Reckless Hero

Anna lifted emotionless eyes to meet mine. “I can’t imagine what we have to talk about, Tucker,” she said, her tone void of feeling.

Fuck.

I cleared my throat and tried carrying on in a carefree tone. “There’s plenty to talk about—like the fact that you’ve been ignoring me. That’s not very nice of you, study partner. So how about dinner tonight? You can apologize and I’ll pretend to be mad for a few minutes before we make up.”

I smiled to end my teasing speech, but she remained as aloof as ever. It was like being confronted by a brick wall. My smile fell. “Come on, Anna. Meet me halfway. We can talk this out. There’s no reason for things to be so tense between us.”

She looked away and sighed impatiently. Adding insult to injury, she looked down at the small watch on her wrist. “Look, Tucker, this isn’t going to work out between us. Not as friends or as study buddies. We should just be classmates from now on. I’m here to work hard and I don’t have time for messing around with you. I can’t afford to be distracted right now.”

My heart fell into my stomach. “I disagree,” I said. “We’re both smart. If we put our minds to it, I know we can make it work so that we both do great in school and maintain a stable, healthy relationship. We were great together before, Anna. I think we should give this thing between us another chance. We obviously have the chemistry. I know I hurt you before. I should have never shut you out like that. But things will be different this time. I will—”

“What we had was in the past and we should have left it there,” she interrupted. “I want to leave it there. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you? I don’t want to do this! Please, just respect my decision and leave it alone.”

Forget a punch to the gut. This felt like someone had just reached through my chest and ripped out my heart.

Old habits dying hard, I did the only thing I knew how—resorting to my playboy antics to hide my hurt. I put on a cocky grin even though I was aching inside. “Well, if you change your mind,” I said, “you know where to find me. I’ll even reinstate our friends with benefits arrangement if you ask nicely.”

She rolled her eyes. “Is sex all you think about?” she asked, annoyed. The question was rhetorical though, because she turned her back without waiting for an answer, leaving me standing alone.

CHAPTER 12

Anna

I was in the kitchen making dinner while Garrett babbled on about his day at daycare and the new friend he’d made.

It hadn’t been long since we got home, and I was glad Garrett had been able to be on campus with me. It made my life so much easier because I didn’t know how else I would have been able to juggle classes, mothering, and working part-time.

I savored spending quality time with my son, treasuring the minutes because they were becoming rarer with the demands of school.

Dinner was a simple pasta fare with cleverly cloaked veggies that Garrett downed without realizing. Then we had his favorite desert –chocolate cake.

Afterwards, he tried helping me clean up, although he just made more of a mess in the process. Nonetheless, I had fun watching him.

Next, we moved to the bathroom so he could take his bath, which gave me more to clean since he was so rigorous with his splashing.

After he was cleaned and dressed in his Spiderman pajamas, we read a bedtime story and I tucked him into bed.

“Good night, baby boy,” I said, smoothing his hair back to kiss his forehead.

“Good night, Mommy,” he returned, speech slurred with sleepiness. He yawned and he was asleep within minutes.

After cleaning the bathroom and tidying the living room, I pulled out my books and knocked out some homework before studying chapters that would be discussed in my classes the next day.

Before I knew it, the clock on the wall showed that three hours had passed. I yawned and wiped my sore eyes before putting my books away.

I stood from the table and stretched, my body stiff and tired.

Quietly, I went to check on Garrett, making sure he was sleeping peacefully. Then I went to take a shower, dressing in an old t-shirt and a cotton underwe

ar afterwards. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun then patrolled the house one last time to make sure everything was secure.

I was just about to turn in when my cellphone rang.

My heart jumped in my chest, thinking it might be Tucker. I had mostly been successful in keeping him off my mind since our talk earlier, and I’d been resolved to keep my distance from him.

Granted, I had faltered for a moment after our talk, thinking I’d seen pain his eyes. But emotion was gone as fast, I figured I had imagined it, and not before long, he had resumed being his typical care-free self.

I couldn’t deny being slightly disappointed; a small part of me had harbored hope that he would make an argument for us being more than just fuck friends. His phone calls after we had parted ways at the library had made me think he might want more than just ‘benefits’. But when his last words to me have been about sex in class, I knew it was a lost cause and that I had made the right decision.