“Me too.” I cut her off, trailing kisses along her temple and cheek before finally landing on her lips. I rest there for a beat, absorbing her soft mewls and committing to memory the feel of her. The salty taste of her tears. The rapid beat of her heart.

Our breath mingles, and I feel the cosmos exploding. Cheering. Screaming that this is right.

It’s when my tongue darts out and licks the seam of her lips—when hers ever so hesitantly brushes mine—that I force myself to pull away.

“Please don’t go,” my love begs.

“I have to,” I say, backing toward the exit. “Fuck, Jailbait. Now more than ever. I—”

Her head shakes as tears blindly spill from her desolate eyes. “But I love you too.”

Fuck. I bring a hand to my chest. “I’m coming back for you, Li’l Bit.”

“Lyle, don’t go!” Her desperate cry hangs in the night air as I stumble back down to the shore.

“Live your life, Sam. Just don’t give away my heart.”

Chapter One

What the fuck am I doing?

I ask myself for the umpteenth time as I damn near pace a hole into the brick floor of the corridor outside Sammi Deluca’s bridal suite.

My imagination runs wild with visions of her in a white satin dress, her long blonde locks piled atop her head. Her cheeks dusted pink, and those full lips that have begged for my attention since we were teens painted the perfect shade of just out of reach.

My chest draws tight at the thought of her walking down that aisle in a few short minutes…toward the wrong man.

I’m supposed to be the one waiting on that altar. In every version of this moment I’ve envisioned throughout the years, that’s how it’s ended—with me watching through dewy eyes as the girl who secretly captured my heart at the ripe age of fifteen finally became mine.

Instead, I’m here, lurking in the hall, actually considering shooting my shot with my best friend’s baby sister. And on the day she’s set to wed another man, no less.

“Fuck.” With a loud groan, I fist my hands into my hair and give the long ends a firm tug.

It’s now or never.

Nervous energy floods my veins; my pulse is a thundering stampede reverberating through my body. And I’m this close to pounding my fist on that massive mahogany wood door when I wrench my arm behind my back and stalk around the corner. Defeated, I sag against the wall and drop my head into my hand.

I can’t do it.

Not because I don’t love her.

Not because I don’t have the balls.

Not even the fear of my best friend’s reaction would be enough to stop me from going in there.