at all. They’ve got a road trip right after the holiday. I think they leave on Friday for, like, four nights, but Nicole and I could come for ten days or so, will you be around?”
“Don’t have anywhere else to go, and if you’re coming home, you damn well know that I’ll be here. I could even take a few days off to spend with y’all. Lord knows I’ve got the time off saved up, and need a good reason to use it.”
“You know you could always come out here for a few days if you want to get away,” she offers. “We have more than enough room in this big house, and I’d love to have you here. I could take you to one of Austin's games, maybe introduce you to one of the single guys,” she muses.
“A game sounds fun, but I’m not so sure about one of the guys, even if they do look pretty hot in all that gear.”
“Girlll...” she says, drawing out the word. “I don’t know how I’m not already pregnant again. I swear, my husband comes home, and I just want to jump him.”
“You go, girl. If I had a husband as hot as yours, and that was as sweet as him, I’d probably be jumping him every chance I got.”
“God, we’re bad.” She laughs.
“That we are,” I agree with Reese.
“So, any prospects on the horizon?” she questions.
“Has Allison been texting you?” I ask her, almost wondering if my best friend has been conspiring with my cousin.
“Nope, why? Does that mean that there is someone?” Reese perks up.
“Maybe,” I tell her, sucking in a breath, not really knowing where to start. “You remember Tucker?” I ask, sucking my bottom lip in and biting it.
“Tucker Wild?” she asks.
“The one and only,” I confirm.
“Yeah, what about him? Wait, didn’t you crush on him hard all throughout high school?”
“I wouldn’t say all of high school, but some of it.”
“Anyway, go on about Tucker,” she instructs.
“We’ve had a few encounters? Moments? I don’t know how the hell to describe them,” I tell her honestly, and then go on to lay out the details of each of our last few encounters. She listens intently as I tell her everything.
“Okay, so that’s a lot to unpack, but I agree that it sounds like something is brewing. What’s your gut telling you?” she asks.
“To let it unfold and see what happens. I know some of that is I want that perfect romantic experience. The movie-worthy swoony moment of being swept off my feet, falling in love with my soulmate kind of love. I want what you and Austin have.”
“And you deserve every one of those moments, and if Tucker is your soul mate, then I have faith that he’ll deliver all of them.”
“How can you be so sure?” I ask.
“Love is…” she trails off for a moment. “Love is a funny thing. It will leave you hurting and confused one moment and so over the moon the next that you’ll feel like you’re floating and won’t come down to earth again. It’s definitely a rollercoaster on the emotions. Austin and I had a lot of obstacles in our way when we first met, the distance being the biggest. We were forced to become friends and get to know one another long before we were ever able to connect on any other levels, thanks to my tour schedule back then. I know you don’t have any obstacles like that in your way, and you and Tucker already know one another, probably pretty well since we all grew up together. But I’m sure that there are still lots for the two of you to learn about one another. Hell, I’m still learning things about Austin, and we’ve been married for a few years and have a kid.”
“Thanks for the advice. I think I’m going to just let things develop if they’re going to develop, and if they don’t, then it wasn’t meant to be.”
“Maybe give him a nudge or two?” she suggests.
“I’m not sure I’m that outgoing,” I tell her. “What if I’ve just read everything wrong and he doesn’t have those kinds of feelings toward me. Then I’ve gone and made a fool of myself.”
“Lindsay, if that man held you in his lap for an entire football game, he’s got feelings for you, or at least one hell of an attraction going on.”
“We’ll see,” I say. “Okay, now tell me, when am I going to get new music from you? Have