Page 116 of Finding Fate

27

The End of It

Tucker said goodbye to their families a few minutes after the game was over. Tyler and Chris had made too many trips to the concession stands, and the men were ready to get their wives away from a crowd that could potentially lead to more than just a few minutes of chitchat if they ran into other parents they knew. Attempting to help, Tucker assured Helen and his mother that he would tell Annie how beautiful they thought she looked, finally convincing them to leave.

With their families gone, he stopped by the restrooms and went to stand in his usual place to wait for Izzy after the games, chatting with friends that happened to pass by. A few paused to say hi, and he shared in their uplifted chatter, agreeing that he’d catch up with them all later at Benton Hall for the Homecoming dance.

When Noah, Kyle, and some of the other players emerged from the locker rooms, he congratulated them on their win and told Noah he’d check with Jet and the others about meeting up with them at Bob’s Diner before the dance.

He made an extreme effort to ignore Wesley as he walked by. The jerk still tried to get under his skin, sending winks Izzy’s way whenever he’d pass, and Tucker hadn’t missed the way the guy still looked at her, either, especially when he thought no one was watching.

Izzy was still trying to convince herself that Wesley only did those things to get to him, not liking that she’d dumped him or that he had kicked the prick’s ass last summer.

He wasn’t going to argue that those facts were true, but he still thought Wesley was dangerous, and he was pretty sure Izzy thought so, too, that she just wouldn’t say it because she didn’t want to believe it. He knew she was still upset with herself for dating the guy in the first place.

Annie and Emma caught up with him soon after Wesley had passed, forcing him to stop thinking about the subject. The atmosphere was still cheerful, and Emma was exuberant, so it wasn’t hard to get back into that state of mind.

He gave his small friend a congratulatory hug and teased Annie about her less than steady steps that led to her shoe removal out on the field, resulting in her whacking him in the upper arm with her hand. She tried to pass it off as playful, but Tucker knew there was irritation behind it. He laughed. It was so fun to set Annie off at times, even if it hurt a little. A fact he would never admit to her.

Finally, he could see Jet and Izzy walking their way, someone following by Jet’s side. He looked harder, forcing his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit path to distinguish the figure and realized it was Hector, except his usual strut and confident demeanor were gone, nerves in their place.

Tucker smirked and pointed it out to the girls. Annie grinned a little too when Emma’s light blue eyes lit up before darting to the ground. Tucker thought he noticed a slight flush brighten her cheeks and had to fight back a chuckle. Apparently, they might be adding another semi-regular to their group pretty soon.

“You played great, babe!” Annie cried when Jet and the others reached them. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and gave him a hug.

“I’m so glad you showered already, Jet, or I’d have to beat my sister for deliberately getting sweat all over her dress,” Izzy teased, already past the much-expected shoe incident.

Releasing her hug, Annie responded with a good-natured eye roll. “It’d wash out.”

When Izzy opened her mouth to retort, Tucker cut in to divert the potential sister quarrel. “You look pretty,” he offered.

“Thanks,” Izzy beamed, running her fingers along the scoop neck of the purple dress she’d changed into for the dance. “I was hoping you’d like it.”

“Of course,” he praised appropriately, pulling her against him to tuck her into his letterman jacket as he addressed the group. “So Noah wanted to know if we wanted to meet up with him and some others over at Bob’s Diner before the dance.”

“Oh, that sounds good. I’m starving.”

“No kidding, Izzy. I’ve seen you take in more than these two at lunch recently,” Hector cut in with a head jerk to Jet and Tucker.

Annie and Emma each smacked one of his arms while Tucker reassured his now sullen fiancé.

“Dude, not cool,” Jet snapped.

“She does not eat that much, Hector, and she is pregnant, eating for two,” Emma chimed in, her nervousness cast aside by the both predictable and thoughtless comment. “Don’t worry about it, Izzy. You know how Hector is.”

“Hey!” he called out in offense. When several of them gave him an ‘Oh, come on. You know it’s true,’ look, he shrugged in admittance. “Sorry, Izzy.”

“It’s okay, Hector,” she replied. Emma was right. They knew how Hector was. She should have expected it.

“So should we head out?” Hector asked. “I have room in my car if anyone needs a ride,” he suggested, stealing a glance at Emma.

Emma frowned in disappointment. “I’ve got my own car.”

“Well, hey,” Annie piped up, “if you want to ride with Hector, Emma, you could let Tucker and Izzy use your car. Jet’s car is kind of a tight fit for us.”

Isabel scowled. Hadn’t she told them she was fine? Annie elbowed her gently in the arm to where the others couldn’t see, and realizing that her sister was doing it more for Emma’s benefit, she relaxed and played along.

“Yeah, Emma, I’d really appreciate it. Jet’s backseat isn’t very baby friendly.”

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