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An afternoon away from Heidi had allowed Tuck to really clear his mind. The minipet s**t might've helped, but by the time he was finished with that, Tuck had only one question that he could ask himself.

What the ******** was he doing?

He'd never messed with virgins. He'd never messed with girls under twenty - and he sure as ******** had never messed with virgins under twenty. Tuck had enjoyed the company of a few older women during his stay at college - it wasn't as if he'd ******** anything that moved. Coming to the island had brought his count up to five, and Tuck didn't think that was anything to brag about. The three girls at college had been women who had understood that the situation would be very no-strings-attached, and they'd been fine with that. He'd been fine with that. Everyone had been fine with that.

So the question remained.

What the ******** was he doing?

Thinking about Heidi experimenting with anyone else hit a sour note deep in his gut. On one hand, it was perfectly normal to experiment. One the other hand, he didn't want her experimenting with anyone but him. If he had three hands, on the third hand would be the fact that she was a virgin and that scared the s**t out of him. A fourth hand would be nice, because on that fourth hand would be Nevada, and he didn't want to hurt anyone. He'd never intended to hurt anyone. Tuck had never been the type to want his cake and eat it too, but here he was, wanting his cake, and wanting to eat the s**t out of that cake too. A fifth hand would hold Candace, though Tuck doubted that that particular woman needed to be handled with kid gloves. She was the type of woman that Tuck usually found himself drawn to. Beautiful. Experienced. Older. Completely no-strings, which was usually what he preferred.

It was so twisted.

After a quick shower and a shave, Tuck almost texted Heidi to let her know he couldn't make it - but he didn't. He'd lost a spar, and while it'd been on purpose, that decision had been made while his thoughts were still all clouded by Heidi. If he called and said he couldn't make it - especially after she'd gone through the trouble to make dinner - he knew that she would probably end up wondering if it had been something she'd done, and Tuck didn't know if he could stand thinking about that.

And so Tuck nabbed his toothbrush and a pillow. If he needed anything else, he could just come back to his room to grab it - wasn't like Heidi lived all the way down the hall. At exactly eight, he found himself standing outside of Heidi's room, clad in gray sweatpants and a short-sleeved white shirt. No shoes, just socks.

What the ******** was he doing?

<Giving Herryk a headache, Theodore.>

Tuck knocked.

And she'd made mac and cheese.

Tuck stepped through the door and turned to say something to Heidi - but she was there, taking his hand, and he kind of wilted just a little. Probably not enough for Heidi to notice... he hoped not enough that Heidi would ******** love food, don't matter what. Mac and cheese sounds fine."

Tuck grinned and squeezed her hand.

"Minipet duty is bullshit. I'd rather spend all day lookin' after pod people than clean up after minipets."

He shook his head and tugged her further into her room so that he could set his toothbrush down and toss his pillow on the bed.

"I usually try an' grab pody duty with someone else so I at least got someone to talk to. Time passes quicker that way."

He took the bowl of food and immediately went cross-legged on the floor. Chairs were for weaklings - and he didn't want to get food on her bed if he happened to drop something.

"I'm glad you're Moon, too."

Tuck narrowed his eyes at her briefly when she opened her mouth to speak but clapped it shut again.

"You got somethin' you wanna say, short stack? An' minipets poop more'n you think they would. But they're cute, I guess. Mosta them."

Tuck chuckled softly, lifting his shoulders in a shrug as he tore into his food. When she nudged him with her foot he shot her a grin. "I s'pose. Usually I make Evan go with me, but hell, you're a lot prettier'n he is - and you don't make me do the dishes, neither."

He shoveled another bite of food into his mouth, looking thoughtful as he contemplated his favorite movies.

"I like them newer Sherlock movies. Matrix too. Lord of the Rings. The first Star Wars movies that were made - don't get me started on them last three, they don't count in my books. I like comedies, too - so many movies, it's hard to pick just one."

Tuck stopped mid-chew, and a piece of macaroni fell out of his mouth as his jaw hit the floor. It took a second for him to regroup, and he quickly picked up the mess he'd made before setting his bowl aside.

"I'ma pretend you didn't say none of that in exchange for not doin' the dishes. I'd say that's one hell of a fair trade. An' then we gonna watch all of the real Star Wars movies. An' then we will never speak of this again."

Tuck squinted at Heidi. He squinted really hard. When she melted onto the floor and rested her head on his knee, Tuck got even squintier.

"Well."

He looked as if he were doing her a huuuuuuuge favor.

"I mean. I guess I do owe you a kiss. An' you did make dinner. I guess I can forgive you."

Tuck cracked up at her dramatics and slid down to rest next to her on the floor.

"What's tonight gonna be then? You got plans?"

He angled himself towards her and braced his head on his hand. His free hand poked at one of the ice cream cones on her leggings.