Page 27 of Zero Pucks

God help me if my brother ever found out what a mess I’d made of that night. “Killian can never know,” I said suddenly.

Ford looked over at me and rolled his eyes. “We don’t talk to that douche.”

Boden just nodded, which was as good as a promise carved in stone, then turned back to Ford. “Come by tomorrow after your shift.”

Ford nodded, then blew me a kiss and headed out the front door, closing it so loudly it shook the walls.

“Remind me to make him open and close that door until he learns not to slam it,” Boden snarled, sounding a little too much like my dad when I was a kid. “Now. You. Time for bed.”

“Are you fucking serious right now?” I demanded.

He sniffed. “No, actually. Shower first. You smell like sweaty butt-crack. Then get your ass in bed.”

I stared at him in horror. “You’re a terrible friend.”

“No, I’m not. You’re meeting this guy tomorrow for the first time that the two of you will remember, and you might never see him again. Do you really want the one thing he remembers about you to be sweaty butt-crack?”

Fuck my life, but he had a point. And hell, maybe if I was lucky, I’d turn into bubbles and rinse down the drain and not have to deal with this pesky being a person shit ever again.

CHAPTERSIX

AMEDEO

The first thingI did before leaving for Massachusetts was cut Bryce out of my life like an infected wound. I’d blocked him on the few social media apps I used. Then I handed my phone to my sister and had her block all of his close friends and family so he couldn’t use their accounts to stalk me.

Everything I had was private now, and I wouldn’t be accepting any new follows or friends until everything was done.

I was going off Bryce cold turkey. That was the only way I was going to get rid of him.

It was nice to think about that for a while instead of the shit-show that had become my attempt to meet Tucker. I was still reeling from seeing his friend standing at his door, and for a few minutes, I’d gaslighted myself into thinking I’d imagined half the stuff I remembered from Vegas.

Then the guy—Ford—introduced himself properly. He was sweet enough to apologize for hitting on me at the store—which I hadn’t realized he’d been doing.

He told me that Tucker would be home any minute, and he’d invited me inside.

And then I ran like a goddamn coward.

If he hadn’t called me, there was every chance I would have gone full chicken and left town without ever seeing him. It would have been the cruelest thing I could have done because I knew exactly how that would have made me feel, knowing my random Vegas husband had come into town and then ghosted me. But I wasn’t a brave man.

I never had been, never would be.

Staying with Bryce for so long was proof of that.

But Tuckerhadcalled.

I nearly threw up all over my lap when I heard his voice, but it triggered another wave of memories of that night. I could picture his face when he laughed, and the way he always turned his head far to the side when he was looking at me, and how he clung to my arm like he needed me.

And God, that had felt so good because when had anyone ever needed me? The answer to that was never. Alessia treated me like I was a lost puppy from our childhood. Bryce treated me like a convenient fuck when he was bored and a verbal punching bag when he was irritated. I was good at my job, but I was nothing and no one special.

I didn’t really have any friends either, so…

Yeah.

Tucker made me feel different. Like no one ever had. It was no wonder I was a complete and total dipshit that night and made the mistake that might have ruined everything. Hell, I hadn’t even asked if Tucker had a partner. Maybe I’d ruined not only my own relationship but his too.

I was going to fix this, damn it. Whatever it took.

I found a café that looked a reasonable distance from where he lived and managed a text to him shortly before midnight, which was way after I told him I’d be in touch. He didn’t respond, and while that was a little gutting, it was also well deserved.

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