by H. J. Bellus
“No, but I can.” His lips run over mine as he leans in the cab of the truck. “I think you were dreaming about me kissing you, though.”
“I don’t want to wonder anymore or remember what you feel like on my lips.”
Tuck doesn’t waste a moment before he lays his lips on mine, his kiss hard and full of passion. And it’s just as sweet as my dreams remembered. He grabs my hips and tugs on them. It takes everything in me not to squeal in pain.
“Okay, she knows.” The sweet voice is back, and Tuck pulls away and twists just enough to see the little boy standing behind us.
I wasn’t dreaming when I thought he looked like Tuck. He’s a miniature version of him, posture and all. I look closer and notice the football tucked under his arm, and I immediately know I’ve already taken too much of Tuck’s time in the boy’s eyes. The slamming of a door startles me, and I see a beautiful brunette standing on the porch of the smaller home.
It’s a simple ranch style home with a white fence and the perfect scattering of flowers. Nothing super fancy, but just the right size and look for something Tuck would come home to. When I see the way the woman looks at Tuck, my stomach sinks and the pain in my right side is nothing compared to what just hit me. My focus shoots back to the toothy boy, and then Tuck and the woman walking toward us. It’s his secret. The reason he’d never get close to me. He has a kid.
“Tuck,” the woman squeals.
He leaves me and wraps the woman up in a hug and spins her around. Her laughter sends chills down my spine as bile begins to rise up my throat.
“About time you got your ass home. We’ve missed you.” She pulls back and gazes at him with love covering every inch of her face. “Never stay gone that long again.”
“Mom, please,” the little boy says.
“Okay, Ruger, you can play catch now.”
Tuck turns to me, and I focus on the strange woman. Her eyes are full of kindness, and she even steps up to me, pushing past Tuck.
“Welcome. Tuck’s talked so much about you.”
“Let me get her settled and I’ll be right back, Ruger.”
“You ass, aren’t you going to introduce me?” She slaps Tuck hard on the back of the head.
I cringe at the sight and wait for Tuck to blow.
“Goddamn, sis, you pack a punch.” He rubs his head while still smiling. “Blue, this is my older and very annoying sister. Her name is Joe.”
I nod, not sure how to respond, and feel embarrassed with the bruises and road rash covering one side of my jaw. Tentatively I reach out to shake her hand.
“No, no. Give me a hug now.” She wraps me up in a massive hug.
“Careful, Joe, she’s hurt.”
“Shut the hell up, Tuck, I know this.” Her voice rings in my ears, and then it falls to a whisper so only I can hear her. “He’s never brought a girl home. You must be special.”
“Okay, out of the way.” Tuck shoves in, nudging his sister back. “You okay, Blue?”
I nod, speechless. It’s like time has been warp speed since the football game.
“I’ll take you to my room, but I have to play catch with Ruger or he’ll have me by the balls all day.”
He lifts me easily from the cab and knows just how to hold me without causing any further pain.
“I want to sit on the porch in the sun, please.”
He looks down with raised eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it seems I’ve been knocked out the whole drive here.”
“Pills.”
“I think I’m good.”
Tuck sits down on a long, padded porch swing with me in his lap.
“You have a game waiting on you,” I say with a grin.
“I don’t want to let go of you, Blue.”
Agony and regret speak volumes as they dance on his rugged features.
“It’s not your fault, Tuck.” I place my palm on his jaw and let his thick stubble tickle my skin. “I chose to run.”
“Blue.” Tuck’s hands wrap into my thick side braid. “I love you, and it scares the shit out of me.”
“I…” Before I can finish my thoughts, I have to ask, just to be sure. “Is that your kid?”
His low, deep chuckle makes me wince in pain.
“No.” He ducks his head around me and hollers for the boy.
“Ruger, this is my girlfriend Blue, and Blue, this is my nephew Ruger.”
“Okay, can we play now?”
I finally laugh and let the worry escape me.
“Yes, go play now.”
“Are you going to watch, Blue?”
I nod at the boy, who can’t be over the ripe age of eight years old.
“I’ve heard Mom talk about you. You’re a cheerleader, and Tuck says you’ve got the sexiest legs he’s ever seen.”
Tuck slides out from under me and ruffles the boy’s hair.
“What else has he said?” I lean forward as far as I can without wincing.
“Oh, that you’re a queen and—”
“Enough,” Tuck growls as he wraps an arm around the boy’s shoulder.
Before Tuck walks too far away, I grab his hand and make him turn back to me.
“I want all of you, Tuck Jones.”
A smile I’ve never seen on him before shines back at me, and then I watch his amazingly taut ass and thick thighs walk down the steps and imagine if only those damn gym pants weren’t in the way.
I let the sun soak into my skin as the two begin to warm up by tossing the pigskin around, and then it eventually turns into Ruger doing some play calling and Tuck acting along with the kid. It makes me smile to see Tuck so relaxed and not hiding in a dark corner. The sun shines brightly on him as he fools around with his nephew, and I think how similar the two look with their ball caps on backward.
“This is Mabie.”
I peer up to see Joe with a baby propped on her hip. The chunky little girl dressed all in pink smiles back at me through her chubby cheeks with one tooth showing. She’s adorable and I can’t help but smile back at her.
“She’s so stinkin’ cute.”
“And a living terror. Ruger was nothing compared to this diva.”
A light laugh escapes me as Joe sits next to me on the swing. Her legs automatically start a rhythmic rocking motion as the little girl reaches up to tug on my long braid.
“Hi, sweetie.” My fingers run along the pleat of her dress.
Being an only child, I’ve always wondered what it was like to be around other siblings.
“Doing okay, hun?” Joe’s eyes are caring and nurturing.
I offer up a grin and nod.
“So, you suck at lying. That’s good.” She plops the baby in my lap and stands. “Where are your pills?”
I shrug, realizing I don’t know. Am I taking pills? What pills?
“Tuck.” Holy hell, Joe has the mother scream down pat. “Where’s Blue’s stuff?”
He jogs back up to the porch with Ruger on his heels, and my fucking ovaries melt as he smiles up at me in all his sexy glory. This is the feeling I fought so hard for Noah to give me, but nope, it’s Tuck.
“Why? You okay, Blue?”
“Fine.”
The word is on repeat as it flies out of my mouth.
“Bullshit. She’s in pain, and I need to see her meds.”
“Truck. My backpack.”
Joe storms off the porch, and the baby squeals in delight as Tuck nears us. Her pudgy little arms reach up to him as her squeals become louder.
“Okay. Okay.” Tuck plucks her from my lap and begins talking to her as she slaps his cheeks in joy.
“Well, shit.” I feel someone take a seat next to me and look at the little boy, stunned.
“What?”
“Well, shit, game over. I’m pretty much screwed now.” Disappointment covers Ruger’s face.
I glance at him and then up to Tuck who is mesmerized by the baby, and for a minute I wonder what fucking planet I’m on. “What?”
“The baby, my bossy nurse of a mom, and now my game is lost. I need these skills for my own game tomorrow,” Ruger says.
I don’t get the chance to respond as Joe interrupts and I officially meet the bossy nurse.
“Holy shit, you have a fractured rib? Thank god all your tests came back normal. This looks bad, Blue.” She stretches her hand out with a pile of pills in the middle of her palm.
“Thanks,” I manage to squeak out. Ruger elbows me lightly in the side and I almost scream, but don’t want to get him in trouble. When I look down he has an ‘I told you so’ face.
“Tuck.” I snag the hem of his long sleeve University shirt. He looks down at me with concern. I nod to the side where Ruger is with his pouting face. I pick up a bottle of water on a little glass table in front of me and down the pills, then hold my arms up for the baby.
“Don’t worry. I read the log and know what she needs.” Joe pulls Ruger up by the collar and sits next to me.
Tuck gently places the baby in my lap and then kisses my forehead. Using a combination of my eyebrows and nodding gestures, I send him back out to play with Ruger.
Joe slides the baby between us and begins rocking the swing again in a lullaby motion, which I find soothing. It’s like she can read the pain on my face.
“Are you really a nurse?”
“Used to be before I had her.” She points to the baby who is now chewing on the hem of her dress. “Tuck’s told you nothing, has he?”
I bristle at her question, even though the pain meds are doing the opposite to my body. We’re in a good place right now, or I’m high as a fucking kite and think we are. The last thing I want to do is break Tuck’s trust, so I just shrug.
“I could beat his ass.” Joe blows out a long breath, ruffling her loose bangs. “He’s a good boy.”
“I know that. He’s pushed me away.” I pause, knowing I shouldn’t be talking right now. “He kind of captured my heart the first time I met him.”
“He’s a little shit like that.”
We sit in silence for the next hour, and I keep dozing off and on in the sun. A loud, roaring engine pulls up in the driveway, startling me awake and sending me into a panic attack.
“Just my hubs, Blue, it’s okay.” Joe pats the top of my thigh reassuringly.
Ruger takes off to the black truck, allowing Tuck to walk up the stairs to me. I stand to meet him and feel shocked when no pain hits me. He cocks an eyebrow in my direction and I smile back at him.
“Easy, tiger.” Tuck pulls me in on my left side. It’s as if he has memorized every one of my injuries and avoids them at all cost.
“Whatever you gave me, Joe, has really helped my side.” I turn back to see her smiling face.
Tuck’s palm covers my good cheek and forces me to look back at him, and before I realize what’s happening, his tongue is down my throat. And like a love struck fool, I let him. With each swipe of it I feel memories of the attack dissolve a bit.
Chapter 20
Well, I sure know where the cussing comes from in this family. All of them. They talk like sailors and wrestle like barbarians. Joe’s even been flipped on her back a time or two by Tuck and had to scream uncle to escape, but the feisty little shit brought it on herself.
Joe’s husband, Austin, barbecued dinner for us. And of course the nurse in Joe wouldn’t let me help set the table or anything. I’ve just sat back and watched the family dynamics play out in front of me.
Joe helped me shower, and it made me feel like a new person. As I dry off, I examine my wounds and realize the pain on the inside is far worse than any one of them on the outside. The long patch of road rash on my jawline will heal quickly with a cream my dad gave me. It’s a magic healer, and I guess it helps that my dad is a plastic surgeon. Everything else can be covered up with clothing.
“Blue,” Tuck says from the other side of the door, followed by some light knocking.
I unclick the lock and crack the door a bit. Tuck pushes his way into the room and I cover up my bare boobies and thank god I had just slid on my panties.
“What are you doing?” I hiss.
“Coming to help.” I don’t miss his devilishly sly grin.
His lips attack the side of my neck, and I enjoy him nibbling on my flesh way too much.
“How are you feeling?” he mumbles on my skin.
“Not as sore. Look like hell, though.”
He lifts his head, cupping one side of my face. “You look like my gorgeous Blue to me.”
Something in the air kills the mood and Tuck goes to his serious dark place.
“Don’t,” I plead.
“Don’t what?” he asks.
“Don’t turn yourself off.”
“I’m not, Blue.” He leans back on the wall opposite from me, crossing his legs at the ankle. “I do need to apologize to you. I was a dick and handled everything wrong. I know Noah told you about the trouble I got into, but there’s more. I never should’ve gone after you. I knew it was all or nothing, but I couldn’t resist you. My coaches all told me to stay away and focus.”
His words hit me hard as I realize he’s about to open up to me for the first time. I remain frozen like a statue, still covering my breasts.
“Your texts were the only thing that helped soothe the pain I caused. And when your number called me that night and I heard you screaming and struggling, I died, Blue.”
“I called you?” I whisper.
“Somehow your phone rang mine, and I kept screaming for you, but I just heard rustling. Sophie used some damn app to find your location.” Tuck drops his head, rubbing his hands over his ball cap. “When I found you, you thought I was him. You were scared and refused to go to the hospital.”
“Stop. Please stop.”
All the blood rushes from my face and my head goes dizzy as the awful thoughts from that night begin to invade my mind.
“You remember it, don’t you?”
“Tuck.” I look up into his eyes with tears streaming down my face. “I do remember it, but do you want to know how I came to in time to get my pepper spray?”
He doesn’t respond, but only steps forward.
“I heard your voice.”
Tuck drops his head onto my shoulder and lets out a pent-up breath. “Blue, I’m fucking scared that after you see the real me, you’ll run.”
“Show me.”
“When I was—”
“Hello.” There’s a loud banging on the door. “I need to pee, and Dad said you guys were probably making babies in there.”
I grab the sides of Tuck’s face, horrified.
“Are you almost done?” Ruger calls out.
I panic and send a punch into Tuck’s rock hard abs.
“Get out,” I hiss between my teeth.
“You afraid of a little seven year old?”
“Now. Go entertain him.” I point to the door.
“Just one more kiss.”
His lips are on mine before I can refuse, and god dammit, I melt into him. I wrap my arms around his neck as he cradles my injured side to his body acting as a brace. He lifts me to the counter, setting me down, while still kissing my lips. His hands leave my skin and I can hear him fumbling around on the counter for something. Within moments, he’s clasping my bra on me, only pulling back when necessary to snap it, and then sealing himself to me again.
I giggle into his mouth when he pulls a jersey of his over my head, which drowns me.
“Really?” I mumble into his lips.
“Noah packed for you, and I think the clothes are too skimpy. I think he got into your costume drawer.”
I laugh, then wince, pulling back and holding my side. “I don’t have a costume drawer.”
“Well, this looks damn hot on you.”
His lips go back to work on mine as his fingers run up and down the front of my belly, and goose bumps form behind his touch. His fingers dip below my panties, and I pull back from his mesmerizing kiss.
“Um, no. I get all of you before yo
u get that again.” I push back on his chest.
I don’t miss his loud and very deep grumble as he tries for it a second time.
“I’m serious, Tuck.” I tap my finger on his chest with each word I speak.
“Okay, I might pee my pants out here. Are you done making babies?”
“Holy shit,” I mouth to Tuck. “Does he really know what making babies is?”
Tuck only laughs as I try to put on my shorts with no luck, and his hands glide up my legs to tug them on. Before his delicious fingers have a chance to play with anything down there in that department, I bolt for the door.
“All done.”
Ruger grins toothlessly at me as he does the potty dance.
I step out into the hall and hold the door open for him.
“Where’s the baby you made?” he asks.
“Um, ask your Uncle Tuck.”
I don’t even feel bad when I head for the guest bedroom, giggling the whole way. When I enter, I notice the stack of pills on the nightstand and know it was Joe. I grab the bottle of water by them and chug the whole pile in one swallow and hope we eat soon, so I have a fighting chance of not passing out.
I don’t wait for Tuck before I head outside, following the aroma of the barbecued ribs. The whole family is seated around the picnic table chatting away, and it warms my heart to see Tuck so relaxed. I hear Joe’s husband give me hell about the number I’m wearing, and I just fire back with a smartass comment.
“It was on clearance at the bookstore. Some overrated player.” I shrug and take the seat next to Tuck.
“Eat.” Joe shoves a plate my way filled with a gorgeous green salad and a steaming pile of sweet beans.
“Thank you.”
Tuck reaches over to snag a crouton off of my plate, but Joe slaps him hard before he has the chance to get it.
“She needs to eat with all the medicine she’s on.”
The scent of the food sends my senses into overdrive, and suddenly I’m scarfing down the meal like it’s my last one. Tuck laughs at me as I shovel it in my mouth at a steady pace. It’s not long before his sister provides him with his own piping plate of food, but his has ribs stacked on it. I pluck one off of his plate and cringe mid-movement, wondering if I’ll get the same hand smack, but the burning slap never comes.
