Page 3 of Embers in the Dark

I continue to grab items and throw them in my weekender, making sure I leave nothing behind. I wasn’t planning to stay long, but my bag was already unpacked last night. I hate having to sift through it, even for a few days, so I immediately pulled everything out when I arrived yesterday.

I refuse to wallow in this little pity party any longer though. This ends now. The minute I leave this room, I’m leaving Tucker behind me in the process, along with everything I felt for him. I can’t keep living in the past. I’m done waiting for him to notice me when I’m not even a blip on his radar. I’m nothing to him and the reality of that is fucking depressing.

Had I walked out there and not heard about the date, I would’ve told him how I felt. What a fool I would’ve made of myself. Thank goodness I saved myself from that humiliation. I deserve better.

If I know anything about Tucker, it’s the fact he puts his friendship with Danny above everything. Nowhere near as important as my brother in his eyes. I know he won’t do anything with me in fear of losing a friendship with Danny. Even if he did like me, I don’t know what I was thinking believing he would ever consider dating me. Maybe he thought I was attractive this summer, but it was probably nothing more than that. I’ve matured and he probably just noticed that little fact. I made it out to be more than it was.

I’m better than this. Fuck this shit. I can go find my happily ever after somewhere else. I can conquer the world on my own, thank you very much. And Tucker can watch me from the sidelines.

I hear the front door close while I’m putting the last of my toiletries in my bag. I don’t let that distract me. I shoot a quick text to my roommates, asking if they have plans for tonight because I need them. This causes a slew of text responses asking what happened, and I let them know I’ll need a girls’night tonight to fill them in. They send me a few heart emojis and “love u” texts.

I zip my bag and sit on my bed to put my shoes on when a faint knock raps on my door.

“Come in,” I say as I tie my sneakers.

“Where are you going?” Danny says as he pokes his head in, surprise etched on his features.

“I’m headed back. I have an assignment due that I forgot about,” I lie.

“Can’t you get it done here?” I know he can tell I’m full of shit.

“Nope. I need to get back because all the coursework for the class is back in my room. Sorry.” Danny has no idea my feelings for Tucker have been growing throughout the years. If he did, he'd lose his shit.

I move past my brother.

“Hey,” Danny grabs my free hand, “you good?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I continue forward. “I’m just needing to get back. This paper is really stressing me out and I lost precious time I don’t have.” I shrug. My brother doesn’t deserve my attitude. I’m annoyed and I just want to get back to my place and forget about all this stupidity.

I finally look over at Danny and see him inspecting me a little longer, knowing he wants to push me, but decides against it. We’re ten years apart, but something about him right now makes him look younger.

“You know you’re the most important person to me, right Bay?” Danny pulls me into a hug. “I just want you to be happy.”

Something about his tone gives me pause. Where is this coming from?

He kisses the top of my head.

I hug him back tightly. Right now, I think my brother is the only person that might have my back. Maybe the next guy I meet will bethe one,and a better pick than Tucker Malloy.

CHAPTER 1

Tucker

PRESENT DAY—SUMMER

“You knowwe could just run off together and be happy forever,” I tell Abby as I hold her daughter Gabriella, who we usually call Ella, in my arms. We had to stop calling her Gabby after Abby kept thinking we were talking to her instead of the baby. She’s tucked in her blanket and looks even smaller because of my size compared to her tiny body.

“Right because we’re so in love?” Abby responds sarcastically from the kitchen as she speeds through grabbing her lunch. Apparently, she doesn’t get much time to herself to eat an uninterrupted meal so she’s taking advantage of this time while I hold her precious daughter.

“I love you as a friend though. Isn’t that enough?” I throw back with a wink that usually has most girls melting into my arms. With Abby, though, it just conjures a laugh. She’s one of my closest friends, that just so happens to be my fellow firefighter’s ex-wife.

She just gave birth to their daughter at the beginning of summer, and they rekindled their love recently. However, they haven’t made it official and remarried, although I do know that will soon change. He confided in me that he has a little plan up his sleeve.

“I love you too, Tucker. Am I in love with you, though? Nope.”

“Harsh!” I exclaim.

She laughs and continues, “Also, I think Clay might be a little pissed to see me pick you over him, seeing as you just got on his good side.” She sits beside me, tucking her feet under herself as she takes a bite of her salad.

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