Applause and cheers broke out. Beside him, Cam gave a two-fingered whistle.
“Looks like your girl pulled it off again,” Tucker observed.
Cam slapped him on the back. “Brother, we all pulled this one off.”
“You ready to have your ass kicked?”
“Dream on, Tuck. Cam and I have this in the bag,” Tyler said.
Tucker just slid his arm around Corinne and smiled. “May the best pair win.” She leaned into him, and he decided all was right in his world.
Out front, Norah handed off the mic to the emcee, who rolled immediately into clips from the interviews they’d done throughout competition. With only two performances, they had to fill the extra time with something. Beside him, Corinne fairly vibrated.
“Are you nervous or excited?” he asked.
“Both. Hyped up about the competition. Excited by the possibility of winning. And also relieved it’s nearly over. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for so long at this point, and I need a serious break.”
He’d been thinking on that subject for a few weeks now. But before he could respond, he caught sight of Corinne’s mom and Kurt making their way through the crowd. “I had some ideas about that. Remind me to tell you about them later. Meanwhile, I think our cheering section has arrived.”
Corinne turned, smiling and waving when she saw her son. The grin dimmed a fraction as she realized her mother was with him. “I didn’t know she was coming.”
That put Tucker on red alert. She’d told him about their fight the previous weekend. The two hadn’t exactly been on speaking terms.
As soon as Kurt spotted them, he tugged free from Marianne and made a beeline in their direction. Tucker broke away and met him halfway, initiating the complicated fist bump/handshake routine they’d established, before scooping the giggling boy up for a hug. “How you doin’ kiddo?”
“Good! I earned three R2-D2 stickers on my chore chart this week!”
“That’s awesome.”
“Kurt Dawson, you know you’re not supposed to run from me.” Marianne sounded faintly winded.
Tucker set him down and pointed out Corinne in the long dark cloak hiding her costume. “Why don’t you go wish your mom luck?”
“Okay!”
Marianne started toward Corinne. “There’s something I need to tell her.”
As Kurt scampered off to his mother, Tucker offered his arm to Marianne with a courtly bow.
With some surprise she took it. “Such pretty manners.”
“Only to a point. If you say anything at all to upset Corinne, you’ll have me to deal with. I won’t have tonight ruined for her. Are we clear?”
Rather than offense or irritation, it was approval he saw in her eyes. “You’ll do, Tucker McGee.”
Kurt was chattering a mile a minute by the time they reached Corinne.
“And it was awesome! Can we bring Tucker to the water park before it closes for the summer?”
“It so happens, I love water parks,” Tucker informed him. “And the beach. Ever been to the beach, Kurt?”
“Just the beach at the lake. I’ve never seen a real beach before, except on TV.”
“We’ll have to see what we can do about that.”
Corinne and her mother were in a staring conte
st.