There's so much more I need to learn about Tucker, especially if I'm going to spend a lot of time with him. I know almost nothing about him other than he's obviously handsome, smart and ambitious. In high school, my eyes only saw Colton. I didn't take notice to anyone else.
Tucker gazes down at me like I'm the prettiest girl he's ever seen. "Pinch me," he whispers in my ear.
"What?"
"Pinch me, because I think I might be dreaming right now," he says with a chuckle.
I grin up at him. "You really did like me back in high school, didn't you?"
"Liked you? Penny, I loved ---." He stops talking suddenly, and his steps falter. We stop dancing at the edge of the parquet floor, and he quickly looks away. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. God, you probably didn't even know my name back in high school."
I close my eyes for a moment. All the times Tucker asked me out come rushing back. I turned him down time and time again. I feel like the worst person in the world right now. What would one homecoming dance have hurt? We could have gone as friends. But no, I was too blind by my love for Colton to even consider the idea of doing anything without him.And look where that got you, I think to myself.
I open my eyes, and Tucker is staring at me with a serious look on his face. "Tucker, I'm sorry for the past. I should have said yes, even just once."
His lips curl up into a cute smile. "You're saying yes now. It makes up for all of the nos before." He dips me down low, makin' me laugh. Then he leans down until our lips are almost touching. He doesn't kiss me. Instead, his eyes search mine for permission. "I can't wait to be in New York with you, Penny," he whispers while his mouth inches closer to mine.
My hands tentatively wrap around the back of his neck, and I pull him closer until our lips meet. Then he gives me one of the most amazing kisses I've ever had in my life, and I'm glad he's holding me in his arms, because my legs refuse to hold me up any longer.
* * * * *
COLTON
I'M SITTIN' AT a table across the room, still seethin' from the heated argument Ruby Sue and I just had. She was reprimandin' me for dancin' with Penny. No one is gonna keep me from doin' whatever the fuck I want to do. Hell, Ruby Sue is the reason why I'm in the mess I'm in. If she wouldn't have come cryin' in her beer that night, I wouldn't have fooled around with her. Maybe I drank too much to remember anything that happened after I went to bed, but she clearly took advantage of my kindness. She has some nerve tellin' me who I can and can't dance with when she just told me about theboyfriendshe broke up with.
I didn't even invite her here tonight. She just showed up and automatically gravitated towards me. She's definitely not makin' things easy on me. That's for damn sure.
My eyes scan the dance floor, and they fixate on Tucker and Penny. I can't keep my eyes off of them. It's like I'm obsessed. Every little touch that he gives her body makes my anger spike even higher. I can't stand that they are here together, and I wish I could just close my eyes and make Tucker disappear.
Tucker and Penny.
Even their names sound like they are meant to be together.Fuck. Shakin' my head, I take another swig from my beer. I'm in one hell of a mess, and I need to find a way out of it and how to fix things between Penny and me. Watchin' her shakin' her cute little ass out there on the dance floor made me want to take her in my arms and hold onto her forever. I helped her learn the line dance, and she was so damn adorable watchin' me and gigglin' when she messed up the steps. And when I couldn't let her go, we slow danced, but only through part of the song that eerily describes our situation. I could almost hear the gears in her pretty head grindin' as she let the lyrics set in. She was comparin' us just like I was. She is my past. But if she thinks Ruby Sue is my future, then she's gotta be out of her mind.
I let Penny pull away, and I didn't miss the tears in her eyes. I know she was upset, and that's exactly why I let her go. If she would just give me a chance to try to fix all of this, I would. Damn it, I'd do almost anything to get things back to the way they were before Ruby Sue spent the night. I felt somethin' I haven't felt in five years --- happiness. Penny makes me feel all sorts of things, and I don't want to lose her. I may never be able to be healed, but I want her to try.
I take a long pull of my beer as my eyes dart onto the dance floor for the millionth time. I look up at the worst possible moment. Tucker dips Penny down low. She's laughin' that musical laugh of hers that I can hear in my head because she's too far away for me to actually hear it right now. Then she grins up at him with a look that I can only interpret as adoration.
Tucker leans down. The closer his lips get to hers, the more anxious I get. They're gettin' way too close for comfort, and I have to wonder if Tucker is gettin' lucky tonight. After the shit I pulled, she could easily jump into bed with Tucker as payback. Penny told me she hasn't had sex with anyone other than me. I take pride in that, for some reason. It makes me happy, and it makes me fuckin' hard to know I'm the only one who's been inside of her. She's mine whether she'll ever admit that to herself or not.She's mine.
Penny leans up, wrappin' her hands around his neck and closin' the distance between them. His lips meet with hers, and all I see is red. My jaw clenches tight. I'm practically seethin' from every pore of my body. He kissed her. He kissed Penny --- my Penny.
When they finally come up for air, Tucker holds her tight as if he'll never let her go. That should be me out there holdin' my girl. I quickly stand up from my chair, and I watch as Tucker's eyes search around the room until they stop on me. He mouths a couple of words and winks, and it takes me a minute to figure out what he just said.
I win.
I think back to the other day in the bar when Tucker told me he was goin' to take Penny away from me. And now he's tellin' me that he wins after kissin' her. Is this all a fuckin' game to him?
In that moment, somethin' snaps inside of me, and my legs are movin' before my brain can even comprehend where I'm goin'. I can hear Buddy and Ruby Sue callin' after me, but I ignore them. I make a beeline through the crowd and head straight for them. Tucker still has Penny in his arms as I step up beside them. Penny pulls away, and her eyes widen as she stares up at me. She opens her mouth to speak, but she can't even get a word out before my fist is slammin' into Tucker's jaw.
He falls to the floor and gasps in pain. I hit him a lot harder than I should have, but he deserved it. He stole somethin' precious to me all for braggin' rights, and I'm makin' him pay the price for it.
My vision is tunneled and black around the edges as I stand over Tucker enraged, waitin' for him to stand so I can punch him again. "Get up!" I yell. My hands curl and uncurl into fists over and over again as the rage runs through me like scorching hot lava.
"Colton James!" Penny's voice breaks me out of my trance, and her pretty face slowly comes into focus as she cups my face in her hands. "Why would you do that, Colt?" she asks with tears in her eyes. "What the hell did you do that for?"
Ruby Sue suddenly appears at my side, pullin' me away from Penny. She looks pissed. What else is new? "What're you doing, Colton? Why did you punch that guy?"
I shake her off my arm and stalk out of the room. Ruby Sue is hot on my heels as I walk into the parkin' lot.
