Warmth spread further through Tuck’s chest and he smiled faintly. Unfair or not, he would’ve been asking the same thing if their positions were reversed. Tuck hadn’t planned on sailing away immediately, but knowing that she wanted him to stick around made him feel much less stalker-ish about it. Brianna wanted the same thing he did, to see if there was really something still between them, and it gave him a sweet sort of ache behind his ribs to hear it. “Who gives a shit about fair,” Tuck murmured with a little half-smile. His hand moved to stroke the side of Brianna’s hair. “I’ll stay, because I want the same thing.” Tuck didn’t want to jump into talk about breaking up her marriage, that was pretty presumptuous ... but it didn’t sound like it was in great shape, and that gave him a little hope he could keep to himself.
She had a feeling Tuck would want it too, but Brianna hadn't wanted to presume anything. Maybe he wasn't married but that didn't mean he didn't have someone else waiting for him elsewhere. Hell, considering she had broken his heart before, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Tuck had come back to sleep with her and then leave again, as if that would prove something. It was a mean thought, but Brianna supposed she had trouble not seeing ulterior motives everywhere she looked. Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss against his lips. She would just have to be careful, probably more so than she had been with Kane. For some reason, this thing with Tuck, whatever it ended up being, felt more dangerous than her past affairs. "I'll try to make Point Pleasant bearable for you," she said, her lips twitching into a small smile. "I know how much you hate it here."
Tuck harbored no bitterness over their breakup anymore -- they had been literal kids, and Brianna’s family had a strong sway over her back then, like most parents of well-to-do young women. Even if they’d stayed together, surely something else would’ve broken them up, the likelihood of a teenage relationship lasting long-term was low. And he probably wouldn’t have been tempted to come back. It was easier to think about it like that than to wonder if he could have been the one married to her, the father of her children. Thinking about having kids now gave Tuck hives, but if his life had gone differently ... but it hadn’t. A lot of his life was trying to read probability out of the fabric of the universe, but Tuck had learned that it didn’t do him much good to go back and try to pull on the threads of his personal life. He was there now, with Brianna in his bed looking like a dream, and even if nothing came of it, he was glad this had happened. “Already doin’ a bang up job of that,” he told her with a lazy little grin. “I’m feeling like it’s downright nice here right now.” Tuck’s smile faded a bit and he scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. “Really though, Bri ... I’m not here to make any trouble for you that you don’t want. I promise I’m not going to do anything stupid to wreck your life. I just ... I had to see, you know? Whatever happens after this, just be honest with me, okay?”
Brianna was quite sure everyone fantasized now and then about what their life would have been like had one thing been different. Brianna certainly had. But her life hadn't turned out horribly, even if it had been difficult. She had loved James, still did in a way. She certainly loved her children, even if those relationships felt shaky at the moment. But being here with Tuck, Brianna felt like someone else completely, someone she hadn't been for so long. It was nice. "I'll always be honest with you," Brianna promised, her arm slipping over his waist. "If there's trouble, it's trouble I want. But I want you to be honest with me too."