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Tucker sighs at me. “Then what is it?”
“I liked you better when you were asleep,” I grumble.
He tears open the gummy worms. “Why are you such a sour puss?”
“It’s nothing.” I shake my head. “I’m fine.”
Damn, I know he’s going to drag this out of me.
“Then it’s a woman,” he quips.
I don’t answer.
He grins because he knows he got his answer. “You spent the night with a woman!”
I say nothing and stare out the window. Because it wasn’t just a woman. It felt like the woman. And I don’t even know how to tell him that I spent one night with a woman who rocked my entire world. She made me feel so alive. I felt more like myself than I have in years. It’s like time stopped. I escaped the stress hanging over me and was just present and in the moment with Jolene. Or whatever her real name is. She was amazing. And now...she’s gone. And it sucks. And yeah, maybe I’m pouting about it. It’s justified.
He laughs and settles in as if he’s about to tune in to his favorite show. “Tell me everything.”
“I did spend the night with someone,” I admit.
He slaps the armrest. “I knew it!”
I hesitate, and he notices. “How did you meet?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say trying to buy time. Trying to figure out how to tell him it was just one night, and I don’t even know how to find her. He’s going to think I’m a lunatic.
“Well?” he presses.
“One night. We just met.”
His eyebrows disappear into his hat. “You got like this...after one night?”
I shake my head. “I met her at the bar. She was amazing.”
“The famous last words of every cowboy who caught feelings.”
“I didn’t catch feelings.” Oh, but I really did.
“You folded, brother.”
“I don’t fold for anyone,” I deny.
“You folded like a lawn chair.”
I laugh at his words. Tucker is hilarious. And he always helps me work out whatever is going on. He and I get each other like that.
He tosses me the gummy worms, and I catch them. “So, what happened?”
“We just...” I smile before I can stop myself. “Mostly talked.”
“You talked? That’s great...” he says, looking at me like I’m a weirdo.
“And we laughed a lot. It was fun.”
“Uh-huh. What kind of fun?” He wiggles his eyebrows like a moron.
“We wandered around all night. Oh, and we did mechanical bull riding.”
