The BFF Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

name?” His dad’s eyes narrowed as he thought back. “Pretty girl. Short blond hair.”
    “Colleen,” his mother called out from the dining room.
    “Collette,” Tabby corrected. “Summers. Her dad worked for the electric company.”
    “Collette Summers,” Caleb repeated. “She was so hot.”
    “What do you know about hot? You were dating Kelly Rasmussen,” Justin reminded.
    “Whatever happened to Kelly,” someone asked.
    “Can I tell ’em now ?”
    Everyone looked toward Murphy, who’d loudly interrupted the conversation.
    Erik grinned. “Go for it, Murph.”
    The boy uncoiled from his seat on the floor, standing up to his full height. “We’re getting a baby,” he announced, his cheeks red, his eyes beaming.
    Isabella laughed and reached out to squeeze his hand. “I don’t know about getting ,” she said humorously. “But we’re definitely having one. Should be making his or her arrival sometime next April.”
    Justin’s mother had finally finished cutting pies. She stared at them slack jawed for a moment before virtually vaulting over people and furniture to grab Izzy in a hug. “Another grandbaby . ” She looped her other arm around Murphy and kissed his forehead. “A grandson has been wonderful, and this baby is going to be fabulous!”
    Hope had about a half second before the rest of the crew started climbing around them to give their own hugs.
    When Justin got the third elbow in the head during the process, he gave up his corner spot and found refuge across the room in one of the vacated chairs.
    Which happened to be next to Tabby’s spot on the floor. “If you get up and move now, someone’s gonna notice,” he told her under his breath.
    Her lips tightened, but she stayed where she was, recrossing her denim-covered legs again just as she’d done when they were little kids. Only difference now was that the legs those jeans covered were long and shapely, instead of skinny with scrapes all over ’em.
    At least, he was assuming they weren’t all scraped up anymore. He hoped not, anyway. Because her skin was smooth and creamy—
    He pinched the bridge of his nose, cutting off the memory. It was as unwanted as the envy he’d felt at his own brother’s happiness.
    He just wanted things the way they used to be.
    Easy. Comfortable and familiar as a pair of old, beloved boots.
    He dropped his hand and looked at her from the corner of his eyes. “If I let you punch me in the nose, would you finally get over your mad?”
    She stabbed her fork into her pie, seeming to focus fiercely on it. “We’re not five.”
    “We were nine.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I remember it vividly, since you managed to break it.”
    She huffed out a breath. “I never intended to break your nose,” she muttered.
    “I know.” He waited a beat. “We survived that. So can’t we survive another kiss, even one—I hate to admit—as badly executed as it was?” It had been a helluva lot more than a kiss, but he didn’t figure she wanted to get into that territory any more than he did.
    He was right. “It doesn’t matter. It was years ago.”
    He leaned over the arm of his chair toward her. His gaze caught on the wedge of creamy skin showing between the unbuttoned edges of her shirt. And he couldn’t look away. Which was stupid, because there wasn’t anything like that between him and Tabby.
    Except that one time they were both trying not to think about.
    “And things haven’t been right between us since,” he said.
    She slowly sucked a smear of chocolate from her thumb, taking long enough for him to get his eyes off her chest and onto her lips.
    Now he was focused on her soft pink lips pursed around her thumb. How freaking stupid was that.
    She finally lowered her hand, wiping it on her crumpled paper napkin. Then she rose to her feet with as much agility as she’d had when they were nine. “You’re gonna leave again before any of us can blink, so why does it even matter?”
    Slipping