I’d been wondering about Tucker for a long time.
“So why’d you two break up, anyway?”
She made a vague, evasive sound and looked away at the game booths.
“Shelly. What was that you said about opening up?”
She sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Arealgirlfriend would tell me,” I said, pressing in. “And since you’re my fake girlfriend pretending to be my real girlfriend, you have to tell me. Those are the rules.”
She turned and looked up at me, her lashes fluttering in a way that was clearly deliberate and devastating. “You’re playing dirty.”
“Always.”
She groaned and leaned her head on my shoulder for a second as we walked. “I wasn’t in love with him. That’s why.”
Huh.Imagine that. My chest loosened, and I felt like I could breathe again. She’d dated Tucker forwaytoo long.
“I’m glad you broke up with him,” I said, before I could think better of it. “I hated you with Tucker. It was a bad match.”
Shelly blinked. “Jealous? Of Tucker?”
I scoffed. “Naw. Of course not. It’s just that… we couldn’t couch-cuddle while you were with him. That was a serious problem for me.”
She bit her lip, fighting a smile. “That was a serious downfall, I’ll admit.”
Then I tried a little more of that honesty she’d been preaching and added, “I missed you when you were with him. That’s all.”
Then I playfully added, “So you should never date anyone again. We’ll just couch-cuddle forever. That’s a fine plan.”
Shelly agreed, laughing, and leaned into my side as we walked.
Then she added, “But I might want more than that someday. You know. A white picket fence, babies running around. You’ll have to get in all the couch-cuddling you can before someone else snatches me up and gives me a few of those.”
Babies.
If Shelly was entering the breeding phase of her life, that meant I was going to lose her real soon. I’d watched my sister go through that phase.
When she got babies on the brain, she couldn’t think about anything else until she’d achieved her mission. I was now the proud uncle of three little nieces.
That burned in my chest a little, and I told her, “Shelly-Rae, if I ever marryanyone, it’ll be you. That way we can couch-cuddle forever.”
But she didn’t take me seriously. No one ever did.
Hall and his girl, Cassidy, spotted us in the crowd. Then, a minute later, Zane and Mallory showed up.
That was the end of our private date time, evidently.
We all fell in together naturally, talking and laughing like we usually did, although I noticed a few curious glances coming our way.
All of us decided to head over to the axe-throwing contest at the far end of the grounds. I kept my arm around Shelly’s waist as we walked, and she fit there perfectly.
She laughed at something Mallory said as we walked, her whole face lit up and happy.
Shelly was practically glowing.
I’d been catching eyes on us all day. It was a small town, and people noticed everything. Not that I’d been exactly subtle at the Bear Den last night.
