Page 36 of Tuck & Roll

Kylie stood by, helplessly watching as whatever she and Tuck had started this morning died a slow death. There could be no Kylie and Tuck if there was going to be a Taylor and Tuck. She rubbed absently at her suddenly sick stomach.

“I’m pregnant and you’re going to be a father.” She said it slow this time, like Tuck wasn’t smart enough to get what she was saying.

Kylie had to lock her knees to keep from crumpling to the floor. The girl who liked to give her shit in high school was now a grown woman, more beautiful than before and very soon to be the mother of Tuck’s child if the size of her belly was anything to go by.

Until Taylor turned from the door and started to move deeper into the room, she hadn’t seen Kylie. She came to a halt, a look of panic on her face, there one second and gone the next. It was quickly replaced by the snotty one Kylie was familiar with from the past. “Who are you?”

“Taylor, back off. She’s none of your business. This shit is between you and me.” Tuck closed the door and came to stand halfway between her and Taylor. She would have preferred he’d come to stand by her, signaling that he was with her now and whatever shit she was trying to pull to get him back wasn’t going to work. Did it really matter, though? Even if she had Tuck’s ring on her finger, not that that was ever a possibility, Taylor still held a trump card in her stomach.

She tapped her manicured finger against her pink lipstick-covered lips, her eyes squinting as she continued to stare at Kylie. “Oh, I remember you. You were that geeky freshman with the hearts in her eyes that followed Tuck around in high school.”

There’s the mean bitch Kylie remembered from school. Tuck had no clue how much Taylor liked to torment her, throwing her relationship with him in her face. She’d say Kylie was embarrassing herself pining for a boy that was way out of her league. How he’d never go for a nerd like her. Thank God Taylor had graduated and it only lasted one year.

“Shut the fuck up, Taylor. You need to start explaining why you showed up here today claiming that baby,” he pointed at her round stomach, “is mine. You’ve got ten seconds to get started.”

Taylor must have sensed she’d crossed a line and needed to change tactics if she wanted to win Tuck over. Out of nowhere, she clutched her stomach. She laughed and eased her way into the recliner. “Your son kicks really hard. I hardly get any sleep anymore.”

“Son?” Tuck choked.

“Well, I’m not sure if it’s a boy or a girl yet, but I like to think it’s a boy.” She sent Kylie a sly look as if to say “See that? I’ve got my hooks in him good now.”

Tuck sighed heavily, clearly not pleased with her arrival or her theatrics. “Taylor.”

She pointedly looked to Kylie, clearly not wanting to discuss the situation with her in the room. Fine by Kylie. She needed to get out of there before she burst into tears or did something worse, like slap a smug smile off a pregnant woman’s face. Only moments ago, she had been on the verge of having everything she ever wanted then bam! In walked Tornado Taylor, wreaking havoc wherever she went. It was like that in high school, too, but she kept most of it hidden from Tuck.

“I think I should go and let the two of you talk.” She spun on her heel and went in search of her borrowed shoes.

“Kylie,” Tuck called after her. She pretended not to hear him, determined not to let Taylor win by seeing her cry.

Okay. Okay. How could she get out of here? The first thing to come to mind wasn’t ideal, but she could call her sister to come get her and she’d wait for her at the curb. She couldn’t stay with Beth without putting her family in danger, so she needed to have a game plan ready to go when Beth got here. The sound of the door closing behind her alerted her that Tuck had followed her.

“Kylie, don’t go. Let me talk to her, then get rid of her.” He stood by the door, his hands clenched at his sides.

“No. I should go. This is between the two of you.” She could feel her brave facade cracking. She needed to get out of here.

“Where will you go?”

A bark of laughter escaped before she could contain it. “That’s some shit, isn’t it? Where can I go?” She ran her hand through her hair and started to pace. “I’ll call my sister to come get me.” She started thinking out loud. “I’ll borrow some money to get a room somewhere until I can pay her back.” Yeah. That sounded like a good plan. She could make that work.

He stepped closer, settling his hands on her shoulders. He dipped his head to bring their faces closer. “I don’t want you to go. Please stay. I was serious when I said I wanted us to be together.”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s going to be possible until you get things sorted with Taylor.” She took a step back out of his hold and sat on the edge of the bed. The same bed Tuck had been making love to her in not even ten minutes ago. The same bed they’d been in discussing riding this thing between them out to the end. The sheets were still a tangled mess for God’s sake!

Fuck if this didn’t feel like the end. Despite all their talk about this thing having an end, she knew in her heart, for her she never wanted it to end. Even after he said they were done, it would never be over for her. She’d love him until the day she died. And now, she’d been given a taste of what could have been, but never would be.

She started to tremble and she didn’t want him to know how badly this was affecting her. It felt like the walls were closing in on her and it was getting harder to breathe. She wanted to shout at the top of her lungs about how unfair all of this was. She really, really wanted to punch Taylor in the face.

He must have seen how upset she was and relented. “Okay. I understand you need to get out of here while I deal with her shit. Take my truck and go to the club. You’ll be safe there and I’ll call you when she leaves so you can come back.”

“Tuck,” she started. She wasn’t sure coming back would be a good idea or even possible.

“Take my Goddamn truck, Kylie.”

“Fine.” He pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head.

“Thank you. Let me call and have someone follow you to the clubhouse.”

“Fine.” While he set that up, she brushed her teeth, pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on her shoes.

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