Page 41 of Tuck & Roll

“This is going to sound nosey, but have you been crying?” Lindsey asked.

“Um, yes.” She didn’t have a mirror in her office, but she didn’t need one to tell her that her eyes were puffy and her face was probably flushed or blotchy. Her nose still felt stuffy from all the crying.

“Because of the fire?” Calliope asked.

“That’s part of it,” Kylie admitted.

“What’s the other part?” Ginnie asked.

“Tuck.”

“What did Tuck do?” Bellamy asked.

“It’s a long story.” She waved her hand, trying to dismiss the comment and hopefully get them off that track.

“We’ve got time.” Calliope leaned back in her seat, getting comfortable.

Well shit. “Okay. Here it goes.” She told them she’d known him forever. They’d grown up next door to each other. She was a freshman and he was a senior when he gave her her first kiss. They’d drifted apart over the years and she thought the fire might have freaked him out because they’d crossed the line of just being friends last night. He’d asked that they take the chance to see where things between them could go. She did not tell them about their previous hookup that he didn’t remember. “We’d barely discussed giving us a shot and letting things run its course before Taylor showed up on his doorstep. I mean minutes.”

“Taylor? Booo!” Ginnie’s upper lip curled in disgust.

Apparently the old ladies knew about her. “You guys know who Taylor is?”

“Yes,” Jane said. “Not a fan. She jerked Tuck around, then flew off to California. She was always giving him hell. Only wanted his money and all of his attention. She came back several months ago and they got back together for, what?” She looked to Ginnie, “A couple of months? Then Tuck had enough and told her to get lost. We don’t know or care where she went after that. Her being back can’t be good. She’ll be up to her old tricks in no time.”

Jane nailed that one on the head.

“She’s pregnant.”

“What?!” they all screeched.

“Yeah. That’s why I left his place this morning. I had to get out of there before my head exploded. He gave me the keys to his truck and I came here. I just talked to him before I came out here and he said that her parents know about the baby and don’t want anything to do with her. She has nowhere to go, so she’s staying with him in his guest bedroom at least until the baby is born. He’s going to get her to the doctor to find out how far a long she is because he doesn’t trust her.”

They all sat with their mouths hanging open. She’d think it was funny if the whole situation wasn’t so sad.

“The way you said you had to get out of there before your head exploded made it sound like you already know Taylor,” Calliope spoke up.

“I do. She was a senior with Tuck when I was a freshman. It wasn’t long after he kissed me that he started dating her. It lasted the rest of that school year and I think through the summer. In school she used to torment me and make my life miserable. She knew I had feelings for Tuck and didn’t waste any opportunity to rub it in my face that they were dating. She especially liked to remind me that hot guys like him didn’t date pathetic geeks like me.”

“Ohhhh. If she wasn’t pregnant, I’d have to kick her ass,” Bellamy growled.

“You know her?”

“No, I wasn’t around when they were together. Race and I were still playing the avoidance and denial game. I was the avoidance, and he was the denial. And the asshole.”

“That’s sounds like a good story.” Kylie hoped Bellamy would elaborate to get the subject off her and Tuck. Although she didn’t tell the story of how she and Race got together, she did change the subject.

“Well, the first thing we should do is take you to my store, Bling Boutique, and get you some clothes,” Bellamy declared.

“Oh, that’s okay. Race sent Tuck, Jed and Darren with me to the mall and I’ve got clothes. They’re just at Tuck’s and I’m not going back to get them. So, yeah, maybe I need to go shopping again, but it’ll have to wait until I get my money or at least a debit card Monday. And I need a new driver’s license.”

“Well, don’t worry about your clothes. Me and Calliope will go to his house and get them for you. Where will you be staying?” Bellamy volunteered for the both of them.

“Here, I guess. I have a couch in my office. It shouldn’t be more than a week, I would think, before the insurance pays out.” Kylie watched the ladies’ faces scrunch up at her announcement.

“You can’t stay here.” Ginnie shared a look with Jane. “Trust me. These guys are loud and you’ll never get any rest. Women are in and out of here at all hours of the day and night. It’s worse than a frat house.”

“I’m not really sure I have much of a choice. I can’t go back to my sister’s. And without money or a debit card I can’t get a hotel room.” Maybe she could just stay in her office and not come out at night?

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