Accidentally Married to Brother's Best Friend

by Sofia T Summers

  “So I started going and I’ve been doing a lot of work on myself, and I realized that I needed to apologize to you. I really am sorry, Lyric, for everything I put you through. I mean, since high school, I was just the worst all this time. What I did to you in college—I don’t know how to make up for that. I was envious of you, really. And jealous, scared that you’d take my brother from me.

  “You were always so popular. So confident. Everyone loved you. And I was super insecure all the time and I didn’t know how to handle it, so I lashed out at you and that’s not okay in the slightest. I don’t know how to make it up to you, but I would like to try and make amends. I’d like to try for us to get along.”

  That was… not at all what I’d been expecting. But I was grateful. Preston hadn’t really spoken to Katrina since their argument last year, and so I wasn’t sure if he knew that she was going through therapy. He’d been happy to keep her off the guest list, if that was what I’d wanted.

  “I hope that you’ll tell Preston about all of this too,” I told her. “He does still love you, even if you frustrate him.”

  Katrina gave a wobbly smile. “I always looked up to him. I… I didn’t want to distract from the wedding too much. I’ve been working on that, um, recognizing that I’ve got a need for attention and so I tend to steal the spotlight from other people. It’s just this fear that if other people are liked, it means I’m not liked. So I’m working on that. So I didn’t want to steal your thunder. But I did want you to know how I felt, before you went on this… you know. Journey with my brother.”

  “Thank you,” I told her sincerely. “Really, Katrina, thank you. I didn’t expect an apology and it means a lot to me. It was easy to see that you were unhappy. I hope that now you’ll find a way to like who you are and like your life.”

  “Thank you.” Katrina sounded relieved, and her smile was stronger this time. “You really don’t know how much it means to hear you say that.”

  “I hope that we can find a way to be friends,” I said. “Perhaps we could get lunch sometime soon. After all, you’re going to be an aunt.”

  “What!?” Katrina blurted out, her eyes going wide.

  “What!?” Preston said from behind me.

  Both Katrina and I whirled around to see Preston standing in the doorway, the door still half open like he had only just started to step through.

  “Oh my God you didn’t tell him!?” Katrina hissed. She sounded amused. “Oh my God. Um. Congratulations, I’m just going to—I’ll leave you guys to it!”

  She gave me a thumbs up and squeezed past Preston, kissing him on the cheek as she went.

  Preston was gaping at me.

  “Katrina just apologized to me,” I said, explaining his sister’s presence. “She’s been going to therapy. She seemed sincere.”

  “You’re pregnant?” Preston asked faintly.

  I nodded.

  Preston stepped fully inside and closed the door. “I uh. I know it’s not traditional for the groom to see the bride before the wedding but, we’ve never been very traditional, have we?” He smiled at me. “I heard Katrina had come to see you and I was worried, so I came over to check. I’m glad she… I’m glad she’s doing some much-needed growing up.”

  I nodded again.

  Preston walked over to me, his gaze on my stomach. He took my hands in his. “You’re really… we’re going to have a baby?”

  “Yes.” Finally, I smiled. “I was going to tell you tonight after everything. This is our day, and I didn’t want to turn it into a whole baby thing. But I’m eight weeks along.”

  Preston pulled me into his arms, kissing me. “You look radiant, darling.”

  “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  Preston placed his hand over my stomach, as if he was trying to feel the life growing inside. “I can’t wait to start a family with you.”

  I felt tears pricking my eyes, tears of happiness, and I had to blink them away so I wouldn’t ruin my makeup by crying before the ceremony had even begun. “What do you say, then? Shall we go get married?”

  Preston took my hands again, squeezing. “Yes.”

  Everything went off without a hitch. I did end up crying during our vows, but that was what waterproof mascara was invented for. Preston’s face when I literally let my hair down for the reception was one I was going to treasure for years. Thank God the wedding photographer got a good picture of the moment. I wanted to frame it and put it up on my mantle.

  At the start of dinner, we had some people giving toasts, such as Tenor and some friends. I figured that was the end of it, but after we finished eating, before we cut the cake, Preston grabbed his glass and stood up as well.

  “I want to thank you all for coming here today,” he said. “To celebrate us. I’ll be honest, I feel like this is more of a celebration of Lyric—and that’s how it should be. Our marriage, as most of you now know, started off interestingly.”

  There were some chuckles.

  “But in spite of a few missteps on my part, she gave me a chance to prove to her that I was worthy of being her life partner. And thank God she did. I’ve never been so happy in my life. I wanted this wedding not because we needed another one to prove our relationship. Not because we needed to show off. Not even for myself. But because I wanted to give her a celebration of herself the way she deserved. I wanted to show the whole world what a fantastic woman she is, and how much I love her.”

  Preston stared directly at me, and I could feel tears springing into my eyes again. I loved this man, so much. I always had.

  “To my darling. I love you more than anything, and I can’t wait to grow our family with you. Together.”

  Everyone raised their glasses and toasted us. I couldn’t even figure out what they were saying. All that I could see was Preston smiling at me, like I was the most beautiful, the most precious thing in the world.

  I had never felt so loved. And I had nothing but high hopes for the future.

  If you enjoyed Accidentally Married to Brother’s Best Friend, make sure you check out Dating My Brother’s Best Friend.

  How do I know that the universe hates me?

  It’s simple.

  The same man who ruined my life has returned to ruin it some more…

  …in the form of my boss!

  GRAB HERE!

  Dating My Brother’s Best Friend (Sample)

  Description

  How do I know that the universe hates me?

  It’s simple.

  The same man who ruined my life has returned to ruin it some more…

  …in the form of my boss!

  There’s nothing worse than knowing that your ex has the power to make or break your career.

  Raff has already broken my heart and betrayed my brother, so there’s no way I can trust him.

  Actually, he stomped over my heart so hard that I don’t even know where those broken pieces are anymore.

  But my stupid heart still throbbed against my chest when I saw him after all those years.

  I noticed that my daughter has his eyes.

  Our daughter.

  What’s worse than sharing a workday with your douchebag of an ex?

  Sharing a daughter with him.

  A child that he doesn’t even know exists.

  That’s not the only thing he doesn’t know.

  I love him. I still do.

  And I intend to keep my feelings a secret.

  But secrets have a way of coming out… the only question is, when.

  Prologue: Cass

  You only turned twenty-one once, and I was determined to make the most of it, even in a town like New Canaan. Oh, sure, if you wanted to be adorable and rich it was great but if you were young and actually wanted to party there wasn’t a whole lot around.

  Dawn had suggested we go into New York City, tear up the town there, but I didn’t want to go that far out of the way. I knew we’d end up drunk off our asses and I had no interest in making one person miss out by playing d
esignated driver, or in paying for a cab all the way back home. We could just make do with the bars in the so-called ‘downtown’ of New Canaan.

  And hey, so far, things were working out great.

  I was tipsy and dancing with my friends, and it was a good time. I knew most of the people in the bar, the same rich preppy people I’d gone to school with. I had a feeling a lot of the guys here are hoping to finally get a piece of me, but I wasn’t interested in any of them. Yeah, I was hot. I had generous curves, and I knew it. The boys could look all they wanted. It didn’t mean they were going to get to touch.

  There was only one person I wanted to want me and touch me. But he wasn’t here.

  As if I’d summoned him, the door to the bar opened and in stepped Raff.

  Raffordy “Raff” West was my brother’s best friend. And sure enough, my brother Trevor stepped into the bar with him. Great. Just great. There was a three-year age difference between Trevor and me but you’d think it was a decade based on how my brother acted.

  Raff, at least, never treated me like I was too much younger. He was five years older than me, already twenty-six, and he’d always been aware of it but he hadn’t been condescending or annoying about it like Trevor was.

  He was also hot as sin.

  I wasn’t sure exactly when I’d stopped thinking about Raff just as my brother’s best friend and began thinking of him as the man I wanted to date, but it had been a few years now. I’d been pining for him all through college. And now that I was in my senior year, hopefully he would see that I was an adult and our five-year age difference didn’t matter as much.

  Besides, he was going to be seeing me a lot. Raff and Trevor were going into business together. Trevor was beyond excited. I’d never seen him so gung-ho about a project before. Mom and Dad had worried about Trevor’s work ethic over the years, especially once he graduated college and seemed to be drifting a little. Our family had money, plenty of it, so that wasn’t the issue. The issue was Trevor apparently not wanting to do anything with himself.

  Raff doing this project with him was a godsend, if you asked my parents. And it was the perfect opportunity for me to see more of him. To make him see that I could be good for him, just the girl that he needed in his life.

  He looked so hot tonight, wearing tight, dark fitted jeans and a dark green button-up shirt that showed off his hazel eyes. He had the sleeves rolled up, showing off his forearms, and it made my mouth water. I loved how Raff dressed, always understated but classy, like he was ready to walk in and take over the room.

  Trevor spied me before Raff did and I winced as he made his way over to me, moving my friends out of the way to get to me.

  “I’m literally in the middle of a dance!” I said, raising my voice to be heard over the music.

  “Aww, what, I can’t dance with the birthday girl?”

  “Stop being annoying, what are you, twelve?”

  Trevor did some deliberately stupid dance moves that made him look like a dork. I rolled my eyes and shoved at him. “Go away. It’s just me and my friends, there aren’t even any boys around!”

  “Gotta make sure nobody gets any ideas about my baby sister,” Trevor scoffed in reply. “That’s my job, keeping you from doing something stupid.”

  “You’re stupid, and yet people seem to do you all the time.” I shoved him away again. “Go find someone else to bother. This is my birthday, you didn’t see me hanging around stopping you from having a good time when you turned twenty-one.”

  Trevor did the I’m watching you motion with his two fingers flicking between his eyes and mine, and then went to the bar to grab a drink.

  “You’d think he’d give me one evening off,” I said to Dawn, getting back into the groove of the music. “If anyone’s the type to do something stupid it’s him, not me.”

  I was a straight A student. I spoke French and Spanish fluently, I played the cello, I was amazing. My parents didn’t have to worry about me. And neither did Trevor.

  The only thing I wanted to take a risk on was Raff.

  He walked over to join Trevor at the bar, the two men chatting it up together, smiling and relaxed. Raff looked like he could use something relaxing. He’d recently completed his MBA. Which, good for him, but I was sure it had taken a lot out of him.

  I was sure he’d appreciate a pretty girl wanting to take his mind off things and help him celebrate.

  My friends had been so kind and generous, gifting me presents even though I’d told them I didn’t need or want anything, but there was one birthday present left for me to get—the one I wanted to get myself. And that was Raff.

  A girl came up to Trevor, someone that I vaguely recognized but whose name I couldn’t place. I’d probably just seen her around town. Trever turned his thousand-watt smile on her immediately.

  Hoo boy. Trevor was going to flirt with her, and that was good news for me. It (hopefully) meant that now he’d be too busy with this girl to be thinking about me and I could make my move on Raff. Or at the very least have fun without my annoying older brother breathing down my neck.

  Trevor continued to flirt with the girl, and I focused back in on my dancing. And, well, if I was focusing a bit more on showing off how well I could dance and how sexy I was, showing off my body in the hopes that Raff would notice… well, nobody had to know, right?

  “He’s looking at you,” Dawn whispered in my ear as she danced next to me. “Once Trevor’s distracted you should totally ask him to dance.”

  Oh man. Could I be that bold? Raff was handsome, smart, and educated. He could have just about any girl that he wanted. And that wasn’t taking into consideration his sheer confidence. He was an alpha male, through and through. And God, it was so fucking attractive.

  But it was also intimidating. And I was confident in myself but I didn’t know if I was that confident. Could I dare?

  “No risk, no reward!” Dawn said, as if reading my thoughts. She grinned and winked at me, then focused back in on the song that was playing, swaying her hips, dancing the night away.

  She had a point. No risk, no reward. And if it did go wrong… well, I had the rest of senior year to find another guy and forget about Raff. And he could avoid me easily enough. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, right?

  I glanced over at Raff, to see if Dawn was right, and sure enough he was watching me with dark, hooded eyes. I slid my hands over my hips, down my body, and I watched as Raff’s gaze followed the movement.

  Ha. Looked like Dawn was right, and I had a chance after all.

  I kept my distance until I saw that Trevor was leaving with his new girl, the two of them giggling together and clearly off to have some fun. Now that my brother was gone, I could focus on Raff.

  When the song ended, I walked over to the bar and ordered a drink. I stood just close enough to Raff that he could sidle up to me if he wanted—and he did.

  “Looks like you’re having fun,” he noted, smiling.

  I shivered with heat at that smile. “I am.” I grinned. “You only turn twenty-one once, right?”

  “Damn right.” Raff nodded at the bartender as he served up my drink. “I’ve got this one.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  “No, no, you’re the birthday girl. You shouldn’t have to pay for anything.” Raff winked at me and I just about melted.

  My drink arrived and I downed it quickly, enjoying the slick, hot burn of it. “I love this song!” I told him, raising my voice. “You want to dance with me?”

  I could hardly believe I was being this bold. I blamed the drink for helping to give me liquid courage. I wanted to dance with him, to seduce him.

  And I thought that I might actually be able to succeed.

  Raff looked me over like he was considering devouring me and I shivered again. I had never seen him look at me like that before, and I wanted more of it. I wanted to be devoured.

  Then Raff held out his hand, smiling at me, and I slid my hand into his.

  He pulled me
out onto the dance floor and immediately spun me, then dropped his hands to my hips, pulling me in against him. I inhaled sharply, feeling his firm, strong body against mine. I’d imagined this so many times over the last few years, after seeing the firm, broad muscles straining underneath his tight shirts and form-fitting pants, but my imagination was nothing like the reality.

  I had no idea how long we danced for. It felt like forever, each song blending into another, time and people blurring. All that I cared about was Raff’s hard body grinding against mine.

  “When did you get so sexy?” Raff murmured in my ear, his fingers digging deliciously into my hips.

  “While you were off getting your degree,” I replied, teasing and coy.

  Raff growled slightly, and I shivered. I wanted him all over me, now.

  Occasionally as we danced other men would move closer, trying to see if they could cut in, but Raff would give them a look that I couldn’t see but sure could feel, and the others would back away.

  I didn’t mind at all. I didn’t want the attention of other men anyway. I only wanted Raff.

  We finally took a break and had a couple more drinks, right as last call was sounding. I’d never been out so late before. Sure, this wasn’t the first time I’d had alcohol, but I was a hard worker and I preferred just to stay at a party or a bar for an hour or so before going back home. There was always homework or something to do.

  Most of my friends were getting ready to go now, though. Even Dawn, who was more of a partyer than I was, was saying she was going to take a cab and hit the hay instead of continuing the party somewhere else.