“Good. Very good. But, Maura? Don’t break his heart, okay? Tuck’s a good guy. He doesn’t deservethat.”
A bark of laughter flies out of my mouth, and I finally peek over at him. “Gaige Addams, are you giving me ‘the speech’? That’sadorable.”
His lips don’t even twitch at my teasing. “Iam.”
“I have no intentions of breaking his heart, Gaige,” I tell himseriously.
He considers my statement for a moment, eyeing me with those dark brown soulful eyes of his. “But that’s not apromise.”
I shrug and look away again. “It’s all you’re getting until I get a promise mine won’t get broken either. It’s a two-waystreet.”
He stands up and takes two steps before he quietly says, “Or three, in yourcase.”
Asshole.
* * *
“You about ready to head out?”
I look up from my phone to find Tucker standing over me. I was so focused on what’s on my screen that I didn’t see himcoming.
Glancing back down, I read the text from Tanner one more time.I’m sorryis all itsays.
Forwhat?
I assume he feels like he’s done something wrong to warrant me not talking to him these past few days. His assumption would be both true and false. I’m still peeved at him, but I’m also pulling a bitch card and trying to distance myself fromhim.
I put my phone back in my pocket along with all my Tanner-relatedworries.
“Ready whenever you are,” I tell him, standing up andstretching.
I don’t miss the way Tucker’s honey-colored eyes scroll down mybody.
And I don’t miss how much I enjoyit.
His appraisal is slow and intimate, but I think a lot of that has to do with how deeply he can see me. It feels like when he stares at me, he methodically peels away all my layers at his own leisure, like he’s stripping me down to my soul, seeing me for everything that I trulyam.
I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t like it. But I like everything when it comes to Tucker. I like the way he makes me feel, the way he grins at me, the way he laughs with me. I like it when he’s serious. I like it when he’s relaxed. I like itall.
I likehim.
“Maurie?” Rae says cautiously, walking up behind us. “Can I have amoment?”
Tucker cocks his head and silently asks me ‘what’s up,’ so I give him a small nod that tells him ‘not now.’ He takes it for what it is. “I’ll give you girls amoment.”
I don’t turn around and face Rae immediately, schooling my face into an indecipherablelook.
“Please stop being mad atme.”
That makes me turn around. “Stop being mad at you? I’m not mad, Rae. I’mdisappointed.”
Her eyebrows lift at the use of the word, because she knows that’s Maura-speak for worse thanmad.
“You were treating me liketheydo in there, trying to make decisions for me. You know how I feel aboutthat.”
Translation: I fuckinghateit.
“That’s not at all what I was telling you,” she tries to explain, stepping closer to me and lowering her voice. “I want you to understand something, Maura. Look at me.” And I do because staring into Rae’s eyes and talking to her is like seeing into her heart. When she requests you do that, it means serious business. “You need to know that what you’re feelingisokay. I promise. It’s okay. You can have feelings for both of them. But you cannot keep living your life for everyone else. You cannot keep toeing the line and doing whatever the hell it is you think you’re supposed to do. Throw it all out the window. Follow your fucking heart for once, Maura. Beyou.”