Page 28 of Forever After All

Linc looked at their place cards and grinned. “You want anything to drink?”

“Punch?”

Linc pulled Jess’s chair out for her. “I’ll get it.”

He hurried through the drink line and came back to find Tracy talking to Jess. The owner of the bakery in town was one of the sweetest women Linc had ever met, but she had a fierce loyalty that came out harsh sometimes.

Linc hadn’t ever been on the receiving end of Tracy’s rants, but he’d heard about them. Apparently, Tracy didn’t like to see people taken advantage of. She’d named herself their official spokesperson.

“Don’t tell me you came here lookin’ like that without a date tonight,” Tracy said.

Jess looked over her shoulder just as he handed her the cup of punch. “Oh, no. I’m here with Linc.”

Tracy’s eyes widened. “Are you two together?”

Chapter8

Linc

Linc’s throat closed up. Oh, boy. Way to draw out the truth.

“No, ma’am. We’re just friends,” Jess said sweetly.

Linc tried to inhale a full breath after that gut punch, but his lungs refused to cooperate. If he’d wanted a sign, there it was, flashing bright and bold.

Just friends.

He’d known men in the friendzone. Sometimes, they clawed their way out of it.

Sometimes, they didn’t.

But would it be so bad to be just friends with Jess? They’d been friends the whole time they’d known each other.

Yet, every day he wanted more, and she wasn’t willing to give it.

Resignation sat heavy in his gut. Jess always spoke the truth, and she said they were friends.

So, that’s what they would be. She didn’t see him as more, and he could bow out gracefully.

Maybe not gracefully. It did more than sting.

“Really?” Tracy drawled. Her gaze zipped back and forth between Jess’s blue dress and Linc’s matching suit and tie. “Hmm. Could’a fooled me.”

He knew he liked that woman.

The songs started, and the lights dimmed. Ridge and Cheyenne had their dance, and Linc spent most of the time sneaking glances at Jess.

How was he going to get over her?

He wasn’t. Plain and simple. He hadn’t intended to fall for her, and he also didn’t plan on falling for anyone else in his life.

After the official dances were over, the DJ welcomed everyone else to join the bride and groom on the dance floor.

Someone grabbed his arm, and he turned to see Stella tugging him up from his seat.

“On your feet, cowboy. I wanna dance.”

And he was being pulled away from the table. He looked back to see Jess chuckling.

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