Zoi was excited to see her new friend and hardly left his side. Tucker didn’t seem to mind having her around. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and he seemed to want to cater to Zoi’s every whim. She wouldn’t go to bed unless Tucker was there to tuck her in and kiss her good night. Last night wasn’t such a good night, and Zoi had refused to go to sleep until Tucker got home. Lucas had no idea how his daughter had gotten so attached to the other man so quickly.
He’d called Tucker on his cell while praying he hadn’t interrupted anything too important. It was a good thing Tucker was already on his way home, and within minutes of him walking through the door, Zoi had finally fallen to asleep. Lucas wondered if Zoi reminded Tucker of his daughter, he saw the sad looks in his eyes sometimes when he’d look at her.
“Yeah, what’s that?” he finally asked.
“What made you decide to be a part of the Seekers organization?”
Lucas sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Two reasons, one is more of a selfish reason than the other, really.”
“And they are?” Tucker asked turning in the chair to face him, resting his ankle on his other knee. His legs were open a bit, and Lucas' mind wandered if Tucker was wearing underwear under his sweats.
“I wanted to be a hero or be seen as one, at least. That’s the selfish reason,” he said clearing his throat. He’d never told anyone that before, not even Rebecca. “And the other, I really wanted to save people, you know? When my dad approached Tyler and me with the idea, I was all for it. Not only was he an agent, he’d been with them since the beginning, and I had no idea. I had always seen my dad as a superhero, and now that I knew he really was. I couldn’t pass it up.”
Tucker was silent and stared at him, and for the first time in his life, he felt nervous as if he’d said something wrong. But he told the truth, and in part was tryingto impress the man sitting next to him.
“You are pretty awesome, you know that right,” Tucker said to him. “Everyone wants to be a hero, Lucas. It’s not a selfish reason at all. Fuck, it’s partly why I joined the FBI or why some guys become cops, firefighters, or even joined the military. But they never admit their reasons. I admire your honesty.”
“Thank you,” Lucas said ducking his head hoping to hide the blush he knew was plastered all over his face.
“I’m only telling you the truth,” he said. “Hey, look at me.”
Lucas raised his head, and his eyes connected with Tucker’s and what he saw scared and excited him at the same time.
“We all have to be selfish sometimes, there’s nothing wrong with that,” he whispered, his eyes seemed to be boring into his soul.
Lucas felt as if the words were lightly coursing over his skin and he shivered hoping Tucker didn’t notice. He looked away to reel in his thoughts and emotions. Maybe he really was reading into things, and nothing was happening between them. And the crazy thing was he was afraid to ask if Tucker was feeling the vibes between them the way he was. Movement beside him caused him to turn his head to see Tucker sitting on the edge of the couch with his elbows on his knees.
“What’s the second thing?” he asked not looking at Tucker. He was feeling something and needed to change the subject.
“Where did you get the scar?”
He leaned back and looked at Tucker. “What scar?”
Tucker didn’t answer he simply reached over and traced a line starting from his lower stomach to the front. He held back a gasp feeling Tucker’s finger softly stroking the line on his stomach. “This one.”
His words were so low Lucas almost missed what he said, his finger tenderly grazing over a scar he’d somehow forgotten he had until that moment. Tucker looked up at him but didn’t remove his finger nor did Lucas ask him to. “I got shot a couple years ago on a case.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Lucas licked his lips, the words washing over him, and knew Tucker meant it even if he wasn’t the one that caused him harm. “It wasn’t your fault. Want to know what’s crazy?”
“What?”
“This scar covered a smaller one that I had since I was a kid.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Lucas answered.
They were silent for a few long seconds gazing at each other. Lucas felt heat and arousal churning inside of him. Tucker blinked quickly and snapped his hand away as if realizing what he was doing and stood to his feet.
“I think I should go,” he said rubbing the back of his neck.
“Wh-what, why?” Lucas asked shocked, wondering if Tucker felt his attraction towards him.
“I just think it would be better if I did,” Tucker said getting up and walking by him.
Thinking quickly, Lucas grabbed Tucker's arm stopping him from getting too far. “Look, if I said or did something to make you want to leave just tell me and let me apologize for it. Christen and Tyler keep telling me I don’t have a filter and I’d have to agree with them.” Lucas knew he was babbling, but he really didn’t want Tucker to leave. “I—”
