Page 6 of Here's to Yesterday

I can thank my girl Rae for my eye obsession, I guess, because that’s the first thing I noticed about Tucker when I saw him upclose.

The corners of his mouth tip down under my scrutiny. “Why are you avoidingme?”

This is annoying enough to take me out of the trance I was in. Because Iamavoiding him. But I’m not telling himthat.

“Why are you stalking me?” I throw back withoutthinking.

Tucker huffs. “Stalking you? I’m not stalking you, Maura. I’m trying to get you totalkto me. To let me go to that dinner with you in Tanner’splace.”

“I already cancelled on them, Tucker,” I lie. “You don’t have to be my pitydate.”

“Pity date,” I barely hear him say as I turn back around and keep walking up thestreet.

I make it about ten feet before I realize I’m acting like a total bitch for no reason. Well, thereisa reason. I’m a little angry at the world because my brain is all mucky over Tanner, but that’s no reason for me to take it out on hisbrother.

I sigh and turn around, deciding to try and smooth things over with him. Tucker is still standing where I left him, his shoulders slumped. I walk briskly back to him, not stopping until I’m about a footaway.

“Why do you care so much anyway?” I askquietly.

He stares at me and steps closer to get out of the middle of the sidewalk. “Because I can see the toll it’s taking on you. Tanner being gone is hard. You needsomeoneto be there for you who understands all this. You need a friend, Maura. Let me be that friend foryou.”

But that’s the thing. Hedoesn’tunderstand any of this. He doesn’t get why I’m so upset about Tanner. He thinks it’s because my boyfriend is gone, when truthfully, it’s because I feel like we’re stuck, like we’re more friends with mediocre benefits than actual girlfriend-boyfriend.

“I have friends. Plenty ofthem.”

He narrows his eyes at me again and tilts his head sideways. “Yeah? And where are they when you’re clearly not okay? I can read you like a book, Maura. Don’t act like you’re the first girl Tanner’s left behind for months at a time. You’re just the only one who’s stuck around thislong.”

If Tucker thinks he’s pulling one over on me, he’s wrong, because I already knew about Tanner’s previous girlfriend. They met on his last leave, started a relationship, and she cheated on him while he was gone. End of story. They had only been together for two months, so it didn’t result in major heartbreak forTanner.

But now that I think about it, what if it was because she experienced that same thing I’m experiencing?Fuck.

“Screw you, Tucker,” I push out through gritted teeth as I try to step around him. He grabs my arm lightly and stops me from going any farther. “Let mego.”

“Are you gonna be okay or not?” he asks on asigh.

A part of me wants to smooth out my ruffled feathers because of the sweetness I hear in Tucker’s voice. He’s genuinely concerned for me. While I’m thankful thatsomeonecares, he’s not the person I want. He’s not who should be asking me if I’mokay.

I pull my arm from his grip. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for theconcern.”

He allows me to walk away from him thistime.

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