Ashton's pov***
"Good grief you two! Go home! I'm trying to work here!" I tell my two best friends.
Drake, and I have been friends since the first grade. David moved here in the third grade and we were instantly attached at the hip. Or so my parents say.
"But where's the fun in that, Ashy? There's nothing to do at home." David whined.
"Yep! David isn't as much fun as you are, Ashy.... His butt ain't as cute either." Drake added.
"Don't you think that it's weird that you are talking about my butt? We have been friends forever."
"Which one of us would you date?" Drake asked curiously.
"Neither. You know that my dad refuses to let me date until I graduate. Right dad?" I say immediately to my dad who was standing behind Drake and David.
The guys laugh. "You think that we will fall for that again? Not this time Ashy." David tells me.
I shrugged my shoulders. "If you say so."
"Right honey! No dating until I say so. Got it, boys?" He puts a hand on each of their shoulders.
Both of them sat straight up from their slouch and their eyes widened comically. "Well hey, Mr. T! We didn't see you come in." Drake recovered first.
"I guess that you were too busy trying to get Ashton to go against my word." He smiled and sat on the stool beside the guys. "Good afternoon, sweetheart. Is the kitchen open? Or just the b.s. bar?"
"The kitchen is always open, daddy. What can I get you to eat?" I kiss his cheek. I go to put in his order of a burger and fries.
I didn't see Chris or Kim. So I start cooking dad's lunch myself.
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Drake's pov***
I have been friends with Ashton for so long that I know what she is doing before she does.
We are sitting at the bar waiting on her to get off work. We will be asking her to our senior prom before she has to go tutor Kim.
After Ashy goes to the kitchen, I know that she will be cooking. I had seen Kim and Chris sneak out to the office. They are probably having sex. Or she's giving him some oral. Nothing unusual for her. "So! Mr. T! We are planning to ask Ashton to the prom. Is that ok?" I ask as casually as I can. Everyone knows that Ashton and her family are extremely close. She won't do anything without her parents approval.
Griffin Tucker may be middle-aged, but he is still muscled and fit. He is also the sheriff for Sussex County for the last six years.
Ashton wants to be a cop like her dad. Even though Mrs. T doesn't like the idea. Tara wants to keep all her kids as safe as possible.
"Well, I guess that if you ask her and she agrees, I'm ok with it. Ashton is old enough to make her own decisions. I don't think that I need to emphasize that if she goes with you and you hurt her in any way, I won't hesitate to hurt you. She's my only girl. She will be protected at all cost."
"I would always protect Ashton. She's my best friend in the world." David tells Griffin as he looks directly into Mr. T's eyes. "I love her and would never hurt her." His statement was met with silence for a drawn out minute.
He nods as Ashton comes out of the kitchen. She was carrying Griffin's to-go plate. "Did you cook this, honey?"
"I did! Apparently, my coworkers are MIA."
"Good! At least it will be good this time. You cook like your momma."
"Well, thank you, dad!" Griffin kissed her cheek again and left.
"If you're cooking, we will have burgers too." David said with a smirk.
About that time, Chris came out of the office with Kim following. When they see us, they duck their heads and separate.
"Nevermind. They're finished hiding the snake." We all laugh at David's announcement.
"Ashton, we have a question for you." I tell her.
She looks at us. "Will you go to the prom with us?" I ask.
"It is our last school function before graduation. We have always done everything together. Go with us, Ashton, please." David added.
"You guys are right. This is our last chance to do a function for school together." Her smile was sentimental. "We will all three go together to the prom."
We held out a hand for her. She took one in each hand as we have done for years. "Together!" I add.
''Together for ever!" David adds.
"And always!" Ashton finished.
"Oh! Hey guys! I didn't know that you were here." Kim said as she enters the dining room area. "Drake, I was wanting to ask if you will go to the prom with me?" She bats her fake eyelashes trying to be inviting.
"Nope! We are going with Ashton." I answer her question.
She hadn't expected for me to turn her down. It was sweet!
"Umm.... ok. David, who are you going with?" She looked at David.
"Didn't you hear Drake? We are going with Ashton. Both of us."
"Both?!" We could tell that we had surprised her.
"Yes! Both!" David said. Neither of us like Kim. We tolerate her because she hangs out with Ashton.
"Oh! Ok. That is a little lopsided. But if that is what you guys want." She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. Then walked away.
Ashton looks at us and smiles. "Oh, and Drake, to answer your question, I would date David way before you. You are a horny dog who will sleep with anything. David is more selective."
I feign hurt. "The knife to the heart is a very cruel punishment!"
We soon leave as Ashton starts getting ready to start her tutoring session with Kim. We know that they will sit in the corner booth for an hour as Ashton tries to explain chemistry to the dumbass who cares more about her next lay.
I drop David off at his house as I went to another place across town. I need some release.
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Ashton's pov ***
I go to the restroom before the session with Kim. She always has a problem of concentrating on anything especially chemistry after she has sex with anyone. Today will be no different. I know that she had sex with Chris while I fixed dad's lunch.
I know that the guys left already. I like the idea of going to the prom with both guys. We have done everything together since we met. People call us salt and pepper. They are salt because of their light blonde hair. I am pepper because of my black hair.
After graduation, Drake is going to leave us though. He is joining the Army and will be gone for four years.
David will be going to college. But at least he will be home on the weekends. I just don't know why he is looking tired lately. I'll call him tonight and find out the answer. I just pray that it isn't the leukemia making a come-back.
Now I need to get out there and start losing patience with Kim.
I exit the restroom and see her on her phone. Probably with her mom or next lay. I approach her table from behind her. I hear my name and realized she's on speaker.
"Yeah, mom. Ashton is going to the prom with both of the guys. You can't tell me that she's not fucking both Drake and David."
"I have always said that she is a slut. Just like her momma." Callie tells Kim.
"At least she can admit that she is a ho and not act like a goody two shoes and a virgin."
"The whole family is the same."
"Actually I am a virgin. So I can't be a slut or ho. Drake, David, and I have been friends forever. They are both sleeping with other people. And since you are feeling that way about me, I will not tutor you anymore. Good luck passing the tests." Both women are silent as I turn away. I stop and turn back. "You might want to air out the office before Mike comes in. You and Chris left it smelling like nasty twat. And congrats on your pregnancy. I hope you figure out who the daddy is. Hopefully before the baby is eighteen."
I walk away. I'm hurt that she would say that about me. Especially after I have been her tutor for three years. She wouldn't be able to pass any class if I didn't. I guess that she'll figure that out now. I'm done!
I get in my car and just drive. I end up at the back of gpa's bar. I just sit there thinking. My phone rings with gpa's face. I answer. "Hi gpa! I'm fine."
"Babygirl, if you were fine, you wouldn't be sitting in your car behind a bar. Now tell me who upset you."
"Just a former friend who I've been tutoring. She and her mom called me a slut. But I set them straight before I left."
"Would the mom be the same as the one that I fired today for having oral sexual contact with a customer of the bar? Did I mention that another customer caught them in the restroom? Her name rhymes with alley."
"That's the same. What gets me is that I have tutored her in every class for three years! I have been her friend when nobody else would be. I have never talked about her and how many guys she has banged. And yet they call me a slut. I'm still a virgin!" I hear gpa groan. Then realized that I accidentally said too much. "Sorry gpa. I didn't mean to say all of that. I know you don't want to hear all that about a grandchild. It is just so frustrating and hurtful."
"I wish that I could make it better sweetheart. I just don't know how."
"I appreciate that, gpa. I feel better already. I love you so much! I'm going home now. Good night."
"Good night, love bug. Be careful driving and let me know when you get home. I love you more!"
I drive home and see my mom in the den. "Hey mom! Need me to help with anything?" I ask as I shoot gpa a text telling him that I'm home.
"Ash! I thought you were tutoring Kim tonight."
"I was supposed to. But her and her mom decided to talk trash about me. So I'm done with her." I tell mom about my overhearing the phone call.
"That is why I got a call telling me that you verbally attacked Kim and I should be ashamed of how my daughter speaks to her elders." She smiled at me. "I told her that my daughter is in no way disrespectful to anyone. Unless they earn it. And they should watch the way they talk about my family. I would hate to kick someone's ass for telling lies or talking trash about my daughter."
"Thanks mom!" I hug my mom as dad calls to say he'll be a little late coming home. "By the way mom. I have a date for prom. So we need to pick out a dress."
"I'm assuming that Drake asked you." Mom smirks.
"Actually they both did. My date is with Drake and David. Is that ok with you?"
"What? That you are going to prom with your two best friends? Your last prom ever?" She paused and hugged me. "Of course I'm fine with it! Sounds like shopping fun with my daughter."
We made plans to shop the weekend away. Then we did exactly that.... for three weeks. That is when I saw the perfect dress. It was black and gold sequined. With a gold and black lace designed halter in a diamond shape. The skirt was solid black silk with a split to my upper thigh. The back was bare down to just above my hips except for the ties for the halter.
I absolutely love the dress! Mom does too. I just hope that dad will not throw a fit. He has always been very protective over me. I guess it is because I am the only daughter. Both parents have always expected things from me that they didn't from the brothers. I am ok with that. They still mourn Heaven and Asher's deaths. I just happen to be the first born after their loss.
Mom says all the brothers act like dad and Asher. They must have been hoodlums! The brothers are always getting on my nerves.
We take the dress home since it doesn't need any alterations. The store manager also said that I should become a model. He said the dress looks like it was made for my body.
I agree that the dress looks great, but become a model for the dress? I don't think so. I will be a cop like dad and gpa.
That has always been my dream. It is why I have joined athletics every year since I was able to understand the draw that I have to be a cop. Around the age of five or six. Mom soon made the rule that I must have straight A's in school. I think that she did that so that I would lose my drive or ambition to follow dad's steps in life. She worries about our safety. Gma and gpa say that it's because she watched Asher die. She doesn't realize that dad and gpa have been training me since the sixth grade to be safe under every scenario. And I'm not telling her either.
We set up an appointment with a spa for facials and massage before prom night. I am so relaxed right now. But I need to finish dressing or the guys will be without a date.
Mom is doing my hair which is simply pulled into a long clip with my natural waves flowing down my back. We finish it off with a diamond choker and a gold bracelet.
We are finished but mom tells me that she will go out in front of me. She said that she needed to protect me from dad.
She walks out of my room and down the stairs. After checking the mirror one last time I follow her.
The house is packed with Tucker family. When I get to the last step, every mouth closes. All eyes turn to me. Not a sound is heard for so long I start getting nervous. "Well?" Still nothing. "Someone say something!" I thought that I looked good. Apparently I was wrong. "Ok I'm not going. Should have known better." I turn to go back upstairs.
"No you don't, Ashton Tucker! You are just breathtakingly beautiful. More beautiful than any other woman than I have ever seen in my entire life. You are fit to be a queen!" Gma said as she walks to me.
I see mom smirk at me. "Oh hell no! My daughter is NOT going to leave this house looking like that!" Dad said loudly. He starts looking for his gun. "Where is my rifle?"
"I got it dad." Jax told him.
Mom went and took it away from him as she declares. "Oh no you don't! Give me that gun. If y'all want to scare the boys, use the guns from Kaylee's wedding."
Gpa goes out to the shed to retrieve the plastic guns that have started a long list as props in every scenario that the guys can get away with. The first was Kaylee and Logan's wedding.
There are a lot of pictures taken. Me by myself. With mom and dad. With mom and dad holding guns. With dad and gpa, with and without guns. With mom and gma. With all the brothers, with and without guns. With mom, gma, Lana, Kaylee, my cousins Brea and Jillian. The last was of myself, Brea, and Jillian. I love my close family!
Then the guys show up to pick me up. They both whistle as they circle me. Then they see every male relative holding a gun. They stop and stand straight.
"Good evening, boys." Gpa said with an evil smirk.
"Good evening, Mr. Tucker. How are you this fine day?" David asked.
"I am great! You see how beautiful my baby is?" He asked in return.
"Yes, sir! The most beautiful lady I've ever seen in my life."
"See how she is untouched?"
"Yes, sir." They both said. I notice how David is a bit more relaxed than Drake.
"She best come back home like that. Or you two will suffer agonies that are unknown to the human race as of yet." Dad added.
"Oh yes, sir. Ashton will be home in the same condition as she is now." Drake answers.
Drake's parents show up to take pictures of us. David's mom had died last year by suicide. His dad died six months earlier from cancer.
We took more pictures before leaving for the prom.
We danced the whole night. When David was crowned prom king, I was so happy for him that I had tears in my eyes. Then my name was called for queen! I couldn't believe it! Me?! After getting crowned, we danced a slow dance and talked. David is tired. He is trying to hide it. But I see it clearly. After our dance we danced for another half hour until the last song. My last dance is with David. As we have always done. Except this time as the song ends he whispers just one word. "Mine!"
I don't know if he wanted me to hear him or reply. But I do anyway. "Yes! Yours, my king."
I know that most of these people will go to after parties or a motel room. I am going home. As I had promised my parents. Drake will go to a party. David tells me that he is going home because he's tired.
When we are walking to the door, the lights come on in the front yard. And there is dad, gpa, Logan, Alex, Jax, River, Carl, and Trace. Sitting in a half circle with the fake guns.
"Well, she looks the same as when she left." Jax says after he and Trace stand and circle us.
"She's in good condition. You boys are safe..... for tonight." Gpa tells them. We all laugh at the over protective men.
"You guys are being totally ridiculous!" I tell my family then turn to my dates. "Thank you guys for the best senior prom! I will never forget it."
We hug as a trio just as we always have. "We love you Ashy!" They said in unison.
I pull back from the hug and grin. "That is queen Ashton! Do not forget the title again, Drake." I smile at David as he laughs. "Get some rest, my king. We will talk tomorrow."
"As you command, my queen! I will see you tomorrow." David bowed as I curtsey. Drake follows with his own bow. They kiss my cheeks and left.
I turn to my male relatives. Everyone goes inside except for dad and gpa. I hug them both.
"When in the hell did you grow up to be such a beautiful woman? My baby girl is no longer a baby!" Gpa hugged me tighter.
"Oh gpa! I will always be your baby girl. No matter how old I am."
"Yes you will. Except now I will have to kick a bunch of guys asses for looking at you with lust."
"True! You should stock up on ammo, gpa. I promised mom and dad that I would remain innocent until after graduation. That is another couple months." Both men started growling at me. "Good night gpa and dad. I love you both!" I kiss their cheeks and walked inside.
Mom and gma were laughing. They had been watching and listening through the security cameras.
"You, my little girl, are a total classic! I love you, baby. Now I'm taking gpa home so he can explode in private." Gma said while laughing.
"I love you gma! night."
"Good night, pumpkin! I love you!" She leaves after a hug.