After locking up, I make my way into my room. I’m just pulling my shirt off when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I slide it out and see a message from Lindsay.
Lindsay: Made it home in one piece. {winky face} Thanks again for the amazing night.
Tucker: Anytime. I’m glad you had a good time. Sleep tight.
Lindsay: Night.
I set my phone in the charging cradle on my end table so it can charge for the night. I head for the bathroom, and ten minutes later, after a quick shower, I’m sliding between the sheets with only one woman on my mind. Lindsay.
6
Lindsay
“So, what’s going on with you and Tucker?” Allison asks as we walk around the lake. The fall weather hasn’t really shown up yet here in Georgia, even if we are inching closer and closer to Halloween.
“I don’t know,” I groan, looking up to the sky, hoping for some answers myself. “I don’t know what to make of him, if I’m being honest. It all started that night we went to Joe’s for ladies' night. He came over and danced with me, and it was just different. He held me like I was his, if that makes sense?” I say, almost as a question.
“Oh yeah, he had all kinds of mine vibes going on that night,” she confirms.
“After you left with Lee, he walked me out to my car and then followed me home to make sure I made it okay. Then the football game and bonfire the other night. You should have seen him during the game. I still can’t get over the feeling of him holding me for almost the entire game. At first, he just tried to play it off as there not being enough seats, and there weren’t, so I’ll give him that. But, Allison, he was so damn sweet and attentive to me. And you saw him when we were out around the fire.”
“I did, and I’d say that man has it bad for you. About time he realized it,” she says, bumping her shoulder against my own as we continue walking. “Have you heard anything from him since?”
“Nope, but I think he’s working, or maybe he’s got Paisley and is busy, or maybe I’m just reading into things too much,” I ramble.
“Definitely not reading into things. That man wants you and bad. Mark my words.”
“Maybe.”
“But the bigger question is, do you want him?”
“He makes me feel...” I pause, thinking about just what I feel when I’m around Tucker. “He makes me feel alive, like I’m beautiful and important. Even in a room full of people, he made me feel like I was the most important person there. It was almost like he was in tune with me and knew what I wanted or needed before I could even voice it. Like he was connected to my soul somehow. Thinking back on it, you could almost find it creepy how in sync we were without even trying.”
“That’s almost some soul mate-level kind of stuff going on,” Allison points out.
“I guess only time will tell if anything happens between us.”
“Maybe you should call him or shoot him a text?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“We’ve got the next three days off, maybe he’ll have time off, and y’all could go out on a date? Or better yet, invite him over and cook for him. Wear something sexy, have some music going… Tempt that man right out of his clothes and into a heap of orgasms,” she muses as we approach the parking lot where my car is. “I bet that man knows how to work the pole, if you know what I mean.” She winks at me as she bursts out, laughing at her pun.
“You’re incorrigible.” I laugh right along with her.
My conversation earlier with Allison has played on repeat all day. Should I just bite the bullet and text him? Have I just been trying to see more than was really there the last few times we’ve hung out?
I turn my attention back to the movie I turned on earlier, Forever My Girl. I fell in love with this story from the book and was ecstatic when it was made into a movie. With my focus on the TV, I stop stressing over the whole Tucker thing, at least for a little bit.
Once the movie ends, I grab my cell and realize I missed a text from my cousin Reese, earlier. Rather than texting her back, I just tap her name and call her. I’ve missed her so damn much, but she’s out there kicking ass as one of the biggest names in Country music. Between her moving full-time to Indianapolis, where her husband plays professional hockey, and her tour schedules, I hardly ever see her anymore.
“Hey!” Reese's sweet voice fills my ear as she answers her phone.
“Hey, yourself. How’s life?”
“It’s great!” she says, laughing. “Stop it,” I hear her say, almost as if the phone has been pulled away from her face. “Sorry about that; Austin was pestering me.”
“No problem, how’s married life treating you?”
“It’s really great, well, at least it is when your spouse isn’t pestering you,” she says, punctuating those last few words as if she’s trying to get her point across to her husband. I can’t help but laugh right along with her.
“Let me talk to my cousin for a few minutes, and then I promise to give her back to you,” I call out, hoping that Austin can hear me.
“I put you on speaker, so he heard all of that,” she says before I vaguely hear him grumble something in the background. “Okay, he just left the room for a few minutes, so you’ve got my full attention, so tell me everything!”
“Not a ton to tell. I work, come home, sleep, wash, rinse, repeat,” I tell her. “You’re the one with the interesting and ever-changing life. How’s Nicole doing?”
“She’s doing great, getting so big. I really need to find some time to make it home. How’s Nana?”
“Feisty as always.”
“I’m sure she is. Maybe we can come home for Thanksgiving. Austin will have to leave early, if he can come at all. They’ve got a road trip right after the holiday. I think they leave on Friday for, like, four nights, but Nicole and I could come for ten days or so, will you be around?”
“Don’t have anywhere else to go, and if you’re coming home, you damn well know that I’ll be here. I could even take a few days off to spend with y’all. Lord knows I’ve got the time off saved up, and need a good reason to use it.”
“You know you could always come out here for a few days if you want to get away,” she offers. “We have more than enough room in this big house, and I’d love to have you here. I could take you to one of Austin's games, maybe introduce you to one of the single guys,” she muses.
“A game sounds fun, but I’m not so sure about one of the guys, even if they do look pretty hot in all that gear.”
“Girlll...” she says, drawing out the word. “I don’t know how I’m not already pregnant again. I swear, my husband comes home, and I just want to jump him.”
“You go, girl. If I had a husband as hot as yours, and that was as sweet as him, I’d probably be jumping him every chance I got.”
“God, we’re bad.” She laughs.
“That we are,” I agree with Reese.