Della stiffened. Right. Of course. Tucker and Arlo had known each other for over thirty years. Clearly their relationship ranked above what she and Tucker had shared.

Of course it did. But she was only human, and that probably stung most of all.

“Well, I guess you don’t need to worry about me being your dirty little secret anymore, do you?” She shook her head at him, not sure if she was more disgusted at him or at herself. “Congratulations, Tucker, you got to fuck your best friend’s sister and get away with it.”

She didn’t give him a chance for a comeback, turning blindly away, the crash of her heartbeat louder than the scrape of her boots against the asphalt as she strode to her car. She opened and shut the door, turned the key in the ignition, threw Jolene into reverse, and hightailed it out of the lot, the dark, lonely shape of Tucker staring after her, getting smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror.

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

A week later, Tucker was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms. He hadn’t seen or heard from Della. She hadn’t come into Jack’s. His phone had recorded no calls from her, and their text stream had stopped.

He knew it was for the best, but that didn’t stop him from feeling like crap over their argument in the parking lot and that Della thought she was some dirty secret to him. Sure, they’d kept their relationship on the down low, not because he’d been ashamed of being with her but because their secrecy gave them a level of freedom. Time alone without scrutiny to play and explore, and yes, that included Arlo’s scrutiny.

Time without the constant whispers and speculation around town pressuring them to be something Della wasn’t after and the absence of pitying looks and well-meaning comments when they’d called it quits.

Which she’d wanted, too.

Secondary to that crappiness was more crappiness over matchmaking Della and Bo. The thought of them together was like ants marching under his skin, and he wanted to peel the flesh from his bones to stop the torture. The only thing keeping him from utter despair was knowing Della was better off with someone like Bo.

Sure, it was just a date. But if things developed further and she decided she did want more, then she’d be hard-pressed to find someone better. The younger guy was an absolute go-getter with a bright career and big plans. She could travel all around the country with him and have the life she’d probably never dreamed possible three years ago. And Della had obviously been comfortable with him, laughing and chatting like she’d known him forever.

Most importantly, there’d been none of that manwhore, a-new-woman-in-every-town professional bull rider crap about him. Tucker could sniff that shit out in a blink. So could Arlo.