Page 18 of Catch and Release Groom

They wanted to see how it ended, and if watching her marry someone else meant closing the book on the incessant speculation for good, so fucking be it.

“There’s nothin’ going on with this Imogen chick,” Ford said, “I heard ya loud and clear. But now you can give us the real deets. Everything you couldn’t say in polite company.”

Murph poked her head through the gap between Ford’s and Tucker’s. “Yeah, and don’t hold back. How hot is she?”

Easton hesitated, worried this would only add fuel to the gossip fire. Then again, this topic wouldn’t steer them anywhere near Grace and her wedding, so he let the details spill out in an eager rush. “She’s short and extra curvy—we’re talking boobs for days—and somehow, I’d still put them in second place. She has this sassy mouth with full lips she paints bright red.”

Crowded around his kitchen sipping beers with his friends, asses resting against counters, it hit himthiswas what he’d been missing. The good ol’ days filled with joking and gibing. Back before conversations revolved around mortgage payments, school board elections, building houses, or the not-fun parts of making a baby. The discussions on ovulating, basal body temperature, and fertility had been eye-opening to say the least.

It’d also left him aware of how unprepared he’d been. This was his time to be selfish and go after the career and life he longed for. Quiet. Simple. Immersed in nature.

With that and his last swig of beer fueling his happy buzz, Easton did what fishermen did best, and recounted his biggest catch of the day—himself. “She starts yelling at me and insisting I give her the pliers, and in that moment, I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes. No offense, but your ugly mugs filled the majority of it.”

Snorts and guffaws punctuated the air, laughter filling his kitchen to the brim. Then Shep wandered into the room, Lexi plastered to his side and a big goofy grin on his face, so the odds were high that his couch had just been violated. If they’d successfully made a baby on there, he might have to gift it to them as a congratulatory present.

Ford expelled a breath and a groan at once. “Damn, I miss Vi,” he muttered, and what was that? Twelve minutes without talk of significant others? Even sadder, that was probably a record.

“So, not to bring up a subject you’re clearly avoidin’…” Murph sidled up next to Easton, andtick-tock, the seconds had run out on the ever-present clock. “But as the wedding’s this weekend, we’re out of time to beat around the bush. You don’t have anything to prove, you know. There’s no reason you have to go.” Indignation tightened the line of her jaw and sharpened her voice. “Grace doesn’t have the right to ask anything of you. Not anymore.”

To say Murph and his ex-fiancé didn’t get along would be ahugeunderstatement. A study in opposites, Addie thought Grace was a “self-centered princess” who cared more about money and fame than him, and Grace accused him of always choosing his friends—and the lone female in their group, in particular—over her.

The fact of the matter was, if his friends needed him, he’d be there. Whether or not that friend had a dick was none of his concern, and it sure as shit shouldn’t be anyone else’s.

“If you do decide to attend, I’ve got your back. And if anyone dares to even look at you the wrong way…” Addie cracked her knuckles, letting the noise that echoed through the outdated kitchen say the rest.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to soothe, but her coiled muscles didn’t soften. “While I appreciate it, Murph, I can take care of myself. Besides, you’ve worked so hard to turn your reputation around. No reason to go and undo that over Grace.”

“Not sure I agree,Reeves.” Uh-oh. She’d thrown his own surname at him as a warning because, same team or not, no one told Addison Murphy-Crawford what to do. “If you’ll recall,Iwas the one forced to sit out to keep you out of the doghouse with your girlfriend.

“This stunt she’s pulling,” Murph said, fuming as she shook her head. “Insisting the wedding take place here, when she couldn’t leave fast enough. Then she has the gall to ask you to attend? Well, that’s reason enough for me to jog her memory about how scary I can be.”

Easton glanced over her ponytail, imploring Crawford for help. In vain, it turned out, as her husband’s gesture conveyed he was on his own. “That’d only result in more gossip. Same goes for my absence. Best to just get it over and done with.”

Instead of appearing appeased, the lid on Murph’s anger rocked.

“I totally admire how protective you are of your friends,” Lexi said, boldly stepping into Addie’s field of vision. In hindsight, he should’ve requested help from Shep’s wife sooner—there were de-escalation tactics and then there was debutante training. “How about we save ‘brawling with the bride’ for Plan C. Or, perhaps, Z?”

Like with Grace, Lexi and Addie couldn’t be more different, but they’d formed a genuine friendship and balanced each other nicely. Which was why Addie grumbled and crossed her arms, refusing to verbally agree but not denying Lexi’s request.

“Easton’s right about the gossip. The upcoming wedding and his and Grace’s past are the literal talk of the town. The Craft Cats are even taking bets on whether she’ll run again, and if it’ll beintoEaston’s arms this time.”

There was having your suspicions, and then having them confirmed. The name of the game this weekend would be hiding any and all reactions and, lucky him, he was already getting plenty of practice.

“Whew. Keeping that in was killing me.” Lexi faced him and Murph head-on, one hand clasped on either of their shoulders, like their coaches used to do before sending them onto the Little League field. “And with everything out there, we can come up with a more effective game plan.”

Pride radiated off Murph in waves, and it definitely wasn’t aimed at him. “Aww, look at you, using sports analogies. We’re rubbing off on you.”

Lexitsked,her smile coming through. “Don’t remind me.Anyway, what I’ve learned during my time in Uncertainty is that once the grapevine’s on fire, there’s only one way to effectively extinguish it…”

Now, she had everyone’s attention. “You set another section ablaze and you fan, fan, fan those flames.”

Silence yawned in the following seconds of silence, and Easton scanned his friends’ faces to see if they’d figured out what she was getting at.

Nope. Not even her husband appeared to have a glimmer of a clue.

“Come on, you guys.” Lexi cocked her head, her gaze rolling to the ceiling as if that was where she’d stored her cheat sheet of names—“Imogen. The woman who already caught him.”

Understanding spread like sunlight illuminating the horizon, touching everyone except him. “Caught my ear, not me,” Easton clarified, because it seemed like an important delineation.

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