Page 87 of Walkoff Wedding

The dude takes “cat dad” to a whole new level.

“You gonna let us in, or are we gonna stand out here and braid each other’s hair?” Lane says, brow arched in question.

Shit, I missed his grumpy ass. And Reese’s over-the-top ass. I realize that while, yeah, he’s been busy playing for a new team, and Lane’s growing out his beard… we’re the kind of friends who’ll always pick back up where we left off, no matter how long we go without seeing each other.

We all head back inside the apartment, and the second that the girls see Auggie sitting by the coffee table, they lose their minds.

“You got a dog?” Hallie squeals excitedly, bouncing on the toes of her checkered Vans. She rushes over to him and squats to cover him in kisses as she rubs his ears.

To absolutely no surprise, he’s eating the attention up, rolling over onto his back with his pudgy little legs and paws pointed toward the ceiling.

“God, he is so freaking cute,” Viv murmurs as she joins Hallie on the floor to lavish Auggie with head scratches.

I’m pretty sure he’s going to have a heart attack from the amount of attention he’s getting.

Reese bends down, taking Boo out of the carrier and placing her gently onto the floor after giving her a few kisses on her head. Completely unfazed, Boo stretches before taking in her new surroundings. Clearly, she’s gotten used to outings and other animals because she pads directly over to Auggie without hesitation.

She takes a furry black paw and pokes him with curiosity, but he just licks her face in response. Apparently, that’s enough for her to consider him a friend because she lazily lies down next to him, cuddling up to Viv’s side.

“So, you got fucking married, you got a dog, you signed a six-figure sponsorship. Anything else you care to tell us?” Reese says as he flops down onto the sofa, pulling his hat off and dropping it into his lap.

“Yeh, one more thing… I think I’m in love with my wife.”

“Uh… duh?” Reese replies as if he’s stating the obvious. “Are you just figuring that out or…?”

Lane chortles, covering his mouth. “Apparently so.”

Part of me is glad Addie’s not here for this conversation so I can get advice from my guys, but then an even bigger part of me can’t wait for her to meet the most important people in my life, besides my mama and her.

She’s with Amos working at the bakery, so she’ll be home later this afternoon.

I walk over to the armchair and sink down into it, exhaling. “Yeah, well, it’s complicated, remember?”

More complicated than I’ve even had a chance to tell them. So I quickly catch them up about all that has transpired in the past few days with the bakery, and our suspicions about who’s behind it, and about the weekend spent with my mom. And the biggest update of all… that I have, in fact, realized I’m in love with Addie and have probably been in love with her longer than I even knew.

“Listen, I’m going to start making you schedule a weekly FaceTime call with us so you can keep us up to date on your life. And stop neglecting the group chat,” Reese says exasperatedly. “I fucking hate that we’re the last to know anything.”

“For once, I agree,” Lane adds with a solemn expression. “I mean, I get it. Life is busy, we’re all on opposite sides of the country doing different shit, but we’re your best friends, man.”

I nod. It has been hard this year not seeing my two best friends every day. But as much as I hate that they’re so fucking far away, I know they’re all happy and thriving, and that’s all that I want for them.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I caught Reese crying when he found out he missed your wedding,” Viv says from the floor. Auggie’s somehow halfway in her lap and halfway in Hallie’s, taking what looks like the best nap of his life.

My lips twitch. Reese’s brow furrows, and he acts completely shocked by her admission, quickly defending himself. “I was not… crying. I had something in my eye. Dust or something.”

Viv rolls her eyes with a smirk. “Mhm. Dust. Whatever you need to tell yourself, baby. Just admit that you miss your friend.”

“I do miss him, and I have no problem talking about my feelings. And even if I was crying, it’s fine. Men have emotions and can express them too,” Reese mutters matter-of-factly.

Shit, I didn’t realize just how badly I missed this until now.

“Reese, focus. Can we go back to Grant’s problem?” Hallie interjects. “So… you love Addie. Have you told her that yet?” she asks with a small smile.

I shake my head, and the room erupts in a chorus of groans.

“Dude, did you not learn anything from Lane?” Reese says, nodding toward him.

“I’m going to tell her. My mom gave me the same advice when we visited. I just… with everything going on, I don’t want to complicate things further for her by moving too fast. It just feels selfish.” I pause, flicking my gaze between all of them. “And I don’t want my love for Addie to be selfish. She deserves everything. The whole world.”

---