Buck

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Trouble is something I’m quite familiar with. So familiar, in fact, that I know trouble the moment I see it. And about five feet of trouble is walking right through the double doors of The Golden Spur Tavern. I set my dishrag back into the blue sanitizing bucket. My focus is entirely on the mysterious woman as she sways her curvy hips toward the counter in a pair of red high heels and a business suit. Anyone coming in here dressed like that ain’t here to have a good time. They’re here to cause trouble.

“Who’re you lookin’ for, Heels?” I ask, breaking the ice as soon as she steps up to the counter. The petite woman looks behind her shoulder and then turns her attention back at me, archin’ her brow in question.

“Me?” she asks with a sharp chuckle. “I wouldn’t think that’s any way to greet a customer.”

Exaggerating a hard glance around the bar, I answer her. “There ain’t anybody else in here wearin’ heels, is there?”

She reacts with a playful scowl, her steely blue eyes piercing mine, and a light jolt of electricity strikes my gut. “Well, for your information—” She pauses, standin’ up on her tippy-toes to peer over the bar. Her eyes scan me from head to toe before she continues, “—Shit-kickers... it’s none of your business. The only business that’s yours is what I want to drink.”

Raising my left hand behind me, I point at a sign hangin’ on the wall beneath the top shelf of liquor. It reads, We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.

“With how busy you are right now, I’m sure you won’t be refusing me service. Is that safe to assume, Shit-kickers?” A seductive smirk pulls at her plump candy apple red lips, causing my cock to twitch and press against the seam of my jeans.

Folding my arms over my chest, it causes a natural flex of my biceps, and I can’t help but notice as Heels casts her gaze across my muscles.

Resting my forearms on the bar counter, I lean toward her. Her eyes flit back to mine. I break the silence. “Have a seat, Heels. Sure wouldn’t want you to fall over.”

Heat rises in her milky white cheeks and turns them almost as red as her lips. “Fall over?” she asks in puzzlement.

“Yeah, you were lookin’ a little weak in the knees there.” I feel the pull of my lips as they turn up into a smile.

“I think someone’s a little full of himself...” Heels rolls her eyes and scoffs.

“What’s your poison today?” I tap the counter in front of her.

“Whiskey on the rocks. Make it a double.” She doesn’t hesitate with her order.

There’s no way in hell this little woman is going to drink whiskey on the rocks, I think to myself as my eyes widen in surprise at her request. “Are you sure you don’t want a fruity drink? I think I can make a Sex On The Beach or something close, anyway?”

“I said a double of whiskey on the rocks, Shit-kickers. Are you truly trying everything you can to get under my skin in the shortest amount of time possible?” She removes her suit jacket, exposing her full cleavage in a low-cut blouse.

My length stiffens, reminding me I haven’t been around a beautiful woman in a very long time. I shake the thought away and reach for a bottle of top-shelf whiskey.

“Nope, just surprised is all.” I turn back toward her with the bottle and a rocks glass. I scoop a few ice cubes into it and pour the amber liquid over the cubes, listening as they crack.

Sliding her double shot on the rocks over to her, she nods toward the bottle and then shifts her gaze back to me. “It’s on me,” she says. “Have a drink with me, or take a shot,” she demands, twisting her dark brown hair up into a bun at the top of her head. I notice a birthmark on her neck and it sparks something inside me. I’ve seen it before.

I know her.

Heels must notice because she narrows her familiar blue eyes at me, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “What do ya say, Buck, one for old time’s sake?”

Old time’s sake?

My heart damn near falls to my feet. “It’s you...” My voice trails off and I reach for the whiskey bottle, pouring myself a double, though I think I’ll need the whole damn bottle.

It’s Dakota fucking Jenkins, my best friend’s little sister.

My first real love.

She’s also the one I got my ass handed to me over by said best friend because he walked into the room when my cock was down the back of her throat.

Fuck.

“Well, let’s just say little Kota has grown up a bit over the past five years.”

Kota, I repeat in my head. I was the only one to ever call her that. She holds up her glass in my direction and I do the same, clinking our glasses together for a cheers. The whiskey burns a trail down my throat and warms my belly. She shivers at the strength of the alcohol but smiles with a sigh.

“What the hell brings you back here?” I ask, pouring us both another.

Things between us ended five years ago. Not because we wanted things to end, but because we thought they had to. She moved off to college and I haven't heard from her since.

“Home,” she says with conviction, and laughs softly, almost as if it were a mistake she’d said the word so seriously. “I need to be here with Auntie, with her being sick and all. I want to make sure she’s taken care of.” She tips the glass of whiskey against her plump red lips. I stare at them, pressing on the rim of the glass as she drinks the liquid all in one gulp. My mind wanders, imagining that pretty little mouth wrapped around my cock like it once was many years ago, but I quickly shake away the dirty thought.

Fuck. I can't be thinking of her this way. We don't even know each other anymore.

It’s been five goddamn years since I’ve seen this woman and yet here she is, making me feel like a horny young guy again who can’t control himself.

“What?” she asks with a soft laugh, running her thumb along her bottom lip.

I realize then I hadn't responded to her.  “I just can’t believe you’re here. It’s been so long, and we didn’t really end things on a light note.” I pause. “I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

“Life is full of surprises, Buck,” Kota smirks, shining her bright blue fuck-me eyes in my direction, only making matters worse beneath the seam of my jeans.

I lean closer to her, over the counter. “You can’t be doin’ that shit, Kota. You’re only gonna get us in trouble again.”

I pay no attention to the sound of the bell dinging as the doors open. My focus is on Kota, and her focus is on me. She places her hands on the bar, leaning in closer toward me, our faces merely an inch apart.

The tension between us is thick, just as it’s always been, and another sexy, sinful smile pulls at her plump lips. I shake my head in disbelief at the beauty before me.

“You two didn’t learn your lesson the first time?” The loud, deep voice startles Kota and pulls my attention away from her.

It’s Jack.

Kota’s big brother.

My best friend.

“I...uh...I better go.” Kota reaches for her purse and pulls out her wallet. “What do I owe ya?”

Jack slams his hand down on the counter next to her, causing a pool of rage to build in my gut.

“No, don’t let me interrupt this time. Go ahead. What’s gonna get y’all in trouble, Buck? Is my little sister gonna suck your dick again? Or are ya gonna actually fuck her this time?”

The veins in his neck are showing and his hands are now balled into fists.

“Jack, don’t,” I warn him with a low growl.

“No, you don’t, Buck.” He matches my growl and scowls, then looks over at his sister. “Why the hell would you even come here? You know he works here. He’s bad news for you and you’re fucking engaged, Dakota. Do you even think before you act?”

Engaged...

The word hits me like a punch square in the balls. Now I don’t know whether to be more pissed off at Jack or Kota.

“Jack, I didn’t come here to see Buck. I came here for a few drinks, and we were just catching up. What you walked in on was nothing. It was just a little harmless teasin’.”

“You mean flirtin’,” Jack corrects her.

“Who gives a flyin’ fig if we were flirtin’? Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen between us, Jack!” Kota’s southern-bred accent is in full force. You can take the girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl.

The two start going back and forth, bickering like they’ve always done, and it triggers something inside me.

“GET OUT!” I slam my fist against the bar, and they both turn to me with wide eyes. “I mean it, get the hell out of here. Both of you.”