Page 49 of Coming Home Country
“Bex suits you perfectly.” His words were said so softly that if I hadn’t seen his lips moving, I might’ve believed I had imagined them.
Without conscious thought, my fingers tangled with his. “Thank you.”
He shoved off the wall, tilting his head toward the open end of the hallway. “You ready to go back out there?”
I hummed in the affirmative. “Might need a drink to take the edge off, though.”
“You still on the pain meds?”
“Haven’t taken one since this morning.”
“Good.” He nodded. “If you can promise you won’t take another until tomorrow, I’ll happily get you that drink.”
“Deal.”
Bex was living on borrowed time. Soon, Rebecca would take her place permanently. Might as well make tonight her final hurrah.
Chapter 13
Bex
I’dforgottenhowmuchI loved dancing.
Free time became non-existent when I began law school. There was internal pressure to study hard, to make the most of the investment I’d made in myself by taking out massive loans to pay for those additional years of specialized education. Then, when I finally graduated and passed the Bar Exam, it was full steam ahead into building my career.
This was the first time in years that I’d taken days off from work, let alone gone out for a night for pure enjoyment.
I couldn’t deny that this place was in my blood, a part of my soul. Coming back here had sparked an awakening. The city might’ve suppressed the country girl inside my heart, but she was flying free now, especially while being pushed around the dance floor first by Tripp, then Colt, and finally Mac.
Giving my best friend’s fiancé a peck on the cheek, I thanked him for making sure I didn’t spend the rest of my night being a wallflower after my blowup with Aaron. He tossed me a wink and told me it was his pleasurebefore sweeping Aspen into his arms, the two of them so lost in each other that it was like no one else in the crowded bar existed.
My lungs constricted, remembering a time when I’d been fortunate enough to experience a love like that.
Almost as if the memories conjured him, Tucker appeared before me. The phantom feeling of having his arms wrapped around me lingered, and with him so close, I craved the real thing.
God, he was handsome. If I looked hard enough, I could still see traces of the adorable, albeit slightly awkward, teenage boy I’d fallen in love with, but the adult version of Tucker Grant was something beautiful to behold.
He might not have a job that required manual labor like most of this town, but the lean muscles showcased by his form-fitting clothing suggested he took care of his body. It certainly hadn’t been soft beneath me last night while I slept, and still, it was the best night’s sleep I’d had in a long, long time.
“Bex?” He cocked his head, brows drawn down.
“Huh?”
Shit. Had he been talking to me while I was busy ogling him, wondering if the naked version was even more impressive than the fully clothed one?
A corner of his lips turned up, setting my cheeks on fire as I wondered if he could see the thoughts churning in my mind to know they were about him. “I asked if you wanted to dance?”
“Oh.” I shifted on my feet.
My entire body screamedyes, but my brain warned that letting Tucker touch me was dangerous. There was a very real possibility that I wouldn’t want him to stop. Not when I knew how incredible it felt.
He gripped the back of his neck, and my eyes tracked how his bicep bunched beneath the flannel sleeve containing it. “I mean, it’s okay if you don’t wantto.”
I bit down on my lower lip hard to keep from blurting out that I wanted to more than anything in this world. The pull between us was magnetic, and with every second spent in Rust Canyon, it became harder to fight.
But I was so fucking tired of fighting. Exhausted, really.
“I could go for one more spin.” There was a finality in that statement, and my heart twisted, knowing this was the last time he would ever hold me.
