Maura is sitting with a guy.

Maura is laughing with a guy.

Maura is touching a guy.

This guy isn’t me.

I never once considered the fact that Maura may find someone else while we were apart. It’s not that I was cocky; it’s that I was that sure of my feelings for her. I always assumed it was the same for her.

But with the way she’s acting with the dark-haired bastard sitting with her and my group of friends, I see that I may have been wrong.

I feel a heavy hand on my shoulder.

“Almost show time, Tuck. You ready?” James says gloomily. He knows how much this trip home means to me and knows how crushed I’ll be if it doesn’t go well.

The scene in front of me? So not right.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I tell him quietly.

“Maybe it’s innocent?”

I glance over at him. “That’s what we told everyone too.”

James winces. “You never know, man. You never know.” He places his hands on his hips, getting back into his manager mode. “Anyway, you’ve got a visitor out back. I’d send her in, but I don’t really think this is the place.”

What?

I eye him suspiciously. “All right. I’ll head out there. Thanks.”

“You’ve got five minutes!” he calls to my retreating back.

Pushing open the back door, I’m met with a sight I wasn’t expecting.

“Uncle Tuck!” Joey squeals, latching her tiny frame around my legs.

I scoop her up into a giant hug. “Oh, bug. I missed you, kiddo.”

My eyes land on Hudson standing behind her. Thank you, I mouth to him.

“You’re gonna squeeze me to death!”

Laughing, I set her down and squat to her level. “So what’s up, dude? You’ve grown like ten feet since I saw you last.”

She giggles and shakes her head. “I have not. But I did grow two inches! Dad says I’m gonna be taller than Rae one day, and that’s just crazy because Rae is a giant!”

Maybe to Joey’s four-foot-something frame she is, but Rae is far from being a giant.

Before I can say anything, Joey starts talking again. “Did you bring me anything?”

“Joey!” Hudson scolds.

My little buddy drops her head and kicks at the rocks. “Sorry. That was rude.” She peeks up at me through her bangs and whispers, “But did you?”

Smiling, I say, “Of course I did. I didn’t know you were coming now, so I don’t have your presents here with me. Can I bring them to you later?” Her head bobs up and down. “Good. I’ve got to get back inside, but you promise me I’ll get to see you soon? Maybe I can talk your dad into letting me take you to get ice cream.”

“He’ll say yes,” Joey tells me with certainty.

I open my arms up to her, and she huddles in close to me. I kiss the side of her head and say, “I love you, bug. Hope you drove Uncle G nuts while I was gone.”

“I did,” she says, pulling out of my embrace. Hudson clears his throat behind her. “Oh, yeah. Daddy says for you to tell Rae to ‘say yes’ while you’re singing. He thinks it will help.”

I raise brow at Hudson, wondering what the hell that’s about. “I will, Joey.”

“Good. Love you, Uncle Tuck! Bye!” she hollers over her shoulder as she runs toward the waiting car at the side of the building.

I wave to Hudson’s mom, Elle, and immediately turn back to my best friend.

“You didn’t.”

Hudson’s smile is fucking huge. “I did.”

“And?”

“Well, you heard the kid.” He points to the door behind me and says, “So you better get your ass in there and tell my girl for me.”

I turn toward the door, pulling it open slightly, and pause. Pivoting back to Hudson and gulping loudly once, I ask, “Is it…?”

“No,” he answers immediately, knowing I’m asking if it’s too late for me and Maura. “It’s not. Stop worrying and go get up on that stage. Sing your heart out. And for the love of God, tell Rae to say yes.”

We walk back inside just in time to hear Gary step up to the mic. Hudson and I part ways as I head back to the band’s area, and he heads over to our friends.

“Welcome, welcome!” The crowd cheers. Gary tries to talk twice but keeps getting drowned out. In typical Gary fashion, I hear, “All right, shut it already!” I chuckle because damn, did I miss the old man. “We’ve got a treat for you tonight. One of our own—my own—decided to run off and make himself into a trending new artist. He’s chosen tonight to grace us with his presence for the first time in over three months. So without further ado, please welcome my son, Tucker Bentley!”

The place goes nuts and for the first time in three months, I get pre-show jitters. Not certain if it’s because I’m playing in front of my hometown crowd or because Maura’s out in the crowd.

Either way, I don’t have time to freak out. When I walk up onto the stage, Gary pulls me into a firm hug.

“Missed you, son,” he says in my ear.

“Missed you too, Dad.”

He gives me a pat on the back and hustles off the stage, and if I’m not mistaken, wipes his eyes.

Sitting down on my stool, I clear my throat in my usual way, and the house goes quiet. I search beyond the lights for the person I came back for.

My eyes find hers almost immediately, whisking away the air in my lungs. She seems happy and sad and unsure all at once.

But she’s still fucking beautiful.

Maura looks different yet still the same as she did when I left. Her eyes are still a vibrant shade of blue, but they’re somehow happier now. Her pale blonde hair that was once tipped with dark pink is now dipped in dark blue. Her clear complexion is as radiant as ever, maybe even more so now than before. She’s still everything I want.

Then that guy I saw her with earlier comes into my line of sight. He’s gigantic, packed full of muscles, and a little intimidating. I have to give the dude credit because he’s hovering over my girl with a fierce sense of protection—exactly what I’d be doing if some jackass was leering at her the way I am.

But I’m no average jackass. And that girl is still mine.

My chest is thumping, and I’m fighting the urge to jump the stage, punch Fuck Face, and kiss Maura.

But I don’t.

Instead, I peel my eyes from hers, lean down toward the microphone, and give that same smirk I always do. “Did you guys miss me or what?” Cheers erupt again. “Good. The road has been fun, but Wakefield is home. Since I missed you all so much, I’m going to play you all a new song called Yesterday that hasn’t been recorded yet. It’s for a special someone, who I hope is listening closely tonight. But first I just have one thing to say.” Holding my hand up to my eyes to shield my gaze from the lights, I find Rae and stare her down. “Rae, say yes.”

“HUDSON TAMELL!”

* * *

Over these last few months, I’ve learned to let go on stage. I forget where I am, forget the crowd, and forget the band. All I focus on is the music and what it’s making me feel.

That’s what I did at Mic’s tonight. I let it all slip away.

Including Maura.

When I snap back to reality at the end of my set, I notice her chair is empty and the douchebag she’s with tonight is burning holes in my direction.

I look to Hudson for help, and he shrugs. Thanks, bud.

Wanting to collect myself after the girl I came home for disappeared on me, I pass by James without a word and head toward the staircase leading to the roof. A little fresh air sounds fantastic.

I burst through the door and stop dead in my tracks.

“Dallas, I told you I was—” She spins around and stops mid-sentence.

Neither one of us moves. It’s like time has frozen, and we can’t seem to get it to thaw. The only thing not frozen is the heat surrounding us. I feel the familiar tug I’ve always felt with her, and I want so desperately to move toward her, but I’m afraid she’ll run off again.

“Fine,” she finishes. “Tucker.”

I close my eyes when she says my name. It’s as if she’s wrapping it up in love and desire. It’s intimate, familiar, breathtaking.

“Maura,” I say, projecting everything she just did back at her.

We’re ten feet apart, and I can still see the way her chest starts to heave at her name rolling off my lips. Good.

“What are you…what are you doing here?”

Oddly enough, I relax at her question. Because it’s not what she says, it’s the way she says it. Breathless, needy, curious, hopeful. She still wants me.

A piece of me wants to say that nothing has changed between us, but I can’t. Everything has changed. But it’s a good change. I can feel how much we’ve grown. In an unusual way, we’ve grown together rather than apart. We haven’t talked, but we’ve both stayed connected.

We’re still us. Just different, better versions of us.

Now I just need to know if she’s as ready as I am.

Putting my hands in my back pockets, I shrug. “You know. Had a gig.”

Her eyes fall to the ground as she says, “I know. I heard it.”

I cross the distance between us and stop when I’m just a mere foot from her. “Did you, Maura? Did you hear it? Did you really listen to the words?”

Every song I sang tonight was about her. Sure, a song or two came before Maura, but all along they were about her. She’s always been what I was searching for. And now that I’ve found her, I’m not letting her go. Not again.

Stepping into her more, I angle her head toward mine. “I’m about to kiss you, Maura,” I tell her, searching her gaze for any hint that she doesn’t want this. I find none. “Before I do, I need to know who Dallas is.”

“Dallas is nothing and everything to me, Tucker. But you, you’re just everything.”

That’s all I need.

I seize her mouth, her body, her heart, and her soul all in one kiss.