Tucker"You're slippin'." Nick gives me a grin as he comes into the conference room at the biggest hotel we have in our small town.It's time for a meeting of the Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team, and any of us who can attend have convened here. "What do you mean, I'm slippin'?"He chuckles. "Heard through the grapevine you only sent one rose to Karsyn this week."The grapevine means Kels, and I did only send one rose. "Fuck you, she knows what it means.""Does she?" He nods to the door, where she's walking in beside one of the new EMT's working with Cutter. I don't know the asshole's name, but she's smiling and he's grinning. They laugh at something, and it's like a damn knife through my heart. She doesn't even look at me as she takes a seat next to Stella. Major, sitting at my feet, sniffs as he smells Karsyn and looks up at me. "Go on." I give him a gentle nudge.Just because she's blocking me out doesn't mean she'll block him out. For that I'm grateful, because
KarsynI shift in the booth at The Café, waiting for Tucker to get here. After the LSERT meeting, we'd quickly decided to meet in public for our first brainstorming session. I don't know if that was more for me than him. In our previous attempt at a relationship, we'd never gone out in public together. Not because we hadn't wanted to, but because we couldn't keep our hands off each other.More than once he'd come to pick me up for dinner, and we'd ended up in bed. This is going to be a test of epic proportions. Checking my phone, I see he's got a few more minutes to get here. I was earlier than I'd expected to be. "Do you want anything while you wait?" Leigh asks as she walks by the booth."Ya know what? I'll take an order of fries and a Coke." Fries are my go-to, I'll eat them any day of the week, any way they come."Anything else?"Immediately I think about who's meeting me. "An order of cheese sticks along with a Sprite, some water and a treat for Major?"She gr
TuckerI don't do well with days off, not anymore. They used to be filled doing mundane shit with Karsyn – her teaching me how to bake a cake, going with her to pick out a dress for a work event she had to attend, helping her wash her car. Back then I didn't realize how much I looked forward to the mundane shit. I believe I even grumbled a time or two. Funny how you don't miss what you had until it's gone.Today I would love to bake a cake with her, help her wash her car, just have her here. The loneliness is the worst. Some days it eats at me, other days I don't mind it much. Today, it threatens to drive me out of my fucking mind.Major lays on the couch with me, his head resting on my thigh. He looks up at me, a little whine escaping. He misses her too, the hole her being gone has left in our lives is big. I'm not sure I can take my company anymore, and I'm almost sure he's sick of me too. "I know, we need to go and do something."Even in the middle of my pity party, I kno
KarsynIt's been a long day, and I can't help but be glad we're finally heading home. "See ya tomorrow." I wave to Kels. "Give those boys of yours a hug for me!"She grins saucily. "I'm giving the oldest one a huge hug."I roll my eyes, a smirk on my face as I look at her. I'm happy she's happy, but at the same time I'm slightly envious. "You know I mean the children.""Totes my bad." She gets into her SUV, waving back at me.Opening my car, I gratefully sink into the driver's seat, glad to be off my feet. When I go to throw my lunchbox and purse into the passenger seat, I see something sitting there. My heart pounds up in my throat as I see a tote bag from XOXO I've been eyeing for months there, along with the signature packaging of the owner, Tori. I've been spending enough time in there lately I would notice it anywhere.My hand shakes as I reach for the card attached to the tote bag. I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's almost like telling a man dying of thirst not
TuckerFriday night in Laurel Springs can sometimes get a little crazy, but nothing can remove the smile from my face. I looked at the letter from Karsyn before I left the house, and it's put a spring in my step. "Tucker, come in."The blaring sound of the radio indicates dispatch wants to speak to me. Hitting the button on my shoulder, I speak quietly, hoping she can take context clues. Sabrina is new, just hired in the last few months, but damn someone needs to give her a heads up she doesn't have to scream every time she talks to us."10-4, what do you need?"It screeches again as she all but screams over the line."Cruise is requesting a dog to sniff his traffic stop. Can you respond? Ransom and Rambo are on lunch."She still hasn't learned the ten codes either, but we needed help and she was an applicant, so we'll take what we can get at this point. "Show me as responding. I'll be there ASAP once you send the address over.""Sorry." This time her voice is a lit
KarsynWhen I get to my apartment later that night, I'm a little uneasy. Maybe it's because Mom and I went into some things I haven't allowed to come to the surface in a long time, or maybe it's because talking about the incident always brings it back. Either way, I do a ritual I haven't done in years.One of the things I insisted on when I moved here was that my apartment have a security system, and now I'm glad for it. Quickly I turn it off, thankful it was still set, but it doesn't give me the full feeling of safety I need tonight.As I go through, I turn on every light, look in every hiding place, and force myself to open each closet door in turn. My hands shake as I get to the one in my room. My bottom lip trembles and I almost can't turn the knob, but I do.Seeing it's empty is enough to make tears stream down my face."Karsyn." I bite my lip as I talk to myself. "You got over this a long time ago."But did I really? It's never easy to get over traumatic events in you
TuckerIf this is a dream, I one hundred percent don't want to wake up. I never gave up hoping I'd be right here between her legs again, but I didn't think it would be now. Because her bed is so high, I'm able to bend at the waist and situate my shoulders comfortably, grabbing her thighs, putting them over my shoulders.She gasps. "Tucker.""I'm gonna give you everything you deserve," I promise, burying my head in paradise. I don't ease in, like I know she assumes I will, because that's the way I've always been with her before. It's all been me easing her into who I am. Something clicked with me on the way over here. Maybe she didn't need me to be easy with her, maybe she wants me to be who I am.So this is how I'm trying it this time. Hoping we're on the same page, and praying that she accepts the real Tucker. My tongue flicks at her clit, causing her to tighten her thighs around my head. Her hands move down her body, tangling in my hair, holding me tighter to her."Oh my Go
KarsynHe isn't saying anything and that's maybe the scariest thing about this situation. I've never known Tucker to be a man of no words. Few words? Yes. More often than not, but speechless? Never. The longer he stays quiet, the more disconcerting it is. "You're gonna have to explain this to me babe, what the fuck happened?" He pulls away from me, pushing himself up into a sitting position. I sit up too, grabbing the sheet up to shield my nakedness from him. I'm about to lay myself vulnerable and the comfort is needed. The breath I take isn't nearly deep enough, but it will have to do. "We lived in Tennessee," I start. "Jackson, and my dad was working for an aluminum plant. Mom was staying at home back then, but that day she had a doctor's appointment. Thirteen was old enough for me to stay by myself, obviously." I grin.He smirks. "I think I was staying by myself at six.""You've always been an overachiever."We're quiet for a few minutes as I think about how I want to