“Since you came all the way back here to Illinois to get married in your family church, I expected a more traditional dress,” Kaelin commented. “But it’s beautiful, it really is.”

Avery made a face, her pretty mouth twisting. “I’m probably crazy to be doing this, with my family. We should have eloped.”

Kaelin met her eyes. She knew things had been tense in the Wirth family for many years. Tyler had spent most of his teenage years provoking his parents, wild rumors flying about him that could have been true or could have been him trying to piss his parents off. And now he never came home. She’d always wondered if it had anything to do with what she’d walked in on that night, but how could it? She was the only one who’d seen them and she’d certainly never told a soul. The stabbing pain she’d first felt at seeing Tyler and Nick with another girl like that had faded to a dull ache.

“Oh, Ave, honey,” she said, moving toward her friend. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Well, it’s too late to change things.”

That wasn’t an answer. Dammit. Kaelin’s heart sank. “What do you want to change?”

“Oh, Kaelin.” Avery sighed. “I don’t want to change my wedding. I just want to change my family. Things are so tense.” She swallowed. “I hoped…I wanted…aw shit.”

Kaelin gazed searchingly at her friend, holding both her hands. Secrets between them remained unspoken but almost physically tangible, things Kaelin hadn’t shared with her best friend from that summer ten years ago, things she’d always had a feeling Avery was keeping from her too. She searched for the right thing to say, the right question to ask.

“Tense?” she finally said, her voice tight. “Why?”

Avery pulled back and her eyes dropped. She picked up her wedding dress. “Oh you know, just the usual. Mom’s disappointed in the wedding, but she’s still trying so hard to impress Scott’s parents. And now Tyler’s here, you know how he likes to push their buttons. But at least it will take the heat off me.”

Kaelin choked on a laugh. “And isn’t that always the way it was?” Avery, a perfect angel in her parents’ eyes, could do no wrong compared to Tyler’s tumultuous teenage antics.

“Hell yeah. And they’re so annoyed that Nick is here too.”

Kaelin went still and tense. “Why would they be annoyed about that?”

“Oh. Who knows?” Avery waved a hand and quickly changed the subject. “I’ll show you my shoes.”

Kaelin hated this, hated these unspoken things between them, things that had hung between them for ten years. She suspected Avery knew something about what had happened, but wouldn’t talk about it for reasons of her own, and Kaelin wasn’t about to tell her in case she didn’t know. Because it was Tyler and Nick’s secret too. Well, and the girl they’d been with. That old ache intensified. It had also been humiliating, how devastated she’d been, something too painful to talk about for years, and after a few years, it was just weird to bring it up. So the secrets stayed hidden away.

She pushed those thoughts away, a wave of heat sweeping over her.

As Avery turned back toward her, she gave her friend a bright smile. “Oh yes, please, I want to see your shoes. And what about your veil?”

Tyler watched his sister lead Kaelin out of the room.

Kaelin.

He sucked in air and picked up the drink he’d set down on the coffee table, took a gulp of burning Scotch.

He fucking hated Scotch.

He should have picked up beer on the way over from the hotel. He should have known his dad wouldn’t have beer for the party. Beer was too low-class for him.

“Let’s all go out on the deck!” his mother urged everyone, flitting around the room. “It’s such a lovely evening, we’ll have our drinks and hors d’oeuvres out by the pool.”

More guests were supposed to arrive, friends and family arriving in town for the wedding. Mom was dressed in a silk dress and high heels, and Tyler could feel the desperation of her need to impress her future in-laws. Christ, how embarrassing.

On top of that, there was the sharp edge of displeasure Tyler felt from his parents now that he was there, that chilly stiffness, the awkwardness at finally coming home after all those years, after the gut-wrenching way he’d left. That old bitterness and resentment inside him that had never fully faded away ate away at his insides.

How the hell was he going to survive the next few days?

With lots of Scotch. He tossed back the rest of his drink then felt Nick’s eyes on him.

“You okay?” Nick asked in a low voice.

Tyler grimaced. “Yeah.”

Scott and his parents went outside with the other guests, leaving them alone.

“I know you didn’t want to come home.”

“I can handle it. And what am I supposed to do, miss my sister’s wedding?”

“I didn’t have to come.”

Tyler shook his head slowly from side to side. “You were invited. Avery invited you. Of course you had to come.”

“I mean, I didn’t have to come here, to the house. Today.”

“Oh.”

Nick swirled the remains of his own drink in the glass. “It pisses your parents off.”

Tyler grinned. “I know. Bonus!”

Nick laughed.

“I should go tell the girls everyone’s outside,” Tyler said.

Nick snorted. “Bullshit. Like they won’t find us when they come down.” He caught Tyler’s eye. “You’re still hung up on her, aren’t you?”

“What? Who?” But he knew there was no fooling Nick. The guy knew him, inside and out.

“You know who. She looks good.”

Tyler’s chest tightened. Of course she looked good. She’d always looked good.

Other than that day…fuck. His stomach still swooped every time he remembered Kaelin walking in on him and Nick and Tracy Brown. He’d known it was risky, doing what they were doing right there in the family room. His parents and Avery had been out, not expected home for hours, but still, the possibility that they could walk in on them had added an edge of danger to the whole scene, increased the thrill factor. And Kaelin showing up hadn’t actually been a complete surprise.

But when Tyler had looked up and seen her standing there open-mouthed, frozen, he’d been shocked at how truly god-awful he’d felt, seeing the hurt on her face, his guts twisting into knots, his heart squeezing painfully.

“She still thinks we’re depraved assholes,” he muttered.

Nick rubbed his forehead. “We are.”

Tyler snorted. “Yeah. True enough.” Then he sighed.

“Actually,” Nick said, “I didn’t get that vibe from her.”

“Of course you don’t. It’s just me. She always hated me. That just sealed the deal.” Nick opened his mouth to speak, but Tyler rushed on. “And what was with the big bear hug?” he demanded before Nick could say something stupid, like some kind of stupid denial that Kaelin had hated him. Because he didn’t want to hear that, or think about that, or feel that goddamn guilt again. “Like you’re long lost friends.”

“We are friends,” Nick said quietly. “I always liked Kaelin.”

“Yeah.” Bitterness edged Tyler’s voice. “I know.”

Nick laughed. “You’re fucking jealous, man! I can’t believe it.”

“I am not.” He scowled.

“Yeah, you are. For Chrissakes, Ty, I can’t believe you still have a thing for her after all these years.”

“A thing?” Tyler laughed. “What the hell does that mean? I don’t have ‘a thing’ for her.”

“Whatever. Come on, we better join the others.”

They went outside. Tyler accepted another drink, only because it was alcohol and he needed it to get through this ordeal. His irritation increased as he found himself continually looking at the doors to the patio, waiting for Avery and Kaelin to rejoin them. He half listened to his mother telling Scott’s parents about the new furniture she’d just bought for the patio, how they’d had to put in a special rush order so they’d have it for the wedding.