Chapter 3
Tucker
“What’s pissing you off today?” Caleb, one of my regulars, turned around and looked straight at the booth Lucy was sitting in before turning back to me.
My eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “You’ve been shooting daggers at those two for the last hour.”
“I have not.” It’s been more like an hour and a half.
“Uh-huh.”
I guess I needed to cool it. But the last four nights of having to watch Lucy on dates with a bunch of douches hadn’t been fun, and tonight’s was especially difficult to watch.
Every other evening, Lucy had looked bored as shit.
The only time she’d perked up was when I raised the signs I’d made for her.
But tonight she hadn’t looked my way all evening.
She was too busy laughing and doing the things she did when I flirted with her—blushing, running her finger along the base of her wine glass to avoid eye contact, and playing with her hair.
Caleb lifted his beer to his mouth and smirked. “You’re doing it again.”
Fuck. I was. “I’m just keeping an eye on my sister’s friend. The guy she’s hanging out with seems like a real douche.”
“Oh yeah? What makes him a douche?”
I shrugged. “Side-parted hair, that stupid I-work-on-Wall-Street zip-up vest, teeth that are too white and too perfect.”
Caleb’s smirk widened. “Hot for your sister’s friend, huh?”
“Just watching out.”
“There’s watching out and then there’s watching. You’re doing the latter, my friend.”
I waved him off and went to turn down the annoying music my sister had put on.
If I had to hear Mariah Carey sing “All I Want for Christmas is You” one more time, I might break a speaker.
Between the decorations, my hands being sticky from tonight’s crushed candy cane brim martini, and the same holiday tunes on repeat, I felt like I was going out of my mind.
On that note, I looked over at Lucy again, just as she threw her head back in laughter. Yeah, it’s the Christmas crap that’s making me pissed off, not watching this shit.
A little while later, I refilled Caleb’s beer.
“You know,” he said. “I used to have a pretty big crush on my best friend’s girl.”
I shrugged. “Oh yeah? Did you make a move?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Bro code. I spent five long years watching him not appreciate the good thing he had. Eventually they got engaged, and then I watched him break her heart when she caught him cheating a month before the wedding.”
“Damn. That’s tough. Do you still keep in touch with her?”
Caleb smiled and lifted his left hand, displaying a shiny, gold wedding band. “Every night when I get home. After they split, I woke up and took my shot. I finally realized I didn’t want to live with regret and grew some balls.”
His story hit home, though when I looked over and considered whether it was finally my time to take a shot with Lucy, her date was holding her damn hand across the table.
It was another half hour before he left, and I was put out of my misery. At least she hadn’t gone with him. Lucy came over and sat at the bar, like she had each night this week, but I kept my distance until she finally waved me over.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing. I just wanted to say hi. You’ve been busy.”
“Hi.” I pointed to the nearly empty wine glass she must’ve brought with her from the table. “You want another?”
She shrugged. “Sure, why not.”
I poured her usual and set it on a coaster, then proceeded to wipe down the bar around her without saying anything.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know. You seem…off.”
“Everything’s just peachy.”
Lucy’s brows pulled together.
I didn’t have an excuse for being a jerk, so I thought I should at least make an attempt at conversation. “I guess you liked this one, huh?”
She shrugged. “He was a nice guy, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t know. Something was missing.”
“Like…?”
“I’m not really sure. On paper, he checks all the boxes—good job, funny, handsome, doesn’t live with his mother at thirty years old.”
“Feelings don’t come from checked boxes.”
“I guess.” She shrugged again. “Maybe it was just my mood. I think I’ll go out with him again to see.”
I clenched my teeth so hard, it gave me an instant headache. “You can’t force chemistry to exist where it doesn’t any more than you can force it to not exist where it shouldn’t.” I met her eyes. “Trust me, I’ve tried.”
***
And then there were three.
Caleb, Lucy, and I were the only ones left in the bar at closing time. Lucy usually took off before now, though her sticking around tonight had cooled the anger I’d felt earlier.
I headed to the front window and clicked off the OPEN sign. When I turned back, Caleb was getting up from his stool. “You have a good night, Tuck.” He patted me on the shoulder as he passed and lowered his voice. “Remember, don’t live with regrets, man.”
I walked around the bar and locked the register. “You want another glass of wine?”
“I should probably get going,” Lucy said. “I can’t believe I stayed out this late on a weeknight.”
I nodded toward the door. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
Flurries started almost as soon as we walked out. Lucy smiled. “This is the first snowfall of the season.”
“I guess it is.”
“Quick, close your eyes. If you make a wish as the first snow starts falling, it’s supposed to come true.”
I watched as Lucy closed her eyes. A devious smile crept over her face before she opened them again. “Did you just wish for something dirty, Miss Snow?”
“No!” she said waaay too quickly.
“Uh-huh.”
“How about you? Did you make your wish?”
I shook my head. “I wasn’t sure if it was only the first person’s wish that would come true. I didn’t want to beat you to it.”
She smiled. “Aww…you’re even a gentleman with snowflakes. That’s sweet. But I don’t think it’s limited to one person. So go ahead, make a wish.”
I closed my eyes and asked the gods of snow for something I’d wanted for a very long time. After, I pulled up Lucy’s hood, and we started on our way.
Lucy’s house was about a quarter mile from the bar, in the opposite direction of mine. But the houses we’d grown up in were right next to each other. In fact, we had to pass the street we used to live on during our walk.
When we arrived at the corner of Cherry Lane, I pointed. “Want to take a detour? Pass our parents’ places?”
She smiled. “Sure. I haven’t gone by my mom’s house since she moved to Florida three years ago.”
“Same. I haven’t been down this street since I loaded the U-Haul to move my parents to the condo they live in on the other side of town.”
We slowed as we came to houses 404 and 406. “Want to know a secret?” I asked.
“Who would ever say no to that question?”
I chuckled. “I guess not too many people.”
“What’s your secret?”
“Yours was the first boob I ever saw.”
“What? How?”
I pointed up to what used to be my bedroom on the second floor of my parents’ house.
“My room had a direct view of your yard, of your pool. One day, I was looking out the window, and you were getting out of the water. Your bikini top shifted as you climbed out. I saw your boob. The left one, to be exact.”
Lucy laughed. “How old were you?”
“Eleven.”
“Did you like what you saw?”
“I still remember it, don’t I?”
She chuckled. “That means you owe me a peek at one of your body parts.”
“Happy to oblige, Snow. Happy to oblige.”
A few minutes later, we arrived at Lucy’s place. It was decorated with strings of very uniform white lights and a simple wreath on the door. “Your house looks nice. You should’ve decorated the bar instead of my sister.”
“It sort of looks like someone vomited Christmas in there, doesn’t it?”
Lucy unlocked the door, and then there was an awkward moment. It felt like the end of a date, and I should kiss her goodnight.
“Well…” She looked down and ran her foot along the doormat. “Thanks for walking me home.”
“Anytime.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek, then moved my mouth to her ear. “And let me know what body part you decide you want to see. Ball’s in your court. I’ll be waiting.”