Page 41 of Somehow You Knew

“Earth to Hazel.” Astrid waves her hand in front of my face.

I blink myself back to reality. “Yeah?”

“We lost you there for a minute. You okay?”

Staring down into my almost-empty wine glass, I feel the alcohol settle warmly in my veins. “I’m no longer sober, if that answers your question.”

Astrid grins. “How does it make you feel to have lusted after this guy for a year and now suddenly be married to him?”

“I actually forgot all about him,” I say, trying to sound convincing.

Cashlynn snorts. “Yeah, okay. Did you forget that I was at your apartment the day after you met him? You looked like you slept with a hanger in your mouth as you recounted the incident. You couldn’t stop smiling.”

“Personally, I’d find a man who looks like that hard to resist,” Willow adds.

“Need I remind you all that you’re taken…by my brothers?”

“And need we remindyouthat you’re Hazel Sheppard, the same girl who spent years dreaming about what her future husband would be like?” Astrid says, lowering her voice. “I just want to make sure you’re doing okay because even though I totally understand why you agreed to this, I also knowyou, Hazel.” She reaches down and squeezes my hand. “I know your heart and what you wanted for your life.”

I swallow hard, because Astrid isn’t wrong. But if I acknowledge that—if I let myself want something I know I can’t have—it’ll only hurt worse when this is over.

I take my hand back and bring my wine glass up to my lips. “Well, not everyone gets what they want.”

Willow and Astrid share a look as Cashlynn frowns.

“Don’t feel sorry for me, okay?” I say, forcing a smile. “I’m going to be a millionaire in six months. Who needs love when you have that amount of money?”

But as the words leave my lips, I’m not even sure I believe them.

***

“Uh, what’s going on here?”

Standing on the sand, I watch nervously as my brothers and Gage square off in an intense game of cornhole, their competitive energy rolling off them like the salty breeze coming in from the shore.

The birthday song has been sung, the cake served, and the presents opened, now Willow is putting Michael down for a nap, signaling that the party is coming to an end. I came outside to collect Gage, fully expecting him to be eager to leave, only to find him laughing and talking shit with my brothers like old friends.

How much wine did I drink in there?

I begin ticking off the number of glasses on my fingers before Dallas’s shouting pulls me from my focus.

“Fuck yeah!”

“Shit!” Penn yells from the other side as Dallas races across the sand and high-fives Gage.

Uh…I’m seeing things, right?

“That’s game!” Gage declares before shaking hands with Penn then Parker.

Just a few hours ago, all three of my brothers looked like they were about to murder my new husband, and now they’re slapping him on the back like he’s one of them?

“Will someone please explain what’s going on here?”

Dallas steps up to me first, catching me off guard. But judging by his lopsided grin, he’s either feeling the effects of the couple of drinks he’s had since the day started or—against all odds—Gage has somehow managed to charm him.

“What’s going on is that your husband completed the even number we needed to play cornhole, Hazelnut. And after the way he sunk those bean bags, I’m ordering you not to divorce him. Ever.”

Laughing, I grip my older brother by the shoulders. “You’re drunk.”

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