Page 37 of Just One of the Groomsmen
The girl at his side was there for all those instances, but his conflicting feelings for her made it hard to admit to ever being anything but strong.
Like not saying it aloud would make her forget bike wrecks and scraped knees that’d brought tears, the times in his life he hadn’t stood up for other people when he should’ve, or any other time he’d been less than strong.
Just do it, Crawford. Find a way to make her feel better, the way she always did for you.
“There were cases, ones where I was fighting for a worthy cause or for someone who truly deserved a break, and it didn’t matter how much research I put in or how hard I fought, I’d still lose ’em. That made me feel weak and helpless.” Those cases were why he’d originally chosen law, but they’d been so few and far between. “So did the cases where we had to defend people knowing full well they were guilty.”
He gazed out over the lake, unable to look at her as he admitted the next part.
“I missed home and all you guys, but I quit over more than that, and more than the long hours.” His fingers drifted down her arm, and her face tipped up, but he kept his eyes on the rippling reflection of the moon in the inky black water. “One guy walked on a stupid technicality because of something I’d found in the police report—some procedure the cop didn’t follow. Everyone at the firm was celebrating, and I was sick over it. The guy deserved to go to jail, and no amount of money seemed worth ignoring that fact. It was the final straw.”
Addie covered the hand he had on her arm with hers. “Most people wouldn’t have been able to walk away from the money.”
“I don’t know about that. Half the time I still think I was an idiot to quit like that with no backup.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m glad you’re here.”
He met her big brown eyes and smiled. “It does.”
“I’m sorry you were so unhappy. I should’ve checked in more.”
“I should’ve told you that I was struggling with my job. But that’s neither here nor there. Now I’m on a different path, and all’s I’m saying is, it’s not weak to care about things. You’re not a robot.”
He renewed the drag of his fingers on her arm, and her chin lifted another inch or so, some of the sorrow fading from her features.
He tried not to think about how close her lips were to his, how he felt each one of his heartbeats, and how having her tucked against him made his entire body hum.
Despite knowing better, he couldn’t help the words that slipped out or that his eyes dipped when he said them. “It also hasn’t escaped my notice that you’re a girl.”
One corner of her mouth kicked up, even as pink spread across her cheeks. “I guess I can thank your puppy for that.”
“I certainly plan on thanking him.”
Addie half laughed, half groaned and dropped her head on his shoulder. After a long moment, she leaned back, his arm falling from her shoulders, and braced against her palms.
He didn’t know how to interpret that, and he hated that he was now analyzing this easy thing between them.
The full moon lit her features, highlighting just how pretty she was. Growing up with her had left him so used to how she looked that he’d somehow forgotten.
Or maybe he hadn’t ever truly noticed, which was just stupid on his part.
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I’m afraid that Lexi is gonna kick me out of the wedding party, and not that I was dyin’ to wear a dress, per se, but I’d come to terms with it, and what if she doesn’t let me go to the wedding now?”
“I’m sure she just needs time to process,” Tucker said. “I was trying to help in there, but I’m not sure it worked.”
She shrugged.
“It couldn’t have been easy being the only girl in our group sometimes.”
“Actually, that was the easy part. Navigating it as an adult with all the added complications is what’s hard.”
One side of her shirt slipped down a few inches, and he told himself not to stare at her exposed black bra strap. Right now he was understanding added complications all too well.
“What about for you?” she asked. “Was it hard growing up with a girl as a friend?”
He gave her shoulder a shove to keep things going down the normal path. “Only when she tried to throw a bat at my head so I wouldn’t have a chance at catching the ball.”
“I did have a bit of a temper,” she said with a laugh.
