14. Tucker
Tucker
I’m out here waiting for Baylee to come out of her room and she’s in there like a fucking hermit. Why won’t she come out here? I even made extra food so she could have some. I know I fucked up, but she can’t avoid me forever, right?
My anxiety causes me to flip between channels until I finally settle on a game to keep my mind busy. I was an absolute ass last night and failed on every level to communicate how I felt. I just need her to give me a shot to tell her what’s going through my head right now.
Despite loving my favorite baseball team, I can’t keep my focus on the screen.
The Gaels are up by two runs, but I rub my hand down my face in frustration, because nothing matters right now except Baylee.
I just want to see her and talk to her about everything she said.
I waited for her after my run today, but then I got a call from my mom, so I was gone for a few hours unexpectedly.
When I got back, Baylee was holed up in her room and she hasn’t come out since.
Nothing is working out the way I wanted, but here I am, trying to make things right. I groan in frustration. This is my fault, but at the same time, she’s not making it easier either. Right when I’m about to get up and go to check on her, there’s a knock on the front door.
I toss the remote aside and head to the door. Looking through the peephole, I see a guy I don’t recognize.
“Can I help you?” I ask through the door.
“Hi. Um, I’m here for Baylee,” he says hesitantly. I know this isn’t Myles as I would recognize him from the photos on social media.
I open the door and find a tall young man standing before me.
“Yes?” I cross my arms across my chest, standing at my full height, blocking the doorway. I can’t help the protectiveness. I’ve got a few inches on this guy.
“Hey, boss. I’m Jacob. I’m here to pick up Baylee.” He looks up at me.
Boss? Who does this guy think he is?
“Okay. Is she expecting you?” I still haven’t let him in.
“Yes, we’re headed to a party,” he answers.
“Oh really?”
“Tucker, stop it!” She comes up behind me, pulling me aside. “Jacob, excuse him. He’s ridiculous.” She smiles at him, then looks over at me and glares. “Tucker, I’m headed out. Don’t wait up.”
“What time will you be home?” I ask her.
“I don’t have a curfew!” she throws back. “‘Night.”
Is she fucking kidding me? After what she’s been through, she expects me not to worry?
“Baylee—”
“Tucker, I’m fine.” She looks over at me.
I put my hands up. “Okay, fine. Have a good night.”
I’m not her keeper. I close the door, pissed for a whole new reason. I lean against the door, hearing her speaking to Jacob.
“Who is that guy?” I hear him ask her.
“No one,” she responds .
No one, huh? I guess we’ll see about that.
I’m getting too old for parties, and I’m not even out tonight.
But if I’m going to stick to my guns and do this right, I have to stay awake.
Baylee isn’t back yet; it’s fucking late though.
I forgot how easy it is to be in your early twenties compared to a decade older.
I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. It’s been a long week, coupled with the shit night of sleep I had, I’m dragging right now.
I was losing steam waiting on the couch, so I hopped into the shower in hopes it would wake me up a bit.
Luckily it was just what I needed. I have a shift tomorrow and I tried to get some sleep while I waited for her.
But it was pointless, because all I thought about was Jacob getting to put his hands on her all night while I sit around waiting like a fool for her to get home.
Wrapping the towel around my waist, I realize I forgot my phone out in the kitchen, so I make my way through the apartment to grab it.
I walk out and realize that I’m not alone. I was only gone a few minutes, but Baylee must've gotten home when I was in the bathroom. She’s in the kitchen, grabbing water from the fridge. She’s bent over in that tight dress, and fuck me, she’s beautiful.
“Hey, Firefly,” I say, using the nickname I gave her when she was younger.
She was always trying, and failing, to catch fireflies in the summer months.
She has always been so short, they flew too high before she could catch them.
Her brother made fun of her for it, but I always helped her catch a few.
The big smile she would beam up at me when I’d finally catch one and give it to her would instantly brighten my day, so I gave her that nickname pretty early on.
“Fuck.” She slams the fridge and turns around. “Damn it, Tucker. That’s fucked up to do to someone that just went through something traumatic like I did.”
“Shit, sorry.” I put my hands up. “I thought you heard me walking in.”
It’s then she realizes what I’m wearing, or I should say what I’m not wearing.
Her eyes go wide. I realize how well this plan came together.
I hadn’t planned it out this way, but a towel around my waist and her ogling my chest seems like a win, if I do say so myself.
She simply stares, her mouth agape and her eyes mesmerized by the tattoos lining my chest and down a portion of my shoulder.
Her eyes peruse my upper body and move lower toward my happy trail, but she tries to recover when she snaps them back up to my face.
“Did you have fun?” I ask her.
She’s biting her lip and nodding. “Mmhmm,” is her only response.
“That’s good.” I smirk. “You need anything?” I move my hand through my wet hair, flexing my biceps in the process.
I see her eyes tracing my movements.
“Baylee?” I ask her.
“Yes?” she croaks out.
I walk toward her. She keeps watching me.
At first, she doesn’t know what I’m doing.
When I walk around the island, she starts to walk backwards, and then I move closer.
She walks back until she’s against the fridge, then I lean my palms against the cool metal, caging her in—I make sure I’m not touching her though.
“Look at that,” I tell her.
“What?” she whispers.
I lean in, bending down so I’m close to the shell of her ear. “From the look of those goosebumps on your arms and the way you’re breathing—I’d say I’m someone.”
I move my nose along her jaw, and I hear her breath hitch. Her eyes move down my body, scanning every inch of me, taking in the ridges of my abdomen, the deep V, leading to where I wish I could let the towel fall to the ground. But we aren’t there just yet.
Finally, she brings her eyes back up to meet mine and the heat between us mimics the kind I’m usually putting out on a call. My eyes lock on her deep brown irises and her hands touch me just below my ribs. Fuck, it feels like she’s going to leave burn marks along my skin.
“Baylee,” my voice is just above a whisper, “my silence last night wasn’t a way of telling you I didn’t feel the same.
You caught me by surprise. Last summer, it wasn’t just you.
I didn’t just want a piece of you—I wanted all of you.
I just wasn’t sure I’d be able to let go once I had you.
And I’m not sure if I got a piece of you now, I’d be able to let you go. ” I run my tongue along my bottom lip.
She tightens her grip on me, but doesn’t say a word, so I continue.
“And Firefly, I’ve fucking dreamed of hearing you scream my name every single day since. But if you feel like this thing between us is over, you just lit a fire last night.”
I push off the fridge, leaving her behind. I already miss her warmth, but I have to make her come after what she wants.
I smirk, seeing her chest rise and fall with her breath as I saunter off.
I turn around, grabbing my phone in the process.
In a spur of a moment decision, I decide to drop the towel, exposing my back to her.
I hear her intake of break, but don’t look at her to see her surprised expression.
I can only assume it has the intended effect.
The minute I get into my room, I let the entire interaction wash over me. I look down and take in my erection and how fucking hard I am for this woman. Shit, I wanted her hands to travel south and feel how hard I was for her. I had to keep myself composed as I talked to her.
That outfit she was wearing was enough to make me blow my load.
That dress is tight as fuck, that sheer wrap she had on top of it did nothing but heighten the allure of the dress.
Add that to the fact I wanted to rip those tights and put my fingers in her panties to see if she was wet for me.
Damn it, I’ll need another shower to rub one out at this rate.
There’s no way I’ll be able to fall asleep without taking care of this.
I make my way to my ensuite bathroom and turn on the water yet again to get under the hot stream.
The minute I get into the shower, I start to stroke myself.
I close my eyes, imagining Baylee on her knees and it only takes a few strokes before my balls tighten and I’m climaxing.
I orgasm and moan her name as I grip the tile.
Fuck. I better get acclimated to my right hand because I have no idea if this thing between us is going anywhere.
I turn off the shower and towel off for the second time in the last hour.
Once I get to bed, I close my eyes and drift to sleep faster than I expected.
I dream about the deepest brown eyes and raven hair, and hope she’ll put me out of my misery.
Living like this feels like torture with her down the hall and still out of my grasp.
The next morning, I wake up early to head over to the station. I’m in the kitchen getting my coffee brewed when I hear the door to Baylee’s room open. I’m surprised she’d wake up this early after what happened last night, but I school my expression before turning around to greet her.
“Good morning, Bay,” I tell her as I take a sip of my coffee.
“Morning,” she says, confidence radiating off her. That’s the Baylee I’ve longed to see before me. I smirk behind my mug.