My brows pull together as I turn back to him. “Wait. Why are you picking me up…and why are we going to your place?”
He shoots me a quick look, his smile almost…sheepish.
“Oh. I just assumed…” He shrugs one shoulder. “With me going away, I figured you guys would stay at the house. When Lucas and Josh came by earlier, they had bags, so…”
“They came with overnight bags?” I cut in.
“Yeah.”
I close my eyes briefly, then shake my head, a disbelieving laugh slipping out. “I feel like the universe is conspiring against me.”
“Is it so bad?” he asks, his thumb brushing absentmindedly against my thigh. “Staying at my place?”
My mind flashes to last night. To his hands. To his mouth. To the way I completely, recklessly, forgot every reason I had for keeping my distance.
I exhale slowly. “No,” I admit, my voice quieter now. “It’s…so good, Tuck.” I turn my head, meeting his eyes. “And so risky.”
He nods once, understanding exactly what I mean. But it makes me wonder…why is it risky for him? What’s at stake?
“Tonight,” he says, a hint of restraint threading through his voice, “I’ll keep my hands to myself. I need a good night’s sleep before we fly to Edmonton.”
“Speaking of your hands…” I start, shifting slightly toward him. “I never did put lotion on them last night. How are your calluses?”
The second the words leave my mouth, my traitorous brain supplies the memory of the rough drag of his skin against mine. Heat curls low in my stomach, and I clear my throat, trying very hard to look unaffected. His grip on my thigh tightens—just a fraction.
“Better,” he says, voice rougher now. “But I could probably use that treatment.”
I glance at him sideways. “Medical necessity?”
“Absolutely.”
“Of course it is.”
“You’re not just trying to get me to play doctor, are you?” I ask.
That pulls a big laugh from him, and then he winks. “No. But now, the whole time I’m away I’m going to be thinking about that.”
“Me too,” I admit, shaking my head. “Me too, Tuck.”
He leans closer, just enough that I feel the heat radiate off him. “Good,” he murmurs. “Because when we get back, and you start looking at me with your vagina…I fully intend to schedule a follow-up exam.”
Girl, you are in so much trouble.
13
Tuck
The thought of Maria and the boys at my place while I’m here in Edmonton hits me harder than any check I took tonight. A strange kind of warmth settles low in my chest knowing they’re all there.
Truthfully, my house is too big for one guy. Always has been. Too quiet. Too clean. Too empty. But not with them in it. With the boys tearing through the halls, Marbles skidding across the hardwood, and Maria tucked into my study. No, my place is louder. Messier. Alive.
It feels like the home I grew up in. The home I have longed for. And that right there, that’s the problem. Because I’ve played house before. I know exactly how that story ends—doors slamming, silence where laughter used to be, and me standing in the wreckage wondering how the hell I didn’t see it coming.
So yeah. No. Not doing that again.
Better to keep things simple. Keep it physical. Keep it easy. Keep my emotional distance. Especially from the boys, who sometimes look at me like I can walk on water. Like I could be…permanent.
Yeah. That’s a line I can’t cross. Because the truth is, this. Maria and I are playing a dangerous game and as much as I hate to admit this to myself, I’m already in too deep.
