The One Place (13 page)

Chapter 18

The next morning, sitting at the island in the kitchen having a Coke, once again sated and happy from orgasms, I broached the subject that was weighing on my mind. It had only left my mind briefly while Tuck and I had been busy doing other things. It seemed like that was the only time I could get my mind to go blank and be able to just feel.

“Tuck, we have to do something about Bobby.”

He shook his head and muttered, “Knew this was comin’.”

“Oh, come on! After last night you cannot tell me you still wanna stay out of this.”

I could tell he agreed with me but he was still fighting to beat his demons back. “I tell you what. You have a talk with Ruthie. Meet with her, just you and her. She respects you, and I suspect she’ll listen if you approach her real friendly like.”

I wasn’t sure about that. “I’ve tried talking to her before.”

“Try again, Babe.”

I shook my head but said, “Alright, I’ll try again. I’ll try talking her up instead of talking Bobby down and see what happens.”

“That’s my Talie.”

Knowing this is the only thing that would be on my mind I made a decision to do this now. “Do you think you could call John for me-”

He chuckled and nodded. “You wanna go now. I know you just can’t wait when you get somethin’ in your head. I’ll call John for you.”

I jumped up, careful not to spill my Coke (Sacrilege!), and ran to him. I pushed up on my toes and pressed my lips to his. I talked right there with my mouth still on his. “Thanks, Baby.”

“You got it, Babe. Go do your thing.”

I didn’t even ask when I grabbed the keys to the truck and took off. He’d been after me to stop asking him for things the whole time I’d been living here. Old habits die hard and all that.

********

I pulled up to Ruthie’s townhouse, threw the truck in park, turned off the ignition, grabbed the handle, and threw the door open. I wasn’t used to driving such a big vehicle, but I hadn’t killed any humans or animals on the way over. I hadn’t even injured any! Success.

As I ran up to the door, I had a sudden thought. She was going to be pissed I was here so early. Oh, well.

Reaching with my fisted hand, I knocked loudly on the door. And I did so incessantly. If she was asleep, it was probably going to take awhile for her to answer.

After about five minutes of knocking, my fist stopped mid-stroke when I got nothing but air. Ruthie was there in the open door wearing nothing but a camisole and boy-short underwear. Well, that and a disgruntled scowl on her face.

I pushed right past her. “Hey there, Sunshine! It’s a beautiful morning isn’t it?”

She groaned. “The hormones that you’re getting from having all that sex are making you annoying.”

“What are you talking about?”

She sighed and mumbled, “You know, the endolphins or whatever.”

I burst out laughing and cackled, “You mean the
endorphins
?”

She glared and me and yelled, “Hey! Screw you! You woke me up!”

I put my hand to my chest and twisted my face in mock offense. “Excuse me! I almost cut my knuckles open to
bleeding
I was knocking on the door so long! How dare you!”

It was then that I remembered the reason that I was here. Pissing her off probably wasn’t the best way to start. Taking down my drama about fifty notches I stated, “Right, okay. I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m a bitch.”

She continued to glare at me, so I figured I better get on with it. On the way over there I had assessed that talking her up probably wasn’t going to do the trick by itself. She knew that wasn’t our natural relationship. I decided I needed another part of the plan and concluded that the other piece of the strategy should be distraction. I was going to find ways to keep her busy other than Bobby. Maybe enough time away from him mixed with as many affirmations as possible would make her decide to go down a different path on her own.

“Right. I came to ask you if you would want to come over to dinner at the farm.”

She rolled her eyes in disgust. “Give me a break. You came over because of Bobby.”

Smart cookie. “Okay, you got me. I came over because of Bobby. But, only to make sure that you were okay after last night, not to give you some half ass lecture on life’s lessons. I’m pretty sure I would make one hell of a hypocritical teacher.” I paused to take a breath and brought it home. “And also, to ask you to dinner.”

She eyed me skeptically. “You really want me to come over to dinner?”

Okay, complete avoidance of the subject of Bobby. Alright, that’s how we were going to have to play this then. Slow and steady.

“Absolutely. Tuck and I love you and we really don’t get enough quality time with you. I may have been mocking you for this just last night, but it’s the truth. Plus, Tuck is a really good cook! Maybe if you eat enough meals with us, you’ll end up with an ass like mine. We could be like ass twins or something.”

She struggled for a few seconds and then gave in, even cracking a small grin. “Okay, I’ll come for dinner. Can I bring anything?”

I shook my head. “Just your cute little self.” And then I had another thought. “And Tuck probably wouldn’t mind if you brought another pair of shorts like those white ones.”

She scrunched up her nose, but laughed and said, “Okay, Nattie.”

Thank God. Step one complete.

********

“Tuck,
God
.”

I threw my head back against the pillow and moaned. My legs were wrapped around Tuck’s back, thighs high on his sides, arms around his neck, and he was going hard, fast, and deep. My head came forward again and our mouths touched so that our breaths were mingled together. I was feeling really fucking good so I gasped at the sudden emptiness that I felt when Tuck pulled out.

He didn’t give me time to question it. He grabbed my hips and threw me, turning me over as he grunted, “On your knees, Baby.”

Oh, wow. I knew Tuck liked dirty and he had showed me more of that over the last couple of weeks.

Getting up on my knees and grabbing the headboard, I moved to get in position for him and tipped my ass up higher just in time to feel him enter me again.

Tuck growled and reached around with his hands, one going to my breast with his thumb swiping my nipple and the other going to just the right spot between my legs. From then it only took about six strokes for me to come as Tuck spoke hoarsely. “Fuck, Babe. So wet. So perfect.”

I convulsed around him, falling over the edge, spiraling downward, as he grunted, “Squeezing me so tight, tryin’ to suck me in. Love that, Baby. Love it, Talie.” I threw my head back, my hair flying up and over my head and landing on my back.

He leaned in close, pressing his stomach to my back, getting as close as he possibly could to me in that position. Seconds later he found his own release and whispered into my ear, “My Talie,” like he always did.

I had come home from Ruthie’s to drop the truck off and told Tuck about her coming over for dinner. He had just laughed, muttered something about that being “just what he expected from me”, and then dragged me upstairs to have his way with me “just in case our time was cut into” later that night. I couldn’t say this disappointed me. In fact, it did quite the opposite. It was fantastic.

Tuck pushed up off the bed pulling me with him, and headed for the bathroom to rinse off together. We did this a lot when we had time. We usually got pretty sweaty while we were partaking in our activities, and this was a good way to take care of that problem and still spend time together.

********

As I walked to the diner for the lunch shift, I thought about Jenny and Ruthie. I knew it wasn’t fair comparing the two, but I just couldn’t seem to stop myself. I had wanted so desperately to help Jenny and I had failed. I could really see Jenny being just as fun and exuberant as Ruthie if I had been able to help her.

And now I had that same feeling of desperation for Ruthie, and I intensely wanted there to be a different ending. I wouldn’t be able to stand watching Ruthie’s spirit being crushed having actually gotten to experience her in all her glory. I thought about it over and over, but ultimately decided I was doing what I could. And maybe giving Ruthie something else to look forward to, something that would build her confidence instead of break it, would do the trick.

I looked up to see that I was already in front of the diner. Jesus, I hated that I zoned out like that. I pulled open the door and walked in.

John took one look at me and said, “Tuck called with your excuses, but I’m not sure I believe him anymore.” He gave an innuendo filled smirk and I realized what he meant. Great. I guess even though I had showered I still looked like I’d been fucked, as Tuck would say.

Oh, well. No way to hide it. I
was
satisfied and happy, so I just shrugged. John doubled over laughing in response.

As I tied on my apron, I noticed that Jace had come in and just sat down at one of my tables. I headed his direction when another idea popped into my head. Tuck was going to kill me.

“Hey Jace! How’s it going?”

He looked at me and smiled and I noticed he was actually really cute. I hadn’t noticed before because I had been too busy staring at Tuck. Nobody was as hot as him and a side effect of that was that other people faded away in his presence. “Good, Natalie. How you doin’?”

I grinned big and murmured, “Call me Talie or Nattie! You don’t have to be so formal!”

He looked a little scared, which was probably justified as I was laying it on a little thick. “Okay then. Talie.”

Poor guy. I was forcing myself down his throat. “Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Tuck and I are having Ruthie over and I think you should come too.”

His eyes brightened a little but he quickly squashed it and cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah? She’s gonna be there? Bobby comin’ too?”

Oh my God, score. Jace had the hots for Ruthie. Why wouldn’t he though? She was so pretty, it was crazy. “Just her. I’ve been thinking maybe it’s good she spends some time without Bobby.”

The corner of his lips tipped up as I finished, “She just doesn’t know it yet.”

“You and Tuck don’t mind, I come over there too?”

I beamed and said, “We don’t mind at all, Jace! You’re Tuck’s best friend anyway!”

That made his face brighten even more. He had missed his friend. Apparently, Tuck
had
just been going through the motions before I got here.

He nodded once. “What time?”

“We’ll see you at seven thirty.”

He nodded again so I moved on.

“Now what can I get you to eat for lunch?”

********

I didn’t even tell Tuck that I invited Jace. He found out when he opened the door to Jace standing on the porch. People are less likely to commit murder when there are witnesses. At least, that’s what I was counting on.

Impressively, he didn’t even miss a beat. “Hey Jace. Glad you could make it. Come on in.” As soon as he finished saying it though, he cut his eyes to me and shook his head slightly. He at least had a mildly amused expression on his face.

Once Jace was in Tuck closed the door and stepped to me. Jace kept walking headed for the kitchen. He obviously knew his way around.

Chuckling lightly Tuck murmured, “You know, it’s amazin’ how much this doesn’t even surprise me. Can you give me a reason why this is a good idea?”

“I asked Ruthie to bring me another pair of shorts.” I knew that wasn’t the answer he was expecting, but thought it would work better than any of the other options.

Immediately following my promise of good things to come, his eyebrows shot up. Then, surprising
me
, he reached out one long arm, wrapped it around my waist, and yanked me into his body. He moved his face close, pressed his lips to mine, and talked with them right there. “God, Talie. Never had fuckin’ better, Babe. Lookin’ forward to the show I’m sure you’re gonna be puttin’ on tonight.” As soon as he was finished speaking he pressed his lips in, touched his tongue to mine, and then stepped back and retreated down the hall to catch up to Jace.

Now, I just had to wait and see how Ruthie would react. This wasn’t actually a set up. Sure, I had surmised that Jace may have a little crush on Ruthie, but that wasn’t what this was about. I just wanted her to gave an honest good time with people who respected her and built her up instead of tearing her down. I knew Jace would add to that dynamic because he
did
like her,
and
he was a ton of fun to be around. If Ruthie decided she felt something for Jace that would just be a bonus.

A knock on the door signaled me that it was showtime. I pulled the door open to find Ruthie standing there in a jean miniskirt and a tight fitting t-shirt. I immediately reached out, pulled her inside, and shut the door behind her to try to minimize her ability to escape.

I grabbed her upper arms and started talking quickly but quietly. “Okay. So, I have something to tell you. Jace is here too. This is not a setup, I promise. He’s just fun and Tuck’s best friend. Just be yourself, sass me like always and everything will go great.”

She started shaking her head fervently. “I can’t be like that in front of Jace! Guys don’t like girls with attitude!”

Hmm. Interesting development. First of all, it seemed as though this crush was at least a little bit of a two way street. A narrow one if you will, but two lanes nonetheless. Second, was she crazy? Of course men liked attitude! Look at me! If Tuck didn’t want someone who could keep up and bust his balls, he certainly wouldn’t have chosen me. Okay, some guys didn’t like attitude from a woman, but they were the shitty ones. They didn’t like attitude because it’s hard to beat down a woman who’s got it. “Um, yeah Babe, they do.”

I shook my head, looked to the floor, and muttered, “Jesus with the ‘Babe’. I’m turning into Tuck.”

Right. Not important right now.

Getting myself back in check and concentrating on the matter at hand, I looked back up at Ruthie. She still had an unsure expression on her face, and she whispered, “Guys really like attitude?”

I nodded and did a sweep down my body as if presenting myself as evidence. “Yes, at least, the good ones do. I mean, they don’t want you to be a total bitch, but the attitude you usually show me is the good kind.”