“Come on, Tuck,” Taryn links her arm with his. “Let’s go.”
He wraps his arm around her shoulder but resists when she begins steering him behind the pier complex. “Baby, this is the wrong way for Morelli’s. The marina is further down.”
“I know. There’s just something I wanted to check first, if you don’t mind.”
Tucker follows her but begins to question our girl’s sense of direction again. “Where are we going? This is just a service road to the places along the marina. There is nothing here but loading bays and dumpsters.”
The sight of Taryn pulling on Tucker’s arm is quite comical due to the over one foot difference in their height and Tucker’s much larger frame.
“Come on, just one second.” She knocks on the back door of the club that’s opening tonight.
“Wait a second, isn’t this the back of Starstruck? Tonight is their grand opening. The owner is friends with my parents. If you wanted to come here, you should have told me. I would have gotten us an invitation. But it’s gonna be manic. There’s no way they’re going to let us in. Especially from the back entrance, they?—”
He finally shuts up when one of the bouncers opens the red, metallic door and ushers us in.
“This way, Taryn.” The burly man smiles.
We can hear the music even in the service hallway, which must be full of offices and storage rooms.
“Where are we going?” Tucker whisper-yells in Taryn’s ear when we’re instructed to climb up a metal spiral staircase. “Are you trying to buy drugs? If that’s the case, we don’t?—”
Taryn parts the gold curtains at the top of the stairs, where another bouncer just nods in silent greeting.
The room has dim lighting, and the music from the club’s main floor beneath assaults our ears.
In a matter of seconds, a loud “SURPRISE!” Covers even the music.
Tucker is stunned. I’ve never seen him speechless.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TUCKER!” Talia and all our teammates, all the girls at cheer camp, and several friends who graduated this year are there to celebrate.
“Happy birthday, Tuck!” Candace, the Zeta president who was first in this year’s graduating class, hugs him.
“Hey dude. Twenty-three looks good on you.” Her boyfriend and former teammate Corey slaps his back.
Talia throws herself into her big brother’s arms. “Happy birthday, huge pain in my butt. I love you to the moon and back.”
“Was this your doing?” Tucker squeezes his little sister into one of his famous bear hugs.
“It was. But I couldn’t have pulled it off without Taryn’s help. She made sure to run interference so you wouldn’t hear about it. Were you surprised?”
Tucker’s eyes are welling up with tears; it’s impossible to miss it even in the dim lighting of the club’s VIP room. “I’m still in shock. I’ve never had a party with all my friends. And never, ever a surprise party. I’ve only ever organized them for other people.”
“It was about time someone organized one for you.” Talia beams.
Tucker turns to look at Taryn and… fuck.
I had a hunch that my best friend was falling fast for our pretty girl, but the way he looks at her tells me that he’s got it even worse than I thought. He’s a goner.
The trouble is, I’m starting to feel the same way too. I’ve only been able to speak to her on the phone, mostly via text due to our hectic training schedules. But every new little thing I learn about her only makes me want her more. I’ve been dying to take her out on a date, to spend some alone time with her. I can’t get the night we spent together out of my head.
What the fuck are Tucker and I going to do? I don’t want Taryn to choose Tucker. Or Nash.
I’m pulled out of my mini meltdown when Jamie Hart, our star center who mentored me last year, offers me his fist to bump.
“Hey Col,” he smiles. “How are you doing?”
“Nice to see you, Jamie. I thought you’d already be in San Francisco.”
