30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

ISABEL

Music blared as the night went on, and Tucker had eventually pulled me away from the crowd of dancers to rejoin our friends. I was now huddled with my girls in a round of gossip, finally loose enough and enjoying the night.

Annie jutted her chin past Megan’s shoulder to where a bunch of the guys were hanging out. “Okay, what gives? Noah’s usually pretty cocky, but tonight he’s like a peacock strutting its feathers.”

Megan and Emma exchanged glances and shrugged shoulders, but my eyes shot to Dinah. She looked at me over her cup, her eyes bright with excitement, and Casey nudged her arm.

“Oh, come on, Dinah. Just tell them.”

“Yes, tell us,” Emma urged.

Lowering her cup, Dinah tilted her head up, raising her chin as she smiled proudly. “Noah asked me to be his girlfriend today.”

Jaws dropped, but I just smiled. “I guess you threw him enough bones then?”

“Just enough to get him hooked. Now, he’s all mine. ”

“So, is that how you got Tucker, Izzy? You must’ve thrown him the biggest bone you had with his past rep.” Megan grinned but then frowned when she saw the shock on our faces. “Crap. Ignore me. I blame the alcohol.”

We all smirked, and Dinah nudged my shoulder as she said to the group, “Hey, it takes more than that to make a guy stay, and it’s not really even necessary at all if he gives a damn.”

“Good for you, Dinah.” Emma raised her cup like a toast. “I just don’t get why some girls think they need to throw themselves at guys.”

Megan scoffed lightly. “This coming from the girl who’s been flirting relentlessly with one of the hot, college boys right after dumping someone else.”

The mood killed a bit when Emma sent her an irritated glare. “Yeah, and Ian’s already got his tongue down Trisha’s throat. Besides, I’m flirting , Megan. Just flirting, and Kurt knows it. My body is the sole property of me until I let a guy put a ring on my finger. Maybe if you hadn’t given it up to David so fast, you wouldn’t be so hurt that he was using you.”

Megan flinched, and Emma’s eyes flew wide.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. That was me being angry at guys in general. Not with you. I should not have thrown that at you.”

“Well, you did.” She turned around to walk away, and I looked at Annie, alarm passing between us at the tension between our friends. They’d been best friends for years, but this wasn’t the first time we’d seen them fight lately.

“Megan, please,” Emma called out, hurrying to follow .

“Coming through, ladies!” several of the guys yelled as they grabbed us from behind, tossing us over their shoulders.

Emma and Megan shrieked as Kurt and Micah swung them around to their backs, and when Jet lifted Annie, she squealed, swatting his back. I sucked in a breath, biting my lip not to scream over Tucker’s shoulder.

“What are y’all doing?!” Dinah yelled as Noah carried her away from the cars with the rest of us.

“Racing!” Jet answered as he swatted Annie’s ass. “Piggy back style!”

“Seriously?” Casey laughed, holding her hair back from her face as she tried to look up at Kyle.

“Y’all line it up!” Corey called out from where he was dragging his foot down the sand in a line.

Holy shit, we were really doing this.

Tucker adjusted me to his back, and I gripped his broad, deliciously muscled shoulders, my heart still racing from the surprise. “You can’t be serious?” My head went a little fuzzy when he smirked back at me. That devilishly sexy grin of his saying, ‘I’m carefree and a little drunk. Wanna bet I’m not serious?’

“Come on, princess. We’ve got this. Relax and have fun with me.” If possible, his playful grin grew even sexier when he added, “It shouldn’t be too hard for you to enjoy this. You are riding me, after all.” He waggled his brows as my mouth dropped.

“Tucker!” I swatted his shoulder. But that sexy grin … It was doing things to me, and I leaned closer to breathe into his ear. “It’s my favorite way to take you. Getting to use that perfect cock of yours for what I need.” I dragged my tongue up his neck and blew into his ear, making him stumble as his knees almost gave out.

It took him several seconds before he managed to swallow and growl through his whisper, “If you don’t watch it, I’ll be running straight for my truck after this race and taking you right there.”

I laughed, mission accomplished, then added, “Promises, promises, whiskey.”

I winked when he looked at me over his shoulder, and he cursed. “Damn it, woman. If we weren’t in this crowd…”

“Tonight,” I promised, nipping at his ear, and he groaned as we lined up with the rest of the teams.

Someone had turned their headlights on to light up the stretch of sand we’d be racing on, and I looked down the beach at all the extra pairs joining the lineup. Some I didn’t know, but Corey snatched up Bev and Daniel had Katy. At the last second, David ran up, his eyes on Megan even as he bent for Ruby to jump on his back, and I frowned, wondering what game they might be trying to play.

“Ready, sis?” Annie called out from my other side.

I looked over, matching her grin just as someone screamed, “Go!” And I tucked my face into the back of Tucker’s shoulders when he shot off down the beach.

I could hear Annie screaming and Jet laughing from behind us, but it was Emma’s excited cheer from up ahead that told me who’d won. I peered over Tucker’s shoulder as he slowed and watched as Kurt slid Emma down to the sand, holding his fists up in victory.

“Rematch!” Annie cried once she’d hopped down from Jet’s back .

The guys all looked at each other.

“Oh, come on. Y’all are gonna settle for losing ? Kurt’s got two years on y’all.”

With a deciding glance between Jet and Tucker, Annie and I were scooped back up, and the rest of the guys shrugged and did the same.

JET

Racing with the girls had apparently become the thing of the night. Something us guys only meant as a quick fun thing, they had loved, and for some of the guys hoping to get laid, they weren’t telling their conquests no. Different pairs and couples switched out and took turns as people got tired, but the four of us stayed in for most of them. Tucker and Izzy won a couple of rounds, and Annie and I won one before we all switched to wheelbarrow races with the girls on the bottom. That was when Micah had bowed out, walking off by shifting Megan around from his back to straddle his waist, their lips already locked together before they disappeared through the cars. David scowled, shaking Ruby from his back to march off to the kegs.

My eyebrow rose, finally connecting some of those dots. He’d been bringing Ruby to make Megan jealous. But because he likes her or because he’s trying to get back in with her for Zane?

Not that it mattered. Zane was days away from his restraining order, and I knew Megan wasn’t taking David back either way, not after the twins had filled her in on what he’d done.

“Ready!” Corey yelled, bringing my attention back to the next race, and I held my hand out, waiting for Annie to lift her ankle. But instead, she sat back on her heels, her ponytail loose and falling around her shoulders as she looked up.

“I need a breather, babe. Those beers aren’t sitting well.”

“Sure. Of course.” I frowned and waved the rest of the pairs on, leading Annie to the side where others had gathered to watch. Our backs were to the fire where we settled, and Annie groaned, leaning forward with her head between her knees.

“Annie?” I held my hand over her back but not touching.

“It’s the heat. And sitting. I just… I need to take a walk away from the crowd or something. I’m too hot.”

“You want me to come with you?”

She pushed herself to stand, her legs looking like they were shaking slightly, and she pressed her hand to her middle. “No. That’s okay. Even body heat is my enemy right now.”

I smirked at the light joke and watched her walk off before settling back on my elbows to watch the next race, cheering for the girls as they made their way across the sand. What surprised me was that Izzy was consistently in the lead, soaring past the others to cross the finish line first several times.

After her fourth win, she and Tucker joined me on the sidelines, still brushing off sand as the others lined up for the next round. Tucker dropped to the sand beside me, leaning back on his arms as I held up a high five for Izzy.

“You were awesome. I’m impressed. But you didn’t want to keep going?”

“Nope. Definitely time for a break.” She settled herself between Tucker’s legs to lean back against his chest and then took out her phone, no doubt checking if my cousin had messaged again.

“Do we need to confiscate that?” I teased with a wink when she looked up.

“No.” She rolled her eyes just as her phone lit up. “Oh! He just texted!”

I read over her shoulder.

Nic: Really, Izzy. I just need some time. We’ll talk later.

She dropped it into her lap with a huff, and I chuckled when Tucker took her phone and stuffed it in the waist of his board shorts at his back where she couldn’t reach.

“Okay. He texted. Now, leave the guy alone.”

She dropped her head back against his chest with another huff and then rolled it to face me. “So, where’s Annie?”

“She got too hot and took a walk.”

Izzy eyed me suspiciously. “She’s had too much to drink, hasn’t she?”

I shrugged. Boyfriend code. I wasn’t spilling, but Izzy raised an eyebrow at me, pressing. I was about to look away when I remembered.

“Hey, just so you know. If you see Megan, you might want to let her know I think David’s only been bringing Ruby around to try and make her jealous.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. I’m pretty sure, though. ”

Tucker shook his head, his jaw jutting with his scowl. “Which means Ruby is here to get to you . You know that, right?”

I grimaced. “Yeah, probably. She already targeted Annie earlier.”

Izzy glared at me. “Yeah. She already told me. It’s because you haven’t told her you’re not interested yet. And yes, I know you shouldn’t have to. I get your standpoint. I do. But Ruby doesn’t seem to care. You need to fix this, Jet. Annie has enough she’s dealing with.”

“You’re right. I know. I already told Annie I’d talk to her if I saw her again.”

“Good.” Izzy nodded and then pushed off Tucker’s legs to stand. “Come on, whiskey. I’m ready for another round.”

“You got it, princess.” He scooped her up as he stood, grabbing her phone before it fell, and she laughed over his shoulder as they went to line up for the next race.

I sat there for a few minutes, just staring out past the race to the water. Wishing I could go back and handle the whole Ruby thing differently. I usually read people so well, but I’d fucked this one up. Like Izzy said, Annie was going through enough. She didn’t deserve to feel jealous or worried about another girl, whether she needed to be or not.

But she is worried. And it’s my fault.

So, the rest didn’t matter.

Getting up, I almost bumped directly into David.

“Whoa.” He took a step back, balancing his beer, and then grinned when he realized it was me. “Hey, man. Been a while.”

“Yeah. ”

David frowned when he saw my expression. “We’re not cool, are we?”

“Not really.”

“Come on. Mateo knew what he was getting into when he came to me. There’s always a risk.”

“It’s not about that.”

His brow furrowed again. “Then what?”

“Spying on Izzy for Zane, for one thing. I know he’s your friend, but fuck, man, after Izzy’s accident, hell, after he hit her last summer, did you really think she needed him messing with her? Not to mention Megan. You used her, and if I’m right, you’ve been bringing Ruby to shit to try to make Megan jealous and win her back. Is that for Zane still? Because if he’s still trying to spy on Izzy, I need you to be a decent fucking human and tell me.”

I watched as surprise, frustration, and then resignation played over David’s face, and when I was done, he released a rough breath through his nose.

“I didn’t realize you knew all that, but shit. Yeah.” He stuck a hand in his pocket as he shifted. “Zane has a way of twisting things, but yeah, I figured out a few months ago I shouldn’t have helped him. Not with Izzy. And definitely not by using Megan.”

“So, you actually want her back? Not because of Zane?”

“I fell for the assignment.” He shrugged a single shoulder. “Ruby offered to help.”

“Yeah. Because she wants me . She used you to try to get to me.”

“Fuck. Shit. I didn’t know, man.”

“Well, you do now.”

I pushed past him and headed to the kegs.