Page 19 of Tell No Lies

Talia leaned forward to look at us. “Normally, I would get mad if any of you bailed on more girl time, but I’ll understand if you ditch us for Richie Rich.”

“Oh, stop it. You guys know that’s not why I like him. And besides, we’re just getting to know each other right now.” The blush was back in full force.

“I give it until the end of the trip before you guys are official.”

Mckayla shook her head. “No way, Talia. I give it until tomorrow night. He has the whole day planned for her!”

I smirked as Cassie’s face turned red. “Guys, stop.”

Talia and Mckayla looked confused.

“It will be a done deal by the end of the night.”

We all started giggling, but when Cassie dropped her face into her hands, we lost it.

Alexis came back in the middle of us laughing. “What did I miss?”

Cassie gave us another dirty look. “They’re convinced Caleb will make us official by the end of the night. Apparently, they find joy in embarrassing me.”

Alexis scanned us and nodded. “You’re surprised?”

I put my arm around Cassie and hugged her. “We just love you. I’ll admit I’m a teeny, tiny bit jealous. You guys are cute together.”

She looked shocked. “Oh, Aubrey! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to rub this in your face or anything. I just got so excited.”

I stopped her before she could continue. “Cassie, I’m so happy for you. That’s not what I meant at all. I’m beyond happy that you all have great guys. It just stinks that I have a tendency to pick losers.”

They all fell silent. I hadn’t meant to kill the mood, but I hadn’t shared my feelings with them often, either.

Cassie and Mckayla put their arms around me, and Alexis joined in the group hug. She ended up on my lap, and Talia moved in next to her. There was no warning before we suddenly fell back and landed on top of each other on the ground. We were all laughing too hard to try to untangle ourselves, so we lay like that for a few minutes until the laughing spree ended.

“Well, what do we have here?”

I looked over the top of Talia’s head and saw Tucker looking down at us with an amused expression. That was enough to get the girls to scramble off each other.

Alexis ended up kneeling next to me. “What do you want, Tucker?” she asked.

I smirked at her normal greeting for him.

“I was just coming over to see if you guys were ready for s’mores, but if you’d rather continue this, I’d be happy to join.” He winked at Alexis, purposely adding to her anger.

She stood and helped Mckayla and Talia stand. Cassie jumped up, too, leaving me alone on the ground.

Tucker stepped over the log and extended his hand to me. I accepted, and he pulled me up, bringing me closer to him than was necessary.

I looked up at him and caught his signature smirk. Pushing him away from me, I turned and dusted myself off before walking toward the fire, where others were gathering.

I noticed that people were beginning to pair off. I looked around to see if the girls would save me from this awkward situation, but they had already found their guys. I sighed and considered my options.

I could find Mike and potentially lead him on, ruining our friendship in the process. Not a good idea.

I could find the other single ladies, but I didn’t really know them. More importantly, I couldn’t see any of them alone. Did everyone have a date here except me?

I looked around for any of the football guys to hang out with, but they were all occupied. What was happening?

Before I could officially panic, I felt an arm slip around my waist. Tucker.

Was this really what the world had come to? He didn’t have a chance with me at the airport when we met, and he didn’t have one now. I opened my mouth to tell him that, but he stopped me.