"I'm not interested in hockey players."
"You haven't met them yet." She wiggles her brows.
"I'm here for my brother's wedding. Not to hit on his teammates." I glare at her.
"We'll see about that." She smirks.
"Lettie," I growl.
"I know they might not stack up to this mysterious Emmett, but you never know," she teases. Then her expression turns serious. "Do you wish you'd stayed? With Emmett?"
The question catches me off-guard. Do I? I think about his hands on me. His mouth. The way he looked at me like I was the only person in the room. The way he said my name.
"I don't know," I admit. "Part of me thinks I should have left my number or something."
"And the other part?"
"The other part knows it's better this way. Clean. Simple. No complications."
"You don't do complications," she teases.
"Neither do you."
A car door slams outside. Collette jumps up and rushes to the window. "They're here. Felix and Harper just arrived."
"Already?"
"Come on. We have to go greet them." She grabs my hand, pulling me toward the door.
We rush outside, the afternoon sun warm on my skin. A sleek black car sits in the circular drive. The back door opens, and Felix steps out first. My baby brother looks good. Tanned. Happy. He's filled out since I last saw him. More muscle. Moreconfidence. Collette squeals and launches herself at him, and I'm right behind her. We hug him tightly, all speaking French at once. Mom appears and pulls Felix into her arms next. Then the passenger door opens, and Harper steps out. She's beautiful, blonde, confident, and polished. She has New York society written all over her.
"You must be Harper," I say, walking toward her.
"Yes, hi." She holds out her hand.
I ignore it and pull her into a hug instead. "I'm Jo. It's so nice to finally meet you. Felix has told me all about you. All good, don’t worry.”
Collette smiles happily as she pulls Harper in for a hug. “I follow you online. Sorry, not to sound like a stalker. Your ex was the biggest tool. I'm glad you dumped him and started dating our brother."
"Lettie, you said you wouldn't be weird." Felix groans.
"I'm not. And she's so beautiful. I don't understand how you are dating someone as sophisticated as her. She's like New York society royalty and you're you," Collette says to Felix in French.
"She speaks French too," Felix replies.
Collette's face turns bright red, which makes me laugh.
"Your words are too kind. And you're right, I don't understand what your brother is doing with me. All I know is I feel pretty lucky that he is," Harper replies in French, turning to look at Felix, who is staring at her in surprise.
"Hi, I'm Claire. Felix's mother," Mom says. Introducing herself with a wave as she holds Felix tightly.
"It is so nice to finally get to meet you," Harper says, walking over and giving her a hug. Mom whispers something into Harper's ear before letting her go.
"Felix," Pierre calls out as he pulls Felix into a brotherly hug. "It's been too long."
"I know," Felix replies.
Then Pierre looks over and sees Harper. His dark brow rises. "Hey, Harper. Long time since I've seen you." Harper gives him a wave.
