AN: This take place some indeterminate amount of time after the story 'I Am An Opportunist'. (Not really a necessary read to understand this one, but it's a fun read if you haven't given it a gander)

A little bit of happy for Tank (which I believe a lot of you were hoping for) and another Merry Man. And, of course, for Ranger and Stephanie.

I will leave this open as 'in progress' because I have a feeling I will be popping in from time to time with some other snippets of their happily ever after.

I hope you enjoy!

In the tradition of IAAO, the first section is a tad smutty. ;)

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"Someone is going to notice we're gone." Stephanie's voice was thick with desire and that coupled with the softly exhaled breath that tickled my ear as she said it had me rivaling concrete for hardness. I lifted her easily and set her onto the counter in the long and narrow dressing room.

I ran my hands up the inside of her smooth and silky calves, pushing the skirt of her dress higher up her legs as I went. "You're the one who happened to mention you aren't wearing any panties so I can't really be blamed for our absence." My fingers reached the apex of her thighs and she was indeed going commando. She was also very, very wet. For me. My cock strained at the zipper of my black tuxedo pants. She groaned right along with me as I slid one, and then two fingers inside her.

"Ranger…" She had a smile on her face that told me she knew exactly what she'd done when she casually said underwear hadn't been an option with the dress she'd chosen to wear tonight. I flicked my tongue along the outer rim of her ear and slipped my other hand inside the plunging neckline of her dress. Her nipple hardened at my touch and I was afraid my zipper was going to break under the throbbing pressure.

"Hmmm?" She was starting to pant with the rhythm of my slowly thrusting fingers and I had the fleeting thought that I might come before I even got my dick out of my pants.

"Did you lock the door?" she asked, maybe for the second time as my mouth burned a path down her neck. I nipped at the junction where it meets her shoulder. Did I lock the door? Fuck if I knew. I hardly remember even getting through the door. I was fairly certain there was only one acceptable response to that question.

"Yes," I replied and as her hand found the bulge between my legs I nearly whimpered with impatience. I shoved her hands out of the way and nearly tore the zipper tab right off trying to get my pants undone. Finally free of its confines, my cock sank deep into its home with an assist from my hands, pulling her tight to me by the curve of her ass.

"Jesus, Steph." A low growl escaped my throat when I was sheathed to the hilt. I moaned her name again and pressed my forehead against hers. I stayed there for several seconds, trying to calm my racing heart and so this didn't end before I even got started. I would never get over how quickly she could bring me to the edge. It had never been like this with another woman and I didn't want it any other way. I was sure there would never be a time when I didn't want to drag her away from a crowd because I couldn't wait any longer to have her.

Her blue eyes sparkled in the low light of the room and the way she was looking at me made me want her even more. "I love you," she whispered and cradled my cheek in her palm. It didn't matter how many times she said them, those words were always my undoing. I captured her lips with mine as I began to move with long, deep strokes. All too soon I was spilling inside her as she clenched around me and bit my shoulder to keep from screaming.

I stayed buried and peppered her face and neck with opened mouth kisses. "We should get back to the party," she murmured after indulging me for a few minutes more.

I sighed and slowly pulled out of her, tucking myself back inside my pants as she slid off the counter and landed lightly on her feet. "Or we can slip out the side door I saw on the way here and continue this at home."

I wrapped my arm around her neck and pulled her against me. I couldn't give a rat's ass about the rest of the evening. I just wanted to take Stephanie home and then to bed.

"We can't leave, you're in the wedding party," she said reasonably.

"Is that a rule?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? I've never heard of that precedent."

She gave me a classic eye roll and tugged me toward the exit.

"Ranger!" she exclaimed when we reached the door and spun around to give me a shot of her death ray eyes. "This was not locked!"

"Whoops," I said with a shrug and she let out a frustrated breath before pulling me out of the room.

I laced my fingers through hers as we made our way back to the ballroom with a short pit stop at the restrooms to clean up. I gave the side exit we'd passed on our way down the hall a hopeful look when we went by it again but apparently groomsmen weren't allowed to leave before the bride and groom. Stephanie explained this ridiculous etiquette as we headed toward the reception.

She stopped short when we entered the room and I slid my arms around her waist from behind while she watched several couples swaying close together on the dance floor.

"Our little boy is growing up, Ranger." I kissed her just below her ear and then briefly touched it with my tongue.

"I wouldn't consider marrying a woman because you knocked her up the most commendable road to adulthood, Babe."

I sucked in my stomach just before her elbow jabbed into it. "Stop saying that. Lester loves her."

"Lester loves his dick. He loves it so much he didn't use a condom and didn't make sure she was protected another way."

"He loves her," Steph said again.

"How can you tell?"

She turned around in my arms and kissed me. "Because he looks at her the same way you look at me."

I cut my eyes to Santos and his new bride. His left arm was around her waist and his right hand held her left one close to his heart. They were on the dance floor, but barely moving. He was looking at her like she was his very reason for living and I suddenly knew exactly what Stephanie meant.

I smiled at the love of my life and pressed my lips to her forehead. "You're right, Babe. He loves her. Do you want to dance with me?"

"Yes, I do. But first can you put the fact that you said I'm right in writing and have it notarized?"

"Very amusing. Just for that I'm going to make you dance with Ram."

"Ranger!" she protested as I pulled her towards the dancing couples. Ram was a horrible dancer and constantly stepped on his partner's toes. With size fifteen feet, it was a pretty painful endeavor.

I twirled her into my arms as we hit the parquet floor and held her much the same way Lester was holding his woman. "So when do the bride and groom usually leave? It will be soon, right?"

"You're hopeless," she said with a laugh.

"May I cut in?" Hector asked in Spanish after tapping me on the shoulder.

"Hector!" Stephanie squealed his name and nearly shoved me to the ground trying to get to him. "When did you get back?" She threw her arms around his neck and he picked her up and swung her around in a circle.

Hector had been in Mexico for the better part of the last two months taking care of his ailing Grandmother and Stephanie had missed her friend. I gave her a quick kiss and left them there to share a dance. I'd sic Ram on her later.

I made my way back to the wedding party table and joined Tank who was nursing a beer. "Do you ever worry about those two?" He asked and gestured to the dance floor with his chin. I settled in the chair next to him and picked up my glass of ice water.

"No. Hector is very aware that he'd be taking his last breath if I even suspected there was anything to be worried about."

Tank gave me a rare full smile and finished off his beer. "Santos seems happy," he said and I couldn't miss the note of melancholy in his tone. Tank was still pining after my happily married sister.

"Steph claims he loves her." I took a sip of water and set the glass down.

"He does," Tank agreed. "I still can't believe he's going to be a Dad. Can you picture him with a kid?"

"I have a kid," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're you. And Lester is…"

"An overgrown child?"

"To say the least. I almost feel sorry for his new wife."

I cut my eyes back to the dance floor where Lester and Melanie were still holding each other tightly. "I'm pretty sure she knew what she was getting into."

"God, I hope so," Tank muttered just as a very beautiful and very tall woman approached our table. We looked up at her at the same time but she only had eyes for Tank.

"Hi," she said. "It's Tank, right?"

Tank nodded and he seemed a little stunned - by her height or her dazzling violet eyes, I wasn't sure. "I'm Beth. We met a few weeks ago…"

"At Pino's," Tank jumped in and now I remembered the day. She was there with Melanie and some of Melanie's friends - including Stephanie. I turned back to the dance floor where Steph and Hector were just finishing a second dance. She was watching our table and the exchange between Beth and Tank very closely.

"Yes," Beth said with a small laugh. It sounded like she was happy he remembered. "I was just wondering if you'd like to dance."

Tank moved so quickly in his eagerness to get up that he knocked his chair over, but I caught it before it hit the ground. He took her offered hand and said softly, "I'd love to."

They moved toward the dance floor without a backwards glance to me and I watched Stephanie stalking my way with a wicked grin on her face. There were plenty of empty chairs, but when she reached the table, she settled herself onto my lap and draped her arms around my neck. I did not complain.

"Want to tell me what that smile is about?" I asked after brushing a kiss across her lips.

"I'm just happy that Hector's home," she said. I didn't doubt that was true, but that smile was not for Hector.

"I won't be able to save you when Tank finds out what you've done," I warned.

She tipped her head back and laughed. "I can't ever keep anything from you. And he will be too happy to worry about how it happened. They're perfect for each other."

"She's blonde," I said. "Tank has never liked blondes."

"There is a first for everything, Ranger."

I couldn't argue with that so I just kissed her again. Truthfully I was pleased she'd taken the initiative. I'd been thinking about trying to set him up myself but I didn't spend a lot of time in places where women frequently hung out.

"Speaking of firsts, there are still a few we need to explore." I nibbled on her earlobe and ran my hand over her thigh.

"Is that right?" She asked and her breath hitched on the last word as my other hand skimmed across her breasts.

"Oh yeah," I confirmed and then I whispered the one I thought about most into her ear before I dragged my mouth down her neck.

When I looked up at her again her cheeks had turned pink and her eyes were dilated to a dark, dark blue. I'd easily decimated nearly all of her sexual inhibitions but there was still one left and tonight that final frontier would be destroyed as well. I was getting hard again just thinking about it.

"Tonight?" she whispered and then wiggled her ass against my impressive erection. Oh yeah. She was ready.

"Tonight, Babe."

She crushed her mouth to mine in a drugging kiss. I was just about to violate the 'not allowed to leave before the bride and groom' rule when Bobby slouched into the seat next to us.

"You two are disgusting," he muttered and signaled a passing waiter.

Stephanie broke away and said sweetly, "Jealously is very unbecoming, Robert."

Bobby grinned at her as he ordered vodka on the rocks. "I can't believe we're at Lester's wedding," he mused as his eyes traveled to the dance floor where the happy couple was still swaying in each other's arms. "Lester, for fuck's sake. I mean, that guy was never happy unless his dick found a new warm place to nest every week and now he's married…to a single warm place."

"It's fucking weird," Vince chimed in as he took a seat across from us. "I feel like we should be burning a box of condoms in effigy."

"Why would you ruin a perfectly good box of rubbers?" Cal asked with a confused expression as he sat down next to Vince. "Can you believe Lester's married?" He added. "It's like the fucking twilight zone. I thought we'd be at your wedding before Lester would ever tie the knot." He shot me and Steph a look and the other guys at the table nodded in agreement.

We heard that a lot from them. They actually bugged us more about getting married than our parents did. Steph gave me a tiny eye roll and kissed me chastely. The two of us were already married in our hearts and that's all that mattered to us. Maybe someday we'd get the official piece of paper, but we've told everyone multiple times not to hold their breath.

"What are we talking about?" Zip wanted to know as he filled in another empty chair.

"The strange but true fact that Lester is married and Steph and Ranger are still refusing to bow under the pressure of our constant badgering," Bobby supplied before he tossed back half of the vodka that had just arrived.

"Yeah. What's up with that?" Zip asked, looking at us with genuine curiosity.

"Well," Stephanie said while extracting herself from my lap, "as stimulating as this conversation is, I'm gonna go see when they're going to cut the cake."

"I think I'll help you with that," I said standing up beside her.

"Cowards!" Cal called to our backs as we walked away.

"They're probably going to fuck in the bathroom," I heard Vince add and the lot of them burst into laughter.

"They'll all be fired in the morning," I told Steph as she took my hand. "I know the only reason you came is for the cake, but is that really where we're going?"

"Yes," she confirmed and shot me a grin. "But not for the reason you are intimating. Traditionally, the bride and groom leave shortly after the cake ceremony."

I gave her my thousand watt smile. "That's the best thing I've heard all night."

"Me too," she said and squeezed my fingers. "Uh oh," she whispered. My eyes left her face and lifted to see Tank's massive frame barreling toward us. I looked around for Beth and spotted her heading to the restrooms with a bridesmaid. Tank's face held a look I'd only seen one other time.

Steph was in trouble.

Her eyes caught mine again and silently pleaded for help. I slowly shook my head. I had warned her, after all.

"You did this, didn't you?" His dark eyes bore into hers and she squirmed under their piercing gaze. She looked at me one last time but I refused assistance. She was on her own for this one. After several beats she finally gave a slight, non-committal shrug of her shoulders.

Tank stared at her for another minute before turning to me unexpectedly. "Don't freak out," he said and then he grabbed Stephanie and kissed her full on the lips. It was quick and when he released her he gruffly said, "Thank you," before giving her a small smile and then disappearing in the direction of the restrooms.

Stephanie's mouth was hanging open in stunned surprised and I couldn't help but laugh. "There was a fifty-fifty chance," I said after I stopped laughing. "I knew he was either going to shoot you or kiss you so you should probably be grateful it was the latter."

Her shocked face slowly spread into a smile and then she raised an eyebrow with an obvious 'I told you so,' expression. "See. He's happy. We'll probably be at his wedding next."

"Whoa," I said holding up my hand. "You're getting way ahead of yourself there, cocky matchmaker. Let's see how their first date goes before you start planning the nuptials."

She laughed and I linked my arm through hers. "Now let's go see about this cake because if I don't get you home soon, Vince's prediction is going to come true."

"You're insatiable," she pointed out as we cut a quick path to the multi-tiered cake spanning the end of a long buffet type table.

"Always, Babe. Always for you."