T-Bone - L. Wilder Page 0,15
put all this.”
“Just leave it for now, and come have another drink. We’re celebrating, after all.”
“That we are.”
I followed her back over to the cooler, and after we each grabbed a beer, we headed over to the others. Clay had started us a fire in the small fire-pit that one of his brothers had given me. While it was nothing like the big bonfire they had at the clubhouse, it was cozy, especially with all the little white lights we’d put up around the trellis. I sat down next to Clay and Landry and sipped on my beer. We hadn’t been talking long when August announced, “I think we need to take a trip somewhere.”
“I would love that,” Darcy agreed. “Where should we go?”
“I have no idea.” August shrugged. “The weather has been great, so maybe we could do something outdoorsy?”
“Have you ever floated the Buffalo?” I asked. “I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun.”
“Yes! That’s a great idea,” August replied. “We could take a cooler with food and drinks and spend the entire day on the water. What do you think, Darcy?”
“I could definitely go for that,” Darcy answered. “I haven’t been since I was a kid, but I had a blast.”
With a hopeful look in her eye, August turned to Gunner and asked, “Hey, babe, would you and the guys take us to float the Buffalo next weekend?”
“Umm ... I don’t know about that,” Gunner answered, sounding less than enthused. “We have a lot going on down at the garage.”
“Come on. It would be fun,” August pushed. “Besides, it’s the weekend. You guys could use a break.”
Gunner nudged Rider. “You hearing this?”
“Mm-hmm ... I’m with you.” Rider’s eyes skirted over to Darcy as he said, “We’ve gotta a lot of work to do.”
“You both know I work at the garage too,” Darcy fussed. “I know we aren’t that busy. If you don’t wanna go, just say so.”
“Canoeing isn’t my kind of thing,” Rider told her.
“That’s all you had to say.” Not giving up so easily, Darcy turned her attention to Beckett. “Hey, T-Bone ...What about you? Would you take us to float the Buffalo next weekend?”
A mischievous smirk crossed his face as he replied, “A canoe full of hot women in bikinis? Are you kidding me? Hell yeah, I’ll take you wherever you wanna go.”
“Oh, hell no,” Gunner argued. “No way that’s gonna happen.”
“What?” August fussed. “You don’t want to go, so what’s wrong with—”
“August, this isn’t up for discussion,” Gunner cut her off.
“But—”
“But nothing. If my ol’ lady is going somewhere, I’ll be the one taking her.”
A hopeful smile crossed August’s face. “Does that mean you’ll take us to float the river?”
“Nope.” Gunner smiled. “But I’ll take you anywhere else you wanna go.”
“Oh, good grief.” She gave him a silly look. “Just forget it. We’ll figure something else out.”
“I’m sure you will."
While I was a little disappointed that the trip to the river wasn’t going to pan out, it was fun talking to the girls about our other options. By the time everyone was ready to call it a night, we’d come up with several good options, but before any final decisions were made, they decided to check with the other ol’ ladies to see if they’d like to come along. Even though it was because of my being Clay’s sister, it still meant a lot that they’d even think of including me. When it came time to pack up and leave, I gave the girls each an armful of leftovers and thanked them once again for all their help.
After I watched them back out of my driveway, I headed inside to finish cleaning up. I was about to start washing dishes when I heard a commotion in the backyard. I went to see what was up and found Beckett picking up empty bottles and trash and tossing it all into the garbage can.
“Hey, I thought you’d already gone.”
“I wanted to help you clean up a bit first.”
“Thanks, but I can do that.”
He continued on with what he was doing like I hadn’t said anything. “You got any more trash bags?”
“Yeah, let me grab one from the kitchen.” I rushed inside and pulled out a couple, then took them back out to Beckett. “Here ya go.”
I grabbed some empty bottles and tossed them inside the bag. As we continued on, he asked, “You have a good time tonight?”
“I had a blast. What about you?”
“Yeah, I had a good time.”
He threw some more trash into the bag, then