Page 37 of Finding Fate

He didn’t want to make matters worse than they already were by staying here tonight. That would just be asking for a fight, and this time there would be witnesses. And he’d just bet Wesley would jump at the chance to press charges, too.

No sooner had they started to make their way through the crowd, than a windblown mess of strawberry blonde curls bounded out in front of them.

“Do you care to explain yourself?!” Lisa shrieked, drawing the attention of anyone nearby.

“Ugh, I’m not going to get a break from this girl, am I?” He groaned, fighting to stay polite. “Lisa, calm down.”

“I will not calm down!” She threw her hands on her hips, her curls bouncing as she moved. “I thought we had something. I told you I would wait for you to be ready, but instead…but instead…” She huffed in hurt frustration, “I find out that you’re here with her!” A hand flew up from her hip, and her finger pointed in Izzy’s face.

Tucker pulled Izzy behind him. He looked up as a small crowd started forming around them to watch the show. Wesley’s eyes met his, and a devilish grin spread across his face.

“Shit, we need to leave.”He swallowed, searching for any remnants of restraint. “Lisa…I’m going to say this nicely one more time. There is nothing between us. Now please move out of the way so Izzy and I can go.”

“No, I’m not through with you yet! How can you just act like there’s nothing between us?! After we made love!”

That was the last straw. His patience was gone. He could see Wesley moving in toward them, getting closer by the second, and by the look on his face, Tucker knew that a fight was sure to start if he didn’t get them out of there.

“That is it! I’m through being patient with you! We never made love. It was just sex. A onetime mistake! That’s all! I don’t want to be with you! I never have! I’m with Izzy! Now move!” he yelled and stepped past her, pulling Izzy along with him by her hand.

Tucker fumed all the way to his truck. He held the door open for Izzy, who still hadn’t spoken, and did his best to calm down before getting behind the wheel, not wanting to ruin things any more than they were. Once he made it out of the sand and back on the paved road, he watched Izzy’s reflection in his windshield. She pulled her legs up, resting her head against her arms. “I’m so sorry,” he told her, “I wanted tonight to be special for you.”

She turned to him, confusion covering her face. “What are you talking about? Tonight was special.”

“But what about Lisa? You didn’t need to deal with that. And Wesley almost made it over to us.” There was no way she should be okay after all that.

“Tucker, you love me,” she replied quietly. “I’m still riding on that cloud right now. The other stuff doesn’t matter.”

“How can it not matter? Lisa just got in your face in front of a whole crowd of people, and she’s delusional about having a relationship with me.”

“Because I’m in love. We’re in love, and it’s the best feeling in the world.”

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