Hindsight was a bitch.
That was the conclusion Zoe came to. For months she had thought George Tucker was the one, her soul mate. She'd done everything to make them work and it had come down to a simple question "Move to Birmingham with me?"; and an even simpler answer "I can't".
He'd left claiming that he had to get away from the phantoms of the past that haunted him in Bluebell. They tried long distance but it failed, miserably.
But the worst part was that she had chosen wrong and lost Wade.
Just seeing him hit her like a stampede of brides waiting for a sample sale. For all the talk of getting it out of their system by spending one night together, but instead he had just gotten deeper under her skin.
Pushing the button on her coffee maker caused the feel of stubble brushing against her inner thigh. A rainstorm made her feel rough hands sliding up her waist. Goats of all things caused her to think of strong arms sliding her up the wall.
It was like there were phantom imprints all over her house from that night. Him stepping in the door and pushing her against the wall, kissing her hungrily before the knock on the door, him smiling against her mouth. He was everywhere.
Wade seemed to be over her, gotten her out of his system. He was cordial when they spoke, no more teasing, no more flirting. It was like they were strangers.
Zoe didn't know how to fix, she was pretty sure she couldn't.
She had been attempting to plan another rainstorm enforced hangout in a barn to no avail. Lavon refused to get involved saying that meddling would do nothing. He'd warned her over and over but she didn't listen and he was done.
Zoe tried to forget the way his lips felt against hers, his tongue sliding against hers. His hands tangling in her hair, the way he smiled as he grazed his teeth against her bra covered nipples.
Then she'd drank too much wine and she confessed it all to him.
"Wade! Wade!" She screamed from his porch.
"What the hell woman?" He yelled slamming the door open. "It is 4 thirty in the morning."
"Wade, I just want you to know that I do like you. You're plaguing me. Walking around in your flannel shirts and tight tank tops, it made me realize that you're really hot." He smirked and she realized that she was getting distracted, this was not what she wanted to say. "But see, those feelings they were something more then that, they were real. And I was scared and I ignored them because I couldn't get you out of my system and…I, shit." She hardly ever swore but it slipped out. "Wade I'm sorry I should have chosen you." She waited tingling with anticipation.
"Well that's too damned bad." He said turning and walking back into his house.
Zoe watched his retreating back and turned. But then the Tequila decided to overtake her judgment.
"No, Wade Kinsella you will not walk away from me." She stomped up to his door, realizing that her heels were not the appropriate choice for storming through the mud.
"Zoe, I just told you I don't care if you're sorry. You are stuck up you picked Golden Boy over me and look where it got you. So you're hurt and sad and whatever. That night did it for me, gone, no more." Wade was inches from her, anger burning in his eyes.
"Wade…I…I made a mistake." Zoe stammered at the heat between them. Having him so close was making her head spin.
"I. don't. give. a. damn." He said slowly. "Go find someone else to cure your broken heart over Golden Boy." He turned again and stalked towards his bedroom.
The tequila rushing through her blustered her resolve. "I don't want someone else." She said stomping over to him. "I want you Wade, you. George was fine, we were alright together. He asked me to go and I said no. Do you know why? Because I realized that fine and alright were not enough. I need someone who challenges me and who pushes me. I want there to be something there, something between me and someone."
With that she lifted herself up to match his height and kissed him. She paused waiting for him to respond. For ten seconds her heart was pounding as he stood motionless, then his arms slid around her waist and his lips opened over hers.
"Zoe." Her name was barely a whisper and she smiled.
He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to his bedroom.
It was worth the wait, the anticipation that had built up like the car ride back to Bluebell after they saved the baby goat.
His stubble against her inner thigh and her cheek. The way he used his teeth against her nipple. How his tongue slid against hers. His smile as she pushed him onto his back.
The way he pulled her against him after, back to chest and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry." She whispered again.
"You can make it up to me tomorrow." He said smiling into her hair.
"And maybe for a little longer than that."
"Only if you're lucky." Was his reply as he nuzzled her neck.