Page 90 of Just One of the Groomsmen
A threatening grin stretched her lips. “If I break your leg, that can still apply. Hell, breakmyleg.” She curled her fists in his shirt and jostled him. “I’m actuallyaskingfor your help here.”
He wrapped her tighter in his embrace, splaying his hand on her back. “But what you get is my protection.”
“What good are you to me, then?”
He lowered his lips to her ear. “Once I get you alone, I’ll present my case, and trust me, it’s a strong one. With lots of impressive demonstrations.”
He gently bit at her earlobe, and her fingers dug into his shoulder. Her chest rose and fell against his, and then he was thinking about her lacy black bra, which led to thoughts of getting his hands on the curves he’d gotten a peek at.
As soon as she was ready, he’d make sure he followed through on his promise.
Lexi approached, and he froze and tried to temper his body’s response to being smooshed up against Addie as the bride-to-be surveyed them with a critical eye.
“Addie, you probably want to practice in heels,” Lexi said. “Lucky for you, I brought a spare pair in case you forgot.”
“I’m starting to suspect that you don’t know what the words ‘want’ ‘lucky’ or ‘forgot’ mean. You’re not seriously expecting me to keep my heels on for the whole weddingandreception, are you?”
While Lexi had remained a fairly mellow bride, that comment brought out the crazy-eyed diva.
“I’ll wear heels,” Addie quickly said. “It’s cool.”
The laugh he’d tried to hold back escaped and Addie elbowed him in the ribs again.
He was going to have a bruise there by the end of the night if this kept up, and his mind conjured images of rough foreplay, with him pressing Addie against things, and her pushing right back.
Once Lexi crossed the room to get the shoes, Addie sagged against him. “I’m going to be hanging on you, making you carry all my weight, just to save my poor feet and their circulation.”
He slid both hands low on her back and secured her tighter against him. “Not as much of a threat as you might think. Especially if the dress you’ll be wearing is as revealing as you claim.”
Lexi returned with the shoes, and as he helped her into them, Addie gripped his hand and mouthed “save me,” while the rest of the guys snickered.
They all got the bird, which she quickly folded down when Lexi straightened and asked how they fit. “So comfortable, I thought they were my sneakers.”
Lexi pursed her lips, not buying it for a second. “Your sarcasm makes me feel less bad about forcing you into them.”
“I think we just crossed into the next phase of our friendship—brutal honesty. Go us,” Addie said, and she lightly punched Lexi’s shoulder.
Lexi flashed her a grin and then returned to Shep, who gave them all threatening behave-or-else glares.
If Tucker ever fell so hard for a girl that he willingly went along with the idea of waltzing, he’d ask one of the other guys to put him out of his misery.
The music swelled, and the instructor shouted the steps as she clapped out a loud rhythm. Then it turned into the blind leading the blind. Addie stumbled as he went back and she stepped right, and he barely caught her. She let loose a string of swear words that raised a lot of eyebrows and unhinged a lot of jaws, and the guys snorted out laughs.
“How’s it goin’ over there, Murph?” Ford asked, and if her eyes could shoot the lasers she was clearly trying to fire from them, he’d be dead.
“You want me to tell ’em to be nice?” Tucker asked, voice low.
“No, then they’d know something was up. You’ve never defended me before.”
Offense tweaked his gut. “I have, too. Plenty of times. Like when they were plannin’ on lettin’ the air out of your boyfriend’s truck so he’d miss poker night.Iwas the one who stopped that—you’re welcome.”
“When was that, and with who?”
“After the regional game senior year, and that prick you dated way too long. None of us wanted him at the party, but I argued that thenyouwouldn’t be at the party because you’d be too busy changing the tire for his pansy ass, and I wanted you there, even if we had to deal with the douche.”
Now he was thinking of the way the guy hurt her, and then he was worried that he’d be the next douche who did, no matter how hard he tried to prevent it.
I’m not even supposed to be getting anything near to serious right now. I have no business pretending I’m in a place to.
