by Vicki Green
I clear my throat. “Right! Right. Everything will be just fine. Just fine.” Oh. My. God. I can’t stop repeating myself. Shit! Kill. Me. Now!
He looks at me with his sexy eyebrow raised and laughs. “Ok, then.” He picks up about four of my bags and carries them down the hall and into the bedroom. Damn, he’s strong. No wonder I feel so protected when he’s near.
I walk around the small apartment into the small kitchen that goes right into the small eating area that follows right into the living area. Hmmm. I walk down the small hallway, look to the left to see the smaller than small bathroom and to my right is a very small room that holds a desk, chair and that’s about it. Hmmmm. When I walk into the bedroom, I see him scrambling around, emptying drawers from his dresser and running around the room organizing it. I lean against the door and watch. He’s pretty fucking cute, running around like a mad man. My hand covers my mouth as I begin to laugh.
That stopped him in mid run, he turns to me and cocks his head. “What?” He asks with a wink. I laugh out loud not able to stop. I am now hunched down, my hands on my knees as I start snorting. He begins laughing along. “Well, that’s really ladylike, beauty. What’s so fucking funny that’s got you snorting?” That makes me laugh harder, now I’m not making any noise at all. I must be slap happy.
I’m still bent over, panting, my hyena laughing turned snorting has now calmed down to giggles. Finally, I stand, placing my arms across my middle, raising my girls a bit. I notice he stops, his eyes zoning right to them and then back up to me, lust now glazing over them. I roll my eyes and smirk. “You’re a mad man, running around like the place is on fire.” My hand covers my mouth, quickly, as I let out another unladylike snort. “Seriously, it’s not like we don’t have any time. It all doesn’t have to be done today.” I let out a huge yawn.
He puts the things in his arms down on the bed and walks to me. “Hey, you need sleep. You’ve been through so much. Take the bed. I’m gonna start clearing out the small office and get Shane’s futon to put in there. We can talk later about fixing up the place or… Hey! We could find a bigger place, you know, just as friends. Unless you’d rather find a place of your own? Whatever you want to do.” I yawn again. Shit! He’s so fucking sweet. Man, I was wrong about him. So very wrong.
My hands begin fidgeting as I look into his eyes. “Well, actually, I’ve never lived on my own and um… Well, I kind of like the idea of us staying together, you know, just as friends.” I give him my best smile and receive his gorgeous one in return. “Maybe we could look around tomorrow for a bigger place? That way, you can stop running around like a mad man until we have to start packing up.” I laugh and get a light smack on my arm, which makes me laugh harder. He agrees and leaves me to rest. I remove his stuff from the bed, putting it back in the dresser drawer and crawl under the sheets. Damn, this bed is so comfy. I roll to my side, my arm bent under my head and fall fast asleep.
* * *
I’m pacing the floor in the living area thinking about all that has happened in the last 48 hours. Arrived in L.A. and met with the charity coordinator for the event. Went to Paxton’s house to see her but ended up talking to Jonsey and made a plan. Found my beautiful goddess at her modeling shoot and got a door slammed on my nose. Called Jonsey and made another plan. Had dinner with said goddess and took her out so she could get accosted in a bar. Took care of my beauty and actually made peace and kind of became friends, more than friends. Ah, hell! I don’t know what we are right now. I can’t take the pacing anymore so I leave a note on the coffee table and run down to the corner store where there is a newsstand set out in front. I buy a paper so I can look at possible places to live and I look up at the grocery store window. Fuck! I have no food or anything to drink in my house whatsoever! After buying a shit ton of grocery’s and liquor in the attached store, I head home carrying several bags and the paper. I stumble into my apartment, closing the door with my foot and notice my beauty isn’t up yet. Whew! I want to cook her something for dinner and surprise her on her first night here. After everything that happened to her she must be so exhausted.
Everything is set up for dinner, chicken baking in the oven, salad made and in the fridge, rolls ready to pop in the oven when it’s time and green beans simmering on the stove. I’m sitting in front of the coffee table bent over the newspaper looking at the For Rent and For Sale home ads. I spot one and bring the paper up closer.
Lovely home/Country living. 5 acres. Wrap around porch. 3 stories w/bonus finished basement. Attached garage/unattached garage. A fixer upper. Only 15 miles from city. Call 888-255-1212.
Hmmm, not a bad price either. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m a tattoo artist by day and band leader by weekend nights. I won’t have her paying for shit either. I keep looking for another half an hour, circling some possibilities, when I hear the soft pads of feet walking into the room. I look up to see a very sleepy beauty rubbing her eyes and smiling at me. She comes to sit next to me on the couch and lays her head on my shoulder. She yawns and covers her mouth.
“Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m just so tired.” She puts her arm through mine and snuggles into my shoulder. Ok. I can get used to this. Fuck! We need to talk about what’s going on or not going on or hell, I dunno.
I kiss the top of her head. “You just relax and I’ll bring you a plate of dinner.” Her head rises up, an eyebrow shoots up and a smirk is on her face. I flick her nose. “Yes, I can cook and I can fix and repair just about anything. I can do just about anything around a house. I had to learn quickly growing up.” I give her a wink.
She sits up quickly. “Oh, God! Tuck, I’m sorry! I bet you had to do a lot of things most kids didn’t ever dream of having to do.”
My arm pulls her back against me. “Hey, now! No feeling sorry for this guy. I think I grew up rather nicely, under the circumstances.”
She gives me her beautiful smile and kisses my cheek. “I can’t imagine what it was like for you. You grew up to be the best man and friend anyone could ever have.” Well, I guess now I know what we are to each other. Sigh. I’ll take what I can get.
Dinner turned out great, if I do say so myself. We ate sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table while watching a movie. She insisted on cleaning up so who was I to argue? We fought over the sleeping arrangements; her yelling that I had to work in the morning and needed a good night’s sleep, and me yelling that she’s been through too much and needed some good sleep. Well, I won! I am sleeping on the couch tonight. Thank, fuck! No way was I gonna let her sleep out here on this lumpy thing. Unfortunately, I tossed and turned all night. Thoughts of my beauty just in the other room, where will we live, should we live together? Fuck! I think by the time my phone alarm went off, I had maybe two hours of sleep. Gonna be a long day.
Chapter Six
I’m on a mission today! I’m sitting here looking at all the For Sale/Rents ads that Tuck circled. Not bad, most of them. Then my eye catches a House for Sale ad that isn’t circled. Wow! That sounds fantastic! I quickly call the number and set up an appointment in two hours. Shit! I have no way to get there! Crap! Time to get dressed and go shopping.
I’ve walked for 20 minutes trying to find a car dealership. I know I’ve seen them around when I was here visiting before. The light at the crosswalk turns white for me to walk so I start walking, while texting Allie. BEEP! HONK! My head turns abruptly to the car that slammed on its brakes. I raise my sunglasses with one hand and flip him the finger with the other.
“Fucking watch where you’re going, bitch!” He yells out his window, flipping me off in return.
I turn and point at the crosswalk light and then back at him. Lowering my sunglasses, I flip him off again and continue walking. Fucking asshole!
By the time Allie texts me the closest car dealership, I stop and look up to see it right in front of me. Gee, thanks. It takes forever to get the car I want, but finally, we agree on a price and am now driving to my appointment at the house in a new black Linc
oln Navigator SUV. Nice ride!
I meet the real estate agent, Abagail, at the house. While showing me around, I can’t help but notice things that need to be fixed, painted, and replaced, but oh my God, it’s a gorgeous house with so much potential. I love it! So, I bought it.
I’m now headed back to the apartment. Tuck texted me earlier and said he would be home in about an hour. Home. I want to have a home with him. Should I tell him how I feel about him? I’m too scared. Maybe I’ll wait until we move into the house, and we can talk about things. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do.
This time I make dinner for him. Oh, I know how to cook and actually, I love to cook. I’m always trying out new things and can be pretty creative. Without my parents around, I had a ton of time on my hands. So, I would cook, bake, and just plain make whatever I could think of. Our cook and Jonsey loved it, ha! They got to try out my new things all the time. I got everything set up on his cardboard table and placed a couple of beers in front of the plates.
I hear the door open and close and look up to see Tuck standing there pointing at the door with a confused look on his face. “Whose Lincoln Navigator is that? They can’t park there. That’s…”
I stand quickly and jog over to him, giving him a hug. His arms wrap around me tightly, squeezing me. God, I love that. Looking up, I smile and wink. “It’s mine. Bought it today. Come,” I say pulling his hand. “Let’s eat and I’ll tell you all about my day.” We sit at the table and I dish out some spaghetti, salad, and cheesy bread onto his plate. Then I get my own, sit down and take a drink of my beer. Holding the bottle up, I catch him looking at me, his eyebrows creased in confusion. Oh, no. Did I do something wrong? “What?” I say my mouth still around the bottle. Now I see only one eyebrow raised. I set my beer down and clear my throat.
“Ok. I needed a ride so I walked to Clemens car dealership and bought the SUV. I needed a ride because I had an appointment at a house for sale and um, I went there, fell in love with it and…” I stumble watching his eyebrows now low and together. He’s getting pissed. “Look, when we left I took all my money. Tuck, I’m rich. I can’t possibly spend the amount of money I have in my lifetime.” Now he looks like he’s getting even more pissed, if that’s possible. “I did it for us,” I whisper.
He calmly gets up from the chair and heads for the door. I stand up, quickly, knocking over the chair and run to him. He opens the door, turns and gives me an evil glare. “What the fuck, Pax? What gives you the fucking right to go around, spending money on shit, for us,” he says waving his arms around. “For us?” He pokes himself in the chest. “I’m the fucking man. No one takes care of me. I don’t fucking NEED anyone taking care of me! NO ONE!” He leaves, slamming the door in my face. Shit! What have I done?
I quickly race around the apartment, cleaning up all the mess in the kitchen and on the table, all the while texting Allie what happened. Tears streaming down my face the entire time, blurring my vision as I get everything done. Still wiping tears away, I head out to my car. I drive around for hours, looking for his bike. Fuck! I can’t find him. After driving around endlessly and way out of town, I turn the car around and drive back. It’s getting really late by the time I’m driving down the main street and spot his bike at Barton’s Bar in the side parking lot. There’s hardly any cars there so I pull in. Pulling down the visor mirror I see how red and swollen my eyes are. Just great. I look at the clock and notice it’s almost midnight.
When I walk in the door I see Shane standing at the bar talking with the bartender. He gives me a sad look and tilts his head over to the far side of the room and there sits my hot rocker, sitting in a booth and looking like he’s two sheets to the wind. I slowly walk up to Shane and smile slightly.
“Be easy on him, Pax. He’s had a hard and rough life and doesn’t know how to handle kindness very well. You kind of sprung it on him when you probably should have discussed it with him first. He’s a proud man and is having a really hard time with this.” I nod and swallow hard. He lays his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “I know you’re just used to doing what you want, getting what you want. I don’t mean that unkindly.” I shake my head. “But he’s used to having nothing or used to getting what he needs with his hard work. He loves you, you know? He wants to take care of you, not the other way around.” He wipes off some of my newly falling tears from my cheek, and I swallow again. Oh. My. God. He loves me. I have so screwed this up, royally. I just hope he won’t leave me. I would die. “When you’re ready, I’ll help you get him to your car. He ain’t riding his bike tonight. I’ll take it home with me.”
Sniffing, I throw myself at him. He hugs me back and pats my back. I look up at him and sniff again. “Thank you, Shane. You’re a good friend. I guess I’m learning the hard way. I didn’t mean anything by it. I hope it’s not too late.”
He leans down and whispers, “It’s not. He loves you too much. You just need to slow down making any hasty decisions where Tuck is concerned. Let him be the man. His pride is hurting right now.” I nod again and am pushed gently in Tuck’s direction. As I walk I look over my shoulder and smile slightly. Shane winks at me and returns talking to the bartender. What a great friend. Not only to Tuck, but to me. Shit, that makes me cry harder.
As I get nearer to the table I can see he’s just sitting there, a hand around a beer bottle and swaying, faintly, in his seat. Shit, I caused that. I stop in front of him and watch as his eyes look up. They’re all glazed over and half open. “Wha, ya came here to buy me a fwucking beer too?” He looks down and takes a big swig of beer then slams the bottle down. “I don’t weed a hand out. I got mwoney.” He reaches in his pocket and takes out a wad of money and throws it on the table.
I try to touch his arm, but he pulls away. “May I sit down? Please?” Without looking at me, he shrugs and cocks his head to the seat across from him. I take a seat and place my hands in my lap waiting to see if he will say anything. I’m so scared I’m losing him. I’m such a stupid bitch.
Finally, after a few minutes and more drinks from his beer, he looks at me again. “What? What do you want, pwincesses? I’m just a poor man twying to make it in this life. What is if you want?” His slurring is getting worse as he drinks more, and he looks as if he’s about ready to pass out.
Right then a waitress walks over and places several waters on the table, one in front of me, and a pot of coffee with a mug. She winks and walks away. Tuck looks at the table and pushes all the waters to the side and the coffee to me. “Don’t wanna any of that shit. Will ruin my buzz,” he slurs.
I clear my throat and his eyes jump to mine. I can tell he has a hard time focusing. “I’m sorry.” He gives me a ‘Pfttt’ as he sways in his seat. “No, really! I’m very, very sorry. I had no right to do those things today. I’m… I’m not used to anyone taking care of me either, well, money wise I am but not anything else. I don’t… I don’t know how to stop.” He rolls his eyes awkwardly at me. I sniff and the tears start again. “I’m sorry, Tuck. I will take the car back in the morning. I will tell the agent I don’t want the house.” I’m crying full fledge now. “I can’t be in that car or live in that house without you. I don’t want to lose you!”
I cover my face with my hands and weep. The seat next to me dips, and I am knocked over when Tuck stumbles into me. “Oh!” I yell. Strong hands pull me up and encase me in a hug.
“No. I sowy, beauty. My stubborn pwide got me all riled up. Don’t cwy,” Tuck whispers in my hair, his finger wiping under my eyes. Sniffling I hug him harder and kiss his cheek. His face moves, his mouth finding mine. Instantly, I open my mouth, and his tongue invades. Damn, even with the taste of beer and hard liquor he tastes magnificent. His mouth leaves mine. His cheek begins to rub against mine. “Don’t weave me, I’m sowy. Pwease, pwease, I wove you.”
My head jerks back, my smile huge. My lips are moist from his kiss and the fresh tears streaming over it. He smiles, leans in and licks some of the tears from my mouth. I open my mouth on his and whisper, �
�I love you too, my sexy rocker man.” I’m pushed back onto the seat. Tuck is leaning over me and kissing the hell outta me.
I’m suddenly chilled as the warmth of his body is gone. I open my eyes to see Shane holding onto Tuck by his arm. Tuck is swaying a lot. My poor rocker God. I sit up and straighten my clothes and stand before them.F
“I think it’s time to get my mate home, don’t you?” He winks.
“Mate! Isn’t she fwucking beautifwal? She’s so fwucking special.” Tuck slurs at Shane, who cringes with what I imagine is his lovely smelling breath. I have to stifle a laugh. At least, I can laugh, now.
I put my arm around Tuck’s waist and he grabs my butt cheek and squeezes. “Oh!” I squeal. He leans in and kisses my face.
Shane starts laughing. “I think I’ll follow you home. You’ll need help getting him up the stairs.” We start walking, more like stumbling with Tuck and Shane yells over at the bar. “Lock up, mate.” He gets a nod, and we head for the door. We stumble all the way to my car, almost falling down several times. Tuck is laughing so hard it’s making it harder to keep him upright. After many attempts, we finally get him in the passenger seat and buckled in. Once I’ve gotten in, buckled up and started the car, he keeps putting his hand on my leg, on my arm, then leaning over and kissing on my neck. Ugh! I’m gonna have an accident.
Finally, after having to stop a few times to get Tuck to stop and stay still, I pull up in the driveway. I run around the car just in time to open it and try to catch Tuck as he falls out. We both land in the grass, his weight crushing me and the wind is knocked clean out of me. “Ompfh!” His fist lands against my eye, hard, as we fell. I am blinking away the stinging tears when his weight is removed. I try to look up, squinting, and see Shane with Tuck over his shoulder passed out cold. Shane reaches his hand down, and I grab it. When he gets me pulled up into a standing position, he lifts my chin with his hand, and he shakes his head.
