The Haunted_Edit Copy 4-9-17 final final 5 Upload

and humble, and as far as I knew, hadn’t touched alcohol or smoked
anything since college. Not until tonight.
Of course, my first thought as he pulled out of the parking
space was that it had to be related to what had happened at the
Johanssons. But that didn’t really make sense to me. How could
someone encounter something so serious and then flip a switch and
become a total turd? Didn’t near-death experiences usually snap
people back to reality, not swell their heads and raise them so far
above it? And he’d been fine on Sunday.
The cold air rushed in as he opened the window to flick his
ashes outside. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched the
yellow lines disappear under the front of the car.
Instead of parking in my driveway, he situated the car at the
curb in front of my house. My eyebrows immediately came together
in a frown as I swiveled my head to look at him. “What’s up?”
For an answer, he leaned over across the armrest and pressed
his face against mine. Normally, a Tucker kiss sent those pleasant
sparks raining down through me like the trails from fireworks. But
this time, the entire thing was so out of character that my whole body
tensed up.
After a minute of my lips being pretty much motionless
against his, he pulled back. “What’s the matter?”
“You’re acting weird,” I said, intelligently.
His dark eyes bored into mine. Little droplets of sweat
began to bead on the back of my neck. Suddenly I really wanted to
get out of that car.
“I don’t think it’s weird for a guy to want his girl,” Tucker
murmured. He trailed his fingertips down my arm and onto my
thigh. Then his whole hand curled around my leg and his fingers
wedged in between them.
Automatically, my body responded to his. It was a truly
strange sensation to have my lady parts suddenly very alert to the
situation, but at the same time, to want to push him away. Luckily,
my head was in control enough to grab his wrist.
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