Page 85 of Here's to Yesterday

“Because it means we need to keep looking. Daren obviously isn’t a good fit for you if you can’t live without writing. You need it. We need to find a company that lets you doboth.”

She’s one hundred percent correct. I need to keep searching for someone who’s going to let me craft my own music from scratch. I’m not going to let this shitty experience sway or deter me from pursuing a label to signwith.

“I love it when you say ‘we.’ Gets me all warm and fuzzy inside.” I smirk ather.

She pins me with a glare. “Don’t tease me, Tucker Bentley. I will throw things atyou.”

“Pfft. Like I’m scared of you. You’retiny.”

“Just because I’m tiny doesn’t mean I can’t hurtyou.”

Her words make my heart momentarily stop beating.Hurt me.I know she means physically, but I’m more worried about my heart in this situation, not my balls. I mean, I am kind of worried about my balls since that’s probably as high as her short legs can kick, but I’d be a fool not to be worried about myheart.

“Oh, I have no doubt you can, Maura,” I say a bit tooseriously.

She gulps loudly enough for me to hear. “But I’ll do my best notto.”

I know she’s talking about the same thing I am, so I nod my head once, letting her know I’ll do my besttoo.

I go back to staring out the window as she goes back to sipping on her shake. We’re quiet and it’s nice. I don’t feel like we need to force conversation between us, that we can sit here and enjoy each other’s company for awhile.

The waiter, who seems to have a permanent scowl, comes by and drops off our check without a word. Maura grabs her purse, and I race to pull out my wallet, tossing down enough to cover the bill and a decenttip.

She puffs out a breath. “I can pay for my half, Tuck. It’s not adate.”

I bring my hand to my chest. “Damn, girl. You sure do know how to bust a guy’s heart. I thought for sure this was and that I was wooing you with the excellent cheeseburgers and angry customerservice.”

Maura lifts her hand and pinches her fingers together. “Close.”

“Obviously. Come on,” I say as we scoot out of the booth. “Want me to drop you offanywhere?”

Her shoulders fall as we head toward the door. “Oh. I, uh, I thought we were gonna hangout.”

“Geez, Maura. I didn’t know you were so attached to me.” I glance over to find her mouth hanging open and her beautiful ice-blue eyes wide. “Joke. It was a joke.” She swats me on the arm for it. “Of course I want you to come hang out with me. But there’s this thing I have to do first if that’sokay?”

Something I’m very,verynervous to do with her. Something that only Hudson knows about. But I know that if I ever want to have a relationship with Maura, she needs to know everything about me. No matter how scared I am to share it withher.

She nods, slipping her hand into mine as we cross the parking lot. “Ofcourse.”

* * *

“Why didn’tyou say we were coming to Mic’s?” Maura asks as I park thecar.

I don’t say anything as I exit the car and run around to her side to open thedoor.

(Dudes, if you’re reading this, do that shit every once in a while. Chicks digit.)

She doesn’t press the issues as we walk across the parking lot and into the building. There’s still about an hour before it opens, and she either doesn’t notice or she doesn’t say anything. Either way, I appreciate it all thesame.

I turn to Maura as the door slaps shut behind us. “This isn’t public knowledge, so what you’re about to witness stays between us. Okay?” My request is met with a nod. “No, I need you to promise me. Say it outloud.”

Her eyebrows slant instantly. “You’re starting to scare me,Tuck.”

“Trust me. Please? This is parttwo.”

She considers me for a moment, staring at me with a heavily confused expression on her face. It takes a moment orso for her to relax and agree. “Fine. I promise I won’t say anything. But if you’re a damn drug dealer or doing anything illegal, I’m out. Of all ofthis.”

I bristle instantly at her accusations and offensive words.Illegal?I mean, a small part of me gets where she’s coming from, because I’ve given her zero information and asked her to trust me. But still. Sheshouldtrust me. We’ve been friends for too long and been…whatever long enough for us to build trust. Or at least that’s what Ithought.

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