Granger squeezed both of my arms once. “The real noise is he’s your employee, and he’s a fucking infant compared to you.”
“Goddamn it, Granger,” I groaned, the tension inside me effectively snapping back into place with his words.
“What? I’m just saying,” he defended, that classic panty-dropping smirk appearing on his face. “You’re practically ancient. I can’t see what he sees in you.”
“Yeah, well, me neither,” I grumbled, turning back to resume tacking up Jackson’s horse for the ride I had planned.
“Tuck,” Granger called, pulling my attention back to him. “I’ve always got your back, you know that, right?”
I nodded, emotion welling up in my chest because despite it all, I’d needed the reassurance he’d just given me. “Yeah, man.”
“Where are you taking him?” he asked, propping himself back up against the wall like the last few minutes hadn’t just happened.
“The river,” I muttered, lifting the saddle up onto Sky’s back after getting the saddle pads down.
“Fuck off, you can’t go anymore,” Granger protested, standing up straight again in his indignation. “It’s hot enough the chickens are laying hard-boiled eggs, and you’re ditching us to get your man naked in the river? I call fucking foul.”
All I could do was grin because, yeah. Maybe I was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
JACKSON
The heat hung in the air like a weighted blanket as we made our way along an unfamiliar trail. We’d only been riding for half an hour, and the coverage from the trees provided a small reprieve, but everything felt sticky with the humidity. I was beginning to wonder if this was some fucked-up form of torture Tucker had come up with to punish me. What for, I didn’t know, but this was bordering on cruel and unusual.
“Where are we going again?” I called, rolling with the movement of Sky maneuvering around a large pothole in the path.
“You’ll see,” he responded over his shoulder, and I let out a small huff. It’d been like this since he’d grabbed me from feeding duties earlier this morning. No indication on where we were going, and no clue to what we’d be doing there.
The way to… wherever we were headed had been open for the beginning, allowing Tucker and I to ride side by side, but once we’d passed into a thick grove of trees on the other side of Block A, it had turned narrow and more unbeaten. So instead of getting the benefit of Tucker’s gorgeous side profile, I was staring at the back end of Poe with only a sliver of Tucker’s defined back, and as tempting as that was, I was growing impatient.
“How much longer then?” I grumbled, lowering my head out of the way of a hanging branch.
But just as the words had left my lips, the path opened to overlook the bank of a wide river. Trees lined both sides, but the shore was sandy, and while the water wasn’t crystal clear, I could tell it was cool and inviting. It had enough of a current that the sound of the flowing water carried all the way to where the horses had come to a stop.
“Not much longer.” Tuck glanced at me, and I swore he had a subtle tilt to his lips, but it was obscured slightly with his facial hair. There was no mistaking the teasing glint in his eye before he urged Poe forward, though.
I shook my head a little, unable to hold back my own smirk as I clicked my tongue so Sky would follow. Things had shifted between Tucker and me for sure after that night in his cabin, but it felt more tangible since we’d lain out in his truck. Whatever walls Tucker had built up had broken down just enough for me to get through. Or maybe I’d learned to jump them. Either way, it finally felt like we were moving forward instead of dancing around each other.
The path sloped down to the river’s edge, and once there, Tucker hopped off Poe and led him to a grassy area, situating the reins so they wouldn’t fall off onto the ground when he was grazing. I did the same with Sky and just as I was about to ask what the hell we were doing, Tucker dropped his hat onto a nearby tree stump and reached around to pull his shirt over his head.
My mouth dried up in an instant, and it felt like my eyes were glued to every ridge and crevice of his body that he was now exposing. In both the times I’d been with Tucker, he’d been mostly clothed, so the eyeful I was getting now felt monumental and well overdue. His skin was a warm shade that came from working out in the sun day after day but creamier where it was hidden away. The defined clusterof muscles along his arms made me want to sink my teeth into them. His chest and pecs had a light dusting of dark hair that ran together down his abs before disappearing under his waistband. It was soft looking, and for a moment, all I could imagine was sifting my fingers through it to confirm its texture while I was once again on my knees for him.
That visual didn’t stay in my head long though because the next thing I knew, Tucker was kicking off his boots before popping the button on his pants. I nearly swallowed my tongue as he pulled the denim off to reveal a pair of tight black trunks underneath. Sure, objectively speaking, I’d seen far more intimate parts of Tucker exposed to me that night in the stall, but the weird atmosphere and his behavior had been all I could focus on, so watching him strip before me now felt way too erotic.
Turning back to the stump, Tucker situated his hat back on his head then shot me a confused look when he realized I was still standing there gaping like a dumbass.
“You goin’ in like that?” he asked, raising one brow.
“We’re getting in?” I asked dumbly, unable to keep my eyes from dropping to the downy hair on his chest and stomach again.
Instead of answering me, Tucker shot me a smirk that had no right to be as sexy as it was before turning to wade into the water. I watched after him till he got about thigh deep, my heart racing in my chest at the sight he made, before my brain finally kicked in. My boots were haphazardly pulled off, and I nearly faceplanted trying to wrangle myself out of my jeans and shirt, but I managed to get down to my boxer briefs before slowly easing myself into the water after him.
It was cool, just like I’d imagined, but despite my initial thought that the river wasn’t clear, I could tell now that the water was reflecting a green coloring due to the surrounding trees. The pull of the current was strong against my legs as I waded out toward where Tucker had situated himself, resting back on his hands with his face tilted up toward the warm sun above. Despite the shoreline beingsandy, everything under my feet was solid rock, making maneuvering a slow process as I tried not to slip or step on something wrong. Once I made it, I dropped down beside Tucker, something swirling in my gut that I couldn’t quite identify.
“Is this what we’re doing today? Skipping out on work to laze in the river?” I asked, somewhat awkwardly running my hands along the water’s surface.
“Is there a problem if it is?” He kept his face tilted upward but opened one eye slightly to peek at me.
