Page 38 of Waiting for Redemption

“Alright, fine.” Tank swipes the ticket from the counter and glances over at me. For the first time in days, he actually looks like himself.

“You think our seats are next to each other again?” He laughs, looking over the ticket.

“Well, we’re on the lawn so… you get tostandby whomever you’d like.” He lets out a disapproving grunt then flicks the ticket and slides it in his pocket.

“Then I guess I’m standing by you.” He winks at me and then disappears through the kitchen door. I brace myself for their reactions, but nothing could properly prepare me for these three.

I glance at Shane, Leah, and Lauren and they’re all staring at me with their mouths hanging open. Shane’s finally snaps shut before she begins talking.

“Since Taylor isn’t here, I’ll say it. What the shit was that,ma’am?” she says, impersonating Taylor perfectly.

“Nothing,” I deflect, but none of them break.

“Try again,” Lauren says, folding her arms over her chest.

“What? Can we not just be friends?” They all look at each other in disbelief.

“Sure.Only problem is, friends don’t look at friends likethat,” Shane says, pointing to the door Tank disappeared through. I zone out looking over at the pool table, remembering the dream I had, and the night we spent talking and dancing.

“Oh, my god!” Shane exclaims, jarring me from my thoughts.

“What?” I ask, matching her urgency.

“I know that look.” She glances over at the pool tables. “You guys did it on the pool table too?” she whispers excitedly, leaning in closer to me.

“What? Oh my god no!” I rush out, making her sit back looking at me in confusion. “We just… we stayed late one night and did some shots andtalked.I told you, we’re just friends.” The three of them study me for a moment and when they come to the conclusion I’m telling the truth, they hesitantly drop it.

“The pool table, Shane? Really?” Leah says, redirecting the conversation. Shane shrugs and her cheeks instantly turn red.

“Atta girl,” Leah says, and we all burst out laughing.

I try not to dwell on what Shane said, “Friends don’t look at each other like that,”but it’s kind of hard not to when I spend so much of my time wondering if his looks, his winks, or his flirty remarks could mean something more. I keep telling myself I cherish our friendship too much to jeopardize it, but what if it wouldn’t jeopardize anything. What if it could open a door to an opportunity for us to become something even better?

* * *

I never have been the country music type, but ever since moving to Nashville and gaining a girl group that lives and breathes it—it’s starting to rub off on me. I still stay true to my own taste but I don’t mind rocking a pair of black cowboy boots with cutoffs and my favorite Bon Jovi T-shirt.

Max and Tank both look less than thrilled to be here, but God knows they’d rather be miserable here than let us come alone. I respect that about them, and I know Tucker would be right by their side if he were in town. Having friends who will protect you no matter what is something my soul has desperately wanted for so long, and now that I have it I can’t imagine ever having to live without it. While Shane, Leah, and Lauren all talk around me, and Max has his head on a swivel like a guard dog, I notice Tank staring at a group of guys not too far away, but he looks completely spaced out.

“Tank.” I walk closer to him, but he doesn’t seem to notice or hear me. I gently bump his arm with my shoulder, finally breaking him out of his trance. “Hey, you okay?” He grunts in response, rolling his neck as he begins scanning the area around us.

“Honestly? I’m not sure yet. There’s so many goddamn people here. I hate it.” His blunt response takes me by surprise since he usually just brushes things off asfine—but not tonight.

He squares his shoulders back, taking in an exasperated breath as the same group of guys start hooting and hollering. The concert hasn’t even started yet so I’m sure Tank and I are thinking the same thing right about now—this is only going to get worse as the night goes on.

“How about this-” I grab his hand and his eyes finally focus on me. “Just stick with me tonight. Focus on me when you feel like it’s getting to be too much, and if that still doesn’t help, we can go somewhere quiet or we can just leave,” I offer with a smile.

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to be the reason you have to leave, and I really don’t want people askingwhywe’re leaving.” He cuts his gaze to the rest of our group, before looking back down at me.

“No one will ask why. Just pinch the inside of my hand if we need to take a minute, and if you decide you wanna go, just leave the explaining to me. No one’s going to know anything is wrong unless you want them to.” I squeeze his forearm, getting only a nod in response.

“Thanks, Honey, I owe you one.” The corner of his lips turn up into a sad smile.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” I wag my eyebrows, making his knit together in confusion. “I’ll take a Jack and Coke, thanks.” I smile brightly at him, making his smile grow into one that makes me think he actually feels it. I wrap my hand around his bicep and call back to the rest of the group.

“Going for drinks, we’ll be right back.” As I turn back around, I almost run into a group of people that are coming down the hill. Before I can even blink, Tank has his arm around my shoulder pulling me into his side. I was already taking every one of his veins to memory while touching his arm, but being tucked beneath his shoulder with the sandalwood and musk scent that’s easily become my favorite sending my senses into overdrive, I may never leave his side.

“This may be the shortest concert you’ll ever attend,” he says, shooting me a warning look.

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