Page 1 of Tuck & Roll

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“Hey, Tuck. It’s me. I know it’s been a while, but I really need to talk to you. Call me.” Tuck pulled his phone from his ear and frowned as he looked at the screen and deleted the message. “Bitch.”

“What’s that?” Tulsa’s slow southern accent shouted over the music.

“Fucking Taylor.” He shoved his phone back in his pocket and followed Tulsa and Darren to a recently vacated high-top table off to the side, against the wall in the shadows. Perfect. He planned on drinking until all thoughts of Taylor were burned from his memory. Fucking biggest mistake of his life letting her back in, even if it was just for sex.

They’d dated most of their senior year of high school and for the life of him, he couldn’t pinpoint when exactly she’d claimed his balls as her own. Looking back, he could at least blame his feelings, his infatuation, whatever you wanted to call it, on getting pussy on the regular. By the time they graduated, he thought he was in love and was looking toward the future. The problem with that was he might see Taylor in his future, but she didn’t see him in hers.

They’d spent the summer together and when it was time to head off to college, Taylor broke up with him and left for southern California. He hadn’t heard a word out of her until about a year ago when she’d come back to town. He’d run into her at a bar downtown. They’d both been drunk and they’d hooked up “for old times’ sake,” she’d said. The next morning he woke with Taylor in his bed.

From there, they kind of picked up where they left off. Then she did what she always did and she started making demands that he didn’t spend so much time with the club. That was a big hell no.

Thinking back, he realized that during the time she’d been away, he’d grown up enough to figure out he hadn’t really been in love with Taylor and that he’d been hella lucky he hadn’t married her.

His brothers had watched him with her and they’d all been less than thrilled with how she treated him. She might be a long-legged sexy blonde with a killer smile who could have easily been a model, but on the inside she was mean and vindictive. She also thought he should be at her beck and call every second of the day. Despite the great sex and phenomenal head she gave, he couldn’t put up with her shit anymore.

Fed up with his grumpy ass, it had been Tulsa and Darren’s idea to wrangle his ass into coming to Big Shots with them tonight. His brothers were complaining about him being insufferable and a complete jackass to be around. As long as he was here, he planned on getting drunk and getting laid. He needed a distraction from all of Taylor’s new drama. Why after eight months did she decide they needed to talk? The woman was relentless. He’d have shut his phone off if it wasn’t for the need to keep it on in case club business should arise.

A perky redheaded waitress bounced her way to their table to take their drink order. She wore snug jeans and a tight t-shirt that stretched across a nice set of tits and tested the integrity of the material. Tulsa flashed his patented country boy smile and told her they wanted a bottle of tequila and three long necks. While they waited, Tuck kicked back and checked out the crowd.

“The bitch resortin’ to voicemails now that she can’t get you to reply to a text?” Tulsa asked.

“Yes.” There was really nothing else to add to that. Everyone knew she was a coldhearted, manipulating bitch. Hell, he even knew it, but for some stupid reason, he’d let nostalgia get the best of him. He thought, “What the hell? Let’s give this a try. Let’s see if what I felt for her back in high school was truly real.” Idiot.

The waitress was back with their drinks and glasses. She set everything on the table, making sure to point her ample cleavage toward Tulsa in case he’d missed them earlier. Tulsa smiled and winked at the woman before pouring each of them a shot.

“Don’t let that bitch bring you down. We’re here to have a good time. I mean, there’s sexy women all over the place. Check out that hot little number.” Tulsa picked up his shot and tossed it back. Picking up his beer, he tipped it toward the dance floor where everyone was dancing.

He focused on the group of women Tulsa pointed out dancing together at the edge of the dance floor. They all seemed to be having a really good time, smiling and laughing, hands in the air as they swung their hips to the music. One of the women was dressed in tight dark-washed jeans and a bright yellow top that revealed a sun-kissed shoulder. Her honey blonde hair reminded him of someone. She dropped her arms and turned more his direction, giving him a better look at her face. Huh. It was Kylie Jo’s sister, Beth. Damn. She looked good for a woman who’d gotten married and had two kids. She’d always been pretty in high school, but she looked even better now. Married life appeared to agree with her.

He and Beth had graduated high school together and despite living next door to each other and having Kylie Jo in common, they’d never hung out or been close friends. She had her circle of friends and he’d had his. The extent of their interactions included saying “hi” in passing or waving across the lawn. The one time they did talk about her sister, she’d warned him not to toy with her. She said it had to be obvious Kylie had a crush on him and if he strung her along and broke her heart, Beth would make sure he paid for it. He’d always admired how protective she was of her sister.

Checking out the other women around her, he recognized them as part of Beth’s high school posse. A couple of them hadn’t fared as well in the looks department as Beth. He took a drink and checked out the last woman in their group. She wasn’t a part of Beth’s original crew and wondered if maybe she was a coworker.

From what he could see, the woman was sexy as hell. She had her strawberry blonde hair pulled up with a clip at the back of her head. She was wearing a short, form-fitting black dress that fit her like a second skin. She had her back to him as her hips swayed back and forth. The clingy material hugged her sweet ass perfectly. In fact, his hands were itching from the desire to have it in his hands. The strappy black sandals she wore made her legs appear a lot longer than they were. He squinted, trying to get a better look at something on her thigh. Was it a birthmark? A tattoo? He felt like he’d seen it somewhere before. Had he fucked the woman?

She finally spun around, moving closer to Beth and bumped her hip with her own. She threw her head back and laughed when Beth returned the favor, causing her to work fast to keep from stumbling into someone in the crowd. “What the fuck?” He choked on his drink and had to wipe beer from his chin with the back of his hand. Kylie Jo was the sexy as hell woman in the clingy black dress?

“Hey, isn’t that the computer nerd that helped us with Lindsey?” Tulsa elbowed him in the side.

“Yeah.” He should have known it was Kylie Jo when he saw the birthmark. The better part of his summer between junior and senior year, he’d fantasized about licking that mark. It had drawn his attention over the years as they were growing up, but for some reason after she turned fourteen and was starting high school it really messed with his head. The little one. The big one told him he shouldn’t go there.

“Damn. Didn’t know she was hidin’ all that under that baggie hoodie and sweats.”

Tuck turned and frowned at Tulsa. “No. Just no. Do not go there.”

Tulsa threw his head back and laughed while Darren smiled wide, chuckling to himself. Coming from the quiet one of the brothers, that was a lot.

“Are you sayin’ you’re interested in her?” Tulsa pushed.

“No. Not like that.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I tried my luck with her?” Tulsa kept his eyes glued to Kylie, enjoying watching her dance a little too much.

“No. Leave her alone.” Why was Tuck so adamant that his friends stay away from Kylie Jo? It’s not like he had anything going on with her. When she helped the club out not too long ago was the first time in years he’d seen her long enough to talk to her. He’d seen her in passing when he’d been home visiting his family and she’d been visiting hers. He couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t reached out to her sooner. They used to be good friends once upon a time. “She’s not that kind of woman.”

“What? She’s not the kind of woman that would enjoy a good fuckin’?” Tulsa exchanged a shit-eating grin with Darren.

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