Page 42 of Reckless With You

I just hoped that nobody got hurt in the fallout.

“Amelia, baby, all of this is dangerous.”

Though I had a feeling she wasn’t the one in the line of fire this time.

Chapter 9

Amelia

“What was I thinking?”

Oh. That’s right. I hadn’t been thinking. I’d been overwhelmed and did some stupid shit. That’s what happened when you didn’t think things through. Instead of acting like a rational adult, someone who made reasonable decisions, I had thrown out a fake relationship that would probably fuck everything up.

Great going, Amelia. You’re totally winning at life.

“I can do this. It’s not going to be a big deal. It’s only a little date. Not even a real one.”

Why was I even talking to myself in the mirror?

Oh, yeah, because Tucker would be here any minute to pick me up for our fake date. One that wouldn’t even be a real date because we’d be with my family.

Because, of course, I, Amelia Carr, had to have my first fake date with my fake boyfriend at a family barbecue. All because I needed to show him around and act like everything was fine, and everything was cool, and nothing is going to go crazy.

That was so not right.

I was clearly losing my mind, especially if I kept talking to myself. Someone was probably going to show up and take me away.

Then there would be nothing left. Only an empty shell of the person that once was. A life full of meaningless choices and horrible mistakes.

Great, now I just needed to wax poetic and call it a day.

I was pretty sure that Devin had orchestrated this whole family barbecue thing as a way to figure out exactly what was going on with Tucker and me, but I wasn’t sure.

The fact that he hadn’t even asked me about it since Erin and Zoey found out, worried me. What would happen to Tucker once the two of them were alone?

And what would happen to us if he found out the truth?

Because they needed to know the truth. I didn’t know if I could tell them tonight, though. I hated lying to them. But I also didn’t want to feel like the defunct baby sister who kept making mistakes, over and over again. I just wanted a little time where I could feel like I was doing something right.

But I was happy, and I was getting over Tobey, and everything was fine. The fact that I didn’t think about Tobey every five minutes anymore or even as my best friend meant something. Maybe I was getting better. Perhaps I was healing. But I needed more time without those pitying looks.

And if Tucker could help me, then I would deal with the consequences. And I would do everything in my power to make surehedidn’t have to deal with them.

The doorbell rang, and I quickly looked myself over in the mirror one more time, making sure that my boots were zipped up to my knees, and my boobs weren’t too far out of my shirt. I didn’t need to actually show the goods on this date because…number one, it wasn’t a date. And number two, it was Tucker. Plus, going to a family event looking like a hooker probably wasn’t the best idea.

Not that I ever looked like a hooker, but…

I ran towards the door and opened it, letting out a relieved breath that Tucker was actually here. I’d been a little worried that he would say no at the last minute and cancel. I honestly wouldn’t have blamed him.

“You made it.”

Tucker stuck his hands into his jeans’ pockets and shrugged, looking far hotter than he should. I couldn’t help but notice the way his thighs filled out his jeans, or how his leather jacket hugged his broad shoulders. I really needed to stop looking at him like that. It wasn’t good for me, wasn’t good for either of us. And the back and forth in my mind was going to give me a complex. I already had enough of those.

“I said I’d be here. So, here I am. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I don’t know. I think I have to.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Seriously. You want to hang out here and ignore everything? We can totally do that.”