Page 33 of Just One of the Groomsmen
She dropped her gaze to see the wiggly puppy had pushed down her shirt, revealing a generous portion of one half of her bra, and thanks to its hoisting powers, a whole lot of cleavage.
Heat crept up her neck and into her face and she thrust the puppy into Tucker’s hands, then quickly went to work adjusting her shirt.
Thiswas why she didn’t wear stupid dressy shirts with drapey necklines. She did far too many things that could result in a wardrobe malfunction.
Then again, not even her beloved clothes were totally safe—back in high school, she’d once stripped off her hoodie in front of Tucker, only for her T-shirt to come along for the ride.
She’d barely been able to look at him for days.
For some reason, this felt far worse—most likely because it was happening now, and she’d worn the demi-bra that left so much of her exposed, and maybe the fact that it was lacy and pretty made it better, butoh, holy crapher cheeks still blazed and the temperature turned stifling.
After a moment or two contemplating fleeing the scene, she dared a glance at Tucker. He’d put the puppy on his dog bed and he flopped down and tucked his nose in the blanket, tired after doing all that assisted flashing.
Tucker seemed to be avoiding eye contact as he asked if he could get her a beer, and she avoided it as she took it from him.
It gave her some small semblance of comfort that since everyone else had already been settling in at the table, he’d been the only one to see it, but considering the awkwardness in the air, dressing up had done the opposite of what she’d been going for.
Not that Tucker was the target of her lacy push-up bra, but what if she just couldn’t pull off being sexy? What if she made things awkward with David and scared him away?
Then there’d be no sparks and no relationship and dying alone.
Great. Now my sister’s in my head.
“I’m eager to see my girl in action,” Shep said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s get this game going.”
Addie started to take her usual seat, but Lexi patted the one next to her—Tucker’s unofficial spot. “I want you next to me in case I need a teensy bit of extra tutoring. Is that okay with everyone?”
A beat of silence, and then the guys sorta half-heartedly agreed. Not uncommon when a new person sat in on their poker games, although when she’d brought her former boyfriends, they were more vocal about their disdain, especially if Addie had to remind the guy which hands beat which.
And when one of her boyfriends was actually good at poker, they were even more annoyed.
Looks like we’ve all grown up a bit.Maybe. Not enough to just acknowledge the boob flash had been weird.
Not that she wanted Tucker to say anything about it. Like, ever.
“You okay, Murph?” Ford asked. “You look all flushed.”
“I’m fine,” she quickly said.
Ford leaned across the table to feel her forehead.
“Dude,” Easton said, slapping his arm away. “That’s such a mom move.”
“No, it’s a paramedic move to make sure she’s not going to pass out halfway through the game. I’ve already had to carry too many people out of their houses today for heat exhaustion, and my arms can’t take one more body.”
She tilted her head. “Well, at least it’s not because you actually care about me.”
“I care.” He dropped back in his seat and jammed a ridiculous number of chips in his mouth before talking through the crunch. “That our game doesn’t get interrupted. Now, drink some water already.”
“Yes, Mom,” she said, making a big show of reaching for a water bottle and glugging half of it.
Then, in an attempt to get things back to feeling like a normal poker night where she hadn’t flashed her best friend, she asked Tucker and Easton if they’d made any headway in the Pig Versus Garden Case.
And okay, maybe she looked at Easton as she asked, but she could sorta see Tucker in her peripheral.
“Crawford saved the day with that,” Easton said. “I’ve been breaking up fights between those two ever since Faye got that damn pig, so if this actually works, I’m gonna owe him more than the two dollars both ladies kept tryin’ to pay him.”
Tucker shook his head, and she snuck a tiny glance at him. She couldn’t fully meet his eyes, but it was mostly normal.
