Page 72 of Just One of the Groomsmen
“Hey,”she said, but she laughed. “You’d better wear your disgusting old ratty hat, then.”
He reached behind the seat, grabbed hold of it, and tugged it on, pulling the brim nice and low.
“Maybe you should wear it on your lap,” she said, her gaze homed in on his situation, which only brought it raging back.
“Not. Helping.”
Her laugh turned borderline evil.
As they started the bumpy return drive to town, though, silence fell between them. It grew heavier and heavier, like they were both realizing the huge line they’d crossed.
He wanted to reassure her it’d be fine—they had fail-safes in place.We’ll figure it out. It’ll all be okay.
“Do you need to get your truck from the bar, or should I drop you at your house?”
“I actually walked to the field, so home. My home. Not my parents’ home.”
“I figured, although I was about to head there out of habit.”
Funny enough, he only knew where it was because she was renting the old Sumpter place. Since Addie moved in shortly after he moved away, he hadn’t been inside.
She lived just off Main Street, and he parked along the curb next to her mailbox. In the dark cab of the truck, they were at least semiprotected, but if they stepped out onto the streetlamp-lit sidewalk together, dozens of eyes could be on them in a matter of seconds.
“Check-in time,” Addie said, twisting to face him. “Do things feel weird now that everything’s sunk in? Are we okay?”
“Not weird.” He glanced around, then leaned closer and brushed his lips over hers, satisfaction winding through him at her tiny whimper. “I’m better than okay. You?”
She nodded. “I’m okay. But this is going to be tricky.”
Understatement, but he was too happy right now to care.
She reached for her door handle. “Good night, Crawford.”
He wanted to do the gentlemanly thing and walk her to the door; he just knew that if he did, he’d forget about being a gentleman, pull her into his arms for another groping session, and kiss the hell out of her anyway.
Then someone in town would be wagging their tongue, and those complications would rush at them from all sides, and he refused to destroy this before it even had a chance.
So he playfully punched her shoulder and said, “Night, Murph.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Oh my.” Addie stared at her reflection, taking in the strapless bridesmaid dress and how much of her cleavage was on display—the “sweetheart” neckline had sounded so innocent when Lexi first mentioned it, too.
Between having to coach a soccer game and the fact that the bridal shop was two towns over—and okay, Auburn was also playing that same evening—she’d missed the original dress-shopping excursion.
She didn’t think it would matter much. To her, a dress was an uncomfortable dress, so it wasn’t like she was qualified to give input. She’d simply texted her measurements to Lexi and told her she’d wear whatever.
In hindsight, not the best idea, but after everything that’d happened, it wasn’t like she’d say she didn’t want to wear the strapless number that landed a few inches above her knees.
Since so much of her bra was on display, she was also glad she’d worn one of the sexy ones her sister helped her pick out. She knew she’d be trying on a fancy dress, and well, it cost a shit-ton compared to her usual boring white bras, but the dark purple straps stuck out, clashing with the crimson fabric.
Yeah,crimson.
I wonder if Shep knows his wedding is gonna look like it was thrown by a bunch of Bama fans.
“You look amazing,” Lexi said.
“I look…”Half naked.
