Page 111 of Always a Bridesmaid
Over the course of the last thirty minutes, Ford had heard a lot of talk about having sex with one person for the rest of your life.
He’d also heard way more about the Craft Cat members’ sex life than he’d ever,everwanted to. Oh, and the jokes about tucking saggy boobs into their pants?
Well, he wasn’t sure he’d ever have a boner again.
Normally he could shake it off. Maybe make jokes or tell the guys he was getting behind-the-scenes info on women.
But his thoughts kept circling back to one woman.
Violet had been running the table with prosecco pong for the past forty-five minutes. While Ford used to rule at beer pong, he hadn’t tried the girly variation, and it had nothing to do with him not being much of a sparkling wine drinker.
“I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not to tell you something,”Easton had said as they’d been fishing at the crack of dawn.
“Now you have to tell me,” Ford had responded, no clue what would come out of his buddy’s mouth next.
Or how it would fray that last thread he’d been holding on to when it came to his relationship with Violet.
One minute he’d look across the bar and think he was a lucky bastard that a woman like Violet would consider hitching her wagon to his star. Then, the matchmaking women of Uncertainty would comment that he’d be next down the aisle, and he’d fight the urge to sprint through the wall like the Kool-Aid Man.
Ford had always been the type of guy to make his decisions and stick to them, and he hated that he kept volleying. The other fun thing his brain had opted to do was replay fights he’d overheard. Between his parents. Couples in town. The arguments he and Trina had, and boy were there a lot of those.
The fist that’d first gripped his throat the night Addie freaked out about Tucker’s dream of playing catch with his son squeezed tighter.
Fortunately, it seemed everything had been forgiven and forgotten on that front. The wedding was back on, and they were happy. But that also reminded him how Addie and Lexi had warned him not to hurt Violet.
It was the last thing he wanted.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure if not hurting her was an option.
And after what Easton had told him, he wasn’t sure he’d be safe from harm, either.
Ford could feel the rocking of the boat earlier, smell the water, and feel the bait between his fingers as he put it on his hook.
“You know how I run background checks on everyone who visits town for more than a week or so?” Easton had asked as he’d taken the PowerBait from him.
The hair on Ford’s neck had pricked up, his instincts shouting he wasn’t going to like what came next.
“I ran one on Violet,” Easton continued. “If you want me to stop, just say so.”
Ford cast and slowly let out the slack on his line. His doubts had already been gnawing at his insides, so he wanted to tell Easton he’d rather not hear it. While scolding himself for not using his common sense and digging into her pastbeforegetting attached.
Easton’s hook made a lightplopas it hit the water. “Did you know she was charged with first-degree criminal mischief?”
The tension claiming Ford’s body eased up, his buddy’s words so far from what he’d expected they felt like a relief. “No. But that doesn’t sound so bad.”
Silence stretched as Easton’s gaze lowered to the floor of the boat, and what little remained of Ford’s hope divebombed into the murky water.
“She took a golf club to her ex-boyfriend’s car,” Easton said. “We’re talking broken windows and dents so big, it looked like it’d hailed bowling balls.”
Inch by inch, ice crept through Ford until his limbs grew heavy and burdensome. “What type of car?” He wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything besides delaying a conclusion he didn’t want to come to.
“A brand-new BMW three series hard-top convertible.”
Ford made a sour face. “That’s the kind of car rich pricks flock to so they can brag about driving around their Beamer and how amazing the wind feels in their hair.”
“All while sipping some fruity-ass drink.” Easton began reeling in his lifeless line. “You’re not wrong. It’s a stupid car for a guy to drive.”
“But taking a golf club to it…” Ford dragged his fingers across his jaw, the fishy scent of the PowerBait making him drop his hand to his lap. “That’s something a crazy person would do.”
