sitting on the back of a sofa, sipping a bottle of beer. I smiled as his eyes met mine, happy to see a familiar face. I made my way closer to him, wondering why he looked so pissed off.
He nodded his head as I approached, taking another drink.
“Hey,” I said lamely as I turned to look over the crowd.
“Hey. Where’s Tucker?”
I glanced around but couldn’t spot him.
“He went to get us some drinks.” I tucked my hair behind my ear as I stood on my toes to see better.
“Hmm . . .”
“What?” I turned. He shook his head and pointed with the neck of his bottle to a table set up along the far wall, lined with drinks of every variety. Tucker was nowhere in sight. I pulled my eyebrows together as I searched again, wondering where he’d gone, feeling an inexplicable sense of jealousy knot in the pit of my stomach.
Suddenly, two arms wrapped around my body, pulling me back into him. The smell of coconut mixed with beer filled the air around me. He held a bottle out in front of my face as he kissed my neck.
“Have you been smoking?” he asked as he turned me around to face him.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Bathroom down the hall,” he replied. I glanced back at the spot on the couch where Eric had been sitting, but it was now empty.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head, feeling like an idiot. His free hand slid onto my hip bone and pulled my body back againsthis. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back onto his shoulder. His fingers scrunched the fabric of my dress as his hips slowly began to move with the music from the guitar, grinding into my backside. His breath blew across my neck as his lips hovered dangerously close to my skin. I knew I wasn’t ready to take things further with Tucker, but my mind and my body had two very different ways of thinking. I pushed back against him and he hissed between his teeth.
“God, I missed you.” His lips finally kissed their way up my neck toward my ear. I swallowed hard, not wanting to push him away. My mind was spinning as his fingers splayed over my stomach, and my body tensed involuntarily as I thought of the baby we’d lost. His lips pulled back from me and his forehead rested against the side of my head as he tried to get his breathing under control.
“I’m sorry.” He tightened his grip around my waist and hugged me from behind.
“Don’t be. You didn’t do anything wrong,” I tried to reassure him.
“Get a room.” Chris laughed and both of our heads shot up to see him smiling at us.
“Hey, man,” Tucker said as he released me and came to stand beside me.
I took a long drink from my beer and tried to calm my emotions.
“Where’s Terry?” Tucker asked.
Chris glanced around the room before spotting Lizzy and Terry making out like high schoolers in the corner.
“He’s professing his love to his groupie.” Chris rolled his eyes and laughed, but he didn’t seem very happy.
“She seems nice.” I always had to put my two cents in.
“She would fuck him over in a second. I guarantee it.” He pushed his dark hair back from his face.
“Maybe you’re jealous,” Tucker jabbed. Chris exaggerated his shocked expression.
“Of that? Hell no, man. I am not the marrying kind.” He winked at me and grinned from ear to ear as he took a drink. “Why pick one when I can have a different one every night?” He gestured to the sea of women around him. I made a gagging sound and rolled my eyes, causing Chris to laugh even harder.
“Maybe you just haven’t met the right one,” I added, glancing at Tucker and feeling my cheeks blush.
“I am having too much fun with all the wrong ones.” He glanced back over his shoulder at his brother before sighing. “I miss my brother, though. I haven’t had a moment alone with him since Lizzy showed up.” Tucker patted Chris on the shoulder.
“Let’s get you another drink.” Tucker linked his fingers with mine, and we made our way over to the table that was loaded
Robert Kirkman, Jay Bonansinga