Page 88 of Finding Fate

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“Dang, Tucker, your dad can barbecue,” Cory said as he shoved another piece of sausage into his mouth.

“I know. It’s always epic,” Noah agreed after he swallowed.

Tucker would have agreed with them, but his mouth was too full to comment.

“What do you think, Hector?” Jet said, clapping their friend on the back and jerking his attention back to their table.

“Huh? Uh, yeah, it’s good.”

Noah gave Hector a questioning look. “What’s going on with you?”

“Looks like Hector’s drooling over something else besides the food,” Kyle smirked and looked pointedly in the direction their friend had been staring in, motioning with his fork.

They followed Kyle’s fork to another table where Emma sat with the twins and Tabitha.

“Since when did you like blondes, man?” Cory teased.

“Shut up. She’s hot.”

Tucker grinned. “I don’t want to hear crap from you anymore about me ‘settling down,’ Hector.”

“I said she’s hot. That’s all,” he argued.

The ragging continued for a while, all of the guys taking their turn at him while they finished their food.

Tucker got up from the table a little later. His food had settled some, and he wanted to see what was left on the patio to eat. “I’ll be back,” he said to the guys.

Barkley ran up to him with a Frisbee when he was about halfway across the lawn.

“Hey, Tucker, throw it back over here!” Chris called from the backside of the yard, where he was playing with Tyler, Chelsea, and Victoria. “We were playing keep away, and he got it!”

He pulled the Frisbee from Barkley’s mouth and gave the loveable, chocolate lab a scratch behind the ears. “Heads up!” he called before he sent the Frisbee flying back to Jet’s little brother.

“Thanks!” Chris called back and ran to catch the Frisbee before the lab could intercept it again.

He waved a quick ‘no problem’ and made his way over to the patio. “Awesome, there’re some eggs left,” Tucker thought and stuffed one into his mouth whole. He loved Izzy’s deviled eggs. They had just the right amount of tang.

“Stuffing your face again?” he heard a teasing voice say from behind his shoulder. “I honestly don’t know where you put it.”

He turned to face his girlfriend, leaning over to kiss her, his mouth still full of the egg.

“Ew, Tucker, no!” she squealed and dodged the kiss.

He swallowed and then grinned. “How about now?”

She leaned back towards him and let him kiss her. When they finished, she took his hand. “Come with me?” she asked.

Tucker looked over to the table where the five parents sat talking and laughing, pretending to judge their chances of leaving undetected. “You think there’s enough time?” he asked mischievously, knowing full well it wasn’t what she intended.

Izzy shoved his chest with her free hand playfully, and the laughter he hoped to bring out was thick in her voice. “Just come on.”

She pulled him through the door that led to the main hall of his house and around the corner to the living room.

“Wait right here,” she said, positioning him in front of the hardly used fireplace. “Close your eyes,” she instructed excitedly.

He laughed and did as she asked, curious about what she was up to. He heard her move hurriedly across the room. “Izzy, what’s going on?”

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