Page 118 of Just One of the Groomsmen
Then she noticed they’d gained the attention of the guys, who were watching the exchange with mostly confused expressions. Somehow she’d managed to forget they had an audience.
Too bad the damage had been done, no chance of simply shoving it away and faking her way through being okay now.
“Um, why are Mommy and Daddy fighting?” Ford asked, and she wanted to be able to laugh it off, but more stupid tears pricked her eyes.
“Great.” Tucker raked a hand through his hair. “The nightmare continues. This is exactly what I worried would happen.”
“Yep. Now people are gonna know that you were actually interested in me, even if it was just for a little while. That must be horrifying.”
“Addie.” He reached for her, but she jerked her arm away—it made it too hard to think straight when he touched her, and this wasn’t something he could hug away.
Luckily, the glare she fired at him effectively stopped him from trying again.
Pull it together. Just for a few more seconds.
“Sorry, guys,” she said past the giant lump in her throat, and there was no hiding the quiver in her voice. “I’ve gotta go.”
She rushed out of the houseboat, and as soon as she was safe inside the truck, the roar of the engine drowning out every other noise, the tears broke free. How could she even have more?
She needed someone, someone who she could talk to about the situation without judging or momentary excitement followed by crushing disappointment.
But all of her someones were in that houseboat.
Then she realized that wasn’t exactly true.
She fumbled with her phone and tapped the name she’d pulled up.
After two rings, Lexi answered, her voice as chipper as ever, and Addie sniffed, gratitude mixing with the sorrow. “Lexi, it’s Addie. I need someone to talk to, and I was wondering…hoping, really…” She sucked in a deep breath, not sure why it was so hard to spit out. “Could you meet me at my house?”
Lexi didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll be right there.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tucker stood across the room from three of his best friends, unsure where to even start. He’d lived in that magical world without consequences for a while, but it was time to face the music, and he doubted it’d be nice music.
It didn’t help that the pit that’d opened up in his chest last night was now a gaping hole filled entirely with despair, and Addie was driving away after they’d said awful things to each other.
“What the hell just happened?” Shep asked, his voice dangerously low. “That fight didn’t look like a fight between friends. It looked and sounded like the type of heated discussions Lexi and I get into.”
The wheels were turning, all of them slowly coming to the same conclusion, though Easton had some insider information.
Ford was the one who voiced it. “Did you sleep with Addie?”
“I…” His shoulders sagged, everything inside him deflating.“Shit.”
Shep shot to his feet, sending the table and the poker chips wobbling. “You. Did.What now?”
“Now why would you go and do that?” Ford asked, so much disappointment in his tone, and seeing how everyone considered him the reckless one, it stung even more.
The ache pushed deeper, down to his bones. “Because I like her.”
Likewas way too weak of a word, but his head was still spinning, anddamn it.How had it spiraled out of control so quickly?
Ford pushed to his feet and stepped around the table. “We all like her. And it’s not like she’s exactly hard to look at, but there are lines. You don’t see me sleeping with her.”
Tucker surged forward, his finger pointed at Ford’s chest. “And you better not, or I’ll kick your ass so fast—”
“I’d like to see you try.” He advanced, and Tucker lifted his fists, and then Easton stepped between them, one hand braced on each of their chests.
