Well, he did when he wasn’t hungover.

And he would never be hungover again.

Rushing through his shower, he got dressed quickly and picked up his phone, texting Jace.

Markus: I think I’m getting called up.

Jace: Bout effing time, bro!

Markus: I almost don’t believe it.

Jace: Believe it, dude. That’s awesome. You know, now that I think of it, I think Jayden said something to her.

Markus paused, looking down at his phone, a grin curving on his face.

Markus: Really?

Jace: Yeah, now don’t fuck up.

Markus: Solid plan.

Jace: I’m known for them.

Markus: Please.

Jace: Hey, remember that time we went streaking through the girls’ locker room and onto the soccer field? I’m pretty sure we got laid for a week.

Markus: lol. You did not, I did, but no one wanted your itty-bitty dick.

When Jace sent the middle finger emoji, Markus scoffed as his phone dinged some more.

Jace: Whatever, loser, go knock them dead. I want to kick your ass on the ice.

Markus: Bring it, Sinclair.

Jace: It’s on, Reeves.

In true brotherly form, the two gave each other shit whenever they could, and it did nothing but give Markus an unstoppable grin. He missed his brother. He wanted the life that Jace had, that all the Sinclairs had, and this was his chance.

He just couldn’t fuck it up or get distracted.

Eyes on the prize.

The NHL.

Mekena Preston felt like she was slowly but surely going to freak the hell out.

As she stood in the middle of this amazing mansion, her eyes were wide as saucers while she gazed around in complete bewilderment.

She was insane.

Why she thought she could do this was beyond her.

But she just couldn’t say no to her best friend’s sister-in-law.

Earlier this year when Lucy Sinclair had asked her to take some family pictures of her and her boyfriend, along with her daughter, Mekena had known it would be a breeze. She loved doing beach shots, and that was one of the main things that helped her move from her home in Nashville, Tennessee to Fort Lauderdale. That and the fact that she had a place to live and a job waiting for her.

She still wasn’t sure she had made the right choice, picking up and leaving everything she had known. She had only been in Fort Lauderdale a little over a year, and she was happy, she guessed. She wanted to say that she was living the life. That she was out being a normal almost twenty-one-year-old girl, shopping, living on the beach, and partying. But actually, that was so far from the truth, it wasn’t even funny.

But at least she was happy…ish.

When Mekena wasn’t in the studio or on the beach taking pictures, she was at her house playing Scrabble with her aunt or watching reruns of Outlander and Gilmore Girls while cuddling with Mr. Right. Sadly, Mr. Right was not of the human male variety but really a very grumpy white Scottish Fold that had her heart. He had been her baby since she was fourteen, and while he was very cantankerous and kind of a dick, she loved him.

She was content with her life. Though, sometimes she felt like she ran from her problems, and she couldn’t stand that. If there was one thing about Mekena Preston, it was that she didn’t like to fail.

She was too smart for that.

Finishing at the top of her class, with a GPA of 4.0 all through middle and high school, Mekena had planned to be very successful. She wanted to be a doctor, or at least, she thought she had. After one year at Bellevue University, she decided she wasn’t made for the university life. It surprised everyone in her family. They’d all thought they’d be calling her “Doctor” one day, but it just didn’t feel right. She wasn’t sure why, she’d thought it was her goal, she had chosen the school of her dreams because it had a great medical program that offered her a wonderful scholarship, her older sister was also going there, and it was so close to home. It was everything she wanted, but it just fell flat.

It didn’t live up to her dreams.

Maybe it wasn’t her dream.

Or maybe it was because of what happened.

All she knew was that when she had a camera in her hand, her eye pressed to the viewfinder of her Nikon, she felt at home. She felt her imagination come alive with each click of her finger.

So she’d left.

Packed up, didn’t re-enroll, put Mr. Right in his carrier, and went to Florida, despite her parents begging her to reconsider. Despite her fear of going somewhere that was so unfamiliar to her. Yeah, she knew her aunt Libby, and Mekena had been to Fort Lauderdale before, but never in her life had she thought she would move there and start a life.

Sometimes, it didn’t feel right, but she couldn’t think of that right now. Not when she was supposed to be paying attention and taking notes on the lighting in the huge, gorgeous mansion. This would be her first indoor wedding. She had done outdoor weddings galore and even more outdoor shoots along with some studio shoots, but not an indoor wedding. And it was easy to say, she was shaking in her boots.

Or really, her supercute vintage Mary Jane’s.

She wasn’t sure why she was nervous; she should be ready. She had gone to a one-year program for photography, acing every class since she retained information like none other, and she had been learning about photography since she was young. Her very first gift from Aunt Libby had been a Polaroid camera that used to be hers and had been all over the world. It was awesome, and Mekena yearned to do the same thing—to travel the world and take pictures. She wasn’t a one-trick pony. She loved all types of photography, so she knew what she was doing. She did, but apparently, her body wasn’t listening to her brain at that moment.

Unfortunately, that happened a lot.

Still, though, she shuddered with fear as she sucked in a deep breath and bit the inside of her cheek while she gazed around. Everything in the house looked completely original, as if it were still the 1800s. It was beautiful, and as Mekena followed behind Lucy, she snapped pictures of the little things. The gold of the staircase, the uneven brick, even the cracks along the floor. It was the imperfectness of the home that thrilled her. She loved the thought that even though the house had cracks, it still stood in all its beautiful glory. She wished she could be more like the house.

Instead, the imaginary caution tape she was convinced was wrapped around her was strangling her more with every second that passed.

Blowing out a calming breath, she let her camera hang around her neck as she followed Lucy Sinclair while she moved her hand up and down in the direction of the stairs. Lucy was such a beautiful woman, favoring her brothers more so than Mekena had ever seen. Her hair was lighter than usual, but her blazing green eyes were breathtaking. Usually, Lucy had a very bad case of resting bitch face, but every time Mekena saw her now, she was grinning.