Day Four

“Wait, who was naked?” Megan asks, scrunching her face up as I tell the girls the story.

“Irving and Yanina,” I answer.

“You’re telling me you spent the night with Tucker, and the only naked people were the old couple who ran the inn?” Megan says, scrunching her nose up in disappointment. “There are so many things wrong with that story. I can’t even.”

I laugh as I take a bite of my sandwich. We’re eating lunch at one of the restaurants on the beach on the resort, and my girls are grilling me. All except Cynthia, who really doesn’t want to hear about her brother’s sexual exploits.

Not that I’m telling them anything. I kept the physical activities to myself.

Irving drove us back after we ate breakfast, and after some pleading, he agreed to wear shorts, but he wouldn’t budge on putting a shirt on.

“So, besides the old naked couple, how was it?” Tanya asks.

“It was okay,” I say with a shrug. I take a sip of my lemonade as I scan the beach, looking for him. It was definitely more than okay. I haven’t been able to think about anything else since I got back.

I don’t see Tucker, but I do see someone else. Stephanie is in the front of a Zumba class, bouncing around in a bikini that’s way too tight. Her new fiancée, Lars, has a front row seat in a beach chair, watching with a creepy grin on his face.

“Look at her,” Cynthia says with a look of disgust on her face. “I hope a coconut falls on her head.”

The Zumba instructor swings her leg up about a foot off the ground, but Stephanie swings hers up over her head, showing the crowd of horrified families her disgusting camel toe.

“She’s trying to pull something,” Cynthia says, stirring her straw in her drink as she glares at her. “This is not good. She’s going to fuck up my wedding.”

“If she fucks up your wedding, I’m going to fuck her up,” I say as I narrow my eyes on the bouncing blonde. “She’s going to be begging to get thrown into a Belizean jail just to get away from me.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Tanya says. “She tried to mess up both mine and Megan’s weddings, and she didn’t get anywhere. Both weddings were perfect. She’s just not that smart.”

“Her skull is full of cottage cheese,” Megan says as she dips a pickle into her Coke. “We’ll outsmart her at every turn.” She puts the pickle in her mouth and bites down on it with a crunch.

“I don’t know,” Cynthia mutters, still watching her.

“What happened when Wendy Miller tried to break your art project in grade four?” I ask.

Cynthia locks eyes on me. “You poured purple paint in her hair.”

“That’s right,” I say, grinning at her. “Nobody messes with my Cynthia. I’m your maid of honor, got that? This is my job. You worry about having fun on your wedding week.”

“More like maid of dishonor,” Megan says with a chuckle.

I slowly turn to her with heated eyes.

“Frolicking around at a nudist resort with the brother of the bride,” she says with a laugh. “Not very honorable if you ask me.”

“Good thing nobody asked you,” I say with a playful glare.

“Tell us the real story,” Megan pleads. “Julia, I need this. I’ve been married for too long. I miss these wild and random sexual encounters.”

“Wild and random sexual encounters?” I repeat with a laugh. “You? Where did you have any of those? At your Harry Potter fanfic conferences?”

Megan looks up with stars in her eyes. “He was dressed as Malfoy. It was as magical as the foundations of Hogwarts.”

“You’re such a dork,” I say, trying to hold in a laugh.

“Tell her what you were dressed up as,” Tanya says, giggling.

“Dobby,” Megan says. She continues when she sees the blank stare on my face. “The house elf.”

“You had sex dressed as an elf?” I ask, shaking my head.

She shrugs. “He thought the ears were sexy.”

“Anyways,” Cynthia says, pushing her plate away. “Please be on the lookout for any slutty shenanigans from Stephanie. I really want my wedding to go down without a hitch.”

“Or a bitch,” Megan adds.

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” I say, tossing my napkin on my plate. Just as I say it, I see Tucker walking by the pool wearing only a black bathing suit. I swallow hard as I admire his massive chest and sculpted tattooed arms. My fingers start tingling when I think back to last night (and this morning) when I got to touch them. He stops at the bar by the pool and leans on the granite to order a drink.

“I need a tall drink,” I say, pushing my chair out.

Megan glances over her shoulder and sees who I’m looking at. “You need a tall drink of something, but it’s not water.”

“I’m thirsty,” I say, locking eyes on her.

She glances down at my full glass of water on the table. “More like hungry. For some D.”

“That’s my brother,” Cynthia says, covering her ears. “Lalalalalalalala.”

“Tell us the real story,” Megan begs. “I told you all about my Harry Potter elf sex.”

“I really wish you hadn’t,” I answer.

“She’s not ready to tell us,” Tanya says, coming to my rescue. “That’s fine. We’re all just happy that you’re getting along.”

“She’s getting along all right,” Megan says with a grin. “She’s getting a long D.”

“I’m out of here,” Cynthia says, running away before she can hear any more.

“You guys couldn’t handle it,” I say with a grin. I’ll tell them all about it later, but right now I just have to be near him. I feel like a magnet being pulled to its other half.

“Lucky bitch,” Megan says, shaking her head as she stares at me in wonder. “He’s so hot.”

I take two steps away before turning back to them. “A long thick D,” I say with a wink before turning and walking away.

“Lucky bitch,” I hear Megan mutter again as I leave. I giggle to myself as I leave the restaurant. I am a lucky bitch.

I fluff up my hair, put my limited-edition Valentino sunglasses on, and fix my Michael Kors bikini top as I walk over. Tucker straightens up as he sees me approaching, watching me with a grin on his face.

I’m not about to make this easy on him, so I sit on the opposite end of the empty bar, pretending like I don’t know him.

The bartender hands him a beer and then hurries over to me with a wide smile on his face. “Mamacita,” he says. “What are you drinking?”

“Vodka with an energy drink,” I say as I slide my sunglasses on top of my head. “I was up all night.”

“Oooooh yeah,” he says, shaking his hips as he bites his bottom lip. “Doing what?”

“My taxes,” I say. “It was a nightmare.”

I hear Tucker chuckle from the other side of the bar as the bartender’s face drops. He turns with a frown and grabs a glass and a bottle of Vodka.

I try to keep my eyes straight as Tucker makes his way over, but it’s pure torture. Especially when he doesn’t have a shirt on.

“Hello,” he says, sticking his hand out. “Tucker Carson.”

“Not interested,” I say, trying to hold back a laugh. I don’t even turn to look at him.

He sits down next to me anyway and sips on his beer. I don’t look at him, but that doesn’t mean I don’t sneak a quick peek at his thick tattooed forearm.

“Lots of girls say they’re not interested in me,” he says, “but in reality, they’re madly in love and just don’t know it. There’s one girl in particular that I can think of.”

“Thanks,” I say to the bartender as he slides the Vodka and energy drink in front of me.

“I kept at this girl for years until she finally broke and admitted her feelings,” he continues.

“Sounds like you’re a stalker,” I say, taking a sip of my cold drink. “Why are you harassing poor innocent girls?”

“This girl wasn’t so innocent,” he says, grinning as he sips on his beer. “She put out on the first date.”

“She must have been drunk,” I say, feeling my heart start to pound. I pretend it’s from the energy drink and not from him, although it’s probably the energy drink. This shit is poison.

“Maybe,” he says, widening his grin. “But she put out in the morning too.”

I turn to him with narrowed eyes. Fuck he’s hot. “I wouldn’t go around bragging about this poor innocent girl, who sounds absolutely stunning by the way, if you ever want her to put out again.”

“Thanks for the advice,” he says, looking down at me with sparkling eyes. “I’m trying to get her to put out again. Maybe after these drinks?”

I can feel my cheeks turning red as I look down at my drink that now looks way too full. “I think she might be interested in that.”

I laugh as he chugs the rest of his beer like he’s at a frat party. I’m not chugging vodka and energy drink, I’ll be way too wired and will be hyper enough to run a marathon.

On second thought, locked in a room with Tucker with unlimited energy sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon, so I chug the rest of my drink.

Just as we’re about to leave, Chase comes walking over. “Shit,” I hear him curse under his breath when he sees Tucker at the bar. This is not good. These two have to learn how to get along. And if Tucker and I can learn how to get along, then any two people can.

“Hey, Chase,” I say, sitting back down on the bar stool. “Two more days until the wedding. Are you excited?”

His face breaks out into the widest smile I’ve ever seen on him. “I’m counting every second.”

“How many left?”

“About 183,000,” he says with a laugh. “And each one is torture.”

Tucker looks uncomfortable as he stands beside the bar. His body is stiff, and he’s breathing heavier than he was a few of those 183,000 seconds ago.

“We’re going dancing tonight,” Chase says after ordering a beer. “You two coming?”

“As long as you make Megan promise not to force me to do any embarrassing synchronized dances,” I say with a shake of my head.

“You know I can’t promise you that,” Chase says with a laugh. “Even a platoon of Navy SEALs can’t stop that girl when the music starts.”

“Well, I’ll be there anyway,” I promise. “Tucker too.”

He lets out a huff of breath beside me.

Chase looks at his soon-to-be brother-in-law, and I can see his face tighten up. “Great,” he mutters under his breath. “I’ll see you later, Julia.”

“Would it kill you to try and be nice to the guy?” I ask Tucker when he’s gone. The annoyance is thick in my voice. “He’s an American hero, he’s a great friend, and your sister is in love with him completely. What exactly is your problem?”

“Cynthia and I have been down this road before,” he says, looking agitated as he watches Chase walk back to the beach with a slight limp. “I know how this is going to play out.”

“You don’t know anything, Tucker,” I say, starting to raise my voice. This guy is great at getting me frustrated. “You don’t even know him.”

“I know guys like him. They’re all the same.”

“No, they’re not. He’s not your father.”

His back straightens as he turns away from me like I just slapped him.

“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling like I stepped over a line that I shouldn’t have. “Tucker, I…”

“I’m going for a walk.” He leaves without giving me so much as another glance.

I sigh as I watch him walk under the palm trees toward the beach. This guy can go from charming to jerk in the blink of an eye.

“Who am I kidding?” I mutter to myself as I watch him go. Maybe he is just the same old Mother Tucker.