The No Regrets Groom

by Taylor Hart

  “I’ve tried to tell you for a long time.” Ty stopped beside them and spoke to Ziggy. “I was twelve, and it was stupid. I thought I was in love with Sophia.” He glanced at Sophia, regret in his eyes. “I thought if Sophia was heartbroken, she would run into my arms. I was … a child.”

  Ziggy was inhaling and exhaling quickly, his hand clenching into a fist. “Wait. You made it seem like I broke up with her?”

  Ty nodded. “I’m so sorry. I had this twisted idea that if she thought you had left her, she would stay in Denver.” Ty shrugged and looked at Sophia. “But you didn’t. You went to NYU.”

  Tears ran down her cheeks. “I couldn’t stay in Denver without Ziggy.”

  “I know.” Ty ran a hand through his hair. “I messed it up, and then Ziggy was in Miami and you were in New York, and I couldn’t tell anyone. I convinced myself it was better. And—” He stared down at his feet. “—I got into a bunch of bad crap.”

  “The drugs,” Ziggy said, his hand still clenching and unclenching.

  “I had myself convinced that Mom and Dad didn’t care about me because I didn’t play football.”

  “That’s not fair,” Ziggy growled.

  Ty put up his hands. “I know. I know that now. I wanted to tell you what I did so many times.” Tears washed down his face. “I wanted to tell Boston or Ocean or Dax, but I knew they would take your side.”

  “You think?” Ziggy put both of his hands in his hair and shook his head. “I cannot believe you did this!”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “This is why you’ve pushed so hard.” Ziggy let out a long breath. “This is why you wanted me to get back with her.” He threw his hands up. “Why she had to come.”

  “Yeah. I hoped I could fix what I did.” Ty shrugged. “I’ve wanted to make amends for it since I did the twelve-step program in rehab, but I was a coward.”

  Sophia stared at Ty in utter confusion. “The last ten years was all a mistake?”

  Ty nodded.

  Silence reigned. She stared at Ziggy, unable to believe all of this. Pain stabbed the center of her chest, and she thought about how it would have looked to Ziggy to see her make out with Travis Miller. “You really didn’t break up with me?”

  “No, I didn’t break up with you.” Ziggy’s face reddened, and he clenched his fist. “I would never have broken up with you.” He turned to Ty, looking fit to tear him apart. His fist reared back.

  Ty pointed to his jaw. “Do it. I deserve it. Hit me!”

  “Don’t!” Sophia said, putting up her hand. “Don’t.”

  Chapter 11

  Sophia couldn’t comprehend what was happening, but her instincts kicked in. “Quit filming!” she shouted at Paul.

  Ziggy didn’t look at her. He stared at Ty, but he slowly put his fist down.

  “I’m so sorry, Zig,” Ty rushed on. “I was a kid, but that’s not an excuse now. When Dad was in the hospital and after his funeral, I wanted to tell you, but—”

  “You’re right! You were a coward!” Ziggy yelled.

  Sophia felt light-headed. This whole trip had just turned surreal. She glared at Paul, scrambling for some control. “Turn it off!”

  Paul shook his head. “It’s a documentary, and this is going to get amazing ratings!”

  “Put it away!” Ziggy took a threatening step toward Paul.

  Paul stumbled back, dropping his phone and falling on his butt.

  She moved in front of Paul, not wanting Ziggy to do something he would regret—although she wasn’t sure if she could restrain herself, too.

  Ziggy growled at Paul, but he stopped walking toward him.

  She put her hand gently on Ziggy’s arm, as if he were a bucking horse she was trying to calm. “It’s okay.”

  His eyes met hers, and she remembered seventh grade, the way his eyes had looked before he’d punched the kid who was insulting her. At the time, Ziggy had been one of the shortest kids, but he’d always had fire inside of him.

  “Please forgive me.” Ty tried to grab Ziggy’s arm.

  Ziggy yanked away, rushing toward a park next to the prison.

  Ty turned to her. “Soph, I’m—”

  She shook her head and raced after Ziggy.

  There was a path that led to a bridge that connected to a trail to the cemetery. Ziggy rushed towards it.

  She followed, her footsteps matching the pounding in her skull. This seriously felt like something out of a movie. This wasn’t her life. Her mind flitted to that night of high school graduation. She’d known she was using Travis to get back at Ziggy, but she’d felt justified, even happy, when Ziggy had freaked out. Now, she felt stupid. “Ziggy, wait!”

  He was plowing ahead, not paying attention to her.

  She ran faster, finally catching up with him as he reached a clearing in the path that looked down on the whole town. “Ziggy!”

  He stopped but didn’t look at her. “I can’t believe this. All this time …”

  Sophia stared at the man, who was gripping the handrail like he would rip it off. His body was tensed and poised for battle. She imagined the look on his face could have been on an ancient Viking warrior before he destroyed the enemy. He cursed.

  For some stupid reason, it made her smile to think that he did look Aquaman. She let her eyes drift shut, thinking of all the pain, the misunderstandings. “You were right. I kissed Travis because I was angry with you. I wanted you to be jealous because I thought you’d dumped me.”

  “And four years later, when I had a chance to fix things, I wimped out on meeting you at our spot because I was still hurting so badly.”

  She looked at him. “You didn’t have a meeting with the recruiter?”

  He shook his head, and tears flowed into his eyes. He put a hand to his chest. “My heart was still ripped out, and I knew I couldn’t handle it if you rejected me again.”

  “All this time,” she said, sniffing. “All this time, I hated you so much.” Her heart twisted from the pain, and she let herself cry.

  He put his hand out, his whole stance relaxing. “Don’t cry, Soph.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and found herself wrapped up in Ziggy’s arms.

  “Shh.” He leaned into her and pressed a hand down her hair.

  Sophia basked in the smell of cinnamon and leather and his strength—strength that wasn’t just in his size or his muscles. It was the strength of a love that had been so pure between them their whole lives. She cried harder. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Shh.” He held her, rocking her from side to side. “I know. I swear,” he whispered, “I’d kill him if he wasn’t dying.”

  She hiccupped a laugh. The moment turned slow, and he just held her.

  “Soph.”

  She pulled back, staring into his beautiful, warrior-looking face.

  “I loved you.”

  Emotion scraped the back of her throat, and goose bumps rippled over her arms. It was like she was allowed to feel all these things again. He hadn’t left her on purpose. He had loved her. “Zig …”

  A small smile played at his lips, and he gently cupped her face, searching her eyes. “You thought I dumped you.” He blinked again, and she could tell he was trying not to cry.

  “I couldn’t believe it. Now I feel terrible for how badly I used poor Travis that night to get back at you.”

  Ziggy slowly shook his head. “I can’t believe it either.” He tugged her into him, crushing her to his chest again, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I never would have left you. Never.”

  For the first time in years, she believed him.

  They stood there, holding each other. All the walls had come down. It was like they were kids again. Pulling back, he took her hands in his and stared at her with familiar intensity. Butterflies rushed into her stomach.

  “Does this mean you forgive me?” Ty asked.

  Both of them jolted. They hadn’t noticed Ty walking up the path toward them.

  Ziggy tightened his grip on her hands
, his face hardening. “No.”

  Sophia only glanced at Ty; she couldn’t bear to look at him right now, only wanting to stay with Ziggy. She longed to erase the past ten years without him.

  Ty swallowed. “I was a coward. You were right. No excuses—I should have told you a long time ago.”

  “You think?” Ziggy said sarcastically. He tugged her back into him, wrapping her in his arms. The way he held her felt possessive, and she relished it.

  “I know I’ll never make up for it, but I had to try. I’m glad to see—”

  “What?” Ziggy jerked his head to face Ty. “Glad to see you almost broke us? Glad to see we made it through ten years of hell without each other?” He let out a long breath. “Just go …”

  “I was a jerk. I was jealous. Then on drugs. Then Dad died. Take your pick.” Ty sniffed and shook his head. “Who would have known that a death sentence would make me so brave?”

  They were all quiet for several seconds.

  Ziggy threw up a hand. “Would you have ever told us?”

  Sophia wondered about that too.

  “Yes.” Ty’s eyes shone with sincerity. “I was going to tell you last Christmas. I figured Sophia was back in Denver and Marshall was stupid.” He glanced at her. “Sorry, Soph, but he was. I was going to come clean, and then …”

  “You got diagnosed,” Sophia stated.

  Ty sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

  Sophia caught a glimpse of Paul sneaking up the path again. She broke away and stormed toward him. “Get away!”

  Paul kept filming. “It’s for the cause.”

  She could imagine what this video would look like, and her blood boiled. “No, it’s not. This is personal.”

  “That’s what a trip like this is.” Paul stopped, but still held up his phone. “What do you want to say, Sophia? What do you want to tell the world about Ty lying to you like that?”

  She tempered herself, reining in her emotions. “Nothing.” She turned back to Ty and Ziggy, who didn’t even seem to notice Paul.

  “Pfft.” Ziggy lifted a hand in dismissal and blew out a breath. “Whatever.”

  Ty shook his head. “I’m so sorry, you guys. I tried to fix it. I tried to have you see each other. I tried …”

  “Ty,” Sophia said. “Stop. Just give us a minute—and take Paul with you.”

  Ty nodded and walked away. “Come on, Paul.”

  Paul followed him, though he kept his phone trained on them as he retreated, still recording.

  Ziggy flipped him the bird, making Sophia laugh. He wrapped her in his arms, and when he spoke, his voice was gruff. “Maybe I will still kill him.”

  She met his beautiful green eyes. “Zig.”

  He squeezed her, putting his head down and breathing deeply into her neckline. “I know.”

  She laughed. “You’re smelling me again.”

  “I told you that you’ve always smelled good.”

  “Right, like fruit.”

  “Exactly.” He looked at her lips, and she reached up, pressing hers to his. “None of the last ten years was real, Soph.”

  He tasted of mint gum, and she loved the way his arms surrounded her and pulled her flush against him. She pushed her hands around his neck and into his hair, touching it, tugging her fingers through it.

  He moaned against her lips and pulled back, his eyes wide. “You like the long hair.”

  She giggled at his vulnerable tone. “Right, like you don’t know it’s amazing.”

  With a huge grin, he leaned in to deepen the kiss, and she found herself in a full-blown make-out session. All the past melted away, taking her back to senior year. Back to the night before graduation. Back to loving him. She realized she’d never stopped.

  Gently, he pulled back and frowned. “Why are you crying, Soph?”

  She sniffed and smiled. “Because I’ve missed you so much.”

  Chapter 12

  Ziggy stared across the RV at Ty, a myriad of emotions running through him. When they’d finally come back to the RV after kissing for a long time, Sophia had told him she would drive. She’d also told Paul he would sit in front with her. It was stupid, but Ziggy hadn’t wanted to let go of her hand, and he really did feel like he was in eighth grade after the Sweetheart’s Ball when he’d first told her he loved her.

  The sun was setting as they edged across the highway toward Jackson. Ziggy and Ty had both been messing around on their phones, ignoring each other.

  Ziggy stared out the window, wondering if he would have been married to Soph by now. If they would have had kids. He thought about all the time they’d lost together.

  “I am sorry,” Ty whispered.

  Ziggy wasn’t at the breaking point any longer. No, now he didn’t know how to feel toward Ty. It was dicey. They had this tour, and Ty had an incurable illness. Ziggy sighed.

  “It … it just got away from me.”

  Ziggy met Ty’s blue eyes—Ty had always been a blue-eyed blondie. Ziggy remembered teaching Ty how to ride his bike when he was like three. He’d been such a cute kid, truly the baby of the brothers. They’d adored him. “I’d step in front of a bullet for you, bro,” he said, and he meant it.

  Ty’s fragile composure broke for a second. Then his lips pinched. “I’d do the same for you, and you know it.”

  Ziggy suddenly wanted to punch him. “You ripped out my heart.”

  “I know. I know.” Ty winced and looked out the window. “It all just got away from me. I don’t know how. It just happened, and then I couldn’t fix it.”

  “I thought you were different.”

  “I know. It’s really not an excuse, but I knew that. I knew I would disappoint you. Them.” Ty looked away, wiping beneath his eyes. “I’m selfish. And I know that. Isn’t it stupid that I worried about disappointing you and Dax about as much as Dad?” He scoffed. “When I was in drug rehab, we talked a lot about how you shouldn’t worry about other people’s expectations of you, but all of you guys had high expectations. I was a total screw-up.”

  Ziggy didn’t like emotional crap like this. Out of everything Ty had said, about the football and his father and all of it, the thing he hated the most was the self-pity. “Dude, c’mon. You were like the Michael Jackson of the Brady Five. I remember feeling jealous of the way Mom and Dad looked at you. Like you were some angel who couldn’t do any wrong.”

  Ty grunted. “Guess I didn’t see it that way.”

  Ziggy tried to refocus himself, like he’d learned to do playing football. “Listen, nothing matters but right now. The past doesn’t define you. Past mistakes are just mistakes that we can’t change.” He was telling himself this as much as Ty. He needed to believe it so he could forgive him.

  “Do you really mean that? Can you really leave this in the past?”

  Ziggy had been asking himself that same thing for the past couple of hours. “I want to,” he said, feeling like it was the truth. “Granted, I’m ticked as all get out.”

  Ty let out a breath and cursed. “I know. You deserve to be.”

  Ziggy leaned forward, putting his elbows on the retro-style table between them. “After the last year with me and Dax not talking, I only know one thing—family is family. No matter what.” His eyes stung with tears. “We’re going to get through this, because you know what Dad always said.”

  “Bradys don’t quit on each other.” Ty frowned. “Dang, I wish I could change it all.”

  “Brady Five.” Ziggy reached out a fist.

  Ty hesitated. “I don’t deserve this.”

  Ziggy sucked in a breath. It would take time, but it would be okay. “C’mon.”

  Gently, Ty put his fist against Ziggy’s. “Brady Five.”

  Chapter 13

  Sophia pulled up to the Haunted Baxter Mansion and couldn’t see a thing.

  Ty sat on the step between the front and back of the RV, his phone up. He’d been directing her with the map function on his phone. “Guess this is it.”

  The Baxter Mansion was on
twenty acres on the outskirts of Jackson. After a couple of hours of driving and ignoring Paul, Sophia had finally had Ty come to the front and explain about the haunted mansion and where it was located. After hearing roughly fifteen ghost stories about the place and all the different “sightings” from Ty and Paul, who was also excited about staying here, she was sufficiently freaked out. The house was dark, except for a muted light at the front door.

  None of them moved.

  “Let’s get at it,” Ziggy said, pushing open the creaky door.

  Sophia jumped, making Ty laugh. She whacked him in the shoulder. “Hey, you’d better not laugh at me. You’re still on thin ice.”

  “Sorry.”

  Their eyes met, and she saw the remorse in his. Even though she was still ticked at him, she’d had a couple of hours to think about all of it. It was strange, but she was grateful they’d found out. Now she wouldn’t spend her whole life believing Ziggy hadn’t really cared for her. She blinked—they still had so much to sort out.

  Paul started recording.

  Ziggy opened the driver’s door for her, holding his hand out. Feeling like a teenager, she grinned and nearly leapt into his arms. He didn’t disappoint, laughing and pushing her against the RV, heartily kissing her. She was taken by surprise at first, but she laughed and held him, a bit ravenous herself.

  “Are you coming?” Paul asked.

  “Let them kiss,” Ty said, moving toward the front door.

  Sophia pulled back, holding Ziggy and watching them. “Did you hear those ghost stories?”

  “Unfortunately,” Ziggy said, showering her with kisses on her forehead and down her jawline.

  She laughed, thinking of how freaked out Ziggy was by ghosts.

  He still kissed her, pausing at her lips and grinning. “I know you’re laughing about me and that stupid storage shed in the backyard.”

  Unable to stop it, she erupted into giggles. “You seriously had me convinced there was really an intruder. And it was just that windmill.”

  “It sounded like it.” He spoke sharply.

  “Note, you hid behind me! I was the one ready to assault the villain with the baseball bat.”