Buck Wild (Wild In The South Book 1) Read online

  Jack just went to the bathroom and left his phone at the table...is it a problem for a friend to have your number?

  Friend...really? Did he really just friend-zone me in a fucking text message? I think to myself before releasing a grunt of pent-up frustration.

  Not a problem for a friend to have my number at all.

  Surely Jack has told him the truth by now... How could I be so naïve to think we could rekindle our relationship from five years ago? I ponder the thought, taking the pillow from beneath my head and chucking it at my pale pink wall.

  Maybe my brother is right. We never really had a real relationship, but it was real to me. And I thought it was real to him, too. Thinking back on everything, Buck has always been a cocky playboy, but when he was with me he was different.

  Or maybe he was just good at pretending...

  I head down the rickety staircase, my cowgirl boots clicking all the down, and I hurry to the kitchen and whip up a few cold-cut sandwiches for Auntie Rae and Uncle Don. I garnish the paper plates with some potato chips and make my way out the front door.

  When I walk out, I look over to the swing and see Auntie Rae and Uncle Don swinging together hand in hand, eyes locked on one another, not even noticing the cab sitting there waiting for me, or the creaky screen door opening as I come out. After all these years, they still drown out the world around them and get lost in one another.

  “Let’s dance, baby.” I can hear Uncle Don’s deep, raspy voice.

  I quickly set the paper plates down on the little table next to the swing, hoping they don’t notice me. I don’t want to interrupt their moment.

  “I’d like that.” Auntie Rae giggles like a schoolgirl. I sneak off past them, running to the cab.

  “Where to, young lady?” the older gentleman asks while adjusting his big trifocal glasses and sneaking peeks at my cleavage in his rearview mirror.

  “Take me to Main, please,” I say to him.

  “Sure thing, miss.” He’s eyeballing my chest again.

  My phone beeps and I look down at the screen to see a text message from Jack. I click to open it, and a picture of Buck looking like a drunken fool already with some out-of-the-box red-haired hussy in cheap heels and short shorts, with her arm wrapped around his torso and her head leaning against his chest.

  Are you fucking kidding me? My hands grow clammy, my heart pounding quickly and heavily against my ribcage.

  Another text pops up from Jack.

  Ugh, I really don’t want to see or hear more. I knew this would happen...

  See, I told you. That’s his woman for the night.

  My stomach drops and a wave of nausea hits me like a damn hoof to the belly. Tears sting my eyes, but I fight like hell to keep them away.

  I refuse to let a man make my mascara run.

  Chapter Five

  Buck

  If I really wanted to, I could bury myself so deep into this woman who is falling at my feet, damn near licking the horse shit off my boots.

  But I don't want to.

  I know exactly what Jack is doing. He’s trying to distract me from Kota.

  Little does he know that’ll never happen. There ain’t a damn thing in this whole fucking universe that could distract me from her. No matter how bad she hurts me or pisses me off, I will always want her. I know I need to move on, since it's been five years too long and she’s already been taken away from me, but I won’t. I can’t.

  “Come on, man. Let's go take some shots.” Jack motions me toward the bar and I quickly turn away from Sarah—or whatever the hell her name is—and her friend, whom Jack plans to fuck tonight.

  “Hey! Wait for me! That isn't very gentlemanlike, leaving a couple of ladies behind.” She juts out her bottom lip, and all I can do is force a short laugh and mutter a half-assed “Sorry” in her direction.

  I feel a vibration in my pocket and pull my phone out to see who it is.

  It's Kota.

  Come outside to the cab sitting out front. Tell Jack it's some girl you're pole pokin’.

  A smile tugs at my lips and I give a soft chuckle at her text. Not a forced one like I just gave Sarah, but a real, amused chuckle.

  We can't have a good conversation in the back of a cab, so I’m gonna have to swallow my pride and let Kota drive Betty Sue.

  Sarah wraps her arm around mine. “Who's that you're talkin’ to?” she asks in a high-pitched, annoying tone.

  “None of your damn business, Sarah. That's who it is,” I bark, shrugging her off my arm as she gasps in shock at my quick temper.

  “My name isn’t Sarah. It’s Jamie.” She scoffs, flippin’ her red hair off her shoulder.

  “Same difference. Either way, the fact remains, it's none of your goddamn business.”

  I step up behind Jack and nudge him with my shoulder.

  “My girl is here so I'm gonna get goin’.” Fuck. I just hope he believes me.

  “Who's your girl?” he questions almost interrogatively.

  “It’s that chick I was tellin’ you about who was passin’ through town and stopped in at the tavern. You might not remember. I told you about her the last time you came into The Golden Spur, but you were pretty blitzed.” I hold my balled fist up for a fist bump, smiling wryly. “Good luck with these two, Jack. I went and pissed off the redhead.”

  Jack winks, offering a shit-eating grin. “Don’t worry, Jack Daddy is here. They're both in good hands, if you know what I mean.”

  I laugh, shaking my head. “Do you need me to call a cab for you guys, or do you have it?”

  “I got it, but thanks for the offer, man.”

  “Ugh! Where's he goin’?” Jamie pushes herself between us, disappointment in her voice.

  “That's not for you to worry about, sweet thing.” Jack sweet-talks her and pulls her against his chest as she gives me an evil glare.

  “See y’all later.” I salute my goodbye once more before storming off out the door.

  I spot the cab immediately. Kota opens the door, steppin’ out part way to wave me in her direction.

  “C’mon!” I nod my head toward Betty Sue.

  “Hell no, Buck! You’ve been drinkin’!”

  “Get your ass over here, Kota!” My voice comes out in a deep roar. I pause, gaining the strength to say the words that make me cringe. “You're drivin’!” I instantly regret it, but we don’t really have any other option.

  Her bright eyes widen in surprise, and the biggest smile stretches across her face.

  Goddamn, I’ve missed seein’ that smile all these years.

  Kota throws the cabdriver a bill and slams the door, giving me a full view of her body. My gaze travels down it from head to toe, my cock already at attention just at the mere sight of her.

  Son of a bitch. Why can't I be around her and not get all riled up?

  She said it herself; she's a friend. Kota's happily engaged according to Jack, so I need to disengage my feelings for her. The excited mood I was in moments ago quickly changes as I remind myself she’s already spoken for.

  “Hey,” she says as she scurries toward me. She falls into step beside me as we walk toward the truck.

  “What are you doin’ here?” I ask her, opening the driver’s side door for her and helping her in.

  “Save your questions for later.” She winks.

  Fuckin’ tease.

  I walk around to the passenger side and get in, biting my fist and shaking my head.

  “What?” she asks, turning her body toward me and leaning her back against the door.

  “You need to stop with that shit right now, Dakota.” I cringe hearing her full name come from my own mouth.

  It just doesn’t feel right.

  “Excuse me, who?” She widens her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest.

  “All your friends call you Dakota, and so does your family. I'm a friend who is basically like family, so I'm gonna have to start callin’ you Dakota because that's your damn name.”

  Next thing I know,
she leans over, her hand raised. Kota gives me a hard slap to my face, and I cherish the sting as it pounds against my cheek, because I know it bothers her that I called her by her full name, not to mention that I said we’re just friends.

  The overwhelming desire I’ve held for her for years takes over every bone in my goddamn body, and I’m sure the alcohol in my system isn’t helping matters much, either. But I lean in closer to her, closing the space between us in the seat of the truck.

  Thank God, I don’t have a console sittin’ in the middle, keeping me away from her, I think to myself before gripping both sides of her pretty little head, my thumbs resting near her ears.

  She attempts to shove me away and her mouth opens to say shit I don’t want to hear right now, so I kiss her, hard, to shut her mouthy ass up.

  Our lips crash together in a wave of passion, our tongues dancing around one another’s, tasting each other. Soft moans escape her as I tug on her bottom lip with my teeth. My hands can’t control themselves as they fumble at the hem of her shirt and slide up onto the warm silky skin of her back. She tilts her head to the side, giving me full access to her neck. I kiss her there on her sensitive skin, inhaling her sweet scent and growling at the touch of her hands running along my abdomen as her touch leaves a trail of flames along my stomach.

  Sucking on Kota’s neck, I move my hand to the button of her jeans, undoing it along with her zipper. She brings her mouth back to mine and I wiggle my hand down her pants, feeling the warm slickness between her thighs she’s made just for me.

  My cock is hard, throbbing against the fabric of my cotton underwear, damn near breaking through the seams of my jeans. I shove a finger into her soaking wet little pussy and she gasps as her walls tighten around my finger. I add another digit inside her wetness, and my thumb presses against her sensitive clit, moving in circles as she arches her back and shifts her hips in a grinding motion against my fingers.

  “Oh, Buck...” My name leaves her lips in a desperate whimper, and the sound sends electricity down my spine.

  Fuck.

  I stop myself, forcing my fingers out from her tight little pussy even though I want nothing more than for her to come undone at the mercy of my hand.

  What the fuck have I done?

  She’s engaged...

  She’s not yours, remember?

  Chapter Six

  Dakota

  “Dakota, I can’t...we can’t do this. This isn’t shit friends do.”

  I shove Buck away from me, frustrated as hell, and start the truck, putting it in reverse to back out of the parking spot.

  “Will you cut it out with this friends bullshit? We’re not just friends, and we’ll never be just friends. We made a pact five years ago, and it’s about damn time it happened,” I bite out.

  I’m driving us to the secret spot where we always hung out together when we were younger, laying in the field and watching fireflies fly around us.

  “That pact was made long ago and it never panned out like we wanted it to. We can’t do this.”

  “Ha!” I scoff. “Do you have a girlfriend I don’t know about? Is that it? One of your one-night stands turned into a two-night and you suddenly think she’s the one? Is that who that red-haired hussy is in the picture Jack sent me?” I spit the questions out in all kinds of frustration.

  Including sexual frustration.

  “What the hell are you talkin’ about? You’re engaged, so you can’t be doin’ this shit!” he hollers, causing the big vein in his neck to stick out. His eyes narrow. “Jack sent you that picture of us? I don’t even know who she is.”

  I look over at him for a long moment, and I hear a horn honk.

  He grips the wheel to straighten the truck out. “Christ, Kota! Keep your damn eyes on the road. Hell, I’ve had a couple drinks and I could drive better than you can sober.”

  He called me Kota... I smile to myself, realizing the reason he’s acting like an idiot is because he still believes I’m engaged.

  “I’m not engaged, Buck! Jesus, do you really think I’d be practically throwin’ myself at you if I were?”

  “Don’t be lyin’ to me!” He pounds his fist against the dashboard in anger.

  There’s something about him being all fired up that’s causin’ me to ache with need. How am I twenty-two years old and still a damn virgin?

  I swerve the truck over to the side of the road, shifting it into park. Narrowing my eyes at him, I soak in every bit of hope that’s lingering in his gaze as his brown eyes pierce mine. Even if there is uncertainty and pain staring back at me, I still see hope.

  “Have I ever lied to you, Buck?”

  “I truthfully don’t know.” He looks away from me and out the window. “Jack said y’all were ‘happily’ engaged and advised me to stay away from you.” He mimics air quotations as he uses the term happily. “That’s why he introduced me to that chick tonight.”

  That fucking asshole. Jack is going to get a piece of my mind.

  “Of course, he did...” I bite my tongue, keeping myself from saying anything I don’t really mean.

  “So you are happily engaged? You’re just pissed he told me about it?” Buck’s tone takes a dark turn, and he looks at me with pain washing over his darkened gaze.

  “God, no, Buck! I meant...I meant of course Jack would say that because he doesn’t want us to be together. That’s how I meant it.”

  “Fuck! I don’t know what to believe, Dakota. You come here after five years of us not seein’ one another or even speakin’ to each other. Then, you waltz into the tavern and pull your sexy flirtin’ shit at the bar, only for Jack to come in and rat you out right in front of me.”

  He pauses to catch his breath, and I can’t help but be distracted by the fact he referred to my flirting as sexy.

  “Now,” he continues, “You’re tryin’ to convince me you’re not engaged because you want to fulfill the pact we made? Do you hear the insanity you’re spewin’ out of your mouth? You expect me to believe you were engaged and you hadn’t already lost your virginity to him? What were you gonna do, wait for your weddin’ night?” Buck spits out in fury, and then starts laughing obnoxiously, mocking me.

  My belly twists in knots, feeling shame and embarrassment rise heatedly in my cheeks and a lump creep its way into my throat.

  “You know what? I think Jack is right. We wouldn’t have ever worked out. You’re not the man I thought you were.” Tears are begging to fall from my eyes, but I fight against them, keeping my composure as best as I can manage.

  “Well, it’s a good thing you figured that out now before you were on your knees chokin’ on my fuckin’ dick again.”

  I can only fight against my tears for so long before the dam breaks. Tears rush out from my eyes and stream down my face.

  “Get out and walk,” I say sharply, trying to keep some remnant of calmness in my voice.

  “This is my goddamn truck, Kota,” he yells. The vein in his neck is protruding again.

  “Dakota or Kota, which is it, Buck? Do you even think before you say shit? I know you ain’t that drunk. You were worse at the bar with me this afternoon!” I holler back at him.

  “Truthfully, you’ll always be Kota in my heart, but in my mind you have to be Dakota now.” His deep voice cracks and the moonlight shining into the windshield hits his eyes just right, showing the wetness on his scruffy cheeks.

  “You really don’t believe me?” I choke out between a sob. Silence fills the cab of his truck, and it’s deafening.

  Anger and shock replace my pain and sadness. I shift his truck into drive and take off back down the highway toward our tiny Georgia town, driving in the silence until we reach his house.

  “I don’t live here anymore.” His low rugged voice breaks through the silence.

  Now, I feel ridiculous. “For what it's worth—” I start, but he cuts me off.

  “Save it.”

  “No, you’re gonna shut your mouth and listen to me, Buck,” I snap at him, revers
ing out of his old driveway with an audible huff.

  I head back up toward the main road. I don’t bother asking him where he lives because I’m taking him to our spot like I originally planned. I don’t care if I’m angry and hurt, we need to talk and this will probably be the only chance we have to be alone.

  “You’re just as hard-headed as you’ve always been.”

  When he used to say things like that, there’d always be a smile that followed. Not this time.

  “It’s my stubbornness that gets me what I want,” I state matter-of-factly, an edge to my tone.

  “Typical.”

  “Typical? What exactly do you mean by that?”

  “You’ve always gotten whatever the hell you want. That’s why you don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone.”

  “You really want to go there, rich boy? You know the childhood I had. I wasn’t handed a damn thing! You, on the other hand, Mr. Hot Shit, had everything handed to you! What are you doing with your life, exactly? Running the bar that was handed to you. Driving a pickup truck that was handed to you. And, let me guess, you don’t live in that house anymore because when your granddad died you got his house handed to you, too?” I ramble until I feel the need to take in a deep breath. I can feel the guilt burrowing itself deep within my body even as I say the hurtful words.

  Putting the truck in park at the field, I watch him silently with a hopeful heart as Buck realizes where we are.

  “You really came here of all places to tell me how big of a piece of shit you think I am?” Buck opens the door and slams it shut so hard the entire truck shakes.

  I turn the key in the ignition to the off position and step out into the tall grass. Standing there, I stare longingly at him as he looks off into the distance at all the fireflies swarming in front of us.

  “That’s not why I brought you here, Buck. I brought you here so we could actually talk,” I admit in a shaky voice. “Even though I don’t think you're in the greatest state of mind right now.”

  He turns toward me. The wetness of his tears still shines on his face in the moonlight. “I was handed the bar because I'm the only one who put in the hours there and I love what I do there. My brothers looked at it as just a place to go and get shitfaced for free. This pickup truck—her name is Betty Sue, by the way—was my granddad’s, and you know how much this truck meant to him. I was handed this truck because I was the one who made sure he was taken care of when he was dyin’. I was the one who helped him walk to the bathroom when his legs were too weak, just so he could take a shit in the goddamn toilet instead of in a bedpan. I was handed my grandparents’ house because I was the only one who wanted it. Everyone else in the family saw it as a pile of junk that needed to be burned down.” He chokes on his words and steps closer to me. I feel a magnetic pull to him and my feet shuffle forward, closing the gap between us.