“Why not, my parents are taking care of Zoi and Rayne for the night.”
“Okay, wait right here.”
Tucker stood and grabbed their plates, taking them to the kitchen. Lucas looked around and felt a slight chill, shaking away the feeling, he stood to his feet and walked over to the table behind the sofa looking at all the pictures. He picked one up and noticed the beautiful and very pregnant brown-skinned woman with Tucker’s arms wrapped around her waist resting on her stomach. She had her head turned to the side, and they were staring at each other and smiling. Lucas saw and felt the love passing through them.
Would he ever look at me like that?
Surprised by his thoughts, Lucas cleared his throat, set the picture frame back down and picked up another with the cutest baby he’d ever seen besides his own child. She had short curly brown-blonde hair and bright green eyes that mirrored Tucker’s, the smile on her face showed that she was a happy child.
He set the frame down and looked around Tucker’s home. Everywhere his eyes landed was a reminder that this home belonged to Tucker, Rochelle, and their child. It broke his heart to know that it seemed that his friend was stuck in time and surrounded by the memories of his dead wife and daughter. Lucas couldn’t fault the man since he was doing the same thing. Now he knew what his family was trying to do for him, by pushing him to start dating and meet someone new. They didn’t want him to stay stuck in time.
“You all right?”
Lucas turned around to face Tucker. “Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know, you have this concentrated look on your face,” he said walking over to Lucas and handed him the beer. “Come on, what’s up? I know we are not best friends, but you can talk to me about anything.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “Really, it’s nothing.” He brought the bottle to his lips and noticed Tucker watching him intently. He licked his lips, and the other man cleared his throat and turned moving over to the couch.
“Okay, if you’re sure.” He sat down and took a few swigs, then looked back at him.
“So, are you ever going to let me see your bike?” he asked wiggling his brows. “Maybe take me for a ride on it sometime?”
“Have you ever been on a bike before?”
“Nope, so you will have to teach me how to ride it.”
"I find it hard to believe you've never ridden one before."
"I've never been that interested in one before now," he whispered.
They stared at each other, and there was an entirely different atmosphere that entered the room, and Lucas wasn’t sure they were talking about riding bikes anymore.
“When would you like to learn?” Tucker’s voice was low and deep, and it sent a certain chill down his spine.
“Whenever you’re ready to teach me,” he replied.
“I’m not sure you’re ready for what I want to teach you.”
“One thing you need to knowabout me, Tucker, is that I’m a very fast learner.”
“Oh really? Well then, we will see sooner or later, won’t we?”
Tucker brought his bottle to his lips, and Lucas couldn’t help but watch him. There was a sexiness to Tucker that he hadn’t noticed before now. Lucas had come to realize they were no longer talking about riding a bike, rather something was happening between them. The mood shifted so quickly he was trying desperately to keep up. The air around them seemed and felt as if they were being pulled towards each other and there was nothing they could do to stop it. He had guy friends, albeit he hadn’t been out with them in a while, but he’d never felt the kind of connection with them that he was feeling with Tucker.
Could it be that they related to each other having lost a spouse, and in the other man’s case, a child? It did pass by him that he might be reading too much into things or confusing the situation because maybe he wanted something to happen between him and Tucker. But the big question was what did he want to happen? Maybe he was looking for a friendship that was closer than the one he had with his brothers, and guys he considered to be his brothers, like Richard. Or was he looking for a lover and Tucker simply happened to be the one that was showing him attention?
“I guess we will,” he finally said.
Fuck what the hell am I doing?
* * *
“Lucas,darling, it’s so nice to meet you finally,” Shannon said air kissing both of his cheeks.
He’d gotten back to his parent's house much later than planned after spending hours with Tucker. It was their regular family Sunday dinner and his mother had invited Shannon Deets, the daughter of an old friend of his father’s when they were both a part of the Seeker organization. Russell Deets and his wife divorced when Shannon was still a child and went to live in Europe with her mother. Shannon and Russell happened to be in town and got in touch with Asher, which was how theyended up attending family dinner. Shannon was beautiful, Lucas had to admit. She wore her hair short in a pixie cut and had ink-black eyes, that went with her cream skin tone.
“It’s nice to meet you as well,” he said and was about to walk away when she stopped him.
