Around six that evening they all gathering at the Grille for a bite to eat before the tournaments started. There were four; darts, pool, poker, and horseshoes.
Ridley stood at the far end of the Grille, her steaming cup of Bailey's coffee wrapped tightly in her hand. Tilting her head to one side, she smiled grandly as she watched Drew and Buck snuggling together. They were whispering to each, enormous smiles plastered on their faces.
The feel of hands sliding around her waist brought Ridley from her thoughts. "Hey gorgeous," Vin purred in her ear as he kissed her neck softly.
"There you are," she said softly, running her hand long his arm as she stepped back against him. "I was beginning to wonder where you were."
"Had to help Dwayne set up some of the stuff for the tournaments tonight. You nervous about your events?" Vin buried his face in the flips of silky auburn hair that brushed lights against Ridley's shoulders. He inhaled deeply and felt his heart quicken. She smelled so good, so clean and innocent.
She laid her head back on his shoulder, her eyes staring at the ceiling. A large wrinkle formed between her eyes as her face turned into a scowl. "I know I shouldn't be," she said drawing Vin's arms more close to her, tightening his hold. "But I am. So many people will be watching me." She sighed. "I'm going to be so nervous."
He kissed her on the side of her head. "Sweetheart, this is just the gang at the Grille. What about the horse show? You sure you will be okay competing?"
"I hope so," she said with a sigh. She turned her eyes back to Drew and Buck, and her heart swelled. She had been so ecstatic to hear that Drew was back. She and Vin had been so upset about Buck's resignation and worried for both Drew and Buck. But with Drew back in his arms, Buck was back to his old self.
She scanned the room. Ezra and Trina were seated comfortably at the bar, discussing something that seemed to have their full attention. The two sat facing each other. Ezra had one arm laying on the bar which Trina ran her fingers gingerly back and forth against his skin. She watched him intently as he talked.
A cool evening breeze drifted in as the door to the Grille opened. Karol and Josiah followed. "Hey everyone," Karol said, shivering as pulled her arms to her chest. Seeing Ridley in the corner, she approached her. "Hey, why are you two hiding in the corner?" she asked, reaching out to hug Ridley.
Ridley returned Karol's brief embrace. "Just taking in the scenery," she said with a smile, motioning to Drew and Buck.
Drew giggled softly, flipping her hair over one shoulder as she stared intently at her husband. Karol shook her head in agreement.
"I know. Isn't it great?" she asked as Josiah stepped up next to her.
"Yes, it is," Vin replied, reaching out and grabbing hold of Ridley's hand.
Josiah looked around the Grille. Various areas have been sectioned off for the upcoming events. "This place looks great. You help set up Vin?"
Vin shook his head. "Sure did. JD too. He's around here somewhere."
“Right here.” JD walked up to them and smiled. He glanced over to Drew and Buck and shook his head, “I say we go join them?” He winked to them and started to make his way over.
JD sat right down next to Buck who was kissing Drew. He reached over, slapped Buck´s back as he cleared his throat. The other four walking up to join them as well.
Buck reluctantly pulled away from Drew´s soft lips and glared at JD, “Kid-- kinda busy here.”
Josiah patted Buck´s shoulder as he held a chair out for Karol. “We don´t mind Buck,” he teased.
Buck shook his head as Drew laughed and said hello to everyone. She was seated on Buck´s lap and he wasn´t in any hurry for her to move anytime soon.
"Hey guys, don't you two look quaint," Ridley said as she slid in the chair on the other side of Drew and Buck.
"How long you all been here?" Drew asked, leaning forward on the table. She looked from person to person as Buck rubbed her back gently.
"We just got here," Josiah said, moving his chair closer to Karol and laying his arm on the back of her chair.
Drew shook her head. "Rid, when did you get here?"
Ridley blushed, glancing at Vin out of the corner of her eye. "A while. Vin's been helping Dwayne. I was just kind of hanging out." She could see that Drew was disappointed that she wouldn't have joined them sooner. "I didn't want to interrupt you two. You look so happy and Lord knows you two deserve all the happiness in the world."
Buck stopped nuzzling Drew´s neck for a moment and smiled to Ridley, “thanks.” He waggled his eyebrows at Drew, “I just can´t seem to get enough of my Sunshine here, never could.”
Drew squealed loudly as Buck´s hand moved up her leg.
JD rolled his eyes and shook his head, “get a room.” JD paused for a moment, his eyes scanning the establishment. "Hey, where's Chris?"
Buck shot JD a look but said nothing.
"He's around here somewhere," Vin replied, glancing over his shoulder.
"It appears we are all congregating at this table then. May we join you?" Ezra asked he and Trina walked up.
Drew grabbed Trina's hand, pulling her to the table. "Sit here Trina. Here," Drew said, leaning backward in an effort to grab a chair from a nearby table.
Trina smiled.
"I like those Champ t-shirts," Ridley said, her eyes scanning the prizes that sat on the far end of the bar. "I want one of those." Turning to Vin, she smiled, batting her eyelashes in an exaggerated gesture. "You going to win me one?"
Drew´s eyes lit up, “I want one too!” She bounced excitedly on Buck´s lap. “I think they look really cool.”
Buck´s smile widened and he gently pulled Drew closer whispering in her ear, “darlin you keep bouncing like that I won´t be able to stand up.”
Drew felt he was getting aroused and blushed. She giggled a bit and looked to him, “just excited is all.”
“And you know what it does to me when you get excited sexy,” he waggled his eyebrows again pulling her closer to him.
"Damn, I'm starving. Who's hungry?" JD asked, standing up from his chair.
"I'm famished," Trina replied.
Buck winked to Trina, “you wouldn´t happen to have any of the delicious turtle cake on you by chance?”
Trina smiled. "No. Did you like it?"
Drew giggled. “Buck ate the entire thing. I only had one piece.”
Buck looked to Drew, “hey you said you were full!”
Everyone laughed at the bewildered look on Buck´s face. Drew kissed his cheek.
“It really was delicious Trina,” Drew smiled to her friend. “you´re entering the backing contest right? You´ll win for sure.”
"Aye, I'm entering. I just can't decide what to enter."
"You can enter more than one item, darlin'," Ezra said. "And my sister is right, you'll certainly take the blue ribbon."
"You look like you're putting on some weight their Ezra," Buck said with a huge grin.
"He's perfect," Trina protested.
"Thank you, buttercup."
Everyone at the table wrinkled their noses at that name. Drew giggled and convincingly performed the "Mawwidge" speech from The Princesss Bride.
Ezra smiled and kissed Trina's cheek.
"Well all this cake talk is making me hungry too," Karol said, motioning for the waitress.
"I have to eat something if I'm going to drink tonight," Ridley said bashfully. "Or I'll spend all night with my head in the toilet."
"Damn right you're drinking," Buck said loudly, slapping his hand down on the table. "My Sunshine´s home. We're all celebrating."
Drew smiled brightly then waved over to Laura and Nathan who were having dinner with some of her family.
Vin laughed as he stood up. "Then I'm definitely getting her some food."
Josiah glanced at Karol with a knowing smile. "Oh yeah, food is a good start."
About forty-five minutes later Dwayne rang the bell behind the bar. It normally served as decoration, but was useful to get everyone's attention. "The tournaments are about to begin, so if anyone wants to participate and has not signed up, this is the time." He paused and held up a "Grille Champ 2002" t-shirt. "All finalists will receive one of these shirts. Every winner will receive a certificate for a free pizza."
Everyone clapped, and a few people went to the sign up sheets. After a few moments, Dwayne said, "Let the competitions begin!"
Trina watched as Ezra sat down at the poker table. She knew better than to watch him. She'd only mess him up by distracting him, or revealing his hand accidentally. So she signed up for the other tournaments. Pool, darts and horse shoes. She saw Drew and Buck snuggling in the corner and smiled.
Karol walked up to Trina. "You're up against me first."
"Well, then I dinna have a chance," Trina said with a smile.
Karol shrugged. "You could get lucky."
Trina noticed that several people had signed up for the pool tournament, including Miss Little, the kindergarten teacher she worked with. Miss Little was a really sweet person who Trina enjoyed working with.
There were only two tables set up at the Grille. The first few matches would be single elimination.
Trina watched as Dwayne racked the balls and set them on the table. Then he tossed a coin, and Karol won the call. Karol took her position. Ten minutes later, without having had the chance to shoot even once, Trina had lost to Karol who had cleaned the table on her first turn.
Trina smiled, "Congratulations. And you better win."
Karol just laughed. "What kind of a pool shark would I be if I didn't try my best?"
Ridley, who had been watching quietly from the sideline, joined her two friends. Ridley hugged Trina “well better luck next time.”
Ridley turned to Karol, she smiled. "Still running those tables? My father would have been so proud. He use to always love playing you at pool."
Karol returned Ridley's hug. "Why do you think I got so good? Had to beat Cleaver," she said playfully, her smile covering ear to ear. Remembering the times when her brothers, during one of their nice big brother moments showed her how to become a card shark. When she went to Ridley's to help with Storm, Cleaver helped keep her in practice
Ridley walked back with Trina walked back and watched as Karol took on another player. She noticed that Laura was just finishing her first game, and she'd also won. The next group of contestants was up.
Laura chalked up the tip of her pool stick as she waited for her second round to begin. She turned and caught Nathan's eye. She smiled softly as he winked at her. She nodded to the poker tables and Nathan nodded. He walked a bit closer and looked then gave her a thumbs up sign showing that her father was doing well.
Drew and Buck came up for air long enough to see Karol defeat Trina. It wasn´t a shock but Drew wished Trina could have played someone else first. She giggled as Buck nuzzled her neck.
“Hmmm Sunshine we should have stayed home and made love all night long.” Buck whispered huskily in her ear before nibbling on it.
Drew giggled and ran her hand along his leg, “we can later. Place does have a backroom remember?”
Buck grinned, “oh I remember sexy. We went back there a few times.” He looked around, “Dwayne´s busy.”
Drew saw Trina looking their way and waved. “Maybe later?”
Buck nodded his head. He just wanted to stay as close to his wife as possible. But realized she needed to spend time with her friends too.
Trina noticed that the darts competition was about to begin, so she went over and interrupted Drew and Buck.
"Darts," She said.
Buck nodded and gave Drew one more kiss before standing up and helping his wife to her feet. "Come on, Sunshine; let's go hit some bulls eyes."
Buck, Drew, and Trina walked over to the darts area and listened to the instructions. They would be throwing in groups of four, with the winner of each set moving on to the finals. The object in the early rounds would be to be the first to reach 300 points. After they had 300 points, they had to finish with a bullseye. The final round would be the same format, only they would be throwing to 500 points.
Trina looked at the roster. She'd be throwing against Drew and Cindy. The fourth was Timothy Johnson, a man she didn't' know.
Trina took her own darts out of her purse as Buck was handing Drew hers. Trina looked over at Cindy and frowned slightly, then she smiled to Drew. "You ready?"
Drew just grinned. The two women went over to the board and waited. Tim threw his darts and ended up with one dart in the 25 ring, one in 10 and another at 20 points. He'd racked up 55 points.
Drew went next and threw two bulls-eyes and one in the green center ring, earning her a large round of applause. Drew's 125 points looked great on the board. She bounced happily over to Buck who gave her a hug and kiss.
Buck smiled and lifted her up again hugging her. “That´s my girl!” He set her back down and patted her bottom giving her a wink.
Drew smiled brightly as Buck held onto her.
Cindy came up and threw her darts, earning only 40 points.
Then Trina stepped up. She eyed the board and threw her darts. Each of hers landed squarely in the triple twenty. After the first throw, Trina led the group with 180 points, followed by Drew with 125, then Tim with 55, and Cindy with 40.
Drew looked at the board and frowned.
Buck squeezed her gently. “It´s okay Sunshine.” He nuzzled her neck forcing her to smile.
Drew stood in front of him and held onto his arms that were wrapped around her.
Tim stepped back up to the line and threw again. He hit a bulls eye, getting a round of applause. Then he threw one dart in triple twenty and one in the double twenty. Tim earned 150 points in the round, bringing his total to 205.
This time, when Drew threw, she didn't go for the center. If she wanted to win, she was going to need the big points, and those were in the triple twenty. Drew threw three darts straight into it, bringing her total to 305. Next round, Drew just needed to throw one bulls eye to win. She smiled and turned to Buck, who hugged her tightly.
Cindy walked to the line and threw her darts. This round, she earned 90 points, bringing her total to 130.
Trina stepped up. She threw two darts to the triple twenty, and had her 300 points. Then she threw her last dart and hit the bullseye. Trina jumped up excitedly. She'd won her round. Then she saw the look of disappointment on Drew's face and frowned.
"First set goes to Trina ‘Scotty´ MacKinnon. Next group of throwers please step to the line!" Dwayne shouted.
Buck frowned and held Drew close, “she got lucky Sunshine that´s all.”
Drew nodded, “I´m happy for her. Did you see how excited she was? Well is?” She smiled and watched Trina rush over to Ezra.
Buck nodded then placed his hand under Drew´s chin tilting her head up to his. “You´re always a winner in my book darlin.” He placed his lips on hers kissing her passionately.
Trina smiled and went over to Ezra, who looked up to her. "I made it to the finals!" she said happily.
"Congratulations my dear." Ezra hugged her. "I'm proud of you."
"I'll let you get back to your game," she said, kissing his cheek.
Ezra smiled and nodded.
Trina walked back to the darts to see that Buck was throwing. He added 180 points to the board and then went and held Drew, who was still a bit upset over. Trina looked to her, worriedly.
"It's all right, Trina," Drew said softly. Then Drew hugged her. "Congratulations."
"Thanks."
The two watched as Buck stepped to the line and threw. He also threw his 350 in just six darts and won his match. There were two more matches to go before the final.
Nathan was throwing against Vin when Trina walked over and watched Karol playing another match. Karol was creaming another player. She'd already won three matches. Miss Little was playing against someone Trina didn't know, and she looked to be winning too. There looked to be another three matches before the finals at pool.
Trina smiled as Ezra came up to her. "Finished?"
"No." He kissed her cheek. "I won my round. There are two more table still playing and then the final game will begin. I wanted to spend a little time with the woman I love."
Trina blushed. Then she looked to him and said, "I'm glad you did. Horseshoes starts after darts."
"Are you going to enter?"
Trina shrugged.
"You should. You'll enjoy yourself. I'm afraid I'll be neglecting you."
"You're not. Besides, I'll be with Buck and Drew."
Ezra hugged her.
After two more matches, Laura found herself facing Carl Watson across the pool table. She easily beat him without batting an eye. Carl was drinking and not taking the game seriously.
Trina saw JD throwing against Sue and two others she didn't know. But right now, Karol was shooting. If she won the game, she'd be in the finals. Trina clapped loudly as Karol sank the last ball, winning easily. The finals were Karol, Laura, Miss Little, and Todd Rawlings.
"Yo Red, you're up!" Buck shouted across the room.
Trina looked over to Buck and saw him pointing at the board. She walked over there. She was going to throw last again. The others who were in the final were Ian Dudley, Nathan Jackson, and Buck Wilmington.
Trina watched as first Ian Dudley took his first throws. Ian took 180 points. All four competitors in the first round got 180 points. Trina frowned. If this kept up, then the competition would end in the order they threw.
The second rounded ended the same way, all four had 360 points.
The third round, Ian hit two triple twenties and one bullseye. The game was not over, though, because he had only had 480 before the bullseye. Ian now had 530 points. Nathan stepped up. He ended the round with 540. Buck took his turn and also ended up with 530 to match Ian. Trina ended the round with 520 total points. It was now a matter of who was going to hit the bullseye first. Trina knew there was no way that all three of the men
in front of her would miss it.
Ian only took one dart to win the game. The final standings were then based on the other points on the board. Nathan came in second, Buck third, and Trina fourth.
Dwayne came over and presented them each with a "Grille Champ 2002" tshirt. Ian was also given a certificate for a free pizza.
Trina smiled as Drew hugged Buck. She congratulated Ian.
Drew stood on her tiptoes gently pulling Buck´s face down to hers placing a kiss on his lips. “Congratulations--stud,” she winked.
Ian teased, “where´s mine? After all I came in first.”
Buck growled, “she´s my woman Ian.” He then pulled Drew closer wrapping his arms around her. “Mine,” he whispered huskily then dipped her giving her a passionate kiss that made her swoon. He held onto her tightly as cat calls and whistles erupted.
It took Drew a few moments to catch her breath after the kiss. She looked into her husbands eyes and smiled brightly, “I love you, Buck.”
"I love you too, Mrs. Wilmington.” He grinned putting his arm around her then looked to Trina. “Come on Red. Sunshine and me are about to have a drink. What would you like?"
"A daiquiri?"
"Sure thing." Buck led the women to the bar. Drew and Buck got pints and Trina got a strawberry daiquiri.
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Desert Bloom
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