6. Tucker
Chapter 6
Tucker
“Listen up, everybody!” Aspen clapped her hands.
The six of us in the wedding party moved toward where the bride and groom stood on the porch of the main house on Sullivan Ranch.
“Today’s activity will be the video scavenger hunt competition.” Aspen couldn’t hold back a smirk. “But I do have to warn you, these tasks are gonna have folks around town calling your mamas.”
Jesus, what did she have us doing today?
“Nothing illegal, I promise,” she vowed. “You might raise a few eyebrows, is all. Hopefully, you’ll have a lot of fun, and we’ll be laughing over these videos for years to come.”
More likely watching them sad and alone for the rest of my life as my last link to Bex, but what’s the difference?
“In a few minutes, you’ll each receive a text with the list of tasks. You’ll have three hours to try and complete as many as possible. Not all tasks are worth the same amount of points, so strategy comes into play. There are bonus points available, so even if your team manages to film every task and arrive back here at the ranch first, that might not be enough to claim victory. Though, should you finish your list, hustle back because you’ll get bonus points equal to the number of minutes you arrive before the 4 PM cutoff. If you’re late, you’ll lose a point for each minute tardy.”
Mac was bouncing beside her, unable to contain his excitement. I had a sneaking suspicion that this wedding week event had been his idea.
“You’ll be paired with your partner for the wedding. So the teams will consist of me and Mac, Tucker and Bex, Tripp and Penny, and Colt and Harper.” Grady let out a little squeal from where he was held in Harper’s arms. “And honorary team member, Grady. How could I forget?”
A soft smile graced Aspen’s face as she gazed at the baby. Probably wouldn’t be too long after the wedding that she and Mac began a family of their own.
“All right. I’m gonna send over the lists now, and you’ll have five minutes to strategize with your partner before we start.” Aspen pressed a button on her phone.
Chimes that indicated an incoming text sounded in unison, and we all reached for our cells.
I groaned inwardly when I read over the tasks. Aspen wasn’t kidding when she said our mamas would be fielding calls. Some of these were going to cause quite a stir around town.
Blaze-Sullivan Wedding Video Scavenger Hunt
One member from each team must be filmed completing the activity for it to count.
Ride down the kiddie slide at the park—10 points
Sit down at the Range and order something that’s not on the menu—10 points
30 bonus points available if you can convince Naomi to have the dish made for you and you’re filmed taking a bite
Trace your family history back to the first settler in Rust Canyon in the church register—15 points for each team member; 30 total points possible
Go into the bookstore and read a spicy passage aloud from a romance novel—20 points
50 bonus points available to the team with the kinkiest passage
Video another team completing a task without their knowledge—30 points
Hop behind the bar at the Watering Hole without asking and start serving drinks—40 points
10 bonus points available for each minute you last before being kicked out
Walk into the drugstore and purchase both a box of condoms and a pregnancy test at the same time—50 points
Open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew—100 points
Everyone broke into their assigned pairs, the air filled with hushed whispers as they developed a game plan they didn’t want to be overheard by the competition .
Bex was still staring at her phone screen, lips twisted to the side when I approached her.
“Hey,” I said softly, not wanting to sneak up on her.
She barely spared me a glance before returning her gaze to her cell.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to do this with me. I understand.” I tugged on the back of my neck, letting out a sigh. “I’m more than happy to buzz off to my office and ask Felicity to film you doing these tasks. Nowhere in the rules did it state that both team members must be shown on camera. No one would ever know.”
An annoyed huff flew past her lips as she turned to glare at me. “I’m not a cheater, Tuck, but I can’t say I’m surprised that’s your default.”
Give the woman a prize. She hit the nail on the head.
In her mind, I had cheated on her with my ex-wife. For a long time, I thought I had too.
Throughout my marriage, I couldn’t shake the feeling of self-loathing. Every time I looked at Brooke, I was reminded that her presence in my life meant I couldn’t have the only woman I would ever truly love. I blamed myself for a lack of self-control, having no clue that I’d been played, taken advantage of by a selfish, cold-hearted monster.
I shoved both hands in my pockets. “Then what do you want to do?”
Even though hatred swirled in the depths of her dark-brown eyes, there was also a glint of determination. “Win.”
There’s my girl.
In all the time I’d known her, Bex never gave anything less than her best. It’s why I wasn’t surprised to hear she’d become a lawyer. She was as smart as a whip, always had been.
That’s how we’d fallen in love .
She was so advanced in her studies that her teachers couldn’t keep up with her, so they began sending her to my classroom—two grade levels above—to keep her from being bored with the curriculum.
Mrs. Wilson parked her at the desk next to mine and told me to keep an eye on her since I was top of my class. Joke was on her because I couldn’t have torn my eyes away if I tried.
It was the strangest thing. I’d known Bex Crawford most of my life, but I didn’t really see her until that day. It was like my world came into focus, and she was the reason. My life suddenly made sense, and my future became clear. She was it. The rest didn’t matter.
Might seem crazy to some, considering I was only sixteen and she fourteen at the time, but the same held true today. We might have gotten off track for a bit—okay, the train derailed in a fiery crash—but I didn’t want a future that didn’t feature Bex.
Too bad for me, she didn’t feel the same. But that was my fault, and I had to live with it.
“Have an idea of the best plan of attack to make that happen?” I asked.
She pointed at the tiny screen. “We don’t need to do them all, as long as we play this smart.”
“Okay, and how do we do that?”
“Cashing in on bonus points is going to be our best bet. If we’re the first to try hopping behind the bar, the odds are good we’ll shock whoever’s working there long enough to get a few extra minutes. Teams that try after us are gonna be out on their ear quick because the bartender will have caught on to our shenanigans by then.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. What else?”
“Forget the slide. We’re not wastin’ time on ten points. And over my dead body are the two of us walking into the drugstore and making that purchase. ”
That one stung. Sure, we were all messing around today, the focus on having some fun, but to hear her say she’d rather die than have someone think she was having my baby? When she was the one I always pictured as the mother of my children? It cut deep.
You can’t be upset when you did this to yourself, to her, by not dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s.
“Where to after the bar?” I prompted, clearing my throat when it came out a little hoarse.
Bex’s lips pulled in as she mulled it over. “We’ll already be on Main Street. Zig-zagging around town will only burn time, so we should go down the line, hit up the bookstore, and then the Range—we can snag those bonus points easy. Pop into the church if we still have time. I could find those records in my sleep.”
“On your marks, everyone!” Aspen shouted. “Three, two, one, go!”
The group took off like a shot, running toward several vehicles. I kinda felt bad for Harper and Colt since they had to take extra time buckling their baby into his car seat while the rest of us left them behind in the dust. But if they were working smarter, not harder, like me and Bex, they’d be fine.
Thankfully, there wasn’t an argument over who would be driving with Bex’s broken wrist. She’d hopped into the passenger seat of my pickup without a word.
Only one dirt road led from Sullivan Ranch into town, leaving no available shortcut as everyone headed toward Main Street. We watched Mac and Aspen dip into the drugstore and Tripp and Penny disappear into the bookstore, so our plan to be the first ones at the bar remained intact.
I parked in the lot out back, and we slid in through the rear entrance near the bathrooms. Before we made it down the hall, Bex halted me with a hand to my elbow .
The tiniest gasp sounded when she realized what she’d done, and she pulled away quickly as if touching me had burned her.
Closing her eyes, she shook her head quickly before reopening them. “We have to decide who’s hopping behind the bar and who’s going to film. And we don’t want to be too obvious about it, so whoever’s holding the camera needs to hide out of sight.”
“I’ll take the bar. People are used to seeing me around here. You’ll draw too much attention.”
Her lids lowered until only the tiniest hint of brown was visible. “Hole not deep enough for you, Tucker?”
My comment hadn’t been meant as a dig, but she was itching for a fight. We needed to clear the air at some point, but now wasn’t the time. The last thing we needed was witnesses when all the dirty laundry came out.
“You got the camera out or what? Because if I’m doin’ this, it better not be for nothing.”
Rolling her eyes, she shoved past me in the tight hallway. “Wait for my signal.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I drawled, allowing my twang to surface. Lord knows I loved the woman, but her attitude was starting to get me a little hot under the collar.
I could already tell we weren’t going to make it through this day in one piece.
Bex hustled her butt to a back booth, propping her phone on a napkin holder so that the outward-facing camera was pointed toward the bar. She gave the nod, which I returned and then sucked in a deep breath, getting my game face on.
Casually strolling to the end of the bar, I ducked under the hinged endcap that the waitstaff used to move back and forth, which usually deterred customers from entering the restricted space .
Popping up on the other side, I grabbed a clean glass and pulled the tap, letting golden liquid pour inside until foam slid from the top.
Flashing a charming smile, I placed it before Mickey Easton, removing his empty beer. I was lucky I knew his drink of choice so that when he took a sip without glancing up, he was none the wiser that he’d been served by his physician rather than Jesse, who was tending bar today with her back thankfully turned.
Every minute I lasted back here had the points mounting. I peeked at Bex across the room, her eyes glued to her phone screen, but her fingers ticking up marked the passage of time. I was up to two minutes already.
The bar wasn’t busy, so when Jesse flipped up the bar top on the opposite end, likely headed for the storage room, I did a mental fist pump.
Bex’s gaze lifted, eyes wide in disbelief that I was going to get tons of extra time added to our total. Then a smile lit up her beautiful face, and I could have sworn I stopped breathing. I hadn’t seen her smile once since her return, and it was just as stunning as I remembered. Pictures didn’t do it justice.
Her appearance was noticeably different today—hair pulled atop her head in a messy bun and her face free of makeup. She looked a hell of a lot more like my Bex than the polished version of the same woman who had arrived from the city a few days ago.
She’d never looked more beautiful.
“Hey! What are you doing back here, Doc?” In an instant, the trance was broken. Time was up.
I placed a palm to my chest and played innocent. “I’m sorry, Jesse. Am I not allowed to hang out on this side of the bar?”
Anchoring both hands on her hips, she cocked her head. “You know darn well this side’s off limits to customers. ”
My lungs burned with the effort to keep from laughing. Nodding, I mumbled, “Sorry,” and bolted.
Bex was hot on my heels as I pushed through the front door, doubling over as booming laughter burst past my lips. The sweet giggles that sounded by my side were music to my ears. Never thought I’d get a chance to hear them again.
When I managed to straighten, I leaned against the brick exterior, taking deep breaths to calm myself. “How long?”
Checking the time on the video, Bex declared, “Six minutes. No one is gonna beat that.”
“Good call on doing this one first. Jesse’s gonna be spittin’ mad by the end of the day.” I ran a mental inventory of the rest of the list. A smile stretched across my face. “Hungry, Bex?”
She caught my drift right away. “I could eat. Sure hope the menu hasn’t changed at the Range. It would be such a shame if I came all this way and couldn’t get my favorite dish.”
I fell into step beside her as she began moving toward the restaurant. “Lay the sugar on extra thick for Naomi, and I’m sure she’ll give you whatever your little heart desires.”
“You know, I was thinking the same thing.”
We reached the Range, and I held the door open for her. “After you.”
A tiny smirk curved on her lips. “I’ve got this.”
Of that, I had no doubt.
Naomi Saddler owned and operated the Main Street restaurant known for its barbequed meats and country comfort food. She was here, day in and day out, the same as most small business owners in town, and as luck would have it, she was manning the hostess stand when we walked in.
She practically lit up from head to toe when she noticed the woman by my side, exclaiming, “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Naomi pulled Bex into a hug, murmuring into her hair, “It’s good to have you home. Right where you belong.”
Bex’s arms tightened around the woman, who was friends with our mothers, and a sniffle sounded.
When they broke apart, both women dabbed at the corners of their eyes.
Naomi cleared her throat. “Let’s get you something to eat that’ll stick to your ribs.” She held Bex at arm’s length. “You’re too skinny these days.”
That got a watery laugh from Bex. “Can you blame me? Nothing they make up north can compare to good old-fashioned country cooking.”
She hit the target like an expert marksman, and Naomi puffed up with pride. “You’ve got that right, girl. Let’s get you two seated.”
We were led to a booth and handed menus. Bex scanned the menu, lips pulling down before the lower one pushed out in a pout.
“Somethin’ wrong, darlin’?”
Bex let out an exaggerated sigh before looking up at Naomi. “I don’t see the cast iron skillet mac and cheese anywhere.”
“Unfortunately, that hasn’t been on the menu in quite a while. Sorry, honey.”
The woman seated across from me widened her eyes.
My brows furrowed, and I cocked my head. What was her deal?
Subtly, she tapped a fingernail on her phone lying face down on the table.
Shit. I’d been so busy watching their interaction that I had forgotten we’d come here on a mission.
With Naomi’s focus on Bex, I slowly reached into my jeans pocket and grabbed my cell. Keeping it under the edge of the table, I peeked down to unlock the camera, sliding to the video function and pressing record. The numbers ticking up in a red box told me we were live.
I gave a slight nod, indicating for my partner in crime to proceed .
“That’s a darn shame.” Bex folded both arms over the table and gave Naomi the biggest puppy dog eyes I’d ever seen. “It’s just been so long since I’ve been home, and when I think of Rust Canyon, that mac and cheese is the first thing that comes to mind.” She batted her eyelashes. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”
Damn, she was laying on thick. I half expected Naomi to see right through her.
So I was shocked as hell when she tapped the pen she held on her ticket pad and nodded. “You know what? I think we can make an exception. In fact, I’ll pop back into the kitchen and make it for you myself. How’s that sound?”
Bex clasped both hands to her chest. “Nay, you don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Turning to me, Naomi asked, “Anything for you, Doc?”
I didn’t spare the menu a glance before handing it over. “I’ll take my usual.”
“One cast iron skillet mac and cheese and one chicken pot pie coming right up.”
The minute she was gone, I tapped the red circle on my phone screen to end the video.
Bex flashed me a smug smirk, and I shook my head on a laugh. “You sure made that look easy.”
She shrugged. “Nostalgia is a powerful tool. Especially around here.”
“You forgot the part where you’ll have to break poor Naomi’s heart when you barely eat any of it.”
“I wasn’t lyin’ when I told her I’d been thinking about it for years. You can bet your ass I’ll be eating every last bite.”
Okay, then. Guess we’re having a late lunch.
Turning my phone over, I checked the time. “Not to rush you or anything, but with the drive into town, our time at the bar, and eating a full meal, we’re going to be down to an hour left.”
“Doesn’t matter as long as we keep banking those bonus points.”
“You’re not at all worried about a team finishing their list and sitting back at the ranch earning a point per minute?”
She considered it for a second. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
There wasn’t time to talk more because our food had arrived. After capturing a video of Bex savoring that first bite, her eyes practically rolling into the back of her head, I dug into the flaky pastry of my pot pie.
In the silence, I could almost pretend as if no time had passed and we were out on a date like when we were teenagers.
Life had been so much simpler back then.
The bell above the door rang out as Bex pushed into the bookstore. We were sitting on one hundred and forty points, and hoping this next task would net us another seventy.
Denny was seated behind the counter, head down, reading a book. When he peeked up, I waved in greeting before following Bex through the aisles created by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
When we reached the section in the back labeled as romance, she ran a finger over the spines, her lips pursed in concentration.
“No. No. Not this one either,” she muttered to herself.
“Do you even know what you’re looking for? ”
Bex paused her search to level with me a look that said please before returning her attention to the books.
“Got it!” Her triumphant cry had me smiling.
Today had gotten off to a rough start, but now, glimpses of the carefree girl I used to know began to peek through. She might not have had much choice about spending the afternoon with me, but with each task, she loosened up more in my presence and became less defensive. I counted that as a win.
Cracking open the book, Bex thumbed through the pages. A wicked grin curved on her lips, and she lifted her eyes to meet mine. “You ready?”
I blinked at her. “What’s that?”
“You gonna record? Or would you prefer to read?” She folded her lips inward as she fought back a smile, like the idea of me reading a sex scene out of a book was the most hilarious thing in the world.
I was a doctor. I’d seen and heard all kinds of crazy things while doing my rotation in the ER during med school. How bad could it be?
Whipping my phone out, I motioned for her to proceed.
Bex’s eyes flashed to mine one final time before focusing on the words printed inside the book.
“ ‘Fuck, this pussy is drenched, just begging to be filled.’ I moaned, rocking my hips harder as Carter’s fingers picked up the pace, rubbing tight circles over my clit. ”
Okay, pretty standard so far. Good on the fictional man for warming his girl up.
“ Hands landed on my hips, lifting me to straddle Carter’s lap, his fingers still working their magic between my thighs. ”
Wait. That didn’t make any sense.
“‘ You sure you’re ready for this, angel? Once we do this, there’s no going back.’ Carter’s warning fell on deaf ears. I was too lost to lust, desperate to be claimed. So, instead of answering with words, I sank down slowly on his cock, loving when a husky groan rumbled from his chest. When I was fully seated, I rocked my hips, his piercings hitting the perfect spot when I moved just so. ”
My eyebrows shot sky-high.
Piercings? Well, okay then.
Bex’s cheeks had pinkened, and straight white teeth descended into her lower lip before she continued. “ The sound of a bottle being opened was barely audible with my fuzzy hearing. Carter pulled me flat to his chest, his hands sliding down my back to grip my ass and spread me open. ”
I had a feeling where this was headed. A finger in the ass wasn’t going to shock me; I was completely numb to it with the number of prostate exams I performed annually.
“ A slick finger pressed against my rear entrance, and I sucked in a sharp breath when it slid inside. It took a minute for me to relax, but as soon as I did, a second finger joined the first, twisting and stretching, getting me ready. Carter’s breath was hot in my ear. ‘You’re squeezing my cock so tight already, baby, and that’s just his fingers.’ ”
Hold on a second. Whose fingers? Where were all these extra hands coming from?
“ Sensation overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t manage more than a breathy moan. I was already so full with Carter inside my pussy, that I feared I’d split in two when his twin pushed his thick cock into my ass. ”
I about damn near dropped the phone.
“ But I was so desperate to feel both of them inside me at the same time that I didn’t care if it hurt. Truthfully, I wanted it to. The pain only heightened the pleasure. Carson pressed a kiss to the nape of my neck, his warm body covering my back. ‘We’re gonna take it nice and slow, angel. Just relax for me.’ I swallowed hard but nodded. Carter’s fingers flexed on my ass. ‘You better hurry it up, brother. I’m not sure how much longer I can last. And you know once I’m done, Dylan’s gonna want a turn.’ ”
“Jesus Christ. There’s a third one?!” When Bex’s eyes snapped up, I realized my shock hadn’t stayed inside my head that time.
Offering me a smirk, she explained, “Twin brothers and their best friend.”
I dragged my free hand down my face. Were women really into this shit? The chick in this book was practically getting gang-banged, for crying out loud.
If we didn’t win with this passage, I was scared to find out what could potentially beat it.
“ I turned my head to the side, locking eyes with Dylan, spread naked in the armchair across the room, stroking his cock slowly, ever the patient one. A sexy smile tugged up the corner of his lips. ‘Take your time. I’m enjoying the show just fine.’ I wanted to beg him to fuck my mouth, to be filled by three of them at once, but my capacity for thought flew right out the window when the head of Carson’s dick pressed against my asshole. He was too big; there was no way he was going to fit, and I tensed immediately. Carter’s hands found my nipples, plucking the stiff peaks, offering a welcome distraction. Even still, I couldn’t stop the whimper that flew past my lips when Carson inched his way inside, the stretch burning. ‘Breathe, Abby,’ Dylan coached from his seat. ‘You’re almost there.’ My lungs filled with air, but my head swam as the pain morphed into pleasure when Carson gave the first tentative roll of his hips. The fullness commanded all my focus, and I couldn’t stop the deep, throaty groans that were ripped from my chest as the two of them worked in tandem to bring me closer to climax. I could feel it building, stronger than anything I’d ever experienced. Carter grunted beneath me as Carson panted behind me. I was bracketed between their hot, hard bodies, and nothing had ever felt so right. The pressure coiled so tight that I stopped breathing when it finally burst, shooting sparks outward from my core, lighting me up from the inside out. My pussy clamped down on Carter, sending him over the edge. He came on a curse, holding my hips down so he could fill me with every last drop of his cum while Carson kept pumping into my ass. ”
What did it say about me that I was hard right now? I mean, this was practically porn but you had to picture it yourself.
I reached down with my free hand to readjust myself in my jeans, my eyes locked on Bex through my phone screen. She was flushed, those final words having come out breathy. It was exactly how she looked when we used to fool around in the back of my truck, what seemed like a million years ago now.
Clearing my throat wasn’t enough to keep my voice from sounding like it had been dragged over gravel. “Is that it?”
“Oh!” Bex startled, almost like she’d forgotten I was there. Her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of scarlet, and she shook her head. “There’s a few more pages. Carter pulls out, and Carson flips her over, so she’s lying on his chest so Dylan can fuck her from the front.”
I swallowed, not sure I’d survive hearing that described in vivid detail. “I think we’ve got enough.”
She let the book fall closed. “You’re probably right.” Returning it to its place on the shelf, Bex nodded. “Okay, so the church to get the records next?”
Probably going to burst into flames the minute we walk in after reading that, but sure.
Nodding, I extended an arm, motioning for her to lead the way. “We can drive over. Should be quicker.”
We were both in a slight daze walking back to my truck, but when we hopped inside, Bex mused, “Wonder if anyone will figure out the wine bottle task. ”
A thought struck, and without realizing it, I pulled onto Main Street, headed in the opposite direction of the church.
Spinning around in her seat, Bex watched town fade away behind us. “Where are you going?”
“I have an idea.”