by Rae Kennedy
“Hey!” I squeal, running up to her and flinging my arms around her shoulders. “Thanks for saving me Hale.” Haley is not a hugger but she puts up with me.
“No problem.” She looks way too sober for this late in the night at a place like this. As I take off my coat and nubby red scarf, revealing my short cream lace dress, I realize why. Across the table is a very drunk guy completely ogling my legs. Like, drool-out-of-the-mouth-and-not-even-ashamed-of-it drunk.
“Court, this is Cade.” Haley directs me to the man to her right, not that he needs an introduction. Everyone in this town knows who Cade Renner is. Sex covered in tattoos. He shakes my hand across the table and I smile at him. I see what all the fuss is about. He is hot.
“Hi Cade, we’ve sort of met before.”
“Uh yeah...” He nods at me. I can tell he is searching for a memory of me, probably in bed, but he won’t find one. Cade gives women attention for a night, not long enough to remember a face or a name. Being someone he hasn’t slept with makes me completely off the radar.
“And this is my brother, Tuck.” Haley gestures across the table to the drunk one, her cheeks brighten as she admits her relation.
He straightens up a bit and stretches his hand out to me. As I take it, he says, “Hey gorgeous.” Cheesy. But it makes my face open up and then he flashes me the most gorgeous smile ever, complete with deep dimples on each side. He has perfectly straight white teeth with a square chin and sharp jaw. His hair is dark, buzzed short and his ears stick out just a little too wide but as he takes my hand, our eyes lock.
His large hand envelopes mine and sends a wave of liquid warmth up my arm. His eyes are a beautiful mix of green and blue and gold. We have stopped shaking and are just now kind of holding hands. Entranced. His thumb barely brushes along my knuckles and I snap out of it, giggling.
“Nice to meet you, Tuck.”
He looks a tad more devious as his grin widens, his left dimple getting deeper.
“You want to get out of here?” Haley calls to me, completely breaking the spell Tuck’s eyes are casting on me and I turn to her as I let our hands fall.
“Are you kidding? I just got here. I’m ready to drink!”
“Oh, hell yes!” Tuck jumps up from his stool lightning-fast with a smack of his hand on the table. “What’ll you have?” He looks at me with excitement. I’m excited too. I need to let out some steam before finals, and Chip certainly wasn’t doing it for me.
“Anything with tequila.”
Tuck looks as though he is about to faint as he crosses both hands over his chest. “I just fell in love.” He actually does stumble a bit but recovers nicely and reaches for my hand again. “Let’s go do this, girl.”
He takes my hand and we walk over toward the bar. We weave through the crowd—Tuck is taking care to block me from flying elbows and other people getting crazy. I am impressed at how steady he is walking and even more impressed with how much taller than me he is. He must be about 6’5” because I’m over six feet in these heels and he still has a few inches on me.
When we finally make it to the bar, there is no bartender. I step up on the foot rail and lean over the counter. As I do this, I realize with my short dress I very well may be giving Tuck a prime view of my ass, but that thought doesn’t bother me enough to jump down. The bartender is at the far end and I wave to get his attention, which is futile. I turn around to face Tuck, who quickly tries to look like he wasn’t just checking out my butt, failing.
“He’s down at the other end.” Even two inches away, I must raise my voice two octaves to be heard.
Tuck nods. “I’ll try to get him. You stay here.”
He melts into the crowd and I lean over the bar again. It is at times like these I wish I had any sort of cleavage to offer. But alas, this tall, thin frame only comes with boobs that can’t even fill out an A cup on a good day. The bartender turns his head my way for a second and I manage to catch his eye.
“Joaquin!” I recognize him from our English class sophomore year. He smiles and heads my way.
“What’ll it be, pretty girl?”
“Four tequila shots, top shelf.”
He gives me a nod and starts grabbing glasses.
“Can I buy your drinks?” The smarmy guy next to me—where did he come from?—asks with a skinny smile.
“Oh, thank you so much for the offer, but I’ve got it.” I smile sweetly at him and then turn back to the bar. Hopefully he will get the message.
Nope. He moves a little closer to me. “You sure? Top shelf is pretty expensive.” He has an abnormally small nose.
A large hand wraps around my waist from the other side and a strong arm ease me gently against a solid torso. I turn a bit startled right into Tuck’s face. His bright green eyes just inches from mine. He’s giving me his dimpled smile. “Hey darlin’,” he says with a wink.
I crack up at this. Really? He bites his lip to keep from laughing too, our noses almost touch. He glances over my shoulder for a second, the twinkle in his eyes giving way to an intense glare. Whoa. That look could murder. The little man scuttles off.
Breaking away from Tuck’s powerful grip, I raise my eyebrow at him.
“I didn’t know if you wanted rescuing,” Tuck says with a shrug. “But I figured if you did, I’d help. And if you didn’t...well, that would have made me completely jealous.” He only slurs his words a tiny bit.
“I could have handled it, but that was easier.” I smile at him, giving him a playful punch in the arm.
Joaquin places the four shots down in front of us. He doesn’t spill a drop of the clear liquid as he fills them to the brims. He tells me the price and I dig out some cash from my pocket.
“Put it on my tab,” Tuck yells over, “and add four more.”
“Hey, I can buy us a round.”
Tuck looks at me with a goofy smile. “But darlin’, I’ve got you.” He hands me a shot and raises his to mine. With a clank and a couple drops spilled, we down them in a second. We take the next ones then slam them down on the bar right as Joaquin sets down the next four. We carry those back to the table.
Haley and Cade are clearly disappointed we’ve returned and interrupted their alone time. She tells me he is different with her, but I need to keep my eye out for her, especially since Tuck doesn’t know they’ve been seeing each other. Judging from the look in his eyes at that random guy who hit on me, a girl he just met, I think he might actually murder Cade if he knew about him and his sister hooking up behind his back. Especially since the guy is his best friend and roommate. But Tuck is blissfully oblivious.
“Shots!” Tuck slides the little glasses around the table.
“Naw man, you take mine. I’m driving.” Cade passes his back.
“And tequila makes me vomit.” Haley hands hers to me.
Tuck has his eyes on me. When he looks at me it’s like I can feel his stare on my skin. “They’ve been like this all night. Thank God you showed up.” He raises his glass. “To you.” He sinks it back.
“How about we pace ourselves a little, okay drunkey?” I pat his arm. Wow, that’s a solid bicep.
He cocks his head to the side, a sly grin showing his pearly whites. “Okay, I’ll slow down. But I’ve been at it all night. What’s your excuse?”
A lifetime in sports and I was never able to curb my competitive side.
“Touché.” I touch the small glass to my lips and down the burning liquid in one smooth gulp, not letting its effect on me show. We are staring at each other as I reach for the next one and slide its contents down my throat as well. When I grab the shot sitting in front of him, his eyes widen in surprise. I sip that one down too, never breaking eye contact.
“Fuck. Me.” He is impressed.
“Was that a proposition?”
He gets a little flushed up through his cheeks but then smiles, stunned. “Will you marry me?”
“Not a chance.”
“I’ll ask again when I’m sober. I’m much more charming.�
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“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. You’ll definitely say yes the next time I ask.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
“Yup.” He hiccups. “Wanna dance?” He holds his hand out to me.
“Sure.”
Tuck has surprisingly good rhythm for his level of inebriation. He wiggles his booty and shimmies his shoulders. At one point I think he throws in some jazz hands. He has that big, silly smile on the whole time. The one that’s completely carefree and fun. He can’t moonwalk or do the worm, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. The best part is he doesn’t care. We laugh at how horrible he is.
“Your turn, girl. Show me your badass moves.”
I pull out a couple classics—the sprinkler and the shopping cart. Tuck claps for me and joins in, laughing the whole time. His smile is so genuine and beautiful, it’s disarming. As we dance, my elbows and hips keep bumping into him. We seem to be drifting closer together.
The next time we make contact, the full length of my arm brushes against his side and neither of us are in a rush to pull away. He’s dancing even closer now. He smells like fresh laundry and a mix of beer and tequila. His eyes are laser focused on me while we dance, still smiling.
He is watching me and I’m aware of how warm my entire body is and how fast my heart is beating. As the music picks up speed, his fingers touch lightly to my back, encouraging me to step closer. I do. Tuck’s hand slides slowly down to my hip.
My pulse quickens. When’s the last time a guy did that to me?
With a little pressure on my hip I move with him and we sway to the music. Our bodies are almost touching and his body heat is overwhelming. He’s still looking at me intently, his lips parted. He’s leaning in toward me. Am I holding my breath? But then the song ends.
“Whew, it’s hot in here,” I pant.
He chuckles, flashing his big smile and deep dimples as his hands leave my sides. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Tuck wraps his solid arm around my shoulder as we walk back to our table. He leans down to me, his lips brushing at my earlobe. “Do you want another drink before I close my tab? I think I’m done celebrating for the night.”
“No thanks. Maybe just a water?”
He smiles and gives my shoulder two quick squeezes, “Sure thing, darlin’.”
It looks like Haley and Cade have left to the dance floor when I get to the table, their beers still mostly intact.
The crowd has started to thin a little and Tuck returns shortly with a glass of ice water for me. He sees the two mostly full beers and sighs.
“Guess it’s all up to me.” He slides one in front of him and takes a swig. His eyelids are getting heavy and his eyes are glazing over. I softly pat his knee and grab Haley’s beer. Eff, this glass is big.
“I’ll help.”
He sleepily grins, his left dimple appearing as he lays his hand over mine, pressing it around his thigh, just above his knee. I didn’t realize how intimately I was touching him and now I’m a little embarrassed. Let’s change the subject.
“So, what are you celebrating?”
He looks at me dazedly. “You’re gorgeous.”
I roll my eyes but can’t keep a serious face. “I asked you a question.”
He shrugs. “Being single.”
“Oh?”
He nods, his head steadily lowering toward the table. “My girlfriend. Ali.” His cheek is now resting on the shiny surface. “Just dumped me.”
Damn. “I’m so sorry, Tuck. That sucks.”
His eyes are now closed, mouth open. “Broke my heart.”
Well, shit.
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