Page 10 of Just One of the Groomsmen
“I’m just saying, you look…nice.” Putting that out there felt weird, and now he thought he should’ve just let it go. The dress was still throwing him off.
He longed for that ugly-ass Falcons sweatshirt.
She smoothed a hand down her hair and tugged at the hem of the skirt, clearly uncomfortable. “My sister forced me into her dress. She’s responsible for the hair, too. Luckily I was running late enough that the only makeup she could force on me was a swipe of mascara. I feel ridiculous, and we’re going to this frou-frou restaurant, and I just don’t fit in.”
The loud honk of a horn made her jump, and she daggered a glare at the car.
“And now I might kill the tall, Type A one. Do you think Lexi will care if I downsize her bridal party?”
He chuckled and clapped her on the back. “I have faith in you.”
“That I can take her out?”
“That you can make it one night out without offing her. Especially since I was kind of hoping you’d put in a good word for me.”
Addie rolled her eyes. “You want me to pass her a check yes or no note, you girl?”
“You threaten me, but then you go and insult me like that, and I have no choice but to point out thatyou’rethe one wearing the dress. You girl,” he couldn’t help but add, even though he should’ve resisted.
The whole point in mentioning Brittany was to help him forget about Addie’s legs and redirect his thoughts to the tall brunette. Who also had nice legs. He thought, anyway.
Right now, he couldn’t exactly recall.
Addie blew out her breath. “Okay, fine on the no-killing thing. You can pass your own damn love notes, though. So are you in town for a bit, or—” The horn honked again and she curled her fists.
“We’ll talk later. You better go. Just one more thing…” He hesitated, but wouldn’t it make him a jerk if he let her go to a fancy restaurant with dirt on her cheek?
He used his thumb to wipe at the smudge.
She batted his hand away, scowling at him like he’d lost his mind, and took over rubbing the spot. “I’m a mess.” She shrugged. “What else is new? Anyway, talk later.”
“Later.”
When she turned to go, he noticed the dirt on her butt, even as he fought against focusing on the shape of it. That dress definitely needed to be baggier.
“You might want to also, uh, brush off your butt. Need help?” he asked before he thought better of it. That’d be weird as hell, mostly because he was thinking too much about it now.
He’d never offered to brush dirt off any of his friends’ asses before, and he sure as hell didn’t plan to ever again. Why did everything feel off today?
Oh, probably because you have no idea what you’re doing with your life and Murph’s walking around in a dress.It made him feel like he’d come back to some alternate universe.
That’s it. I’m not in Uncertainty. I’m in Bizarro World.
Chapter Three
Addie kicked off her sandals the second she stepped inside the door. She jumped when she turned and came face-to-face with Nonna Lucia, who was dressed in all black, a gardening spade in one hand, a six-pack of flowers in the other.
“Nonna, what in Sam Hill are you doing?” Earlier today she’d called to say her new meds made her woozy, which was why Addie had come over to check on her. Now she was wielding a weapon, a dark knitted cap masking her gray and white curls.
“The neighbors put wood chips in their yard.”
“And…?”
Nonna made a sour face. “They’re ugly and I don’t like looking at them. Every time I sit on the porch in my rocking chair, it’s all I can see.” She lifted the flowers a few inches. “I going to plant these and give the yard some color. I sneak over and water them when I can.”
Addie pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering how she was going to talk her stubborn Italian grandmother out of this one.
So far she was, like, zero for twenty on talking Nonna out of things she’d set her mind on, and she was extra crazy about gardening.
