Page 53 of Just One of the Groomsmen
Chapter Thirteen
Addie crammed into the huddle with the rest of the guys. It was uncommon to have a huddle pre–choosing teams and with only half the players, but Shep had motioned them in, and they’d formed a tight circle.
Always aware now, Addie had made sure Tucker was between her and Shep—she doubted his fiancée would thaw while Addie had her arm around Shep’s shoulders.
“Okay, so full disclosure,” today’s ringleader said. “I have ulterior motives for calling for this football game.”
“If you’re trying to impress your fiancée, maybe you should’ve brought in some guys who don’t know how to play,” Ford said, because he never could help himself.
“You’re gonna be on the opposite team, and I’m gonna make you regret those words.”
Ford grinned,gleethe best way to describe his expression. He basically ran on challenges, the crazier the better.
“Anyway, I had this idea that if Lexi saw Murph in her natural habitat, it’d ease her worries.”
Addie scrunched up her forehead, confusion stepping to the forefront. “Not following.”
“Football. Doing the sports thing.”
He gestured at the field like that explained it all.
“You think tackling me will help her forget that we used to date?”
“No, I’m not going anywhere near that landmine. Tuck’ll cover you. You two don’t have a problem tackling each other, do you?”
Addie glanced at Tucker. Tackling? Nope.
Thinking about his hard body while it was underneath or on top of her…?
That was another story, one starting at the very moment, considering the wall of muscle heating her side, his fresh-cut-wood scent making her think of Sunday night when she’d leaned back against him.
When his hands had been gripping her hips and he’d whispered in her ear about making wishes.
“Leave Addie to me,” Tucker said. “I’ll take her down, no problem.”
“Oh, really? Just like that? If you’ll recall, the last time you talked trash to me, you ended up eating your words.”
“Doesn’t sound familiar,” he said with a smirk.
With their mini powwow over, they gathered everyone else who’d shown up for their pickup game and split into two teams.
Addie, Ford, and Easton were on one side, along with Easton’s cop buddy and partner, a skinny teenager who had no idea what he was getting into, and a couple of their former classmates.
The other team consisted of Shep, Tucker, one of Ford’s firefighter friends, along with David’s brother, whose name had slipped her mind.
Kind of like how her name and the fact that she existed had clearly slipped David’s mind.
Not like I don’t have enough complications to deal with.
Addie caught sight of Lexi as they lined up. She wasn’t sure watching a football game would change her mind about the past or future. Hope called to her, though, so she tried to convince herself it would, and added a friendly wave for good measure.
The tight smile in return didn’t exactly instill her with confidence and, considering there’d been no text or call and the wedding was in a month, it wasn’t looking good.
No thinking about that.
Exhaling a long breath, she decided to channel her frustrations and worries into the game.
After this past month of bottling up her emotions, it’d be nice to unleash them in an arena she was comfortable with.
