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Chapter no 16 – Tucker

The Goal (Off-Campus, #4)

AFTERย Iย GETย off the plane in Dallas, Mom is waiting at the bottom of the escalator with three balloons. Youโ€™d think I was coming home from the battlefield instead of a posh Eastern college.

โ€œLook at you!โ€ she cries.

I pick her up and swing her around before setting her back on her feet.

She leans in, the familiar smell of hairspray and ammonia wafting up. โ€œWhat should I be looking at?โ€ I tease.

She gives me a sappy mom smile before wrapping one thin arm around my waist and squeezing. โ€œHow handsome you are. You look wonderful.โ€

I shrug as we begin to make our way to the exit. โ€œI feel pretty good.โ€ โ€œThank goodness. I thought youโ€™d be depressed over how your season is

going.โ€ Our games arenโ€™t televised often, but she follows the results online. โ€œIs that what the balloons are for?โ€

โ€œDid you think the balloons are for you? Because theyโ€™re not.โ€ โ€œIs that why the silver one says โ€˜Welcome Home, Sonโ€™?โ€

โ€œIt was discounted. I wouldโ€™ve bought the โ€˜Iโ€™m the Greatest Mom in the World,โ€™ but it cost five dollars more.โ€

โ€œMan, the patriarchy is even ruining balloon sales?โ€

Thrusting the attached streamers toward me, she laughs. โ€œItโ€™s a terrible world, which is why we need balloons.โ€

โ€œThis feels suspiciously like the pink apron incident,โ€ I say in mock protest, but I take the balloons anyway and bend down to press a kiss on the top of her head. Like the pink apron my roommates gave me, carrying a few balloons through the airport isnโ€™t going to dent my ego.

โ€œIf I were you, Iโ€™d give them all something pink in return.โ€

I contemplate the pink dildo that Dean likes to take baths with. โ€œThatโ€™s not a bad idea. Iโ€™ve got to pick up a few gifts before I head back. Iโ€™ll make sure everything I buy is either pink or full of glitter. Both, if possible.โ€

Garret and Logan would die laughing at the thought of giving Dean a pink, glittering dildo. I make a mental note to text the guys later.

โ€œYou didnโ€™t check a bag?โ€ she asks as we bypass the baggage carousels. โ€œNo, maโ€™am.โ€ I donโ€™t need to look at her face to know sheโ€™s disappointed. โ€œYou know Iโ€™ve got to get back for practice. Even if the season is sucking wind, Iโ€™m still required to lace โ€™em up. Thatโ€™s the price of

my scholarship.โ€

My busy schedule during the holidays has always been a source of dismay for my mother, who goes all out celebrating stuff. She lives for Christmas, which is why I made the trek home even though a lot of the guys stayed back at Briar.

โ€œI thought maybe because this is your last year and you guys werenโ€™t doing well, that youโ€™d be allowed to spend the entire break with me.โ€

โ€œDoesnโ€™t work that way. Besides, soon Iโ€™ll be underfoot all the time and youโ€™ll be begging me to leave,โ€ I warn her.

But even as I say it, my mind zips back to Sabrina. Sheโ€™s going to be in Boston for the next three years. I wonder how weโ€™re going to make that work.

I wonder if she even wants to make it work.

Itโ€™d be a lot easier if weโ€™d met last year. Or hell, even last semester, but weโ€™ve only got a few more months where weโ€™ll be in the same zip code, and for reasons Iโ€™m not fully prepared to examine, especially with Mom at my side, the coming distance between us bothers the shit out of me.

I fight the urge to climb back on the plane and return to Boston. But Iโ€™ll have to settle for texting, phone calls, and maybe if Iโ€™m lucky, a little video chatting. Iโ€™d like to see how she uses her toy when Iโ€™m not around.

I nearly run into Momโ€™s SUV, lost in my thoughts about Sabrina and her vibrator. I clear my throat. โ€œMind if I drive?โ€

She tosses me the keys. โ€œIโ€™d never complain about you being around too much. You know Iโ€™d love it if you came back and lived with me.โ€

โ€œYeah, thatโ€™s not happening. No woman alive wants to go out with a guy who lives with his mom,โ€ I say, holding the door open for her.

She climbs in with a frown. โ€œWhatโ€™s wrong with living with your mother?

โ€œEverything, and you know it.โ€ Then I lean forward and press another kiss on her forehead to take away the sting.

During the four-hour ride home from Dallas, she catches me up on the local gossip of Patterson. โ€œMaria Solisโ€™s daughter is home from UT. She gets her hair cut in Austin now, but she still has the nicest manners. She stopped in the other day just to say hi.โ€

I nod absently, wondering if I had invited Sabrina to come home with me for the holidays if she would have said yes. I figured the invitation would be unwelcome, not just because sheโ€™d view it as a sign we were moving too fast, but because she needs the money from work. Before I left, she was nearly beside herself with happiness about the time and a half she was going to be making.

โ€œYou should ask her out.โ€ Momโ€™s voice penetrates my daydreams again. โ€œWho?โ€ I ask.

โ€œMaria Solisโ€™s daughter,โ€ she replies impatiently.

I glance away from the road to give her an incredulous stare. โ€œYou want me to date Daniela Solis?โ€

โ€œWhy not? Sheโ€™s gorgeous and smart.โ€ Mom sits back in her seat and crosses her arms.

โ€œSheโ€™s also gay.โ€

Her mouth falls open. โ€œDani Solis is gay?โ€

โ€œI guess the appropriate term isย lesbian,โ€ I say, remembering my gender studies course.

โ€œNo,โ€ my mother protests. โ€œSheโ€™s far too beautiful.โ€ โ€œMom, beautiful girls can be lesbians.โ€

โ€œAre you sure? Maybe sheโ€™s bi. I know they say kids experiment in college.โ€

โ€œShe took Cassie Carter to prom! You did both their hair.โ€ โ€œI thought they were friends.โ€

โ€œThey had to go as friends because the prom folks wouldnโ€™t let them attend as a couple.โ€

The small West Texas town I grew up in is a tad on the conservative side. Dani and Cassieย wereย friends, only ones that kissed and felt each other up in the hallway. And drove every teenage boy in eyeballing distance right out of their ever loving minds. Iโ€™d spent many a teenage night fantasizing about the things those two girls did in private. It was probably inappropriate, but the majority of my thoughts from about age ten to seventeen fell into the inappropriate category.

Mom slumps in her seat. Sheโ€™d obviously worked out an elaborate plan in her mind about Dani and me getting together.

โ€œRemember when I told you that I met a girl?โ€ I say slowly, deciding that I better get this out there now before she starts trying to pair me off with every single girl in Patterson.

โ€œOh?โ€ Her voice is guarded. โ€œI thought it wasnโ€™t a thing?โ€

โ€œIt is now. Look, youโ€™d like her. Sheโ€™s got perfect grades, works two jobs, and just got accepted into Harvard Law.โ€

โ€œHarvard? Isnโ€™t that in Boston?โ€

The worry is heavy in her voice. I get it. Sheโ€™s concerned that if I fall for a girl in Boston, I wonโ€™t move back home, which is why she sprang the Dani Solis thing on me before we even finished the drive home.

โ€œYeah. Cambridge.โ€ I canโ€™t even give her assurances, because at this point, I donโ€™t know what Iโ€™m doing about Boston, Patterson, or any of it. The only thing Iโ€™m sure of is that I want to be with Sabrina.

โ€œHow long is law school?โ€

โ€œThree years.โ€ AKA too long to be separated.

โ€œYour plan is still to come home and buy a business, right? I was talking with Stewart Randolph the other day. You remember him? He owns the real estate business over on Pleasant. Heโ€™s thinking of retiring, and that kid of his doesnโ€™t want to move from Austin. It sounds like Randy would be interested in entertaining offers.โ€

I grip the steering wheel a little tighter. Sabrina asked if anything got to me. Well, making my mom unhappy is on the top of that list. But the idea of buying Stewart Randolphโ€™s real estate business might be a close second. In fact, the actual idea of sitting in Randolphโ€™s office, wearing a tie every day, makes my skin itch. Iโ€™ve got some ideas about what Iโ€™m going to do when I graduate and being a realtor isnโ€™t one of them, particularly in Patterson, population 10,000.

โ€œIโ€™ll talk to him,โ€ I hear myself saying.

โ€œGood.โ€ At least someoneโ€™s satisfied. โ€œOh, by the way, the Solises are coming to dinner tonight.โ€

โ€œJesus Christ, Mom.โ€ โ€œDonโ€™t curse, John.โ€

I drag in a deep breath and pray for patience, wondering when Iโ€™ll be able to text Sabrina.

*

โ€œMY MOM HASย officially dubbed you a โ€˜good catch.โ€™โ€ Dani takes a seat next to me on the back steps of the small two-story house where Iโ€™ve lived all my life.

I tap my glass of sangria against hers. โ€œThatโ€™s solid. Iโ€™m going to put that on my Tinder profile.โ€

โ€œShe also says that you have a secret cache of money that youโ€™ll shower on me when I provide you the requisite firstborn.โ€ Daniโ€™s grin stretches from ear to ear. Sheโ€™s clearly loving this.

โ€œMy mother told me you were gorgeous and smart.โ€ I stifle a sigh, thinking of the other gorgeous and smart girl who I havenโ€™t gotten to text since I sent her theย I landedย hours ago.

Her response ofย Yay! Glad to hear itย isnโ€™t providing me with my necessary Sabrina daily intake. I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder, because I miss the shit out of her.

โ€œAnd you said?โ€

I jerk my attention back to my friend. โ€œThat I thought you were a lesbian and Mom replied that maybe you were bi.โ€

This sets Dani off. She folds in half, laughing so hard that the sangria spills all over the rim.

I lift the glass out of her hand so I donโ€™t get showered with the drink, and set it on my other side. It takes a while for Dani to get her shit together, so I finish my drink and then down the rest of hers.

โ€œTuck, Iโ€™m sorry,โ€ she gasps, wiping a wine-drenched hand across her face. โ€œThe idea of Mama Tucker hoping that Iโ€™m bisexual so we can pair up is just too funny.โ€

โ€œGood thing Iโ€™m confident about my appeal,โ€ I say dryly. โ€œOr all this cackling mightโ€™ve made my balls shrivel.โ€

Dani sobers up immediately. โ€œOh hell, did I offend you? Do youโ€ฆhave feelings for me?โ€

โ€œNope, and Iโ€™m not saying you arenโ€™t a babe, because you are, but Iโ€™ve known you swing a certain way since we were in junior high.โ€

โ€œYeah, Iโ€™ve always known.โ€ She bites her lip. โ€œWas your mom upset?โ€

โ€œShe didnโ€™t think less of you, if thatโ€™s what youโ€™re asking. Sheโ€™s just disappointed.โ€

Dani gives me a pensive nod. โ€œPatterson is so small-minded, you know? Iโ€™m okay for a visit, but I could never live here.โ€ She punctuates her declaration with a shiver of distaste. โ€œIโ€™m surprised youโ€™re coming back.โ€

โ€œWhyโ€™s that?โ€

โ€œTuck, you play hockey.โ€ She says the last word like it has extra meaning, but Iโ€™m dumb, so I have to ask for an explanation.

โ€œThereโ€™s a hockey team in Dallas,โ€ I remind her. โ€œItโ€™s not that unusual.โ€ โ€œIt is too. This is a football state, but no, you, a Texas boy, love the ice

and cold. Iโ€™m surprised you arenโ€™t staying up in Boston.โ€

I kick out my legs and peer up at the darkening sky. Pattersonโ€™s one of those relic townsโ€”once it was self-sustaining, but nearly all of the small businesses were squeezed out by regional stores that offered cheaper prices and more choices. Most folks who live here either farm or work at the tractor plant two towns over. Living in Boston is something Iโ€™ve thought about, but every time Iโ€™ve brought it up to my mother in the last four years, sheโ€™s rejected the idea.

โ€œMom loves it here. This is my daddyโ€™s house that he bought when they were married.โ€ I pat the steps. โ€œShe doesnโ€™t want to leave it.โ€

โ€œSo thereโ€™s no one you met at Briar? You spent four years there and are just coming home to settle in and be Pattersonโ€™s number-one realtor?โ€ She holds up her index finger and deepens her voice.

Gotta admit, that doesnโ€™t sound good. โ€œYou know about those plans too?โ€

โ€œYeah, that was part of the sales pitch. Along with your huge bank account, youโ€™d be able to keep me in luxury for the rest of our lives by selling houses in this place. The good news for your mom is that every single girl in Patterson would give their left tit to be John Tuckerโ€™s woman.โ€

Thereโ€™s only one girl I want to slap that label on, and Iโ€™m not entirely certain she wants it.

โ€œIโ€™ve got a girl back in Briar,โ€ I confess. Talking about Sabrina makes her feel a little closer. Man, Iโ€™ve gotten sappy. I guess I donโ€™t care that I am, because I pull out my phone. โ€œWanna see?โ€

Dani nods eagerly.

I thumb to a picture I took of Sabrina at a pub where we grabbed dinner the last time I drove up to see her. Her dark hair is loose and cascading down her shoulders, and her eyes are gleaming impishly because sheโ€™d just smacked my ass as we were leaving.

โ€œJesus, sheโ€™s hot!โ€ Dani grabs my phone to pinch and zoom, first on Sabrinaโ€™s face and then the rest of her body. โ€œAre you sure sheโ€™s not bi? Because itโ€™s a crime that she has to suffer through life with a man.โ€

โ€œHey, Iโ€™m good with my tongue.โ€

Dani gives me a somewhat contemptuous look. โ€œNo man is ever as good at oral as a lesbian. Itโ€™s a scientific truth.โ€

โ€œYeah? Then spill your secrets, Solis. If not for me, then for poor Sabrina.โ€

Daniโ€™s lips curve into a sexy smile. โ€œYou know what? I will.โ€

And then she proceeds to give me a very graphic lesson in what makes good oral.

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