Hi! It's been insane. Hoping to get back to regular updates after next week's tax deadline.
There'll be an epilogue of sorts to wrap up what happens after Halloween. Glad so many of you enjoyed this lighter story of the Rangemen supporting Steph.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are my bad.
Mary Lou's POV
Mrs. Ruggiero was up first. She's very tight with Steph's Grandma Mazur. We knew coming in that she'd be a very favorable vote, considering she always makes eyes at the Rangemen when they're with Stephanie in the Burg. Her perfect ten out of ten vote put us at a good start. Excellent.
Next up was Angie Morelli. Judging by the stiff way she was seated, I already knew she was going to let her dislike of Steph win. Angie Morelli has never seen any of the faults of either of her sons, blaming her sons' partners. Mega eye roll. She's a huge reason why Joe and Anthony turned out the way they did. Ugh.
"Six?!" The crowd murmurings grew to near deafening roars with Angie Morelli's conservative vote. Honestly, we expected a whole lot less from her, so it's still a win for us.
I couldn't hide my smile at the obvious flustered look on Mrs. Morelli's face. She was so not expecting her Burg 'pals' to be so vocal about her low score. None of us expected anything better than a five from her, so we were pleasantly surprised. It's a foreign concept for Angie Morelli to have the heat of the Burg focused on her. What a time to be a alive! She just got a microscopic glimpse of what Steph consistently gets from the Burg. Serves Angie Morelli right to feel like she's on the hot seat for a change. Ha!
Mrs. Zurawaski was up next. She's one of a few that has regularly lived an unproblematic life. Even so, there has been a time or two when the Burg has tried to stir the pot. It's never worked, seeing as Mrs. Z refuses to engage, squashing the grapevine's wind sails in a heartbeat while enjoying her drama free marriage to Mr. Z. I really consider them couple goals in all honesty.
"Yes!" My shout was swallowed by the enthusiastic clapping of Steph's Grandma Mazur and her friends from the Clip n Curl. Their cheers were ecstatic with the reveal of Mrs. Z's vote, which was yet another perfect ten out of ten.
I inhaled slowly as Mrs. Picciolini shifted the focus to Joe's Grandma Bella after letting us all bask in the excitement of a second perfect score.
We need a six to tie with the Peanut Butter to my Jelly couple, and a seven to take the win home. With anyone else as a judge, I'd feel like we'd have it in the bag. With Grandma 'I put the evil eye on you' Bella, well…
"What?!" A squeaky high pitched shriek that sounded vaguely like Joe Morelli was quickly replaced by hoots and hollers from the audience when Bella cast an unexpected perfect score. I may have imagined the discrete wink she flashed at Hal, but I don't think so. My eyesight is pretty good.
None of us expected winning first place by such a landslide, so it took a long moment for it to sink in. In fact, Mrs. Picciolini had to congratulate Steph and the men before it fully clicked for us. We were in a collective shock, that's for sure.
"We won!" My shout riled up Steph's Grandma and her friends even more, creating an increasingly loud set of congratulatory chants all around.
Steph slid off her perch on Hal's shoulder, making it a graceful maneuver thanks to his help. Stephanie immediately found Ranger in the crowd and instantly moved towards him as if a magnet had sucked her in his direction. Steph's legs buckled as she moved away from the Rangemen, nearly falling on her ass. Luckily, Hal was within reach and steadied her discreetly. My BFF gave Hal's shoulder a squeeze in gratitude before she kept walking. My raised eyebrow went unnoticed by Steph, who had her sights set on her man and only her man.
"Babe." Only Steph can decipher what Ranger means whenever he uses his nickname for her. I swear they'll have a whole ass conversation when he says Babe and the way their eyes hold the other's gaze. It's a little nauseating, yet somehow sweet that they're connected on such deep a level.
"Yeah, yeah." Stephanie acknowledged his silent comment about her super high shoes. Before he could say anything else, Steph's hands splayed over his massive muscular chest as she leaned closer. As their lips touched, his hands draped what had to be one of his Rangeman jackets over Steph's shoulders. Thanks to the oversized fit on her, the hemline fell just shy of her knees. The gesture gave Steph warmth in all the important places I bet.
"Ugh, you two are disgusting." I taunted when their kiss turned heated, obvious tongue tangling joining the mix within seconds.
Stephanie flipped me the bird while she continued kissing her Batman. Laughing, I leaned in to whisper near their heads for them to get a room. Payback is a bitch. She used to always give me lighthearted crap about how much face sucking Lenny and I did in high school. It's time to turn the tables and have some fun making my BFF blush.
"We will." Steph surprised me by slinging back, sexy innuendo dripping from her breathy tone. Go best friend!
"Babe." Ranger's lips tilted up into a minute smile, his dark eyes boring into my BFF's sparkly blues.
"You're right. The Turbo's always an option." I was pretty sure I was dismissed, because those two began an eye fucking session that was beyond hot. With a knowing grin, I turned on my heel to leave them to it. But first, I took the opportunity to smack my BFF's ass in passing.
"Mare!" I heard Steph groan as I put a bit of distance between us, not wanting to be on the receiving end of a Ranger punishment for spanking his Babe's booty.
"We won, Mrs. Stankovic!" Tony's enthusiasm matched my buzzing pent up energy.
"Hell yeah, we did!" Lester joined in, unexpectedly wrapping his beefy arms around my waist. His arms held me securely against him while he spun around, making me glad I went with pants for this event. I could just hear the grapevine buzzing if someone caught a peek of my undies.
"You all put in your best work." I reminded the guys that this wouldn't have been possible without their participation. Feeling dizzy, I was glad to be surrounded by a wall of muscle in case my head didn't stop spinning. "So proud of you guys."
"Nosotros. Us." Hector cut in, looking drop dead gorgeous, as he waved his perfectly manicured hand my way to indicate that I was part of the team. God, his skin is flawless!
"Picture time!" Mrs. Picciolini tried to corral our group for the photo op. This will hang in the bakery until next year's winner takes our spot. It's a yearly tradition we all joke continues even after Mrs. Picciolini is no longer with us.
"Stop playing tonsil hockey for five minutes. It's pic time!" Lester was the only one either brave enough or dumb enough to interrupt the serious kissing sesh Steph and Ranger were still in the middle of.
I'm happy that my BFF has finally decided to shrug off the Burg hate and enjoy her love with Ranger. Yes, some people in the Burg don't like their connection because he doesn't look like them. Why they care that Steph isn't shacking up with an Italian or Burg native is ridiculous to me.
"Yeah, Boss. We need Bomber for a bit. We'll give her right back." One of the other men said, taking cover in our little crowd to muffle his voice somewhat.
"Brown." Ranger admonished in a sort of growl, easily knowing which of the men had spoken.
"Damn. Sucks to be you bro." Lester teased in his usual antics.
"I'm here." Stephanie deflected, a bit breathlessly I might add, looping her arm through mine so that we could comply with Mrs. P's request.
We took our group photos and then Grandma Mazur and her gang asked to take photos with the guys. Brilliant move, because it got other Burg members to join in on the fun. It was hilarious to see Morelli's nearly purple face, spittle flying and everything with how upset he was that even his Grandma Bella was in on it. I have no idea what got into her, but we're not complaining. By this time tomorrow, a huge photograph of this year's winner, us, will hang inside of Tasty Pastry. I predict the poster sized photo is going to become one of those hot spots in our town. Mrs. P better make extra batches of her goodies, because I even see neighboring cities wanting to stop by and appreciate the acres of glistening muscles on display. For those who don't like the muscles, they can focus on Steph and Hector rocking their sexy outfits. Me? I went with a Rangeman uniform I got from Ella. I'm in full Rangeman gear, down to combat boots and utility belt. Do I look hot? I think so, in a super badass kinda way.
Once the photo line died down and people began to disperse for the candy quest of the kiddos, I helped Ella and her husband pass out jackets to the guys. They were absolute troupers because it's chilly.
We all waved to Steph and Ranger before dispersing, heading in separate directions. Since we all had other plans, we're meeting up next week to have our celebratory dinner.
"Hey, where you going?" Lester asked when I started walking.
"Uh, home?" I gave him a funny look while pointing out that I'm only a couple blocks away.
"Nah. We'll give you a lift." He waved me over to the remaining Rangeman fleet SUV, with Bobby behind the wheel.
"Yo, Steph's grandma grabbed my ass!" Bobby shared as I directed him towards my street.
"One of her friends shoved some dollar bills into my back pockets." Lester thrust his arm between the front seats to show us his wad of crumpled up bills.
"At least you got money." Bobby whined in faux exaggeration.
"Yeah." Lester burst out laughing as he divulged that Hal got pesos from one of the older ladies.
"That was Mrs. Z no doubt. She came back from a summer beach vacay in Cabo with lots of foreign currency." Tears pricked my eyes from laughing because only Mrs. Z would get rid of the money that way.
Lester opened my door and helped me out of the SUV when Bobby pulled into my driveway.
"I know I gave you a lot of shit, but… thanks." His beefy arms wrapped around my shoulders in a genuine hug.
"You're welcome." I said, returning the hug. I fought the tears welling in my eyes, because I was so not going to ugly cry. Damn these pregnancy hormones!
My hubby was in position on the front porch, ready to hand out candy and waving the Rangemen goodbye. He greeted me with his wide smile as he congratulated me for our win. Burg news travel faster than a Rangeman SUV it seems.
"Thank you." I said, grateful for his understanding and flexibility these last weeks.
"Your dad took our tiny terrors around the block. They should be back in a while." The way his dark eyes sparked suggestively as he tugged on the cargo pocket over my left ass cheek was a very tempting invitation.
"I'm going to have to arrest you, Mr. Stankovic." I purred as I reached for the handcuffs clipped to my utility belt that Steph let me borrow to complete the look. I didn't want to carry a gun nor taser, so the cuffs were an easy choice.
Lenny's laugh reverberated across our foyer as he followed me inside, leaving behind a full bucket of candy for the taking by the neighborhood kiddos.