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“I don’t know, y’all,” I said, exhaustion lacing my words as I slumped forward, leaning against the cool edge of the kitchen counter. “Of course I’d find the one man who doesn’t think I’m too much, and he’s dead set on leavin’ town the minute his work here is done.”
I hadn’t wanted to have this conversation—not now, not ever, really. But it’d been three days since that kiss in the corn maze, and my mom and sisters had finally had enough of my evasive maneuvers, cornering me like an intervention. They wanted answers, and they wouldn’t let me slip away from it this time.
To be fair, it had also been a busy three days. I’d worked back-to-back twelve-hour shifts, and when I wasn’t clocked in at the hospital, I was hanging out with Tucker, Colton, and Austin. Phoebe had been glued to our side, too, doing her best to charm Austin and make him feel right at home in our little town. And while Tucker might’ve been a grumpy flirt with me, always throwing some sarcastic remark my way, I could tell he still wasn’t thrilled with how attached Austin was getting to this place.
Laney, cradling Cole in her arms, rocked gently as she cast me a sympathetic glance. “What did Tucker have to say about it?”
“About what?” I blinked, trying to sound like I hadn’t been obsessing over this for days.
“I don’t know… the kiss. What it means, I guess.”
“Nothin’,” I admitted, my shoulders sagging a bit. “We just kinda slipped into this boyfriend-girlfriend routine since that’s what’s keepin’ the town off our backs, anyway.”
“Okay,” Aubree chimed in from where she stood next to Momma by the stove, biting her lip. “But you haven’t talked about the fact that the kiss—and all the rest of these boyfriend-girlfriend things—seem a little more intense than they should after such a short time.”
I shrugged, trying to play it off, even though I could still feel the weight of that kiss, the way it had unraveled me. “I don’t think he’s the type to talk that kinda thing out. He seems to be doin’ exactly what he said we should do: explore this uncertain thing between us without worryin’ about what’ll happen in the future.”
Aubree crossed her arms, her expression a mix of concern and frustration. “This sounds an awful lot like Dr. Dummy makin’ you feel like it’s okay to have a secret relationship for ‘your own good.’”
Laney winced, closing her eyes, and Momma hissed through her teeth, turning slightly from the stove. “Aubree, you know I don’t like talkin’ about that man in this house.”
I grimaced, not wanting to go down that road again. “It’s not like that, Aubs.”
Aubree’s arms tightened around herself, her eyes narrowing. “But you’re still doin’ what you always do: goin’ after a man who will only break your heart because he’s emotionally unavailable.” She looked to Momma and then Laney for backup. “Right?”
I glanced at each of them, feeling the tension rising in the room. Momma finally put down the spatula she’d been using on the scrambled eggs, turning to face me fully, her eyes gentle but direct. “Sugar, you do have a knack for fallin’ for men who won’t hurt you.”
I blinked in confusion. “Isn’t that the goal…?” I paused, frowning as her words caught up with me. “Wait, that’s not true. If anythin’, it’s the opposite.”
Momma shook her head, her lips pressing into a sympathetic smile. “I disagree. They might hurt you a little bit, but not the big kind. Not the real pain that comes with a broken heart. You protect yourself from that by pickin’ these poor excuses for men who wouldn’t know real feelings if they bit them on the butt.”
My mind immediately flashed to Tucker’s butt injury, and I almost laughed, imagining him warning me not to make a joke about it if he were here for this talk. The reminder made my stomach flip. What was I going to do when he left town, and all I had were memories?
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” I asked, frustration creeping into my voice. “We’re already knee-deep into this fling, and I’m not gonna lie, the idea of callin’ it off just because he’s emotionally unavailable doesn’t sit right. He’s areallygood kisser, y’all.”
“So don’t call it off,” Laney suggested with a big grin, but her words earned her a heavy sigh from our other sister. She turned to Aubree. “Oh, hush, you. What’s got you so doom and gloom this mornin’, anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be the romance-novel-lover who encourages stuff like this?”
“Not when it comes to Kota,” Aubree said, her voice a little softer now as she glanced back at me. “I don’t wanna see her get hurt. And yes, I agree—hurt for real this time, not just puppy love kinda hurt.”
I shifted uncomfortably, heat rising to my cheeks. “Y’all, it’s not that deep, okay? We’re havin’ a fling, and it doesn’t have to be a big deal. Let’s just drop it for now.”
“You’re lyin’ to yourself, Dakota Jolene,” Aubree muttered, narrowing her eyes at me in that older-sister-knows-best way.
Momma swatted Aubree lightly with the spatula, her tone firm but teasing. “Be nice.”
I bit my lip, trying to push down the mix of emotions swirling inside me. Maybe Aubree was right. Maybe Iwaslying to myself. But after three days of feeling like I was floating between this amazing fling and the very real possibility of Tucker leaving for good, I didn’t know how to stop. How to pull myself back from the edge.
A sharp knock at the door interrupted the conversation, and Laney glanced over, curiosity sparking in her eyes. "I’ll get it." She handed Cole off to Momma, then disappeared into the hallway. Barely a second later, she returned with a mischievous grin on her face. “Kota, you should answer it.”
I raised a brow. “Why me?”
Laney’s grin widened. “Because he’s tall enough that I can see his hair in the window at the top of the door, and I have a feelin’ that means it’s for you.”
My heart did a strange little flip in my chest. Tucker. Of course it was. “Oh, yep! Sounds like it.”
I stood, smoothing my hands down the front of my sweater, trying to calm the nerves suddenly buzzing through my system. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him since the kiss—we’d been together almost every day since. But something about the possibility of this beingtheconversation made my stomach do somersaults.
Momma, sensing my hesitation, called out from the stove with a teasing smile. “Good luck, honey. And remember, don’tdo anythin’ on the front porch you wouldn’t want on tomorrow’s front page!”
