Wanna Bet?

by R. S Burnett

  “Come be a groupie with me” I tug on her arm and pull her towards the front of the stage where Tucker and the rest of the band are in mid song.

  We start dancing along to the music and I hear Tucker stutter a few lyrics when I look up he is staring at me with unadulterated heat in his eyes, I do a little twirl for him and he shakes his head chuckling at me. I ignore him for the rest of the set and dance with Jess, screaming his name when everyone else does and even joining in with the pleas for him to take his top off much to his amusement. Jason and Nick join us and start dancing with us both, but Jess pulls me into her when Jason puts his hands on my hips, he pulls me away from her.

  “Are you coming home with me tonight?” he asks in my ear rather loudly getting straight to the point.

  I shake my head at him, he pouts.

  “Are you with someone?” he asks me not put off.

  I nod at him against his cheek because he doesn’t move back from my ear this time.

  “Who?” he leans back after he asks this time I point up to Tucker who’s watching us. “He can come too” he offers making me hold back my smirk but I don’t think I do it well enough, just the thought of suggesting that to Tucker makes me want to snort unbelievably.

  I shake my head at him furiously letting him know that isn’t an option.

  “Why not” he persists

  “I love him” I shrug and shout up at him. He looks back at Tucker and then to me then shakes his head smiling sweetly.

  “He’s a lucky guy, you’re a very amazing woman Brooke. One of a kind” he says into my ear and kisses my cheek. I reach up and hug him quickly.

  “Thank you, but I’m the lucky one” he laughs softly and walks off taking Nick with him.

  I watch Jess watch Nick making his way through the crowd and shake my head at her laughing at the disappointment on her face.

  “Who was that?” she demands.

  “Jason is the one who was talking to me, he is getting married tomorrow I think ... and the other one was Nick”

  “Please tell me that Jason is the guy you were referring to earlier that Tucker didn’t want you speaking to” She says hopefully. This is one of the reason I love Jess, she is a firm believer of the never sleep with a guy one of you’re girlfriends has and she obviously fancies Nick.

  “No, it was Nick” I laugh as her face falls.

  “Then what the hell are you doing with him?” she points up at Tucker.

  “I only slept with Nick to try and forget about Tucker … it didn’t work” I shrug at her and wink at Tucker as the song ends and club cheers asking for more.

  He turns to the band and says something to them then turn back to the crowd and holds up his mic.

  The crowd goes quiet.

  “I believe you and I have a bet we need to finish” he says into the mic looking directly at me. I climb up on to the stage as the band start playing my bar dance theme song ‘bad girlfriend’ I start dancing as soon as Tucker starts singing. Once the chorus starts I dance with Tucker, doing the same dance I used to do on the bar but change it so it includes him, he puts his free hand on my hips as I shake against his groin and put my hands above my head around his neck, he notices how some of the dancing is going with the words of the song so when he sings the lyrics ‘I like to strip her down, she’s naughty ‘till the end’ he runs his hands up my leg lifting the bottom of my dress up teasingly then grabs my arm and spins me out and back into him as his sings how there’s no doubt I’m a bad, bad girlfriend. The crowd eat it up and go wild, screaming and whistling. As the song comes to an end we both take a bow. The crowd applause but over it I hear Jess shouting “I hate you Tucker Lloyd!” I burst out laughing and Tucker just looks back and for us looking confused. I shake my head at him, not able to talk through laughing; he wraps both arms around me pulling my back into his chest and kisses my cheek.

  “Have I told you today that I love you?” he smiles against my ear.

  I shrug “I could hear it again”

  “I love you”

  “Uh … good because I have something I need to tell you”

  Tuckers whole body tenses behind me. “What is it?” he asks slowly.

  I turn my head to look up at him and take a deep breath preparing myself.

  “I’m pregnant”

  His eyes roam my face for a few seconds and I hear the mic drop our of his hands and hit the floor. “How? Isn’t it a bit soon for you to know that..” he asks quietly.

  “I … ah … it wasn’t … Tucker, I’m four months pregnant. I didn’t find out until a few days ago. I got pregnant way before I left, we didn’t … we weren’t safe the first two times ...” I trail off helplessly.

  “You’re .. we’re … shit” he spins me around and crushes me against him.

  “I need to breathe” I manage to get out, his hold on me loosens slightly.

  “I need you” I says quietly in my ear and then picks me up and takes me home.

  Chapter Thirty One

  The next few weeks pass in a blur. Tucker and I have been near inseparable, we spend almost every night together, usually at my house – I still haven’t stepped foot in his. I’m not going to say that we have just fallen into the relationship and everything is easy and going good because we do have our moments and we clash on a lot of things. Tucker broke the news to the band and with a little pushing from Jess, I finally told Mel and Lucy. The only person we have left to tell is Andrew, Matt and Sophie. Andrew is the one person I’m most nervous about telling, it’s not that I think he won’t take the news well, it’s just that Andrew’s a bit protective of me and since I’m now twenty two weeks pregnant and we have found out that I’m having a girl, I have a feeling he will be treating me as if I’m made of glass.

  “Uh … Brooke, what are you doing?”

  I look up at Jess’s amused expression.

  “What? I frown at her.

  We’re in the coffee shop and I’m drinking tea. Yes, I Brooke Daniels, the woman who literally salivates at the smell of coffee brewing is drinking tea.

  “You’re dipping a muffin in your drink” her voice is full of humor but her expression is one of disbelief.

  “It’s good” I shrug at her and dip my blackberry muffin into my tea and wave it in her face before pushing it into my mouth. “You should try it”

  “I’m okay thanks” she smirks “So what’s with the outfit?”

  I look down at my self, I’m wearing my old university hoodie that swallows me and a pair of sweats. Basically, I look like a homeless person. I screw my face up “You know, I used to dress like this to pretend I was overweight, now I’m dressing like this to hide the fact that I’m no longer in good shape”

  “What are you talking about? You have a great body” she laughs at me.

  I stand from the table and shake my head “I woke up this morning and I had this” I lift my hoodie up showing her my tight tee that hugs my small bump.

  “Awww” she cries and rubs her hand over it “Why are you hiding this? It’s so cute!”

  “It is not!” I cover myself back up and sit down with a huff “I swear it was like someone inflated me while I was sleeping last night. I woke up this morning and it was just there. I’m hiding it from Tucker”

  “No offense honey, but you go into the club dressed like that and he’s likely to strip you down to see what you’re hiding” her voice is once again full of humor.

  Jess spends a lot of her time teasing Tucker on how he is around me since finding out I’m with child. It’s sweet but annoying as hell.

  “I’m not going to the club like this” I sigh, collecting my bags “I’m going to wear a loose fitting dress and just hope he thinks it’s cute enough not to question”

  “Good luck with that” She smirks at me.

  We say our goodbyes and both head in separate directions to get ready for the night ahead of us.

  Unfortunately, by the time I get to work that night, I’m a mess. I push my way through the crowds w
ith my head down and avoid contact with everyone, making my way towards the bar. A few people call out my name but I don’t acknowledge any of them. As soon as I reach the bar, I’m lifted off my feet and placed on top of it with a mic thrust into my hand.

  “I got a bet for you Brooke” Andrew calls into his mic but when he turns to me and see’s the tears silently running down my cheeks he lowers the mic and looks at me with concern. I loose it. I drop my mic, throw my arms around him and burying my head into his chest I cry, great big howling sobs.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asks rubbing a soothing arms up and down my back.

  I shake my head, still crying and not able to talk, even if I could I’m not sure what I would say.

  Some part of me knows that I’m completely overreacting and being irrational but a bigger part of me just doesn’t care.

  By the time Tucker has joined us on the bar and Andrew has passed me over to him I’m hyperventilating.

  “Brooke, what’s wrong?” Tucker’s concern just makes me cry harder.

  I lift my head and he moves the hair out of my face, searching my eyes for the answers that I can speak aloud.

  “Can we get her a glass of water?” he asks someone over my shoulder.

  I do a face plant into his chest and my crying starts all over again as I cling to his shirt as if my life depends on it. He doesn’t question my tight grip, he just rubs his hands up and down my arms and lets me hold onto him, absorbing some of his strength.

  Someone passes him a glass of water and he holds it to my mouth while I drink as much of it as I can.

  I look around and notice that everyone is watching me silently all with the same expression, bafflement.

  “Brooke, what’s wrong?” Tucker asks again.

  I shake my head “Nothing” I offer a weak smile but I know it won’t fool him.

  He pulls his head down so his forehead is resting on mine while he holds me close.

  “I’m fat and I’m hungry, so hungry but I want spicy chicken and I can’t find any” I whisper against his mouth, knowing that due to the complete silence of the club he can hear me.

  “You’re not fat and we’ll find you some chicken, now tell me what’s really bothering you” he whispers back.

  I step out of his arms and pull my dress behind my back so it’s tight on the front, his eyes drop down to my stomach and then back up to mine before they drop down again and the biggest grin known to man spreads across his face.

  “Uh …Brooke?” Andrews confused voice comes from behind me.

  I look around and a few people are staring opened mouthed at me, I feel the blood rush to my face and I’m sure I’m the color of a tomato. “Oh … umm … yeah .. I’m pregnant and having a little girl” I mutter, more embarrassed that people have seen my bump than them seeing me cry over chicken.

  Andrews eyes sweep over me slowly “Who …” he trails off.

  “Me” Tucker announces proudly, wrapping an arm around me just below my breasts.

  “I’d congratulate you both but … I don’t want you to start crying again” he looks so lost that I can’t help but smile and giggle a little.

  “Maybe we should all get down?” Tucker asks amused.

  Andrew looks at the crowd still watching us and nods while jumping down, Tucker lifts me and places me into Andrews arms before he jumps down.

  “I’m really happy for you” Andrew says quietly in my ear as I wrap my arms around him.

  “I’m terrified” I admit just as quietly back.

  “You have nothing to worry about” he kissed my cheek and lets me go when Tucker wraps an arm around me.

  “You want me to go looking for the chicken or do you want to come with me?” he asks, smirking at Andrews bemused expression.

  “I’ll come with” I smile up at him.

  Tucker takes my arm to guide me out of the club but the DJ puts on Shawn Desman’s Shook so I pull his arm and tug him to the dance floor, a few people move out of the way, giving us a wide berth as we find a quiet area. Tucker wastes no time pulling me against him but I turn my back to him and he moves his hands to my bump as we move our hips to the beat, I cover his hands with my own and everything around us melts away as I lean my head on his shoulder and get lost in those beautiful blue eyes of his that I hope more than anything our baby girl inherits.

  Someone takes a picture of us and before long it appears on the various screens around the bar and on the walls surrounding us.

  In these moments, I let the warmth and happiness that surrounds me, consume me and I know that no matter what happens my baby will be loved and have a huge family. I didn’t have a great family growing up and loosing my dad at such a young age really affected me because I was a complete daddy’s girl. As strange and unconventional as my life in the club has turned out. I know that each and every person here has my back and will welcome my baby with open arms, no questions asked, just like they did for me. Unlike me, she will never miss out on anything in life and will be surrounded with everything and everyone that a person needs in their life and I couldn’t be happier for that.

  Well maybe, if I could have a cup of coffee, I’d be a little bit happier.

  Epilogue

  “Uhh … Soph …”

  Sophie lifts her head from the magazine she reading to look at me. Her and Matt have been staying with us the last few weeks to help move Tucker into my house and the men have been setting the baby’s bedroom up.

  “Yeah?” she asks taking a sip of her drink and tucking her legs under her.

  “Uh … can you get Tucker for me please?”

  “Sure” She frowns at me and leave me alone in the living room.

  My due date was a week ago and since last night I’ve been having pains, first they started every few hours but they are every few minutes now and I’m actually starting to panic because my ‘if I don’t think about it, it isn’t happening’ theory isn’t working so well.

  “You okay babe?” Tucker asks as he makes his way down the stairs.

  “Uh ….” I pull the blanket off my lap and look down at the wet pool that’s under my dress and on our cream leather sofa “Maybe?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  I wince as another pain flashes through me and grip the edge of the sofa.

  Noticing my expression he wastes no time in rushing over to me and cupping my face in his hands “Brooke!” his panicked voice calls out to me.

  “My … pain … time …” I pant.

  He searches my eyes looking for something and when I lift my dress to show him the water all the color drains from his face and she starts panicking looking around the room. I would laugh at him but I’m pretty sure I’m about ready to have my baby and I don’t want to give birth on my sofa.

  “Sophie!!!” he shouts out and murmurs apologies when I flinch away from his loud voice.

  “What’s wrong?” Sophie and Matt run into the room looking around for danger.

  “Her waters have broke, she’s in pain. We have to do something!” he shouts at them again.

  “Why are you freaking out, Brooke seems fine” Matt asks his lips twitching with amusement.

  Sophie starts gathering up random things and telling us we need to get in the car to the hospital but Tucker looks back at me.

  I shrug at him and smile weakly “The pains started last night but now they are coming faster and I think my water just broke so … I can have a coffee soon”

  ***

  Seven weeks later.

  Mia-Sophia Lloyd is the most beautiful little girl in the world. She has her dads blazing blue eyes and even her cry is that of an angel. Giving birth wasn’t as bad as I thought, it hurt like hell and I don’t think I’d do it again but I had been in labor for a while before I went to hospital and basically didn’t have time to do anything except push her out when we eventually got there. As soon as she was born we named her Mia-Sophie, Mia after Tuckers mom and Sophia after Sophie because she helped me through some of the most horrendo
us times in my life and was always there to help me through everything. We were released from hospital the next day and Tucker basically hasn’t taken his eyes off her since. I couldn’t have asked for anything better, he attends to her every needs – to the point where we actually argue over who gets to change her diapers – The amount of visitors we’ve had is surreal. Will brought his wife and my half brother over to meet Mia and Jess and Andrew are a constant presence at our house, Dave and Matt along with the rest of Heavens Devils have all been to visit during a break from their tour and Tuckers band mates have basically moved in and all dote on the little girl as if she is royalty. Matt and Sophie only stayed for two weeks and then went back to their own lives to plan their wedding. Jess and Lucy have been over, showering us all with gifts along with Zack and Chloe.

  Basically we have an enormous family and we wouldn’t change a thing.

  Tuckers parents are with us this week and have convinced us to go to the club – none of us have been there since Mia’s birth and even though I need to check on business, I’m not worried because I know Will would have taken care of everything and I really don’t want to leave Mia for any amount of time. Tucker is even more reluctant to leave her than I am but there is no arguing with Mr & Mrs Lloyd when they want to spend the night with their first grandchild.

  As soon as we enter the club a loud cheer erupts around us. Tucker is quickly pulled to a table with his band mates and I once again find myself over Andrews shoulder as he takes us to the bar.

  To my surprise, he doesn’t stop at the bar he drops me to my feet outside the office and leaves me there with a kiss on the cheek. I open my door to find Will waiting for me behind his desk.

  “Hey” I smile as I close the door behind me.

  “Brooke… I have something for you”

  I frown at the nervousness in his voice but he ignores it and stands from his desk, when he reaches me he pulls me into a hug, drops and envelope in my hand and leaves me alone in the office.