After inhalingsome of the crackers and ginger ale and soaking under a steaming-hot shower, the majority of my hangover had abated. Now, I sat at my kitchen table, staring at my cell phone. Waiting would only make things worse.
I tapped Tuck’s contact on the screen and blinked. I was a big girl. I could own up to my idiocy and apologize.
“How ya feelin’, Little J?” Tuck didn’t sound angry. He didn’t even seem annoyed.
I twisted the cloth napkin on the table. “Better than I have a right to.”
He chuckled. “Glad to hear it.”
I cleared my throat. “Listen, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me. And, um, apologize for the puke and the stripping and, uh, the—”
Tuck let out a bark of laughter. “No apology needed. You gave me a hell of an interesting night.”
My face heated. “I’m sure it wasn’t at the top of your list of dream nights, so, I’m sorry.”
“J, you don’t have to apologize. Hanging with you is always a good time. Even if you are puking up your guts.”
My fingers toying with the napkin stilled. “Well, I’m glad you aren’t plotting your revenge.” I paused for a moment, remembering the last time I’d gotten sick on Tuck’s watch. I had been in high school, and he and Walker had been home on break from college. I’d taken one too many shots of Fireball at a field party. I puked in the back of Tuck’s truck. He and Walker had repaid me by placing twenty cinnamon air fresheners in my bedroom. To this day, the scent made me nauseous.
I grinned down at the table. “What are you up to today?”
“Not much. I was just going to watch a little basketball. You?”
I traced the design on the napkin’s fabric. “Well, my parents took Noah for the day. Would you maybe want to go out to Pine Meadow, visit the horses before we’re snowed out for the season?” During the worst of the winter months, there was enough snow up there that visiting the horses became nearly impossible.
“They’re calling for our first snow today.” Tuck paused. “But I think we should be able to get there and back before things get too bad. Sure. I’ll pick you up in thirty?”
I pushed up from my chair. “That’s perfect.”
“Make sure you dress warm.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not seven. I know how to dress for cold weather.”
“Yeah, yeah. See you in a few.”
I hit end on the call and jogged up the stairs to layer up. After I grabbed my coat, hat, and gloves, I went outside to wait for Tuck. He was right, it smelled like snow. But the scent and the cold air were precisely what the doctor ordered, chasing away the last remnants of my hangover.
I stood as I saw Tuck’s truck round the bend in the gravel road. Before he even had a chance to turn off the engine, I was pulling open the passenger-side door and hoisting myself up.
He scowled in my direction. “I would’ve gotten your door.”
I grinned. Nothing pissed off guys like my brother and Tuck more than stealing their chance to be chivalrous. “I’ve got working limbs, I can open a door. I can even get in a vehicle all by myself.”
Tuck turned his annoyed stare to the road as he reversed. “That’s not the point.”
I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “You and Walker are too easy to annoy.”
Tuck shook his head. “You always were an expert at it.”
I settled back into my seat. “There are few things in life that give me greater pleasure.”
“Brat.”
“Behemoth.”
I tapped my fingers against my denim-clad thighs. “So, did you go back to the bar after you put me to bed?”
Tuck glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “No. Why?”
