Tucker laughed. “That’s why I like you, T. You’re funny as hell, but nobody knows about it because you never talk to anyone.”

  “Thanks … I think.”

  “Com’n.” He nodded with his chin. “Let me introduce you to the tribe, although you might know some of them. That’s Jason Brockman,” he pointed to a guy who wasn’t much taller than Shelly, with muscles that made him look like a box. He had his arm around Desiree. Fantastic. She forced herself to smile. “And you know his girl, Des.”

  “Yep,” Tara said an gave Desiree a head nod. That was cordial, right?

  “That’s Jasper Cotton and his girl, Harper. You won’t know her because she’s actually a freshman over at the community college in Riverbend.”

  “Nice to meet you, Harper,” she said.

  “And last and probably least”—Tucker chuckled, as did the rest of them—“this is Eric Wilmore and his girl, Beth.”

  Tara knew Beth from school, but they’d never talked. Tara didn’t have anything against the girl … that she never knew of.

  “You ever thrown an axe before?” Jasper asked her.

  “Only every Saturday of my life since I could lift one,” Tara said with a completely straight face.

  Tucker chuckled while the other three guys looked a little awestruck. She almost hated to burst their bubble.

  “That’s badass,” Eric said.

  “It’s also a lie,” Tara said, drawing out the first word and then winking at him, hoping that would take the sharp edge off of her sarcasm.

  “Tara’s a real funny girl,” Desiree said, her lip turning up in what she must’ve thought would be half a smile but looked more like a snarl.

  “Put the claws away, Des,” Jason chided.

  “We’re wasting daylight, people,” Tucker said and tugged Tara along past a grove of trees. Beyond the grove was a sizeable tin barn, long past its working days. Tara could see that large square pieces of wood bearing painted targets had been screwed to the side of the building. Three targets lined almost the entire length of the structure. A giant tree stump, grey and weathered with age but not yet rotting, sat several paces away from the barn. Several short-handled axes poked out of it, their heads buried into the stump… Which henceforth will be called the stump of death.

  They meandered over to the stump of death. Tara saw there weren’t enough axes for everyone. Jasper grabbed one and handed it to Harper, and they moved to one of the targets. Tucker led Tara after them. “We’re going to share with Harper and Jasper.”

  She nodded and gave a thumbs up. Tara was actually excited to throw an axe. As long as she didn’t kill anyone or chop off her own toe, it should be fun. Fun because she planned on imagining Elias’s face plastered to the wooden target she would be throwing at.

  “Let’s let Jasper and Harper go first so you can watch them, and then I’ll help you when it’s your turn.”

  “Sounds good,” she replied. Tara noticed, as Harper took her place across from the target and readied herself to throw, that the handle on the axe was much shorter than the one Tara’s father had used to cut firewood. Tara didn’t allow herself to dwell on that memory and made herself stay in the present. She paid close attention to Harper’s form. The girl held the handle much like a baseball bat, but instead of bringing it over her shoulder, she brought it straight up and over her head. To Tara, it looked just like how a soccer ball would be thrown back into play.

  Jasper and Harper completed their throws, of which Jasper stuck two out of three and Harper stuck all three, gaining Jasper many catcalls from the other boys. Then, Tucker motioned for Tara to step up. He handed her an axe and showed her how to place her hands. Then, he walked her through the same motions she’d just watched Harper and Jasper perform. To Tucker’s credit, he didn’t take the opportunity to get too close to her or do anything that made Tara feel uncomfortable. He gave her a crooked grin and winked as he stepped back and said, “Let’s see what you got, Thompson.”

  Tara thought about the motions and pictured herself throwing the axe, mentally watching it fly through the air and hit the target, which in her mind was right between Elias’s eyes. Visualization done, she pulled the axe back, arched forward, bringing it down with her arms, and released it just when she saw the blade come into sight. It spun one time before lodging into the target only a couple inches from the bull’s-eye. She shrugged. At least she hit him in the face. Okay, maybe she shouldn’t keep thinking about hurting Elias with an axe. It probably wasn’t a healthy obsession to have, and she really was trying to cut back on her obsession quota.

  “Wow! T, that was awesome,” Tucker said and gave her a high five. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a girl hit the target the first time.”

  “Nope,” Jason called from down at his and Desiree’s spot. “Des threw it at least fifty times before she finally got a stick.”

  “That was just because she liked you adjusting her ‘form,’” Eric said, inserting quotations around the word form.

  The guys all chuckled while Desiree said something to her boyfriend, low enough that the rest of them couldn’t hear.

  “He’ll never learn,” Tucker said.

  “What?” Tara asked.

  Tucker tilted his head toward Jason and his girlfriend, who was currently wagging a finger at him like he was a four-year-old. “He knows what things will piss her off, and yet he says them anyway.”

  “It’s because he likes angry, make-up s—” Jasper started, but Tucker cut him off with a shake of his head.

  Tara rolled her eyes. “I know what sex is. Just because I’m not out there doing it doesn’t mean I don’t realize others are.”

  “Regardless,” Tucker said, “you shouldn’t have to listen to crude language.”

  “You obviously don’t know my best friend,” she said dryly. “Crude is her playground in the town of Gutter.”

  Harper laughed. “She sounds fun.”

  Tara smiled because it made her cold heart warm a little toward the girl. Shelly was fun, and it was sad that more people didn’t realize it. “She is.”

  “All right, how about a friendly competition,” Eric called out. “Guys against girls.”

  “Of course,” Desiree said as she admired her nails.

  Eric ignored her and kept talking. “Each guy will make a bet with their girl, and if all the guys win, not one or two, but all of us, then the guys get their winnings. So that means, if only one of the girls win, then the girls are the ones who get their end of the deal.”

  Each of the couples huddled together to discuss their bets. Tucker pulled Tara off to the side. His smile was gentle as he spoke. “We don’t have to make a bet if you don’t want to.”

  Tara frowned. “I am not a coward, and I don’t back down from a challenge Tucker Adams. Name your terms.” She folded her arms in front of her and raised her eyebrows at him.

  He mimicked her pose and lifted his chin in challenge. “All right, tiny warrior. My reward is a kiss. If the guys win, at the end of the night when I take you home, I get to kiss Tara Thompson on her lovely mouth.”

  “You make it sound as though it were some great honor,” she said, shaking her head.

  He simply shrugged. “What are your terms?”

  Tara tapped her chin as she thought about what she would want from Tucker. Nothing immediately sprang to mind. He was a nice guy and actually fun to hang out with, but the spark that she really wanted to be there, so far, wasn’t. Maybe if they kissed, it would trigger something more than just noticing that he’s a very good-looking guy. Because she didn’t want anything from him relationship-wise, she could only think of one other thing—manual labor. Carol had mentioned the gutters on the house needed cleaned out, and there were some tree branches on the roof that had broken off in the last storm that needed removed. “If I win, then you will have to do some work around Mrs. Carol’s house.”

  Tucker’s eyes lit up with mischief. “Why, Tara Thompson, are you just trying to see me in a toolbelt?”

  She laughed at the ridiculous Southern accent he used and the outraged look, as if it were so scandalous. “If that’s what you need to tell yourself in order to get the work done, then so be it.”

  After the bets were made, the rules laid out, and a sufficient amount of trash talk thrown back and forth between the guys and girls, the game began.

  Tara’s first throw landed two circles below the bull’s-eye. “Damn,” she muttered under her breath.

  They heard a cheer from the guys and glanced over. Bull’s-eye.

  “Ugh,” Desiree grunted. “I hate it when they win. Jason will gloat about it for a week like he’s won a national championship or something.

  “Same,” said Harper. Tara assumed she was talking about Jasper.

  Three games later, the girls still hadn’t won. Desiree threw her hands up in defeat. “All right, geez. Can the torture please be over? My arms feel like they’re going to fall off.”

  “We win,” Jason yelled, hooting and hollering like a crazy fool.

  By the time the game was over, the sun was going down, and Tara’s arms were stiff and would be sore tomorrow. Impervious to injury? Yes. To muscle fatigue? No.

  “You ready to go?” Tucker asked.

  She nodded then glanced over to the others. “It was nice meeting y’all, and thanks for the game.”

  “You’re a natural,” Eric said, and Beth nodded.

  Harper waved at her. Desiree, on the other hand, did what Desiree does. She gave Tara the finger. Tara shook her head and muttered, “Whatever.”

  When they were back in Tucker’s truck, he reached over and snagged her pinky with his. They didn’t talk but instead listened to some country music he had turned down low. The windows were down, and the spring breeze felt good against her face.

  “Did you have fun?” Tucker asked after they’d been driving around a bit.

  Much to her surprise she didn’t have to lie. “Yeah, I actually did.”

  “You weren’t expecting to?”

  She hesitated, not sure how truthful she should be. Tucker was a good guy, and she didn’t want to hurt him, but she also didn’t want to give up on something that at least had a chance. Elias had made it clear he couldn’t even give her that much. “I’ve just never dated. I didn’t really know what to expect.”

  “I’m glad I could give you a positive first experience.”

  They pulled into her driveway, and Tucker hurried out to get the door for her. He helped her down and didn’t release her hand as they walked to the porch and then up the steps. The feeling of being watched came back full force, but she tried to ignore it and focus on the guy in front of her.

  “So, would I be right in assuming that if this was your first date, then this will also be your first kiss?” Tucker asked.

  Tara felt her face heat up as she nodded.

  He stepped closer and took her face gently, but with a confidence that showed he’d done this before, and tilted it up to him. His eyes stared into hers. “You have beautiful eyes, Tara.”

  “You’ve already won the kiss fair and square. You don’t have to try and woo me.”

  His thumb brushed against her cheek, and his warm breath fanned across her face. “Wooing is the best part. But I’m not going to lie. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

  Tara took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm, relax, and let Tucker lead. She knew the mechanics of a kiss but still wondered how people got around the noses and how they knew when to use their tongue and how much tongue was too much tongue. It all seemed incredibly complicated.

  Tucker leaned down. He was moving slowly as if he was savoring every second. In those passing seconds, Tara was able to admit her sadness that Tucker was going to be her first kiss. No matter the text that Shelly had sent, Tara didn’t want to just imagine kissing Elias while kissing someone else. It didn’t feel right. In fact, it felt so wrong she was beginning to get sick to her stomach. Tucker closed in. His lips were a hair’s breadth from hers. She was about to tell him to stop when, all of a sudden, the ground rumbled so hard that it threw them both off balance. Tara fell back and hit her head on the porch railing. Of course, it didn’t hurt, but she had to play the part. She grunted and then placed her hand on top of her head as if she were in pain.

  Tucker had been thrown farther back, which was strange. He was much heavier than she was. She couldn’t imagine the earthquake somehow being stronger for him when they were standing mere inches apart.

  “Are you all right?” he asked as he hurried to his feet and came over to help her up.

  Tara brushed herself off and then touched her head again. “Yeah, I’m good. I think it will just be a small knot, nothing serious.” There would be no knot, but she couldn’t very well say that.

  “I wish I could say it was my kiss that made the ground shake.” Tucker chuckled. “But apparently there’s been another earthquake. Perhaps I can take a raincheck on the kiss?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine.”

  “I’m sure that bump you took is probably going to give you a headache. You might want to ice it and don’t go to bed right away,” he warned her. “The football trainers always tell us that when we take hard hits.”

  “Okay,” she said and unlocked the front door. “Thank you, Tucker. I had a really good time.”

  He nodded and grinned that trademark smile. “That was the plan. Sleep tight, T. I’ll text you this weekend.”

  She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she took the old trusty smile and nod routine and then stepped into the house, shutting the door quickly behind her. Tara leaned back against the door and closed her eyes. She’d almost let Tucker Adams kiss her. She’d almost given away a first that she could never get back, something she shouldn’t waste on just anyone. And Tara knew without a doubt he was the wrong guy to give it to.

  “Why couldn’t he be an ass, like some other guy I know?” She sighed and headed to her room to take a shower and wash off the axe-throwing funk. She didn’t bother to look at her phone. She had no doubt there would be at least five from Shelly. And quite possibly one from Elias.

  Elias took several deep breaths to regain control of the magic he’d released. It hadn’t been a conscious decision. One second, he was watching Tucker lean down to kiss Tara and the next, they’d been pushed apart because of a minor earthquake that may or may not have only happened in the ground beneath Tara’s home. Everything inside of him had shouted, “Hell no,” and his magic had taken action to make sure the acolyte didn’t claim anything of Tara’s, let alone her first kiss. He’d used a spell to make sure Tara didn’t hit the ground nearly as hard as Tucker had. Thankfully, it had worked. The little romantic interlude that had been created was broken, and they were going their separate ways.

  Elias would give Tara a little while to spend time with Carol, who was pulling in the driveway. Then he’d pay Tara a visit. It was going against Jax’s order to keep his distance, but Elias was pretty sure nothing would keep him from seeing Tara tonight. He didn’t know how to get her to understand that Tucker wasn’t who he appeared to be. He really did seem like a genuine guy, so much so that he was almost fooling Elias. But then, when Tucker turned away from Tara, Elias would see the wicked gleam in his eyes and the self-satisfied smile. It was like his face transformed into someone else. Elias supposed in some ways, the boy was someone else. The dark magic within him made him someone else.

  Elias knew he needed to trust the fact that if Tara was indeed his soul match, and he was to be bonded to her, then she ultimately wouldn’t pick Tucker. Elias was destined to be with her. But how much would she give to Tucker before Elias was able to claim her and show her who she was actually for? He knew there was no way he was going to be able to stand idly by and let what nearly happened tonight happen again. “No bloody way,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

  Unable to wait any longer, he decided to send her a text.

  How was your date?

  * * *

  Elias had to hand it to Tucker. The axe throwing was impressive. It was original and something that he must have known would have been right up Tara’s alley. And didn’t that just irritate Elias even more? The fact that he knew more about Tara than Elias, her freaking soul mate. Nope, that didn’t sting at all.

  His phone chimed and he glanced down.

  * * *

  Surprisingly fun.

  * * *

  Elias clenched his jaw. He sat there staring at her response and tried to tell himself he was glad she was happy and that she’d had fun. That’s what mattered, right? And maybe when he grew into a mature man of a hundred and twelve he would definitely go that route. Since he was not that man yet, he was going to go a different route and probably want to kick his own arse later. Another text came through before he could respond.

  Elias?

  * * *

  You hung up on me. Deflect and blame. Definitely mature, ya tosser.

  * * *

  You weren’t saying anything worth listening to.

  * * *

  Ouch. And she slaps me back with the sting of the truth. He would just have to respond in kind.

  * * *

  Does it matter at all that I want to be the one taking you on dates?

  * * *

  Maybe it would … but you can’t date me, according to you. Even though you can’t date me, I’m supposed to not date anyone else?

  * * *

  Exactly. Okay, now they were getting somewhere.

  * * *

  Did you really read that text before you texted back? Please tell me you didn’t.

  * * *

  Elias re-read her text and then put himself in her shoes. What if she were the one telling him she couldn’t be with him and that he also couldn’t be with anyone else? Maybe guys and girls saw it differently because if he couldn’t have her then he wouldn’t want anyone else.