Page 51 of Here's to Yesterday

“He has such a pretty mouth when Joey’s not around,” Isay.

Tucker laughs. “And he wonders why her piggy bank is so full.” Hudson says something again, but I can’t hear it clearly this time. “All right, I gotta go before I have to dick punch him. See youlater?”

The hope I hear in his voice makes me smile briefly. But then I frown because I shouldn’t be smiling at that. And he shouldn’t sound likethat.

What the fuck are you doing, Maura? He’s still your boyfriend’s brother. Your. Boyfriend. You have one of those. Stop being a flirt. Stop encouraginghim.

“Listen, Tucker, Idon’t—”

“Forget I said it, Maura,” he interrupts. I hear the regret and guilt in his voice. He hates this as much as I do, feels just as horrible as I do. “I…I gotta go.Later.

Silence meets my ear. I set my phone down and toss my head back infrustration.

I want us to be able to say things like that to one another, to spend time together one-on-one without it feeling so wrong, without feeling guilty over the fact that I want him sobadly.

But I can’t yet. Not until I end things with Tanner, which won’t be until I see him again, because I owe him that much now that I’ve finally admitted to myself—and to Tucker—how Ifeel.

It would be wrong of me to do anythingless.

I’ll avoid spending any time with Tucker outside what isnecessary.

There! That’s easy enough.Done.

Once I finish scrubbing down the table I was working on, I head up to thebar.

“You good, girl? You’re stressed,” Bennycomments.

“Meh. I need to catch a freakin’ break isall.”

“Boytroubles?”

“You could saythat.”

Benny gives a dramatic shiver. “They can suck sometimes. I know all about ‘em, sweetheart. They only get worse withage.”

“Gee, thanks for the peptalk.”

He throws a wink my way and moves down thebar.

The rest of my shift flies by, and before I know it, I’m heading home to my favorite pair of sweats and possibly icecream.

As I’m digging in my purse to find my keys, I’m not paying attention to what’s in front of me, so when he speaks, he scares the shit out ofme.

“You know you should always walk through dark parking lots with your keys in yourhand.”

I yelp loudly and jump back about threefeet.

“Fuck, Tucker!” I yell, clutching my chest and dropping my keys on the ground. “You scared the shit out ofme.”

He walks the four or five feet to me and bends down to pick my keysup.

“Sorry,” hemumbles.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, taking the keys from his outstretched hand, careful to avoid touchinghim.

“Was in the neighborhood,” he says, rocking back alittle.

I give him a don’t-feed-me-bullshit look. “And the realreason?”

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