Chapter Twenty-One
Phoebe
The bakery has been closed for repairs for a couple of days, and I went in with Tucker to get the standing orders for the businesses around town done. No matter where I’m at in my head, I still have commitments to honor.
Telling Tucker my past freed me in a way. We help carry the other’s burdens. It’s overwhelming, actually.
I’m not back up to my normal self, but I’m getting there. And when Tucker suggested we go out tonight—with a promise not to get me drunk—I agreed. I want to feel normal again.
Nancy walks up to me at the bar and takes my hand. “How are you, sweetheart?”
I’m not sure exactly what she knows, but I can only imagine that I said something when she helped me hold my hair back the last time I was here. “I’m okay. How are you?”
“Not going to offer you tequila ever again.”
“Thank you,” I say, with a laugh. “I don’t know that I really want to drink ever again. That was… That was terrible.”
She laughs. “So, no cocktail or beer tonight?”
“How about something mixed with a soda? Let’s ease in.”
“Sounds good. I got just the thing.”
I smile and feel better than I have in a while. Tucker had to go talk to Jethro—the redheaded president—so I watch the TV in front of me.
“Phoebe?”
My eyes widen as I turn around. “Yes?”
“You don’t remember me?”
The man standing in front of me looks vaguely like my ex-boyfriend. He’s covered with weird red scabs on his face and arms, and he looks ghastly. Thin and gaunt. “Jake?”
“I knew you couldn’t forget me. What are you doing here?”
“I’m here with… my date,” I say.
Tucker and I haven’t really discussed what it is we are to each other, but he has referenced me as his girl before. But I’m not sure if that makes him my boyfriend or not.
“You’re on a date?”
It’s a bit of a gut punch to have that kind of a reaction from someone I once dated. Like it’s that shocking. “Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s talking with someone about business right now,” I say. “What are you doing in Gravelton? You were up in Reno the last time we saw each other.”
He smiles, and I’m shocked at how many teeth he’s missing. “I’m here for work.”
“Do you work at a chemical plant?” I ask.
“Hazards of the job,” he says and leans against the bar. “Have you heard of Venom Dust?”
My eyes widen. “Yes.”
“I help make it in the snake pits,” he says, leaning in and whispering it in my ear.
“Are you using it, too?” I ask, my voice low.
“No! That’s not allowed!”
Leaning back, I try to read his expression. The smile on his face reminds me a bit of the Joker, and I want to be anywhere but here right now.
“You know, I’m willing to give you a second chance. Wanna head into the bathroom with me? It’s been a while since a bitch has sucked my cock.”
My brows lift. “What happened to you?”
This is not the guy I dated. Jake wasn’t necessarily sweet and warm, but he wasn’t this… crass. And he definitely wasn’t into drugs when we dated.
“I grew up. Looks like you didn’t.”
“I think you should walk away,” I say, trying to find Tucker. “Take care of yourself, Jake.”
He grabs my wrist and yanks me out of my seat. “Or maybe I’ll take you into the bathroom and have you take care of me whether you like it or not.”
A squeal comes from him as he releases me and stands on his tiptoes. Tucker’s large hand has Jake by the back of his neck, squeezing until Jake’s face turns red.
“What the fuck did you just say to my girlfriend?”
Girlfriend? I’m officially his girlfriend?
“She didn’t say she was in a relationship.”
“A woman doesn’t need to be in a relationship for you not to touch her,” Lainey says. “Or make comments about forcing her to do things to you. That’s just gross.”
I don’t know much about Lainey, but she seems like a tough girl. The type of girl I always wished I was growing up.
“Dude, I touched her wrist,” Jake says.
“And I have you by the fucking neck, asshole,” he growls. “How about we bring you into the bathroom and force you to do whatever the fuck we think you meant by that comment? Huh? Would you like that?”
“Get the fuck off my guy,” Wylie Ballard shouts.
Venom Dust is a drug distributed by the Black Venom. And the Black Venom are enemies of the Hellfire Daredevils. My ex-boyfriend is in bed with my current boyfriend’s rival.
This is great.
Tucker tosses Jake at Wylie, who pushes him to the ground. “Keep your pups on a fucking leash, Ballard. Any of them touch my girl again, and I don’t give a fuck what you and your boys do. I’m ripping them apart limb by limb.”
“I guess you care more about your girl than Zep does about his. Since I’m still standing and all that.”
“Too bad your daddy isn’t. Where is he?” he asks. “Still laid up? How many bones did we break for what he did to Misty? Thirteen?”
My eyes widen as I sense the air shift. Nancy grabs a bat from behind the counter, and the Daredevils all gravitate toward Tucker while the Venom move behind Wylie. This is like a real turf war from the movies.
“Boys, stop,” Nancy warns. “Wylie, your boy was in the wrong. Get him the fuck out, and stay the hell away from Phoebe.”
“You’re siding with them?”
“I’m siding with her,” Nancy says. “Now, unless you want to be kicked out of here, get him out and don’t let him come back. I don’t allow dealing in the bar.”
Wylie’s not happy with this, but he doesn’t argue. I don’t know much about Nancy, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to be like Lainey; I want to be like Nancy. She’s a badass.
“You okay?” Tucker asks, taking my wrist and rubbing it softly with his fingers.
“I’m fine,” I say. “That was intense!”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I suppose it was. It’s just normal for us when we’re around them. Who was that guy?”
“Believe it or not, my ex.”
His eyes widen. “What?”
“He didn’t look like that back then. I was twenty-two when we dated. But now he makes drugs.”
“And uses them.”
Nodding, I sit back on the seat and lean on the bar. “So…”
“So…?”
“Girlfriend, huh?”
“Aren’t you?”
I shrug. “I never got asked.”
His cheeks flush, and he rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, I suppose I didn’t. It’s been a while, uh? Phoebe, will you—”
“Yes!”
My lips press against his, and he sighs into me, pulling me into his arms as he deepens it. Our tongues dance, and I get lost in him.
I love everything about this man. Even at my lowest, he made me feel cared for. I knew I was safe to tell him my secrets, and he’ll never use them against me. He’d never try to hurt me with them or betray me.
“Get a room!” Rooster calls out.
Pulling back, Tucker winks at me. “I’d love nothing more.”
I smile at him. “I think that can be arranged.”
“Okay, see you later,” Tucker says, tossing a few bills on the bar and carrying me out over his shoulder.
Laughing, I smack his butt until he sets me down on my feet. The moment my feet touch the ground, he cups my face and kisses me.
All silliness disappears, and passion takes its place. I run my fingers through his hair, and he slides his hands down my back to cup my ass, pulling me against the bulge in his jeans.
“You can say no,” he murmurs into my ear. “You can always say no, Phoebe.”
And I know I can. Tucker’s a world of contradictions. Hard but soft. Angry but happy. Dark but light. Closed off but open. Only for me, it seems.
“I don’t want to say no,” I murmur, sliding my hands up under his shirt. “I want you, Tucker.”
He pants and rests his forehead against mine. “I should’ve waited to do this until we got home. It’s going to be a painful ride.”
Glancing at the dark alleyway, I smirk. “Let’s take care of that.”
“What?”
I pull him into the darkness and blindly unbutton his jeans. He gasps but doesn’t stop me as I tug them down and free him.
“Take me,” I whisper. “Like our first time.”
“No, I don’t—”
“I want to,” I pant, sliding my jeans and panties down, too. “Hard and fast, Tucker. Then you can make love to me at home. In bed.”
He groans and finds my entrance, easing into me. I gasp and lean forward to lean against the wall, bending over as he guides me down.
“Fuck, Phoebe, you’re so damn perfect.”
No one’s ever said that about me before, but I’ll take the compliment, moaning as he takes me in the darkness right outside the bar.
I’m screwing my boyfriend in public. Never thought those words would ever describe me, but here I am. And here we are.