I shake my head adamantly as I slide into one of the last rows in the back of the church. I busy myself arranging my dress and making sure Jake has enough room before looking up to the front of the church again.

I don’t know what I was hoping to see. But Brooke in the second row, directly behind the reserved seating for immediate family, was not it.

I feel like a birthday candle compared to the blinding light that surrounds her. Multiple people move on to speak to her after speaking to the boys. They were engaged, after all. They were going to be married. It makes sense she’s here. And that she feels entitled to sit front and center.

I double check that my phone is on silent before glancing over to find Jake’s attention on me.

“You okay, Fourth Wheel?” he asks, genuine concern in his expression.

I bite down on the inside of my cheek to hold back the tears I have no intention of shedding as I nod.

“Do Rhett and Tori know?” I whisper, desperate to change the subject. I don’t need anyone—least of all Jake—knowing just how affected I am by Brooke’s presence or just how much Dempsey means to me.

Jake doesn’t answer right away. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, then he turns to me. “What are you really asking me right now?” he counters. “Do you want to know whether your brother knows that their mom died… or whether he knows about your not-so-secret summer fling?”

I roll my eyes at his non-response. “I assumed he knew about Dempsey and me, considering you made it your personal mission to out us this summer,” I snap back in defense.

“You need an attitude check,” Jake admonishes as he wraps one arm around me and pulls me into a side hug.

I shove him in the ribs but let him hug me.

“I don’t think your brother knows about your summer of love. If he does, he didn’t hear it from me. And for the record, I only told Fielding about you two because he needed to hear it from a neutral source. Regardless of what happened in the past or how I feel about what he did, Field’s not a bad guy. He deserved to hear the full truth after that night at the bar with Adley, not some small-town gossip from an unreliable source.”

I don’t love his explanation. But we can’t go back and change it now.

“And to answer your question, yeah. Rhett and Tori know.”

My eyes widen as that little realization sinks in.