Page 14 of Always a Bridesmaid
Thanks to the fire and the delayed training session, he didn’t have time to go shower and change for poker night. Good thing his buddies had to deal with him, clean or not.
It’d also be the perfect opportunity to socialize the puppies with people and Tucker’s dog, Flash. Mind made up, Ford drove the short distance to the houseboat and parked next to the row of trucks.
“Are you guys gonna be good?” he asked the puppies.
ADD Puppy immediately bit his sister’s ear, so nope. Since the walk onto the houseboat required a wooden plank, he gathered the three furballs and carried them inside, Pyro trotting on after.
Despite there hardly being room for two people and a dog—much less a group of dudes and dogs—the guys greeted them with gusto.
“Hope you don’t mind,” Ford said, opening the sliding door to the deck and letting his four German shepherds outside. Fortunately, Tucker had already puppy-proofed the railing for his white lab, who was hardly a puppy anymore.
Flash bounded toward the other dogs with an excited bark. In looks and in personality, he and Pyro were polar opposites, but they got along well enough.
Now Pyro will have someone to roll his eyes with.
After making sure there wasn’t any aggression with the new puppies in the mix, Ford closed the glass door, save a crack. Then he walked through the narrow alleyway that separated the kitchen and the living area and settled into his usual place at the circular table.
Addie dealt, and after Ford peeked at his cards, he reached over her to grab the bag of Doritos and a bottle of beer.
“Ugh, Ford,” Addie said, leaning away from him, “you smell.”
He draped his arm over her, yanking her face right to his armpit, the bag of chipscrunching between them. “Maybe you’ve just been with Crawford too long to remember what a real man smells like.”
The slug to his obliques was solid, as Addie’s punches often were. “One, a real man showers. And two, thanks to that bet about who could swim the length of the community center’s pool the fastest—and how you decided stripping to your skivvies would make you more aerodynamic, even though I still won—I’ve seen what you’ve got going on.” She shrugged. “Eh. Not impressed.”
Oh, she had to go there? “We were ten! That was before puberty kicked in, and trust me, puberty was generous.” Ford straightened and began jokingly undoing the knot on the drawstring of his mesh basketball shorts. “Here, I’ll show you.”
Tucker placed his hand on Ford’s forearm. “How about I just prevent a lawsuit before it starts?”
“Like there’d be a lawsuit,” Ford muttered. “If I really flashed her, Murph here would bury my body in a backwoods bog, and no one would find me.”
“Truth,” Easton and Shep said at the same time, and Addie beamed as if it were the best compliment she’d ever received.
“Aww, thanks, guys. I love you, too.”
They began their first round of poker, and when Ford took a drink of beer, he twisted his neck and sniffed his armpit. He didn’t smellthatbad. Just used-up deodorant and a healthy dose of smoke.
“Heard there was a fire at Maisy’s Bakery today,” Shep said, probably getting a whiff of the evidence.
“Oh yeah, how’d that go?” Addie tossed a couple of poker chips in the center of the table. “Rumors ranged between a false call and a blazing inferno where you saved women and children, but the middle ground sounded the most legit.”
“It was an easy call. No injuries, and the fire was contained in the oven, so I just unplugged it. Then Darius and I hauled it into the alley to cool down.” He matched Addie’s bet, and his mind meandered to the intriguing woman responsible for today’s emergency call. “I, uh, met Maisy’s sister. Anyone know her?”
The game slowed as everyone studied him, eyes narrowing to slits.
“What? I was just curious and thought you guys might’ve met her before.” In high school, Ford hadn’t paid much attention to Mayor Hurst and his family, his rebellious nature and infamous family leaving him wary of authority figures.
One by one, Addie placed three cards faceup on the table. “Beats me. I thought Maisy Hurst only had an older brother. Remember Mason? He played running back when we were freshmen, and now he coaches college ball.”
That sounded familiar. But Violet definitely wasn’t.
“Is that who that woman was?” Poker chips clattered together as Easton tossed two whites and a blue into the pot. “For a second I thought I was seein’ double and there were two Maisys. She seemed pretty frazzled when I took the report.”
Frazzled. Adorable. A pinch high-strung. “Ah, she just felt bad. She hadn’t meant to hit the self-clean mode. Could’ve happened to anybody, I suppose.”
Shep folded, and so did Tucker.
Ford told himself to leave it be, but he recalled those big brown eyes and the way they’d awakened something he thought he’d buried and left for dead. He couldn’t help it. He wanted to know more about Violet.
