Page 59 of Just One of the Groomsmen
As opposed to the other night when he’d called her Addison, and heat had flooded her veins.
It’s official. I’m losing it.
“Would you like me to bring you a beer?” Tucker asked. “For adapting and surviving purposes?”
She risked a peek over her shoulder and found his face closer than expected. Her heart beat so hard and fast she feared everyone in the bar would hear it. “That’d be great.”
Instead of simply dropping his hand, he dragged it down a couple of inches, and as soon as the heat of his palm left her skin, she missed it.
Because she was going insane.
“The guys and I were just going to go for round two as well. We’ll help you carry it all back.” Shep tilted his head toward the bar, and after exchanging some confused glances, they all got the memo and jumped up.
Then Addie and Lexi were alone at the table.
“Not real subtle, my guys,” Addie said, then worried that she shouldn’t have called them hers.
Lexi laughed. “About as subtle as a gorilla wearing high heels in a bowling alley.”
Addie snort-laughed, but since the vibe between them seemed chill once again, she didn’t even care. “That’s quite an image. You have a lovely way with words, Lexi.”
“Why thank you.”
Not a hint of tightness remained in the smile Lexi gave her, and Addie dared to hope that Shep’s crazy natural-habitat idea had actually worked.
Lexi twisted the stem of her wineglass between her fingers. “There’s a chance I overacted to the news about you and Will.”
Addie froze, afraid to agree or argue or so much as breathe in case it would change her mind again.
“Planning a wedding is stressful, and I felt a tad bamboozled, considering I might not’ve been super into the idea of a female groomsman in the first place.”
“It’s all good. I understand that it’s a little unconventional—thatI’ma little unconventional.”
Lexi teared up, and then she lunged right over two bar stools and wrapped her in a hug.
Addie patted her arm.Wow. Two surprise hugs within minutes of each other.
Apparently hot mess is a better look for me than I thought.
She also wasn’t sure she could handle hopping on this roller coaster again. “I don’t know what’s happening. Don’t get me wrong, I’m kind of happy thinking this means we’re cool now, but I’m also a bit confused.”
“The note you wrote about your friendship with the guys helped, and I’ve been trying to be understanding…” Lexi glanced around, and Addie automatically followed suit, paranoia jumping into her swirling tornado of emotions. “But what truly sealed the deal was seeing the way you look at Tucker.”
The air whooshed out of Addie’s lungs. “Like I want to spike the ball at his face?”
Lexi nodded, quick enough to resemble a bobblehead doll. “You only get that mad at someone you’re crazy about. After watching you and Tucker interact this afternoon, I can clearly see the difference between just friends and more than friends.”
“Oh, no,” Addie said, her blood pressure steadily rising. “I mean yes about Shep, and how he and I are just friends, but Tucker and I are—”
“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything.” Lexi’s gaze flickered to where the guys were biding their time at the bar. “I’m assuming he doesn’t know?”
The tight, tangled ball lodged in Addie’s chest where her heart should be unraveled, leaving a raw, aching spot in its place.
She wanted to deny it.
She’d been doing a fair job of denying it, even to herself, although deep down she knew things had shifted, maybe for good.
Which only brought a whole heap of fears crashing down on her. A cold sweat broke out across her body, her panic shifting into overdrive.
