Just One of the Groomsmen

by Cindi Madsen

  Easton nodded. “Good. Let’s go join our friends, then.”

  Anxious energy coursed through Tucker as they headed across the bar, and two steps before they reached the table, Easton clapped him extra hard on the back, and whispered, “May the Force be with you.”

  Was that supposed to encourage or discourage?

  He became that much more determined to take control of the situation, even though he still wasn’t sure which way to steer it. Regardless, he needed to check off a to-do item, and he planned on killing two birds with one stone and taking Addie along for the ride.

  “Addie and I have to go,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet.

  She gave him a scrunched, distrustful expression. It stung, but he supposed he deserved it.

  “We made a bet, and since I lost, it’s high time I paid up.”

  Lexi mouthed something at Addie that he didn’t catch, and she shook her head.

  Since he didn’t know what that was all about, he finished making his general goodbye. “Anyway, ball was fun, and we’ll see y’all later.”

  Tucker led Addie toward the door, and while she dragged her feet at first, she eventually gave in.

  While his glass of water had kept him sober for the drive, he hoped the one beer she’d had would help her forget that she was mad at him.

  He pulled open the passenger door of his truck and gestured her inside. She, of course, crossed her arms, going into stubborn-statue mode.

  “You don’t want me to make good on our bet?” he asked. “Let me guess, you wanted an excuse to send your goons after me.”

  “Personally, I think you deserve a little roughin’ up.”

  “You roughed me up plenty on the field.”

  “Obviously not enough.”

  “Get in the truck.” He stepped closer, pinning her against the open door. “Please, Addie.”

  “Don’t you mean Murph?”

  So she’d caught that jab. The woman made him so crazy sometimes.

  Now.

  When they’d first entered the bar.

  On the field.

  Every second of every damn day since he’d returned to town.

  They’d had their arguments in high school, but a different undercurrent flowed during their interactions now, and he couldn’t help thinking that pressing her harder against the door and kissing her would be a good way to relieve the tension.

  Only you’re trying not to ruin everything, remember?

  “I want you in that truck,” he said. “I wanna show you something—only you. Addie, Murph, Addison. I’ll call you whatever you want, just climb in and let me take you somewhere.”

  A bit of the anger leaked out of her posture. She huffed, making a big show of how much he’d put her out, and then turned to climb inside.

  “By the way, I forgot to tell you somethin’ earlier.” He shouldn’t follow through with the errant thought running in his head, but unable to help himself, he smacked her on the ass. “Good game.”

  Her mouth dropped, and he closed her door and rushed around to the other side so he could climb in before she bailed.

  “If you think you’re funny, you’re not,” she said.

  He fired up the truck and headed down the road. “I thought you wanted me to treat you just like the rest of the guys.”

  “I didn’t see you smack any of them on the butt after the game.”

  “That’s what we were doing while we were waiting for you and Lexi to talk it out. Looked like it went well.”

  She glanced out the window, watching the graying skyline and trees blur past. “Yeah, I think so. You gotta wonder ’bout your mental state when you’re glad you get to go try on dresses.”

  He thought of her sexy legs in that lacy pink dress, and “glad” didn’t touch the way he felt about her wearing a dress.

  Even in those formfitting yoga pants, he could hardly stop thinking about her legs and her ass, and man, she was sexy no matter what she wore. “I’m looking forward to seeing you in that dress.”

  She aimed a ridiculously cute dirty look his way.

  “But if you need a rescue tomorrow afternoon, give me a call, and I’ll drop everything to swoop in and save you.”

  “Why is it that I’m less annoyed by the thought of you savin’ me from a dress shop than an overly aggressive dude hell-bent on proving how tough he is on the football field?”

  “Because”—he reached over and flicked her ponytail—“you’re a little weird.”

  The eye roll came out, but so did the crease by the side of her mouth that hinted at a smile.

  They bumped down the rutted road, and Addie grasped the bar over the window—if she thought this was rough, she should’ve been with him when he high-centered the Prius.

  A few minutes later, the headlights illuminated the north side of the shed.

  Addie leaned forward and squinted out the window. “If I didn’t know you so well, this would be the part where I’d realize way too late that we were in the middle of nowhere, and my fight-or-flight response would kick in as I deduced that you’d obviously brought me here to kill me.”

  “Sounds like you’ve been watching too many crime dramas.” He cut the engine. “Guess this is the moment when I get to see just how much you trust me.”

  Without a moment of hesitation, she reached for the door handle, and for such a small gesture, the fact that she did trust him sent pure sunshine through his chest.

  He bailed out and rounded the hood, and his countless mental reminders about not screwing up their friendship weren’t enough to stop him from putting his hand on her lower back as they headed to the shed.

  He really should decide one way or the other, because like all the drug counselors warned, if you didn’t decide to say no, when presented with the temptation, you’d kiss the hell out of your best friend and get addicted.

  Or some such.

  “I reckon the rough roads are why you needed to buy a truck?” she asked.

  “Yeah, the one time I drove the car you like to mock out here, I was pretty sure I’d never get back home. The alignment is still off thanks to getting high-centered a few times. I borrowed Easton’s truck here and there, but I wanted to hold off dumping money into a vehicle until I was sure I could even pull off this crazy harebrained scheme I came up with.”

  “Curiouser and curiouser.” She gestured to the shed doors. “May I?”

  “Go for it.”

  She swung them open and stepped inside. The dusty, stale scent remained in the air, although now cedar and paint mixed in, freshening up the place. “It’s a boat.”

  She looked at him, her eyebrows ticking together.

  “Are you a land-boat captain? ’Cause I gotta say, I’m not sure if those are in very high demand these days.”

  “Smart-ass.”

  He moved next to her, picked up her hand, and placed it on the boat.

  “Feel this?” He dragged her fingers along the bow that’d been weatherworn and splintered a month ago. “Smooth, right?”

  A smile crept across her lips, suspicion in the curve. “A little too smooth.”

  He realized she was teasing him, not so much speaking to the boat. Did that mean she was onto him? Maybe they did know too much about each other, but he liked that he knew so much about her.

  That she ate her burgers from the outside in so that the last bite was perfect.

  That she went overboard on her poker face, to the point sometimes she appeared to be having a stroke.

  That she could pivot on the football field in ways he only dreamed of doing.

  And that she was still scared of gators, even though she’d deny it for the sake of keeping up appearances. And possibly so he wouldn’t make her watch another scary movie about them.

  “So, why exactly am I feeling up a bo
at?”

  He chuckled. “Because I spent hours sanding it, and wanted someone to appreciate it.”

  “Ooh, nice. So big and sleek, I want to pet it all day.”

  The joke would be a lot funnier if it wasn’t turning him on.

  Pond scum, pond scum, pond scum.

  Her ass pressed against his crotch as she bent to run her hands over the line of the hull, and then the thought of pond scum wasn’t enough.

  She glanced over her shoulder, the dim lights of the shed reflected in her big brown eyes. “I’m still waitin’ for you to unveil your new mystery profession.”

  Working on redirecting his thoughts, he inhaled through his nose and blew out through his mouth. “The hardest part about unveiling it is I’m not rightly sure how to define it. Do you remember how my grandpa had that side business fixing up boats? Sometimes he also bought old ones, restored them, and then sold them.”

  “Yeah. I was always so bored on those weekends and summer days you disappeared to work on boats with your grandpa. When he passed away, I was glad I hadn’t let my selfish side keep you from spending time with him.”

  “Sometimes I resented how many hours it ate up, but I learned to love it, and after working in an office for two years, I found a new appreciation for it. It’s something I enjoy, and you can hardly toss a football in this part of Alabama without hitting an old boat that needs serious repairs.

  “I thought maybe I’d open up a workshop for all things boating, from accessories to renovations. Or I could do tours of the lake, or all of the above, or…” He let out a long exhale. “This is why I haven’t told anyone my plan yet. I can’t quite pin down the best course of action. First things first, I needed to prove to myself I could do it.”

  “I’m guessing your dad wouldn’t be very supportive?”

  He curled her hand into his and lowered his lips until they rested on the back of her head, the scent of her shampoo helping calm his nerves. “I didn’t tell him I was leaving the law firm until I was on my way back to Uncertainty, and he spent an hour trying to talk me out of it. I get that a lot of new businesses fail, and that it’s not as lucrative as being an attorney. If I don’t ever try, though, how will I know? And I can always go back to being a lawyer.”

  “I’m not sure you can ever get out of being one here, not with my grandma sending so many clients your way.”

  He smiled, then waited a beat, wanting her to say…he didn’t know. Maybe that he hadn’t lost his mind, and that this kind of life would be good enough for her, in case they crossed lines and things went well, and…

  Wow. Now I’m getting way ahead of myself.

  “Do you have the before pictures?” she asked.

  He dug his cell out of his pocket, pulled up the pictures he’d taken the first day he’d opened the shed, and it wasn’t exactly a hardship that he practically had to hug Addie to show her the images.

  “Are you sure this is the same boat?”

  “Unless fairies replaced it while I wasn’t paying attention.”

  She took the phone from him to study the pictures, then glanced from the screen to the boat, back to him. “It’s very impressive, Tucker. I think you’ve got something here. I’ll help however I can.”

  Several threads from the tight ball of nerves that’d been his constant companion since moving here unraveled, allowing enough room for hope to filter in.

  Her words made it okay to let himself be optimistic about this new prospect.

  She extended his phone to him and he wrapped his fingers around it and her hand, wanting to test the boundaries—hell, wanting to break them right down.

  “You wouldn’t wanna take a ride out on the lake with me, would you?” He dragged his hand up the silky-smooth skin of her arm. Her shallow breath spurred him on, only when he reached her shoulder, she spun to face him.

  Her pupils had taken over the brown, and he couldn’t tell if that meant she was feeling the tug between them or if she was scared.

  “Tonight? It’s all but dark.”

  Great. She was thinking about alligators.

  Clearly, her thoughts were miles away from his.

  Yep. Just call me Luke Skywalker. The pathetic, pre-Force version at that.

  “I’ve got a light at the front.” He jerked his chin toward where it sat. “But if you’re scared…”

  Her head whipped toward him. “I’m not falling for your pathetic attempt at reverse psychology, so don’t even start.”

  “What? You think the gators can climb up the boat and hop on board? Even if they could, I’d fight ’em off for you. Remember how annoyed you are that I won’t let anything happen to you?”

  She did this saucy head-tilt, pursed-lip combo. “No, it’s not the gators. I got over my fear of them long ago.” Her gaze drifted to the boat again and she bit her lip. “Have you even tested it? What if we get out on the lake, only to find it doesn’t float very well?”

  Wow, her confidence in his skills was astounding.

  Good thing he wouldn’t let a tiny thing like that discourage him. “There’s only one way to find out.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Plumb crazy, that’s what this was.

  She’d lost her mind because Tucker asked her to go for a ride in a beautiful boat he’d renovated.

  At night.

  With nothing but the moon and a mounted light that Addie had thought would be a lot brighter.

  They pushed off from the shore, and she longingly eyed the solid ground as it drifted away, wondering what she’d gotten herself into.

  For a boy, nonetheless.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like boats. It was that she didn’t care for the murky water and entire ecosystem taking place underneath her feet.

  Including gators—yeah, she was a liar, liar pants on fire when she’d denied that factored into her first hell no reaction.

  Not that she’d admit that to Tucker. Everyone round these parts rambled on and on about how people weren’t an alligator’s first choice of a meal. That went to amphibians, birds, fish, and small mammals like rabbits and raccoons.

  All fine and well, but she didn’t want to be their last choice that they forced themselves to eat anyway, the way she did with Mom’s fake cauliflower potatoes.

  Even swimming holes people claimed were fine sent her internal alarm screeching, and she preferred pools with water so clear you could see to the bottom.

  Not this swampy lake water surrounding them on every side, and definitely not at night when she couldn’t see anything until they were right up on it.

  Tucker thought she hated fishing. Much like an alligator making do with a human as a meal option, it wasn’t her number one pick for how to spend time, but she also felt it was tempting fate.

  Catch a fish and see if a gator doesn’t come over and try to steal it while you’re reaching into the water for it. So fun!

  But she’d been drunk on the drag of his callused fingertips.

  The firing sparks had reignited when he’d wrapped his hand around hers, and she couldn’t tell if they’d been friendly touches or more, and both terrified her.

  There was so much at stake, and he was one of her very best friends, and yet she swore that earlier today on the football field, right after she’d tackled him, that she’d felt…

  You were straddling him. He probably couldn’t help it.

  She’d been so mad at him for treating her like she was fragile, but now that her temper had cooled, a different type of heat rushed through her body.

  She glanced at him, so comfortable and confident behind the wheel of a boat he’d redone with his own two hands, the wind stirring his hair. Her heart skipped a couple of beats and desire pooled low in her stomach.

  Yep. I’ve definitely lost my mind.

  Keeping a hand tightly wrapped around the top of the windshield,
she tipped onto her toes and surveyed the spotlighted water.

  “Havin’ fun yet?” Tucker asked as he slowed the boat, the engine going from a high-pitched buzz to a soft chug.

  “So much fun that I think we should go back to shore. The boat didn’t sink, so yay, test run successfully completed.”

  “Ten minutes isn’t enough to thoroughly test for leaks.”

  Her lungs squeezed, forgetting how to take in oxygen for a second or two. “How comforting.”

  He laughed, and she wanted to toss something at his head, regardless of the way the deep sound echoed through her chest.

  He killed the engine, leaving only the sound of the lapping water, some noisy crickets, and the rapid hammering of her heart.

  The boat rocked as Tucker stepped toward the back, bent down, and flipped open a side compartment. He pulled out two fishing poles and extended one to her.

  “Dude,” she said. “In case you don’t remember, I won the bet. This is having your cake and eating it, too.”

  “And what’s so wrong with that? Now we both win. Besides, if I won, I scored fishing on your day off, and this is only gonna be an hour or so. Hardly the same thing.”

  She shook her head. “This is what I get for trusting you.”

  “You’re welcome for a great night under an amazing sky.”

  He gestured above them, and when she tilted her head, her breath literally puffed out of her.

  She’d been too preoccupied to pay attention to the stars, which was a huge oversight on her part. They glittered like crazy in the sky, more visible away from the lights in town.

  The boat swayed, catching her off guard, and she wobbled, but Tucker was right there to steady her, his hands gripping the sides of her waist.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realize you were stargazing. I was trying to show you your lure options.”

  She studied the fake worms and bug-like jigs in his hands. “Fishing lures or stars? Hmm. Hard decision.”

  “Once you put your pole in the water, you can go back to stargazing.”