Free AVERY (The Corbin Brothers Book 2) by Lexie Ray

princess, but she was an exceedingly clever one.
    “I guess we have a wedding to plan,” I said, the words tasting like ash in my mouth.
    “That’s the spirit.” Paisley couldn’t seem to stop grinning at me.

Chapter 4
    There had been few things I've ever wanted to do less than leave my trailer this morning. I just couldn't think of any of them. Instead, I thought of things I'd rather be doing. Literally anything. I would rather be getting a root canal. Bending and coughing. Cattle logs.
    Because outside of this trailer lay my future. The future I'd never wanted for myself. The future everyone else wanted.
    When was I going to be able to do the things I actually wanted with my life? It didn't matter that I didn't know what those things were anymore. I felt, at 28, like it was too late to go back to school. What was there in the world for a grown man who had set aside his ambitions and gone along with what everyone else had wanted for him instead? Was there anything else, or was I conscripted to Paisley Summers and the massive new ranch for all time?
    A knock on the door to my trailer made me jump. For fuck's sake. Was it time already?
    Emmet poked his head in, his long hair slicked back and secured at his neck with a rubber band.
    "You're not even in your tux yet?" he demanded, staring.
    "Technically, neither are you," I pointed out, jerking my chin at his undone bow tie.
    "You can't keep the people at your own wedding waiting," Emmett said.
    "What, did they send you in to make sure I didn't fuck this up?" I asked, sarcastic. "If you all are so committed to saving this fucking ranch, then one of you fuckers can tie yourself down to Paisley Summers."
    Emmett's eyes widened at my outburst. "If any of us had known how much you didn't like Paisley, we would've never ... hell, Avery, you're the one who suggested it in the first place."
    "I know I fucking suggested it," I said, throwing my hands up in the air. "Is it too late to un-fucking-suggest it?"
    "Avery ..."
    "Don't 'Avery' me." I was feeling a righteous fucking fury, the last of my resistance burning off, probably, but damn, I was going down in a blaze of glory. "The rest of you are no better than goddamn pimps, you know that? You're pimping me out to save this place."
    "You're getting ridiculous, man."
    My shoulders sagged. "I thought I'd give it a try at least."
    "Everyone gets cold feet before they get married," Emmett reasoned.
    "How would you know, asshole?"
    "Are you done?" Emmett might've been the middle child, but he learned that glower directly from Chance. It was pretty powerful.
    "Do I really have to do this?"
    Emmett shrugged. "You don't have to do anything you really don't want to do. I just thought -- we all thought -- that you and Paisley are kind of good together. She's always been bonkers over you. Can't you just open your heart to her?"
    "Can I just take a pill to make me love her?" I asked. "Unless you have really specific directions on opening your heart. Because I'm not sure how to do that without a knife."
    "Just relax," Emmett cajoled. "What I'm trying to tell you is that your jitters are completely normal."
    Normal? Jitters? Was that what my brother thought this was? I genuinely didn't want to marry Paisley or live and work on our families' combined ranches for the rest of my life. This was a lifetime commitment. That's what I was facing -- or trying not to.
    "Here." Emmett groped around his jacket pocket for a moment until he produced a flask. "Liquid courage. You'll feel better if you drink a little of this."
    Could anyone blame me for taking that flask and drinking its contents, hoping that it was some magic potion that would save me from my fate?
    "Shit," Emmett remarked. "Well, at least you have that in you. Let’s go.”
    I was unsteady in more ways than one as I made my way to the front of the grouping of chairs. For something so thrown together, I had to at least respect Paisley, Hadley, and Zoe for being able to make something out of