He chuckled then turned his head when female laughter drew his attention. Wendy scowled at him then at the girls. Of course he was going to blatantly check them out. Why not? And why should it bother her?
It didn’t.
Wendy’s jaw ached from grinding her teeth. She hated this feeling—the fact that Tripp seemed to be on top of the world when he wreaked so much havoc in other people’s lives. It wasn’t fair.
A lightbulb in her head suddenly came on and the fury that had been simmering in her chest eased. Wendy brandished a smile—the only clue that Tripp was about to taste a little more of her wrath.
His own smile fell and he straightened. His eyes narrowed and when she glanced at the girls, he swung his head around toward them.
Louder than was necessary, Wendy said, “I’m sorry, Tripp, but the pharmacy is all out of that Imodium you needed. You’re going to have to go to the next town over.”
“What? No,” he stammered, glancing at the girls who were now staring at him with what could only be adjacent embarrassment. Their voices hushed and they turned from him as they started whispering and one of them giggled nervously. A growl slipped from Tripp’s lips and he slammed his palms down on the counter, but she spoke before he could.
“I told you never to eat sushi from the gas station. You just can’t trust them.” She had to bite back a laugh as she continued to lay it on thick. “Sweetheart, we’re just lucky that you made it to the bathroom in time. Hopefully you can get to that pharmacy just off the freeway before you have to…” She made a show of looking him over then lowered her voice to an exaggeratedly loud whisper. “use the bathroom again.”
She’d never seen that color of red on a man’s face. Not ever.
Wendy held a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter as the girls who’d been eavesdropping shuffled out of the shop.
“Why did you do that?” Tripp snapped.
“Do what?” she asked as innocently as she could manage.
“You know what.” he seethed. “There was no need.No needto do that. I came here to ask for a truce. I didn’t want to make things worse for my cousin. He deserves enjoy his wedding without having to worry about what shenanigans you’re planning.”
She arched a brow. “Shenanigans? Really? How old are you?”
Tripp’s hands balled into fists and he leaned close again. “You know what? Who cares about them, right?” He jabbed a finger down on the counter between them. “This? This means war.” With that declaration, he spun on his heel and charged from the shop.
It was minutes later when Wendy realized she might have made a grave mistake.
What had she done?
CHAPTER FOUR
Tripp yankedout the chair with a frustrated sigh. “Another one,” he muttered.
“Shh,” Leo murmured but there was no missing the grin on his face.
“You can’t be telling me that this is normal. What is going on with your brother, man? How many of these events are we expected to attend?” Tripp glanced around the private room at the Steer House. There were less people here than at the last pre-wedding event.
One person specifically was absent.
Every time another person entered the room, Tripp glanced in that direction. His heart would race and his breathing stalled. But then he’d see yet another one of his cousins.
Mack and Lacey were the current source of his disappointment. They smiled at those already in attendance. The table was filling up and now that Tripp was paying attention, he noted there weren’t nearly enough chairs for the number of people who were at the first barbeque.
He leaned closer to Leo. “Who’s supposed to come to this one? We’re missing chairs.”
Leo cut a glance at Tripp. “This is just for the brides’ maids and the groomsmen.”
Tripp nodded.
“Stop,” Leo muttered. “Your glee is showing.”
“What?” Tripp asked. “I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re smiling.”
