I feel like a fucking idiot saying it out loud, but I never really stopped thinking about her. When I saw her again at the wedding… I thought it could be my chance to really make something out of our relationship.

  “I want to commit to your sister. I want to be with her, seriously. There’s been a few ups and downs but we just—we fit together. We click. I feel like I’ve been dating her for years every time we get together. It just works. And I know you want someone who will look after her and protect her, and I promise you that I’ll do that. Nobody knows better than me how much you’ve done for her and how you’ve looked after her and I’m serious when I say that I will do everything to be just as supportive. I promise you, she couldn’t be in better hands than mine.”

  Tenor looked me up and down carefully, assessing. “You know that if you hurt her I’m gonna have to kill you, best friend or no.”

  I grinned, relief flooding me like cool water on a ninety degree day. “Yeah, I know. I’d expect nothing less.”

  Tenor nodded. “All right. If you’re really serious about her—you’re a good guy. You’ve always treated your other women right. I’m going to trust you.”

  “You’re still my friend, Tenor. I don’t want that to change.”

  “I appreciate that.” Tenor gave a tentative smile. “Hug it out?”