At Peace (The War Trilogy #3) (4 page)

It may be a stupid idea, but I need him. I need to feel his body against mine. I want my best friend back. I want the guy who would cuddle and soothe me whenever I had a nightmare. I fucking need that guy.

Tucker swallows hard and nods. “Of course,” he whispers.

I lie back down as Tucker gets under the covers. I turn my back to him knowing that he will wrap himself around me, which he does. His front presses firmly against my back so that we’re spooning. His arm comes around my ribs where he plants his hand on my chest over my heart. I’m still in my clothes but it still feels so good to have his body against mine.

Tucker tenderly kisses the back of my neck. “I’ve missed this.”

I put my hand over his and lace our fingers together over my heart. “Me, too.”

~ Chapter Four ~

~ Tucker ~

I wake up the next morning, my body intertwined with Dennis’. I can tell that he is still asleep because he is breathing deeply and snoring lightly. I soak it in because I don’t how he’s going to feel about me being here when he wakes up. I’m expecting him to pull back and put some distance between us. I know he still doesn’t trust me. He thinks I’m going to just pick up and leave at any moment, or just not come home one day from work. I’ve caught him every now and then watching me over the past few days, suspicion in his eyes.

I’m in my underwear but Dennis is still in his clothes from yesterday. After he closed himself away to call Lizette about their dad, he never returned, and I’m assuming he fell asleep without getting undressed. He even still has his prosthetic on.

He’s sleeping on his back and I’m half covering him with my body. I have my head on his shoulder and his arm is around me. My legs are tangled together with his. I slept better for the few hours I spent with Dennis than I have all week. I pull in a deep breath, breathing in his scent. Damn, I love the way he smells.

Knowing I might wake him, but desperately needing to feel his body again, I slip my hand up under the hem of his T-shirt. I run my hand up his abs to his chest before moving back down over his flat stomach. Dennis pulls in a deep breath as he shifts slightly under me. He turns his head toward mine and kisses my forehead.

“I gotta pee,” he grumbles before extracting himself from me.

He clambers to his feet and shuffles out of the room. I sigh and roll over onto my back. Scrubbing my hands over my face, I mourn the loss of his body against mine. Who knows when he’ll let me get close to him again.

Dennis returns to the bedroom a couple of minutes later. He stops at the end of the bed and shoves his hands onto his hips, his expression thoughtful.

“I have a problem,” he says.

I frown. “Okay?”

“I don’t have a car anymore and I have work tonight. How the hell am I supposed to get there?”

A slow grin curls my lips. Dennis frowns and hangs his head.

“Goddammit.” He sighs.

“Looks like you’re gonna have to ride bitch.” I snicker.

“I’m gonna call Duke; see if he can drive me,” he grunts.

“I’m pretty sure Duke is busy tonight. He’s going to a party or something,” I tell him.

“Fuck!” Dennis bites out and rakes a hand through his hair. “I really need to get another car.”

“You could ask Lizette?” I offer, knowing he’s not going to bother his nine-month pregnant sister for a ride.

“No, definitely not. And I remember Lizzie telling me that Renegade is away for the weekend,” he grunts.

“Then bitch it is.” I chuckle.

“I hate your bike right now,” he grumbles, looking miserable. 

I laugh.

“Sorry?”

“You’re not sorry,” he sneers at me.

“No, you’re right, I’m not. I can’t wait to get you on the back of my bike,” I admit with a grin.

He gives me a dirty look before walking back toward the door. “I’m going to take a shower.”

I can’t stop my smile as he walks out of the bedroom. I love the fact that I’m finally going to get him on the back of my bike. His body will be wrapped around me. I groan and run the heel of my palm down my sudden hard on. I have dreamed of Dennis on the back of my bike ever since we got together and it’s finally going to happen, even if it is against his will.

~ Dennis ~

I’m in a foul mood by the time I have to climb onto the back of Tucker’s death trap. I’m going out tomorrow and getting a car. I will not be riding this thing tomorrow, that’s for damn sure. Luckily, Tucker has an extra helmet I can wear. Tucker also lets me borrow a pair of his leather pants and an extra jacket that he has because it’s fucking cold as shit out and a motorcycle isn’t exactly the warmest way to travel. I shove a pair of jeans into my backpack. I'm wearing my black T-shirt that says SECURITY on the back in white. The day I was hired, my boss tossed me the T-shirt and said, “Here’s your uniform, kid.” It is really my only requirement that he asks of me. I can wear my hair however I like, have facial hair if I want to, wear any type of pants; whatever, Jim doesn’t care as long as I have the shirt on.

I grumble to myself as I pull the helmet onto my head while Tucker starts the bike. He already has his helmet on with the visor flipped up. Once the bike rumbles to life, Tucker turns to give me that damn shit-eating grin again. That grin has been on his face all damn day.

“Hop on,” he calls over the purr of the engine.

I give him my best death glare before climbing onto the back of the bike. I have no choice but to plaster myself against his back and wrap my arms around his waist. My seat is barely big enough to fit a small woman’s ass let alone a man’s ass. My heart flutters nervously up into my throat. I hate this. I hate having to ride this fucking thing, twice no less. Tucker will have to come and pick me up from work, too.

Tucker, being the dick that he is, burns rubber as he flies out of the parking garage to our building. I’m pretty sure a girly scream escapes my lips. Tucker, the cocksucker, is cackling evilly. If I wasn’t so terrified to let go of him, I’d fucking punch him in the side of the head.

Oh, Duke will be hearing about this shit. This is entirely his fault. He had to go and make new friends and get invited to parties. Like I said, foul mood.

Tucker pulls up out front of the pub and kills the engine. I clamber off as fast as I can. I yank my helmet off and spike it on the pavement like a football as I stomp toward the bar.

“Hey! Aren’t you even going to say goodbye?!” Tucker yells after me. I can hear the laughter in his voice, asshole.

I flip him the finger over my shoulder as I open the door to the pub. I hear him laugh as the door closes behind me. Glad one of us finds this funny because I sure as hell don’t.

“Dennis! Good to have you back, man!” Jim booms as he comes out from behind the bar.

He gives me a hug then steps back to look over my outfit in confusion.

“What’s with the leather?”

“Tucker had to give me a ride on his bike,” I sneer.

Jim rolls his lips in to stop from laughing. He knows how much I hate Tucker’s bike.

He gives me a nod, “Okay, well, go get changed so you can get back to work.”

“On it,” I reply and start for the breakroom.

Britney, the bartender, stops me on my way to lean over the bar to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“Welcome back, Dennis,” she says sweetly.

“Thanks,” I say with a small smile.

After I get changed and stash my bag behind the bar, I take my post at the door checking IDs.

It’s a pretty uneventful night. I only had to throw one person out. Everyone is mostly gone now with only fifteen minutes until closing, so I help Britney clean up. I’m freaking tired. It’s been over a month since I actually worked or been on my feet for any decent length of time. I place a tray of glasses on the bar as the door opens and Tucker walks in.

Damn him for looking so fucking sexy in his leather pants and jacket. His dark hair is a ruffled mess. His jaw is sporting a shadow of scruff and his light blue eyes immediately find mine. He gives me a crooked smile and a nod. He has one helmet tucked under his arm while he holds the other one in his gloved hand.

“Hey, Tucker, good to see you.” Britney smiles as she washes glasses.

“Hey, Britney,” he replies, waving a helmet at her.

“I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes,” I mutter.

“Okay, whenever,” he says and straddles one of the bar stools at the end of the bar, setting both helmets on the floor at his feet.

Britney starts up a conversation with Tucker. I half-listen as I go around wiping down tables and shooing a couple of stragglers out of the pub. I hear Tucker bark out a laugh and can’t help but glance over my shoulder at him. My heart hurts at the sight of him laughing. Even though I’ve made small steps toward letting him back in, I’m still struggling with it. Every touch or smirk or loving glance in my direction has so many emotions bubbling up that I can barely handle it all. It’s killing me having him so close yet so far away. But I will not let him hurt me again.

After I finish cleaning up, I grab my backpack and make my way into the break room to get changed. Putting back on the leather pants and jacket, I shove my jeans back into my bag and sling it onto my back.

Walking back out into the bar, I stop next to Tucker. Britney lets out a low whistle.

“Damn, you two look seriously hot in all that leather,” she says.

Tucker grins as he slips off the barstool. “Thanks, Brit,” he says, sending her a wink. Tucker hands me one of the helmets. “Ready, babe?”

I give him a bored look. “Can’t wait,” I reply dryly.

Tucker chuckles. “Right. Goodnight, Britney,” he says and turns to leave.

I say my goodbyes to Britney before stopping into Jim’s office to let him know that I’m leaving. I go outside and I frown when I see Tucker leaning against the hood of a brand new black Dodge Charger with white racing stripes on the hood. I glance up and down the street but don’t see his bike anywhere.

“Where’s your bike?” I ask as I stop in front of him.

Tucker shrugs. “Home.”

“Sooo, how are we getting there? And I don’t think whoever’s car that is, is going to be happy about you leaning against it like that,” I say, pointing to where his ass is settled on the hood.

“I don’t think the owners will mind.” Tucker grins like he knows something I don’t.

“Do you know the owner or something?” I huff in irritation at his candidness.

“
Owners
,” he corrects me.

“What-the-fuck-ever, just tell me who the damn thing belongs to,” I snap.

“Us,” he replies with a nonchalant shrug.

I blink stupidly at him. “What?”

Tucker tosses me a key fob. I catch it and stare down at it for a moment before lifting my head to look at Tucker.

“I don’t understand.” Frowning hard, I look at the car then back at him.

Tucker rolls his eyes. “I know you hated riding on my bike and I didn’t want to put you through that again tonight, so while you were working, I went out and leased us a car,” he explains.

“Us?”

“Yeah, I figure we can share it. You just have to go with me tomorrow to sign some papers to finalize everything, but I got a pretty good deal since one of the guys that I work with has a cousin who owns a dealership.”

I glance at the car, then the key fob, then back at Tucker. He gives me a hopeful, somewhat hesitant smile.

“If you’re trying to buy shit for me and think that I’m going…” I start, a bit nastier that I meant to be, but I can’t stop myself from blurting out what first came to my mind when Tucker said that the car was ours.

Tucker cuts me off. “Really, Dennis?” he barks, his eyebrows drawn together and his mouth a thin angry line. “You need a car, so I went and got a car that you will be paying half for because I can’t afford it on my own. And I’m not trying to buy you back, asshole. I was just trying to be nice and be a good boyfriend. I would have done this even if we
were
on good terms.”

Tucker seems to grit his teeth, biting back anything more that he has to say as he pushes away from the car.

“Do you want to drive?” he asks tightly.

“Yeah, sure,” I murmur, feeling like shit, but hell, what am I supposed to think?

~ Tucker ~

The ride back to the condo is silent. I stare out my window trying to push down the pain that Dennis’ words caused. I can’t believe he thinks that I got the car to buy back his affection. Dammit. That fucking stung so badly when he started with that shit. I really thought we were making some progress, but then he goes and says that. I feel like we just took two steps back.

After parking the car and taking the elevator up to our floor, Dennis and I walk into the condo. I drop my helmet next to the door and shuck off my jacket, which I hang on the wall coat rack in the entryway before moving into the living room. Dennis does the same but he goes into the kitchen and pulls out a bottle of water from the fridge. After drinking half of it, he comes into the living room and sits down next to me on the couch. Not right up against me like he used to, which fucking rubs me raw.

“Thank you for the car. I really appreciate it,” Dennis says softly.

I nod. “No problem,” I reply quietly.

Dennis sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “This hasn’t been easy for me, Tuck. I’m questioning everything you do. I’m afraid to let you back in. I’m afraid you’re going to leave again and completely destroy me.”

I look over at him, expecting him not to be looking at me, but he is. His green eyes are pleading for understanding. They are also swirling with longing and need.