Page 30 of The Trouble With Attraction (Rock Canyon, Idaho 6)

Travis grinned at him, his blue eyes twinkling. “Hell yes. I don’t know what I was thinking agreeing to a co-ed baby shower. Men were not meant to stand around wearing paper diapers with fake poo in them.”

Eric noticed the little white diapers pinned to all the men’s shirts and exploded with laughter. “Why in the fuck are you wearing those?”

Every single one of them grimaced and muttered a chorus of women’s names and Eric understood. He was the only single guy there, besides Mike, but considering he was friends with Gemma too, it made sense he’d pin the thing on.

Eric took a beer from the cooler in the back of Travis’s truck and popped the top. “Thank God I don’t have a girlfriend to answer to.”

“I think the hot sex we get to have makes up for it,” Gabe said.

Chase shot him a disgruntled look. “Speak for yourself. My wife’s body pillow is getting more action than me.”

All of the men chuckled, since Chase’s wife, Katie, was due the month before Gemma in January.

“And I get all the sex I want. With different women.”

A silver CRV pulled up the drive and past them, the driver waving at them. Eric recognized Gracie through the glass, and took a long pull from his beer. It was no secret that Gracie and he had been having a weird back and forth thing for almost two years now, but after he’d almost confessed how he really felt about her at the Halloween Ball two weeks ago and she’d walked away with some dork she’d met online, he was done.

For good this time.

“Guess Gracie’s new boyfriend bailed,” Mike said.

Eric raised an eyebrow. “Who? That lawyer?”

“How do you know about the lawyer?” Mike asked.

“I met him at the Halloween Ball.”

Mike ran a hand through his brown hair, ruffling the short strands. “Yeah, I guess she invited him and he said he would come. Must have gotten cold feet.”

“Or he’s bringing his own car in case he needs to escape,” Travis said.

Gabe tossed his beer can into the trash. “Now, who would want to escape all of this fun?”

Eric was contemplating a speedy exit himself when he heard his mother yelling his name.

The guys started heckling him about his mommy calling him and Eric flipped them the bird as he walked up the driveway to the house. He came up behind Gracie while she was head first in the back of her CRV, wearing lacy white dress, tights, and cowboy boots. Her blond hair traveled past her shoulders now, covering up the collar of her jean jacket and he had to admit that he liked it better than the shorter do she usually sported.

“Need some help?” he asked.

She jumped a mile in the air with a scream, and dropped the brightly wrapped package in her hands.

“Geez, do you have to sneak up on people? Do you understand that if I was holding Gemma and Travis’s cake, you would have been the reason it was smashed to bits?”

Eric held up his hands in surrender. “I was just offering to carry stuff in for you. No need to bite my head off.”

Gracie’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of cheek, and he hated that he noticed how it brought out the green of her eyes.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a rough day. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

Eric was surprised by her apology. Most of the time she would snap back at him, something snarky that would set his teeth on edge.

“It’s fine, we all have them. Do you want some help or what?”

“Sure, can you grab the presents while I get the cake?”

He reached past her to pick up the packages and their shoulders bumped. He was close enough to smell the fruity scent of her hair, and notice the shine in the blonde strands, almost as though she sprayed it with glitter.

“Are you having fun?” she asked abruptly.

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