Page 29 of Just One of the Groomsmen
What she truly wanted was a guy who wanted her. Who couldn’t wait to see her.
Possibly she could even try the cuddling thing and see if it was all it was cracked up to be.
After all, Shep was getting married. Once he’d met Lexi, things moved pretty fast, and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the guys found girlfriends of their own.
Then where would she be? Perpetually third wheeling it?
“Fine as in you promise?”
“I promise,” Addie said. “In fact, I’m going online right now and I’m going to rush order some sexy underwear.”
“Ooh, which site? I’ll help you look.”
At first Addie thought it might be weird, but she was utterly clueless about lingerie, so she went ahead and let her sister take the wheel.
And about thirty minutes and an outrageous amount of money later, several matching sets of underwear and one bustier that she feared she’d feel too ridiculous to ever actually squeeze herself into were on their way to her house.
Chapter Seven
Thursday night football meant the Old Firehouse was packed, and Addie couldn’t stop watching the door every time it opened, hoping the next person who walked through would be Tucker.
They’d been interrupted by the dueling neighbors yesterday, and while Easton had come to the town square and done his best to help defuse the situation, threats of legal action were still being flung around as Tucker took Faye and her pig one way, and Easton took Nellie Mae the other.
I should just text him and tell him to get over here.
Only she was meeting Lexi, and she had no idea how long their planning session was going to run. When it came to all things wedding related, she wasn’t sure of pretty much anything besides how happy Lexi made Shep.
Which was what she held on to when she wanted to crumple the confusing list and throw it in along with the towel.
As if her thoughts had summoned them, the betrothed couple strolled in. Shep had Lexi tucked under his arm, and Addie wasn’t sure how he wasn’t tripping over tables and chairs, because he never broke eye contact with his fiancée as he led her to the table.
“I’ll be over at the bar watching the game if you need anything,” he said, and Addie nearly begged him to take her with him.
Then he gathered Lexi to him and kissed her, really giving it his all.
Admittedly, a few times while being exposed to way too much of their PDA, a thread of longing had risen up in Addie, making her wish she had someone who’d kiss her that recklessly. Someone who didn’t care who was watching, because the need to touch and taste each other was too strong.
The yearning that’d been growing more frequent as of late drifted to the surface now, and she told herself she had her group of guys, no matter what.
Which she did, and they’d be there if she needed them, but it wasn’t the same. Even if she’d accidentally thought about Tucker too many times today. Not just that moment in the gazebo when his strong fingers had been wrapped around her wrist but about how she laughed harder with him than anyone else.
“Is Tucker coming to watch the game?” she asked Shep when he came up for air.
“Not sure. Did you text him?”
If she asked Shep to text, he would wonder why she couldn’t do it herself, and the great thing about their group was that things had never been weird between any of them.
Well, besides the week or so back in high school when Shep’s status had changed and they hadn’t known how exactly to fit him into the group anymore.
It was so long ago that it’d been forever since she’d even thought about that, and it all worked out for the best, thank goodness.
Lexi took the stool across the table from Addie and then glanced back. “Will, honey, can you have the bartender send over a glass of rosé?”
“No shit, they actually serve rosé here?”
Lexi gave her an aren’t-you-precious look, but since Addie knew she didn’t mean anything derogatory by it—and since she’d spoken up against Delilah without needing to hear any of the details about how rude she was in high school—she let it slide right off her.
“Did you want something else?” Lexi wrinkled her nose as she eyed the puddle of foam left in Addie’s glass. “Another beer?”
