Page 27 of Finding Fate

“You’re disgusting. I have no idea what Izzy sees in you.”

“Do I detect a bit of jealousy?” Wesley smirked again. “That’s why you can’t stand me all of a sudden, isn’t it? You want her.”

“I care about her a lot more than you do. She’s one of my best friends,” Tucker replied, making sure to look Wesley dead in the eye. He didn’t want to give the jerk any satisfaction.

Wesley stared right back at him, undeterred. “Oh, I think it’s more than that.” He polished off his soda, threw away his cup, and picked up Izzy’s water. “Don’t worry, man; you can have her as soon as she gets out of bed and makes me a sandwich,” he said, walking off to meet the girl they both desired for entirely different reasons.

Tucker lunged, but something strong and hard caught him around the middle. He fought to pull away, to go after the jerk, but he couldn’t break free. “Damn flu. If I hadn’t been sick, I could’ve gotten him,” he thought as Jet pulled him back and forced him into a chair at a nearby table.

“Dude, calm down. He was trying to piss you off. You go after him, and he wins.”

“But he deserves it, man! Did you hear what he just said?!”

“Yeah, I did, and we both know that Izzy isn’t like that. He’s just trying to get to you.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t trust him or Izzy’s judgment lately, and she’s too angry to listen.”

Jet sat down next to Tucker and shook his head. “She’ll figure it out. He’ll slip up eventually. But in the meantime, you need to convince her you’re telling the truth.”

Jet was right. He had to fix things with her. Even if she refused to ever be with him, he cared about her too much to let Wesley do that to her. He spotted Emma out on the dance floor by herself and decided to join her while he waited for his chance.

* * *

Isabel dropped her heels on the floor near the door with several other pairs and sat on the bench to rub her feet. She didn’t need to hurry back to Wesley just yet. He had stopped to talk to his friend David, a guy from school he’d made fast friends with after the move, when she’d said she’d needed a break. Reaching for her next foot, she saw a familiar pair of jean clad legs approach to take the seat next to her.

“What do you want, Tucker?”

“To talk.”

“Seriously? After what you did?”“Give me one good reason why I should listen.”

“Because you had promised you would hear me out yesterday and not freak out.”

“Crap, he’s right.”She dropped her foot, looking up to give him her cold stare. “Fine, but make it quick.”

“I didn’t lie. I don’t know when it started happening or how, but I know that I have feelings for you…more than you just being my best friend.” Tucker paused, and his brow crumpled. “I didn’t even know that Annie had been giving you crap about Wesley. I don’t like him either, but I wish she had kept her mouth shut because then you might have listened to me.”

Isabel listened, her expression unreadable as she wondered if what he said could be true. Did Tucker really like her? Could it really have not been some cruel prank or plan? Her heart raced at the thought, at the possibilities, but she quickly shut it back down.

“Knock it off,” she inwardly chastised, forcing herself to remember those boundaries. “Even if he’s telling the truth, it doesn’t change that you’re with Wesley. That you want Wesley.” The words did she lingered at the edges.

Isabel pulled her hair behind her ears as she searched for what to say. “Tucker, even if you are telling me the truth, and you do like me…I’m with Wesley now.” She watched as Tucker’s jaw clenched and unclenched, things so tense between them. “What do you want me to say?”

“What do I want you to say?” Tucker said quietly, sarcastically. “I don’t know. Maybe I want you to say that you like me, too. That you realize what a jerk Wesley is, that you would rather be with me than him…”

So they were back to this crap. “I am so tired of everyone going on about what a horrible guy Wesley is. He’s sweet with me. He’s fun to be around. We care about each other.”

Tucker’s eyes narrowed, his voice tightening in frustration and anger. “Is that all you can focus on? Out of everything I just said to you, you decide to dwell on that… Do you have any idea what he said to me earlier when you left for the restroom? He started bragging about girls that he’s slept with since he’s been dating you.” Her eyes widened. “Two of them, in fact. And they are in this dance hall tonight. God only knows if there’s anymore.”

“That’s a load of bull,” she retorted, refusing to believe that the guy she had allowed herself to like, date, and kiss, the guy that she’d fought with her friends over, would be sleeping around behind her back.

“Is it, Izzy?” Tucker fumed. “He also told me that I could have you after he has had sex with you, and that’s putting it nicely!”

“This is ridiculous. Okay, maybe there’s a chance Tucker likes me, but there is no way that Wesley would do or say those things.”“I don’t believe you,” she said softly, getting up to grab her shoes.

Tucker scowled. “Yeah, what credibility would a man whore have, right?” She flinched when he threw her spiteful words back at her. “What I don’t get is you believing a guy you’ve only been with a few weeks over a friend you’ve known over thirteen years. There’s something seriously messed up with that, Isabel.”

She stilled at the use of her name, her shoulders stiffening; she set her jaw. “Maybe I just prefer not to listen to guys who make things up because they’re jealous!” she retorted and stomped off to find her date. To think she was starting to forgive Tucker. What he just did was way over the line. She couldn’t stand to stay there any longer.

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