by Meghan Quinn
“Earthy?” I chuckle. “Where the hell do you get earthy from?”
She shrugs. “Just seemed like the proper term.”
“It’s not.”
“You don’t know.”
“I do.” I snag her waist and plop her on my lap. The candles in the room are slowly starting to burn out, and the family sized bag of peanut M&M’s we decided to share is almost gone. I couldn’t have picked a better way to spend my night with Emma. In my arms, in the new living room, watching a movie, and breathing in her fresh, flowery scent.
Goddamn, I like her so much. For so long, I never thought I’d have this. Her.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Em.”
She looks up at me, probably sees the serious intent in my unexpected comment, and smiles. “Me too, Tucker.”
Because I can’t not touch her, I stroke her cheek with the back of my hand. They’re builder’s hands. Rough. Overused. Often cracked from the cold. Yet she never flinches when I touch her silky soft skin. I’m not good with words, so I don’t really know how to communicate how much it means to me that she’s here. That she seems just as glad to be home as I am to welcome her. All I can do is touch her, and hope she knows. Hope she knows I’d feel empty and lifeless without her.
“What do you have planned for the rest of the evening?” she asks, shifting on my lap with a smile. And there it is. The smile that is both sweet and wicked. By the gleam in her eyes, she can feel my hard-on. It’s that easy with her. She just has to touch me and I get hard.
“I was hoping you had something planned for me.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. I think it’s time we break in this couch.”
“I was hoping you were going to say that.” She stands from my lap and pulls her pajama shirt over hear head revealing a purple lace bra that barely covers her luscious tits, followed up by taking her pants down, showing off a matching thong that’s so thin I’m not sure it should even be considered underwear. Her long brown hair sways over her shoulders as she pushes it to the side to show off her little outfit.
“You had that under your pajamas the whole time and never said anything?” I ask, so fucking turned on.
“I did.”
“And here I had to watch the movie the entire time with my shirt off. How is that fair?”
She starts to play with the straps of her thong as she answers, “It’s not my fault you’re a terrible negotiator.”
“I didn’t even know we were negotiating.”
“And whose problem is that?” She reaches down to my jeans, unbuckles them, and pulls my pants off with a little assistance from me, leaving me in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs.
She pouts for a second and says, “I thought you would be wearing those grandpa panties I like so much.”
She straddles my lap and presses her hands against my chest while her hips start to slowly move over my erection. Fuck yes, that feels good.
“They’re not grandpa panties. They’re just regular briefs.”
“Yes, they are. They’re gramp-ties.”
“Is this your idea of foreplay?”
She rubs her thong-clad ass over my lap. “I don’t know, you tell me. Seems like it’s working.”
“Only because you look so fucking hot.”
“You like this outfit?” She continues to maneuver on my lap, my cock hard as a fucking rock, and I’m certainly enjoying the view.
“If that’s what you want to call it.” I nod at her chest. “Take your bra off, babe.”
A wicked smile appears across her face. “Make me.”
“You really want to play that game? You know I’m significantly bigger than you, right?”
“Size means nothing.”
I thrust up into her, causing a little moan to pop out of her mouth. “It should matter.”
Her hands fall to my chest as she braces herself against me. “Maybe it does a little.”
I reach behind her and pop off her bra, watching it fall down her shoulders and exposing her gorgeous breasts. Wasting no time, I bring her chest forward and lower my head so I can suck one of her nipples into my mouth.
“God, yes,” she moans.
God, yes is fucking right. Everything about her is so damn right. Every. Fucking. Time.
***
Slap.
“Ouch, that hurt.” I shake my hand and then hold it to my chest.
Emma points her wooden spoon at me and says, “Stop eating all the croutons out of the salad or else there’ll be none left for our guests.”
There is a knock at the side door. I go to answer it as I say, “You can ask nicely; you don’t have to go whacking me.”
She wiggles her eyebrows at me. “I thought you liked a good whacking.”
Fucking sassy woman.
I open the door to find Adalyn, Smalls, and Racer waiting to be let in. Emma cutely asked me the other night if we could have a little dinner party to break in the new dining room table and honestly, I can’t deny that woman anything, so I agreed. And it didn’t seem like that bad of an idea, although I was nervous about Emma inviting Logan, but since she didn’t mention his name on the attending guests list, I assumed she didn’t ask him to come over. Smart move, because I don’t know how long I could fake being nice to that douche.
“We’re here,” Racer says, shaking a bottle of wine in my face. “Wine is from me.”
Smalls smacks Racer on the back of the head. “Wine’s from me, asshat. Is that why you offered to carry it in?”
“Of course.” Racer hands me the wine and then says, “We picked up this little lady in the driveway as well. I’m assuming she belongs to Emma, either that or we found a lurker and invited her to dinner.”
“Hi, Adalyn. Glad you could come.” I step aside for her to enter with the boys. I slug Racer in the shoulder as he passes and say, “Don’t call Emma’s friends lurkers.”
Racer rubs his arm. “Damn, did everyone’s sense of humor take a trip to the shit pit? Or are we supposed to act all proper because we’re having a dinner party?”
“Little class, man,” Smalls mumbles as we step into the kitchen. Emma and Adalyn are already hugging when I finish closing the door.
Adalyn pulls away and gestures to Smalls and Racer. “Going to be honest, I’ll be staring at those two all night.” She turns to the guys and continues, “Listen up, boys. I’m not going to be sad if you eat with your shirts off. Just a suggestion, take it or leave it.”
Racer pats Smalls on the back. “Trust me, sweetheart, you don’t want this guy taking his shirt off. His pancake nipples will scare you for weeks. I still have yet to put a flapjack in my mouth, too scared I might be eating Smalls’s nipple.” He nudges Smalls in the side with his elbow. “Talk about nipple confusion.”
Smalls shakes his head. “You’re fucking twisted, man.” Smalls takes off into the dining and living area and from the kitchen you can hear him say, “Damn, it looks nice in here.”
Emma nudges me with her elbow and kisses my jaw before turning back to the cheddar broccoli soup she’s been working on. “Should be done soon. Table is set, Tucker, so if you want to pour that wine for everyone, that would be great.”
I cringe. “Want me to pour it into the day-of-the-week mugs? We really don’t have any glasses besides two.”
“You don’t have wine glasses?”
“Babe, I had two mugs when you moved in. Do you really think I have wine glasses stored away somewhere?” The boys normally bring beer.
She chuckles and shakes her head. “Dumb question. Well, mugs will have to do.”
“Aw, you two are so cute,” Adalyn coos. “Can I help with anything?”
“I think we’re all set,” Emma answers as she stirs the soup.
“Good, because that was just a polite offer.”
Racer snorts and puts his arm around Adalyn. “I like this girl. Why don’t we go enjoy some wine in a coffee mug while trying to stare through Smalls’s shirt to see his pancake nips?”
“Sounds like a fetching idea.”
They walk out into the living area with the mugs and wine in hand leaving me a little worried about what might be blossoming between those two.
“That can’t be good.”
“I’m not worried.” Emma takes a sip of the soup and makes a cute little noise of approval.
“Why aren’t you worried?”
“Racer isn’t Adalyn’s type. If anything, they’ll become best friends.”
“Why isn’t he her type?” I ask, feeling slightly defensive for my friend.
“They’re too similar.” She points to the bowls on the opposite counter. “Can you bring those over here please?”
“Nothing wrong with being similar.” I place the bowls next to the stove where she starts filling them with her soup that I’m looking forward to trying.
“Not at all, but Adalyn needs someone broody, a challenge. Racer is too easygoing for her. Don’t get me wrong; if they ended up having sex, I wouldn’t be surprised. But a relationship? Never going to happen.”
“Well there goes double-dating,” I tease as I wrap my arms around her and kiss the side of her neck. “Smells fucking fantastic, babe.”
“Tastes even better.”
I lightly nibble and lick the skin along her neck. “I couldn’t agree more.”
She turns in my grasp once she’s done filling up the bowls and says, “Do not get a boner right now. I wanted to have a nice dinner party. No boners allowed.”
“Yeah, no boners allowed, dude.” Smalls walks in with a mug of wine.
Emma startles and steps away from me as if we were just caught by her parents. I don’t let her get very far and pull her back into my chest. “Do you need something?” Emma asks, trying to be the polite hostess.
Smalls tilts the mug in our direction to show us the wine. “This shit is fucking nasty. Apparently I’m polite, but can’t choose a wine to save my own ass. Got beer, man?”
“In the fridge on the top shelf. Help yourself and grab one for me too.”
“You’re not going to drink the wine he brought?” Emma asks. “You don’t want to be rude, Tucker.”
I lower my hand to her ass, lean forward and press a light kiss on her lips as I squeeze her behind. “And I also don’t want to drink the sludge he brought, so being rude doesn’t faze me.”
Smalls hands me a beer. “If it was Racer who brought the wine, Tucker would be drinking it because we both know Racer would bitch and complain about it until the bottle was gone.”
“True fact.” We bump our bottles together and Smalls takes off into the living room again.
Looking around the corner to see if he disappeared, Emma whispers, “Do you think I have to drink it?”
“I think you’re going to have to bite the bullet, babe.”
Gripping the beer around the neck of the bottle, she brings my drink to her lips and says, “If I have to drink the crap wine, so do you.”
Taking down half the bottle, she places it on the counter and then starts bringing the bowls of soup into the dining room.
Damn.
Funny thing is, if Emma asked me to drink the crap wine, I would, because it seems I’d do anything for this girl. She’s quickly become everything to me. She makes me feel real, justified, like everything I’ve done in my life leading up to this moment was meant to be. That I walked through hell and finally came out on the other end slightly burnt but fucking happy.
Funny thing about true happiness, though. You never know it’s inside you until someone pulls it out.
Chapter Twenty-One
EMMA
“I really appreciate you driving me home, Sadie. Adalyn forgot she had to help babysit her sister’s kids so she left me stranded at school.”
“Not a problem at all. Andrew has a late night of studying planned and I’m all booked out, so driving you home gave me the opportunity to get out of that stingy library.”
I buckle up and set my bag and books on the ground in front of me as I let out a long breath. “Why does this feel like the longest semester ever?”
“Probably because it’s your last before you go out into the workforce. I’m sure you’re itching to just be done with all the studying. When do you take your exam for your license?”
“The NCLEX? Two days after graduation. I wanted to get it over with.”
“I would too. Are you nervous?”
I look out the window at the freshly budding trees and shake my head. “No, I think my head has been buried in books for four years, and I feel prepared. But the next month is going to be hell when it comes to studying.”
Hopefully Tucker will understand less time will be spent with him and more with my books, but maybe if I’m lucky, he’ll want to help me study. Who am I kidding? There is no doubt in my mind that he will want to, he’s always asking if I need to be quizzed.
“There’s no question about it, you will pass.” Sadie stops at a stop light and turns to me. “I really am proud of you, Emma. You’ve always known what you want to do and you went out and accomplished it.”
“Thanks,” I reply, shyly. The praise coming from Sadie feels weird. Maybe because in the back of my mind, I keep thinking about how I feel like I’m betraying our friendship.
“So what’s the next step after you take the exam? Are you looking for jobs?”
“Yeah.” I fiddle with my shirt as I think about the jobs I’ve started applying to as a Registered Nurse Applicant. “I’ve been talking to a few different hospitals.”
“Really? So you’re not just applying around here? I heard Lourdes is a really good hospital to work for, if you can get in.”
“Yeah, I’ve been in contact.”
“Where else?”
“Syracuse, Scranton,” I swallow hard, “Boston, and Burlington.”
“Oh wow.” Sadie is silent for a second. “I didn’t know you were thinking out of state. I just assumed you would stay here. Gosh, you can’t move.” She laughs, but I know it’s a nervous one. “What are we going to do without our sweet and caring Emma? It’s not going to be the same without you.”
“It’s not like I’m moving there tomorrow. Just trying to keep my options open, you know?”
“I guess so.” She takes a deep breath and says, “Ugh, we need to spend more time together, especially if you might be moving.” When she stops, she points her finger at me, “You’ve been a busy lady lately, it’s hard to get ahold of you.” Maybe because all of my time has been spent in Tucker’s bed. I start to sweat from the thought of it. “Makes me believe you’re in a relationship. It’s how I was when I first met Andrew, blocked off the rest of the world.” I cringe and then quickly turn my face. It’s true; I’m acting just like Sadie when she first met Andrew. “Emma?” The tone of her voice makes the hair on the back of my neck stand to attention.”
“Mmm?” I reply, eyes still focused out the window.
“Are you in a relationship and you haven’t told me? And don’t say no. Your ears are bright red and so is your face.”
Crap! Damn you, ears and face, for giving me away. I really don’t want to have this conversation with Sadie right now, especially since we’re about to pull up to the house. She’ll also know that if I deny it I’ll be lying. Therefore, I go for the evasive answer.
“Uh, sort of—”
“I knew it.” She slaps the steering wheel. “I told Andrew the other day that I thought you were in a relationship, but he said I was just hoping everyone was in a relationship because I’m in one and I’m happy so I want everyone to be happy. Frankly, it was a boost to his own ego, but I knew I was right. Is it that Logan guy you spend all your time with? Did you finally fall in love?”
“No.” I shake my head. Boy, Tucker would not like that assumption. “Logan and I are seriously just friends, that’s it.” How many times am I going to have to reiterate that to people?
Although, I’m not even sure where my friendship with Logan stands right now. We haven’t really spo
ken since he told me his opinion on Tucker. For all I know, that friendship could be dissolved.
I really hope it’s not.
“Okay, so it’s not Logan. Is it another nursing student? What’s his name? Is he hot? Of course he’s hot. I mean, look at you. Does Smilly know him? I swear if you told Smilly and not me I’m going to knock your nipples off your boobs.”
“Smilly doesn’t know. No one really does.”
“Not even Tucker? I mean, you are roommates, so I’d assume he would see your new boyfriend.”
Oh Christ. I didn’t know palms could drip with sweat but here I am, wiping my hands on my pants, praying for her to drive faster.
“You know, since it’s so new, I really don’t want to talk about it. Superstitious and all.” I cross my fingers and hold them up to Sadie, which garners an eye-roll.
“You’re still superstitious about things? Please don’t tell me you continue to wear pink underwear on Tuesdays and Thursdays in hopes you will one day marry Chris Pine.”
I chuckle at my ridiculousness. “My Chris Pine-ing days are over unfortunately.”
“So unfortunate.” We pull into the driveway and Sadie puts the car in park and turns to me, hands in her lap. “At least promise me when you’re ready to talk about the new boy you’ll tell me all about him.”
I nod and gather my things, unable to really formulate words. “Thanks for the lift, Sadie.”
“Any time. Have fun finishing up your studying and say hi to Tucker for me.”
Yeah, that’s not going to happen. “Sure. See ya.”
I rush from her car and quickly make my way into the house. It’s quiet when I shut the door but I know I’m not alone. Tucker’s truck is parked out front and his wallet and keys are on the counter. The man is around here somewhere.
“Hello?” I call out.
There is a crash in the dining room that pulls my attention. I set my things down and rush to where I heard the sound. Tucker is standing in the dining room, his hand in his hair, his work clothes still on, and a potted plant shattered on the floor.
“Oh no, are you okay?”
He puts his hand out to stop me. “Don’t come closer, babe. I don’t want you to step on any glass.”