Page 2 of Spring Rayne

"No way. Those women are feral." Tanner wrinkles up his nose, the disgusted tone in his voice bringing me back to the conversation. "They've already tried to shove money down my pants, screaming for me to take it off."

A vision of an almost naked Tanner dancing for me as I stuff money down his pants pops into my head, causing my nipples to harden and my panties to dampen. I need to leave before I do something foolish and behave like the bachelorettes.

"Looks like you have your hands full." I shift my gaze away from Tanner, hating my body for reacting to him. The first time I feel an attraction to somebody, it has to be to someone who will never put me first above his friends. "We should probably go home. Sky and I are helping with the Hazmat training at the fire station tomorrow."

I watched my father prioritize everyone over my mother. I could see how much it hurt her. It wasn't until she served him divorce papers after twenty years of marriage that he realized his mistake.

It was the wake-up call my father needed, and they were able to save their marriage. However, I don't want to waste twenty years of my life never being first in the eyes of the person who's supposed to love me.

"You're helping at the hazmat training?" Tanner and Tucker look between me and Sky in surprise. "We've never had women help with training before. I'm Tanner, and this is Tucker, by the way. Since my rude sister didn't introduce us."

I don't miss as Tessa sticks her tongue out at him.

"Nice to meet you, Tanner, Tucker." I nod at each one of them. "My name's Rayne. They asked for volunteers to act as victims." I shrug, not wanting to let him know how desperate I am to fit in with this town.

I fell in love with this quaint little town the moment I first saw it. Finding a husband and settling down here to raise our children and grow old together would be a dream come true. The only way to meet people in this town is to put myself out there.

A loud screeching sound like two stray cats fighting cuts through the air. A glance around the room shows two bridesmaids attempting to throw punches at each other, with an angry-looking Travis trying to separate them.

"We'd better save Travis before he decides to let go of them and let them fight it out." Tanner turns to me. "I'll see you tomorrow for training." He steps toward where Travis is shooting daggers with his eyes at us when his words sink in.

"Wait, what do you mean you'll see us tomorrow for training?" How can I meet a nice guy if the perfect, untouchable guy is around?

"All my brothers and I are part of the volunteer fire department. We'll be the ones saving you tomorrow." With a quick wink, he walks past me, leaving me speechless and wondering how I'll survive tomorrow.

two

Tanner

"Don'tyoulooklikethe cat that licked the cream?" I tease my brother Turner. He finally got his head out of his ass and admitted his feelings for Hazy. The look on his face is priceless, just like a kid who got his hand caught in a cookie jar. From his expression, I think he had more than just his hand in the cookie jar. "Chill out, I was just kidding." I slap him on the back when he makes a choking noise.

"Enough. I'm fine now." He wheezes.

"Sorry, man. I'd hate to put you in a sticky situation." I laugh at my joke when I hear Dale introduce the next karaoke singer as another travel nurse singing her initiation song. The first notes of Whitney Houston's song 'I Will Always Love You' fill the bar with the sound of someone singing almost as poorly as Hazy.

"You're such a dick." Turner throws a bar rag at me, which misses. Laughing, I turn around, bend over, stopping mid-bend, my head snapping at the singing nurse on stage. She's pretty with long auburn hair. I wish I could see what color her eyes are, but I'm too far away. "Looks like you've been struck by Cupid's Arrow, brother." Turner laughs, slapping me on the back this time.

"Fuck me," I mutter as I pick up the rag and stomp behind the bar, trying and failing not to look at the woman on stage.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Turner calls after me.

Without turning around, I lift my hand and give him a one-finger salute. Only to be met with laughter.

Damn it, if Turner isn't right. I've never felt this way about anyone before—like all I want to do is take care of her and make her the center of my world, which is crazy because I don't even know her name. I was too busy teasing my brother to listen to what Dale said when he introduced her.

"What's got you in such a bad mood?" My brother Tucker asks when I join him behind the bar. "It could be worse." He nods to the end of the bar where our oldest brother, Travis, is fighting off a bunch of horny bridesmaids. "At least we aren't Travis."

Most guys would be over the moon to have their pick of single, beautiful, horny women, but Travis is still nursing a broken heart, while Tucker only has eyes for Sky, even though he is too shy to act on it. I'm not sure they've even exchanged more than two words. On the other hand, I'm happy hanging out with my friends, playing cards, fishing, and doing guy things, but one glance at my mystery woman on stage singing her heart out makes me long for a wife and a family with her.

Yeah, well, I'm not going to save him, are you?" I side-step his question, still trying to understand my instant attraction.

Tucker's eyes widen comically as he stutters over his words and shifts his gaze to a group of women standing a few feet away. "N-no way." Poor Tucker. When he gets nervous, he stutters. I'm almost positive that's why he hasn't acted on his attraction to Sky.

I follow his gaze to where Sky stands, talking to our sister Tessa and the mystery woman from the stage, when an idea strikes me.

"Tessa's in charge of the bachelorette party. Let's make her save him." I leave Tucker to follow me as I work my way through the bar to where Tessa is talking to the two women.

"Hey, Tessa, you might want to save Travis from the bachelorettes." I bump Tessa's shoulder with mine, interrupting her conversation.

---