The Step Brother

29. Make It Count.

Jace

He falls asleep around 3am, forgetting to set his alarm. So the next morning, he jolts awake, nearly injuring himself when he falls off the bed. The sun is already streaming into his room, birds are chirping outside, and there's a bunch of movement happening in the hallway outside his door. He reaches for his phone. It's noon and he slept through breakfast.

He doesn't care about food though. The only thing that matters is seeing Willow. Every second he's up here is another second he's not with her. He's quick to shower and get dressed, opting for a casual white T-shirt and jeans. He takes another 10 minutes looking over himself in the mirror; practicing his smiles, flossing his teeth and rinsing with mouth wash, and adjusting his messy brown hair. Dammit, why didn't he think to get a hair cut before this?

Another 10 minutes is spent pacing his room as he stresses over what to do and say. Should he approach her first or give her space? Would she approach him? Does he hug her? Does he shake her hand? Does he pull her aside before or after the rehearsal dinner to talk? And what does said talk even look like?

Hey, it's good to see you again. Remember how I broke up with you 6 years ago? Well that was the biggest mistake of my life and I've regretted it ever since the day you hung up that phone. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you or move on from you, and frankly I don't want to. How about you come back to California and spend the rest of your life with me like we originally planned?

Oh god, what if she doesn't even want to speak with him? What if she refuses to acknowledge him? What if she causes a scene by completely going off on him? What if this Liam person isn't just a friend, what if it's more than that? What if they're engaged?

His thoughts are snow balling and every nerve in his body is quivering with anxiety. He has to get downstairs because if he spends any longer inside this room, he might lose his mind.

He exits the room and closes the door behind him. His eyes automatically glance at Will's closed door. Downstairs, he can hear people mixing and mingling, laughing, beer cans opening, the sound of someone doing a cannon ball into the pool. He grips the stair bannister all the way down to the bottom step.

"Look who decided to join us," Ryder calls from the living room. He's in the middle of playing air hockey with one of the groomsmen. "Did Sleeping Beauty get a good night's rest?"

Ignoring Ryder, he assesses the rest of the room, looking for the single person he hasn't seen in too long. Ryder and his groom's men are in the living room. Zoey and her sisters are out in the pool. No sign of Willow though. The disappointment is heavy.

He heads for the kitchen with a new mission to feed his growling stomach. There, he discovers some blonde guy that he hasn't seen before, making eggs at the stove.

The guy senses Jace trying to recognize him and wipes his hand off on a dish towel before offering it to shake. "Hey, man. I'm Liam. I'm here with the Maid of Honor."

So this is the guy? He gauges Liam for a few seconds, trying to decide if he should feel threatened or not. He's not a bad looking dude; several inches taller in height, not as muscular though, with a friendly face. He realizes only in that moment that he doesn't know who or what Will's type is. He technically never had any reason to need to know that. Except now he does, because this could be the guy that tries to take her away from him.

"Right," Jace shakes his head. He doesn't even think to introduce himself, he's too preoccupied with thoughts of his girl. "Speaking of the Maid of Honor, is she around by chance?"

"You just missed her actually."

Of course he did. Their timing's never been great, has it?