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He adjusted his shoulders and felt the small welts left by her fingernails rubbing against the cotton of his shirt.
Fade away. Good plan.
“Hey, bro!” a happy voice came from behind him. Matt walked in and barreled toward him, big arms open.
Guilt gripped East’s gut, but he swallowed and hugged his best friend with his free arm. “Hey! I was wondering when you were getting into town.”
Matt hugged him so hard that East’s cup of coffee splashed and scalded his hand. He put the cup down and grabbed a napkin.
“Oh, sorry,” Matt said when he saw the spill.
“Don’t worry about it.” Honestly, a scalded hand was the least he deserved.
Matt frowned. “Shit, man, you’re getting banged up.” He pointed to East’s bicep. “You get into a sticker bush or something out on a mission?”
East looked at where Matt was pointing on his arm. Wouldn’t you know it? There were bright red scratches from the sexiest set of fingernails he’d ever had on him.
“Uh, yeah, sticker bush,” he said, shaking the memory off. “You’re looking pretty good for a groom-to-be,” he said, changing the subject from his appearance to Matt’s.
Matt glanced down at himself. “Yeah, the love of a good woman will do that.”
East kind of wanted to barf at that sap, but this was his best friend, so he’d let it slide. Also because Matt looked to be truly happy. He was in sharp clothes, his hair freshly cut. Not like he’d been before he met Bridget, back when jeans and a two-day beard had been his usual.
Kind of like how I still am.
“Thought I’d find you here.” He glanced around the small office. “Still rescuing the damsels?”
“You know it.” East might not have changed like Matt had, but he did take his job seriously. Rescuing people and keeping up his medic training were essential to his mental health. He needed to feel…needed. He and his closest friends made up the core of the team, and East’s specialty was medical training. He didn’t just search and rescue, he cured. At least he tried. After being an EMT for years and reviving overdosed users or the abused and battered, he’d finally recognized how angry he still was at his mom. Every time he’d seen someone OD, he’d seen her, until he couldn’t take it anymore and shifted into the outdoors version of the rescue bit. Broken limbs, hydration, and CPR were on a different scale with lost hikers than with strung out junkies.
There wasn’t much room for growth in S and R. He was at the position he was in, loved it, and that was it. Good enough for him. There didn’t need to be any kind of goal or endpoint. Which was why he couldn’t do anything to fuck with his setup. If anyone found out what had happened with Natalie, not only would he lose his friends and family, he’d likely have to find a new job because staying in Beaufort wouldn’t be an option. Her family was the name of the town. And no way in hell would a scandal like East and Natalie hooking up be allowed to thrive. Lemon-Anne would have a damn conniption.
“Well, I have some best man duties for you,” Matt said, not bothering to go into pleasantries. Not that they were needed. Especially since the longer East was in his presence, the more he realized that he’d just had sex with Matt’s little sister—
Fuck. Now he was thinking of Natalie naked again.
He shook his head.
“You okay?” Matt asked. “You having a stroke or something?”
“I’m fine, just a headache,” East lied. He blinked several times, trying to get rid of the image of Natalie in nothing but frosting.
So much for fading away…
“Since we’re moving everything last minute, I need you to help with some stuff to make sure it all goes smoothly,” Matt started. “Bridget is freaking out about every detail.”
“Sure, man, I can handle the bachelor party,” East said. He’d had some sweet spots mapped out in Connecticut, but he could definitely throw a party around these parts, too.
Matt laughed. “Forget the party. I need you to do more than that.”
“You did not just say ‘forget the party.’” East held a hand over his chest like Matt had just shot him through the heart with his words.
“There’s so much, East. I promise you can still throw the bachelor party, but I need your help with other shit, too.”
East nodded. “Of course. Anything.”
“Look after Natalie.”
Except that.
