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“I’m buying,” Nash added, arching a brow.

Now the pressure was on as everyone waited for his response. He dipped his head with a rueful chuckle. “All right, fine. Let’s go eat.”

A little while later, the group trekked through the snow toward Mama’s Kitchen. A weekday and the dead of winter, the sidewalks of Main Street were largely empty except for a few locals.

JJ waved to Norman and his pals, who were sitting in the coffee shop, watching out the window as if today might be the day that something interesting happened. They called out a greeting to Kit and Cody’s mom, who was heading to work at the flower shop.

When they got to the diner, there were only a few tables empty, and they grabbed one by Levi. The sheriff was in uniform as he sipped a coffee.

“Lunch break, Sheriff?” Kit asked.

“Yeah. Just waiting on Dex, as usual.” He shook his head. “Probably caught up with one of his patients. Oh hey, Nash, I got your invite in the mail, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Nash grinned, like he always did whenever anyone mentioned his upcoming nuptials. His sister, Casey, kept teasing him about being more excited about his wedding day than she had been about hers.

Even now, he couldn’t stop smiling like a fool as Kit and Cody filled Levi in on the bachelor party plans and the other pre-wedding shenanigans they had in the works.

JJ focused on the menu in his hands as if he didn’t have the dang thing memorized.

He was happy for Nash and Emma, but every mention of the wedding had him fixating on the plus-one he did not have.

The only plus-one he wanted.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the menu tighter.

The plus-one who’d run away before he’d even had a chance to say goodbye.

“There’s Dex now,” Kit pointed out.

JJ lifted his head, greeting Dex along with the others. But yet again, Dex’s mere presence was enough to stir up memories.

“She did a good job with your hand,” he’d said that day when they’d returned. “It’ll heal just fine.”

If only he could say the same about his dang heart.

Just after the food arrived, Kit was the one who finally broached the topic. “JJ, man, do you want to tell us what’s going on?”

“You haven’t been acting like yourself lately,” Cody added when JJ continued to eat his Monster Burger in silence.

His friends all looked to one another before Nash chimed in. “We get it that you’re not big on sharing. But none of us like to see you so low.”

JJ swallowed his burger. “It’s not that I don’t trust you guys. It’s just…” He shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do to help.”

“Sometimes talking it out helps,” Boone said. He grinned when everyone stared at him. “What? I’m an evolved man. I know things.”

They all chuckled at that.

“Maybe talking does help some people. But in this case, the person I need to talk to is on the other side of the country,” JJ admitted.

More looks were shared, nods exchanged.

Aw heck. This was why he never opened his trap around these guys. Now they’d want to help. But how could they?

He wasn’t even sure what he’d say to Dahlia if he had the chance.

“What did that O’Sullivan sister do to you out at that cabin?” Cody teased, his smile good-natured.

“Seriously,” Kit added. “I thought I’d had it rough with Lizzy, but from the looks of it, Dahlia’s dragging you over the coals.”