Page 56 of Here's to Yesterday

Setting down the forkful of fries, I give Tucker my undivided attention. “Tucker, I want you to listen to what I’m about to tell you. Okay?” He nods slowly. “You’re the most talented man I have ever met.” He opens his mouth to argue with me. “No,” I say, holding up a hand, and he snaps his mouth shut. “No arguing. I wouldn’t lie to you; I have nothing to gain from doing so. You have raw, captivating, unmatchable talent. If you decide the take on the world of recording, you’re gonna smash it. I promise that. You havenothingto worry about. If anything, I’m the one who should beworrying.”

I pick my fork back up and continue to gorge on my fries, ignoring Tucker’s stare that’s burning into me. He’s a hard guy to ignore because I only last about ten seconds before I’m peeking up at him to find a smirk on hisface.

“May I talknow?”

“I guess,” Itease.

“What do you have to be worriedabout?”

I sigh. “You leaving. I like you, Tucker. I think we established that already. You’ve also become someone I enjoy spending my time with. I don’t want you to leave, and I know you’ll have to. But I also understand that you have dreams—attainable dreams, I might add—that you need to pursue. Follow your heart, Tuck. Follow themusic.”

He closes his eyes briefly at my words, and I’m not sure what it means until he opens them back up and inhales sharply. The look he’s giving me is telling me I’m about to hear something he shouldn’t be saying but is going toanyway.

“But what if my heart and the music point in differentdirections?”

Yep. He shouldn’t have saidthat.

My eyesight blurs from the sudden rush of blood pumping through my body, and my damn heart starts hammering loud enough that I have to peek around to make sure no one else can hearit.

“Fuck,” he curses. “I’m good at putting my foot in my mouth,huh?”

I say nothing, because what is there to say tothat?

Tucker shifts uncomfortably and clears his throat. Switching gears again he says, “So, I’ll call him,then.”

“And I’ll go withyou.”

“Deal.” He takes a sip of his water and sets it back down. “How are things withTanner?”

I toss down my fork and sigh. “You sure do suck with wordstoday.”

He winces. “Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have gonethere.”

“No, no, it’s fine. The sad part is that youshouldbe able to go there. But it’s awkward as hell when youdo.”

He grunts, and I’m not sure if it’s with approval or distaste. “Friends, Maura,” he says. “We’re friends. They talk about this shit with eachother.”

I nod because he’s right. This is only a lunch between friends, and there’s no real reason I shouldn’t be able to talk with him about this if we are indeed justfriends.

But you’re breaking up with his brother for him.Wait. No.I am not! It’s for me. For.Me.

“Anyway, things are…things? Still the same. We haven’t talked as much these past fewdays.”

Tucker hitches up his brow. “You’re oddly okay withthat.”

I let out another sigh. “I am and that’s fuckingterrible.”

“Can I ask you a personal question?” I shoot him aReally, jackass?look, considering he just asked me about how things are with his brother. He snickers. “Exactly what is wrong with your relationship with Tanner? I mean, is it the distance? Do you not connect? Is it thesex?”

“Tucker Cameron!” Ihiss.

He throws his hands up in defense, and the edge of his lips twitch. “Sorry, sorry. But it’s something I’d ask myfriend,” he mutters. “So?”

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I tell him, “We’re too alike in ways. He’s different from who I assumed he was, and things are different from how I believed they’dbe.”

He scrunches his eyebrows. “Tooalike?”

“You ever watchShrek?” His turn to give me aReally, jackass?look. “So, we have layers like ogres. We present ourselves one way to the world while we’re different people. Only when it comes to Tanner, up until recently, I believed it was his real self he’d been showing me. But I question that now. And I question how I show myself tohim.”

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