Needing You #2 - Wanting Him (5 page)

“Do you have everything?” Park asks from behind me.

“I do now,” I say as I wrap my arms around his waist, “I’m going to miss you.”

“I know, I’m going to miss you too babe, but we get to see each other in two weeks,” he says softly as he hugs me tight and kisses the top of my head.

“I will be there,” I say with a smile as I lean back to look up into his gorgeous green eyes.

“I love you Nat,” he says as he leans down and kisses me sweetly.

“I love you too Park. 
Thirteen months,” I say excitedly.

He laughs, “
Thirteen months, then you’re all mine,” he says with an intense look.

“Can’t wait,” I say with a smile.

“Okay lover boy we need to go, sorry Nat,” Declan says pulling us out of our fantasy world.

“I hear you,” Park
states back.

“I love you and I’ll text you.  Call me when you get home so I know you guys made it safely,” he says as he leans in and kisses me again.

“Love you too and I will, I promise,” I say through a giggle.

We finally pul
l apart and say our goodbyes; me heading home, Parker heading to their next city.

Thirteen
.Months.

The drive home is the longest drive ever.  Nora and Liz continuously talk about the pictures they have with the different bands, how hot the guys are, how jealous their friends are going to be, you name it, they talked about it, laughed about it, and screamed about it.  Again…longest drive ever.

When we finally do get home, we drop off Liz and then head home.  It’s almost 4:00 p.m. and I’m exhausted.

I shoot a quick text to Park to let him know I’m
home safe and sound and to keep me posted on when they reach their next destination.

He responds saying he will keep me posted, that he’s going to get some sleep.

Sleep sounds good right now.

Chapter Six

Monday morning comes and I’m not ready for it.  I get Nora up and get her off to school and then rush around the house getting ready and heading out for class.

I should have skipped today.

“Hey, how was your weekend?” I hear from Harper
, who I hardly ever run into on campus.

“Hey, it was good.  Shouldn’t you be in class?” I ask curiously.

“I should, but I wanted to see how your weekend went, so fill me in,” she says with a smile.

“The weekend went great.  Got to hang out with Parker all weekend and watch them in concert Friday and Saturday.”

“I’m still mad you didn’t invite me,” she says with a glare.

“You’re coming along in two weeks,” I say with a laugh.

“Oh yes, about that…Tucker may not be coming now,” she says looking a little frustrated.

“Everything alright?”

“It will be when he tells me what the hell is going on,” she says angrily.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, but whatever
, we will still have fun,” I say trying to lighten the mood.

“Damn straight we will.  So, how’s your relationship?” she asks, almost like she knows something.

“It’s great, he’s great, we’re great,” I say with biggest, dumbest smile on my face.

“Did you tell him how you feel?” she says calling me out.

“What?” I ask shocked.

“You love him,
it’s obvious so did you tell him?” she says questioningly.

“I did, but not until after he told me,” I say excitedly.

“Seriously?  He told you he loves you?” she says practically yelling.

“
Shh, yes he told me,” I say enthusiastically.

“You know he loved you before he left to go on tour right?” she says like it’s nothing.

“No, not until he told me yesterday,” I say piercing her with a look, “How did you know?”

“The boy stares at you, even when you’re sitting right beside him.  The way he treats you, it’s obvious to everyone,” she says
, like I should already knew.

“Wow, why d
idn’t you tell me this before?”

“I figured you already knew.  Tucker pointed it out shortly after we came back from Virginia.  I don’t know how I didn’t see it, Park’s so obvious about it,” she says with a laugh.

“Well, I know now, so all is good,” I say smiling.

“Lucky for you, you don’t have to wait
too much longer to have him home,” she says happily.

“Actually, I do.  They are going on another tour when this one ends, so he won’t be home for
a long time,” I say solemnly.

“That’s awesome for them, but I’m sorry for you Nat.  I know it must be hard.  Shit, Tuck’s here and he still frustrates and pisses me off
, but I’d miss the hell out of him,” she says with a smile.

“It is, but it’s his dream and I support him.  Things will al
l work out,” I say truthfully.

“They will.  You two are great together,” she says kindly.

“Thanks Harp.  So what are you doing with the rest of your day since you’re skipping class?”

“I have another class this afternoon, and then I’m wo
rking tonight.  How about you?”

“I work tonight too.  I guess I will see you there then,” I say
, as I look at the time and see my next class is coming up.

“Sounds good.  We’ll I’m
gonna grab some food, I’ll see you tonight,”

“Alright, see
ya,” I say as I walk off towards my next class.

The week passes by in a blur and now I’m counting down the days until I get to see Parker again.  I have four days to get through.  Classes can’t get over fast enough this week.  The drive won’t be too bad since Harp’s going along.  She’s not sure if Tucker’s going yet.  He’s definitely been acting strange for the past few weeks, but I can’t figure out why. Not like I would really know anyway, we aren’t
that close.

I work tonight and there’s a ne
w band playing, hopefully they’re good.

“I would steer clear of Harper tonight,” Davie says as I enter the main door.

“Why?” I ask curiously.

“She’s in a pretty shitty mood,” he says.

“Did something happen?”

“No idea,” he says with a shrug.

I head inside say hi to some fellow coworkers and then head behind the bar to where I see an irate looking Harper.

“Hey,” I say to her.

She just nods her head in my direction and continues to stock the cooler.

“What happened?” I ask as I approach her.

She comes out of the cooler and her face is red, I’m talking fireball red. “My boyfriend is an asshole.”

“What did he do?” I ask her quietly.

“It’s what he didn’t do,” she snaps.

“Fill me in Harp,” I tell her.

“He’s being a sneaky son of a bitch, I can’t take it,” she says frustrated.

“Is this about the same thing when he went to see his sister for the weekend?” I ask confused.

“Yup,” is all she says.

“So let me get this right…he goes to see his sister, but doesn’t really text or call, comes back a few days later, acts like nothing happened, wouldn’t tell you anything, and now you’re pissed off?” I ask hoping not to piss her off, but this has been going on for almost a month now.

“NO!  He’s not coming with us this weekend either because something’s come up, but yet again, I have no idea what.  I can’t take the secrecy,” she says looking upset and pissed.

“Did you tell him that?”

“Yes, but do you think he opened his damn mouth…Nope,” she says angrily.

“What’s his excuse for not coming this weekend?”

“He’s going to help a friend out this weekend.  Probably some slut bag,” she says heatedly.

“Do you think he’s cheating on you?” I ask in a whisper.

“Who knows, maybe I should just end it with him,” she says with a solemn look.

“You love him, whatever it is he’ll come around,” I say being hopeful.

“It’s been a month already.  He’s not coming around, instead he’s pushing me away,” she says looking tearful.

“Harp, don’t give up on him yet.”

“We’ll see,” she says. 

Our conversation ends because patrons start filling the bar in need of drinks.  I definitely need to figure out what the hell is going on with Tucker and fast.

Three hours go by before I get a chance to talk to Harp again.

“So listen…I think I got a plan,” I tell her quickly.

“A plan for what?” she says looking confused.

“Let’s follow Tuck, see what he’s hiding,” I say with an evil-genius look.

“Like stalk him?” she says worriedly.

“Don’t say it like that.  Do you want to know what’s going on or not?”

“I don’t know anymore,” she says looking defeated.

Just then Tuck comes up to the bar.  I didn’t realize he was even here.

“Hey babe,” he says smiling to her.

She gives him a fake smile and a small wave and walks to the end of the bar to serve a customer.

“What’s wrong with her?” Tuck asks me.

“Like you should have to ask,” I deadpan.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he says, looking confused and irritated.

“You’re the problem Tuck.  Whatever you are keeping from her is hurting her.  What the hell are you doing?” I snap.

“I’m not doing anything,” he says frustrated.

“Seriously?  Do you take her for an idiot?  You’ve been acting weird for a fucking month now and won’t tell her what’s going on.  What do you expect her to think?”

“Shit, look Nat I’m not doing anything crazy I swear,” he says looking innocent.

“I’m not the one you need to tell that to.  Your girlfriend needs to know what’s going on.  As hard as you fought her to open up to you and now you’re closed off and sneaking around, how could you do that to her?” I ask bitterly.

“It’s not what you think, I swear.  I’m not doing anything stupid,” he states.

“Are you cheating on her?” I come right out and ask.

“What? No.  Why would you ask me that?  I love her.”

“Then you need to make sure she knows that.”

“She thinks I’m cheating on her?” he asks looking defeated now.

“Yeah she does and she’s not taking it too well,” I say
, being honest with him.

“Nat, I swear to you I’m not cheating on her.  I’ll talk to her.  Can I have a drink please?” he asks as he takes a seat at the bar.

“Yeah,” I say as I head off to make him a rum and coke.

I want to ask Tuck what he is hiding, but it’s not my place.  Hopefully he’s honest with Harper tonight.

As I hand him his drink I ask, “So why aren’t you coming this weekend?”

“I got to help a friend out this weekend.  Tell Park I said hey though,” he says looking at me.

“You’re skipping out on a weekend with your girlfriend to help a friend out?” I ask not believing a word he’s saying.

“Yes,” is all he says.

“That’s a load of shit,” I state.

He looks at me, not believing I just called him out. “Nat, mind your own business,” he says bitterly.

“I will when you stop acting like a douchebag of a boyfriend.  Keep going the way you are and you won’t have to worry about anyone but yourself,” I state angrily.

“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” he asks harshly.

“You keep pushing Harp away, she’s going to leave,” I say, while staring at him shaking my head.  I don’t even give him time to say anything else.  I walk to the opposite end of the bar and help a customer that just walked up.

The rest of the evening is busy so I don’t get a chance to talk to Harper.  I did see she was relieved when Tuck went to sit with some of his friends at their normal table.  I hope whatever he’s hiding is worth it, because it may cost him Harper.

After restocking the coolers, I get my things to head out.

“Night Harp,” I say with a small smile.

“Goodnight,” she says with a knowing look as she walks out with Tuck.

Thankfully, the rest of the week goes by without any issues and I’m loading up my car before heading over to pick up Harper.

“Hey, you ready?” I ask Harper as she comes out of her dorm building with her bag.

“Hell yes,” she says excitedly.

I throw her bag in the car and we load in, heading for our destination.

“I need to ask, how are you and Tucker?”

“Ugh, don’t ask,” she says slightly frustrated.

“Too late, already did, what’s up?”

“He’s an asshole.  I don’t know how else to put it,” she says on a sigh.

“Did you talk after work the other night?”

“Yes, but did he tell me the shit he’s hiding, NO!” she says angrily.

“What did he tell you then?”

“Oh you know, Harper I love you, I promise you I’m not cheating, you just need to trust me right now, that kinda bullshit,” she says hastily.

“That’s it?” I ask confused.

“Yep, I tried and he kept shutting me down and changing the subject.  Something’s going on.  I’m thinking your idea of stalking him is sounding better by the minute,” she says staring at me.

“I never said to stalk him, just follow him,” I say on a laugh.

“Same thing,” she says like it’s no big deal.

“We’ll figure out something when we come back,” I tell her.

“Actually, why don’t we plan something now, so then when we come back we can put our plan into action?” she says with a devious look.

“Okay, well what do you have in mind?”

“Follow him, like you said,” she says simply enough.

“We can’t make it obvious.  Does he tell you when he’s going out of town?”

“Shit, not until last minute when he knows I’m working.  Fuck, how are we going to pull this off?” she asks looking solemn.

“We’ll figure something out, don’t worry.  We will get to the bottom of this shit,” I say with a smile.

“I hope so, because I’m not sure how much more I can put up with,” she says sounding defeated.

“It honestly could be nothing,” I remind her.

“Then why wouldn’t he just tell me what was going on?” she says with a serious look.

“I have no idea,” I answer truthfully.

“No, I know him, he’s hiding something, and it’s something major.”

“Maybe, hopefully we can find out soon enough.”

“I hope so.  I need to know what’s going on.  I wish if he wanted to break up with me that he would just do it already,” she says sadly.

“I don’t think it’s that.  If that were the case he would have broken up with you.  Tuck doesn’t do relationships remember?  If he didn’t want one with you he would have been gone by now.”