Oh.Oh.I giggled. “I know what to do.” I moved out of his grasp and found my to-do list on the small half-broken desk in the corner. “Do it ten more times with TJ.”I held it up, grinning at my quick thinking. “It’s on my list, so it’s official.”
“Jesus, erase my name! What if Aaron sees that?” he asked, jumping from the bed and yanking it out of my hand. He took a blue pen and went to cross it out, but I stopped him.
“Woah, woah, woah, don’t mix inks.”
“I’m sorry, you spoke a different language. What?” He gave me an incredulous look, torn between laughing and disbelief. “Don’t mix inks?”
“Yes, I only use black on that list. If you want me to cross out your name, I’ll do it.” I took my stuff back and let my touch linger just an extra second on his firm pec. “You’re quite yummy, Tanner, but if you fuck with my list, I’ll hurt you.”
“Noted.” He held up his hands in the air and jutted his chin at the paper. “What name are you going to put then? You can’t just writedo it.”
“Oh, this could be fun. Hm,” I said, moving back to the bed and leaving room for Tanner to join me if he wanted. He did. He looked over my shoulder when I flipped to another page and began writing names.
Chris.
Peter.
Joe.
Jude.
“You could be a Jude.”
“No, fuck no.” He took a deep breath and struggled to say something for about fifteen seconds. Then he said, “Put Tallen.”
“Tallen?” I scrunched my nose and realized I had no idea where my glasses were. “Shit! Where are my—”
“These ole things?” He held them up and placed them on my face. “Those goddamn glasses. They started all of this.”
“How’s that?”
“You wore them, looking all sorts of cute and you kept pushing them up your nose.” His smile had my legs feel wobbly again and it got worse when he reached out and pushed my frames up my nose. “These goddamn glasses.”
It’d be easy to lose myself in his stare, and that wasn’t something I wanted, so I used the only defense mechanism I had—awkward humor. “They say eyewear can be quite sexy. Are you aneyeman, Tanner?”
“I’m an everything man.”
I scoffed and pointed to the paper. “Now, why Tallen? I picture someone with that name as a lumberjack. Plaid, vest, beard that’s two feet long.”
“My family calls me that.”
“Is your middle name Allen?”
“Good guess,” he replied, shifting his position an inch away from me. “One of my brothers called me Tanner Allen and the other shortened it to Tallen. Even my mom calls me that.”
“Tallen it is.” I wroteTallenon my list and showed him. “Do it with Tallen ten times.”
“Better make it twenty, to be safe.”
Chapter Twelve
Tanner
My plan was shot to hell once I kissed Kenzie good night and went to my room. It was only eight on a Saturday night and I had two missed calls from my sperm-donor father.How dare he call me after what he’s done?I squeezed my phone in my hand, hoping it would someone break. But I knew I couldn’t do it. My weekly Sunday call with my mom was the next morning. She’d be working her second job now, her best friend and neighbor checking in with the boys, and it did no good to worry her. We’d agreed that ifhefound me or reached out to me, it’d be okay. I lived thousands of miles away from them and he had no idea what their new last name was.
Seeing his name come up on the screen sent white-hot rage through me. I opened the voicemail and reluctantly hit Play.
‘Hey, TJ, was in the area and thought we could grab a meal together. Been watching your stats, you’ve been playing real well, son.’
