Reckless Hero

I wasn’t surprised that he noticed the fact. He was a smart child.

I nodded. “Yes. That’s why.”

His fist pumped the air. “Yes, I knew it!” he cheered. His smile lit up the whole world.

Tucker’s smile was just as bright.

Their happiness brought tears to my eyes.

Tucker stood and went to Garrett’s side of the table, kneeling so that their eyes were level. “Buddy, I promise to be the best dad I can be to you if you will have me,” he said, his voice husky with emotion. “What do you say? Do you want to have me for a dad?”

“Oh yeah,” Garrett said, and then threw himself into Tucker’s arms. When he pulled back, his gaze went from me to Tucker. He grinned. “Are you and Mommy going to get married now? Like Kenya’s mom and dad?”

Tucker shot me a surprised look.

“Oh no, Garrett,” I said quickly. “We’re not getting married. Sometimes mommies and daddies don’t get married, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t love their little boys and girls with all their heart. Do you understand?”

“I think so,” he said after taking a moment to think it over.

Tucker and I both sighed with relief.

I ran my hand through my hair, glad the awkward moment was over.

The rest of the day passed happily, with Garrett and Tucker enjoying getting to know each other better. It filled my heart with joy to watch them together even though I was fairly certain there was no longer any hope of a relationship between Tucker and I, at least not romantically.

That ship had sailed.

CHAPTER 21

Anna

The last few weeks had been life-changing.

Tucker and I had settled to co-parenting and managed our scheduled so that Garrett had plenty of time with both of us. And Tucker and I had even resumed being study partners.

With final exams quickly approaching, we were hitting the books at his place.

For once, Garrett wasn’t around. He and Tucker had been attached at the hip for the most part, but he was spending the night with my dad so that Tucker and I could study.

I stared down at my textbook without registering any of the words. All my senses were wrapped up around Tucker; it was killing me to have him so close yet be unable to touch him.

We sat at his kitchen table. He was next to me, and his cologne created a heavy fog around my brain.

Our relationship now was that of friends, co-parents, and study-partners. We hadn’t screwed around at all in the weeks that had gone by. Though Tucker’s flirtatious nature was back in full swing, I didn’t place any hope in it since I recognized it was just part of his personality.

It didn’t mean anything to him, but it meant so much to me.

I was in love with him. It had been a long hard road, but I was finally able to admit it to myself. Yet, it hurt every second of every day to keep that knowledge to myself.

Having him close all the time and seeing what a great dad he was to Garrett had me tied up in knots.

The silence in the room caught my attention and I looked up from my books to find him watching me. He had asked me something, but I hadn’t heard a word he’d said.

I blushed. “I’m sorry. What did you just say?”

He put down the pen he’d been holding down. “You seem distracted tonight. You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I said quickly, wanting to deflect his attention from my emotional state.