Page 42 of Tuck & Roll

“You could stay with one of us,” Lindsey suggested.

“No, no, no. I appreciate the offer, but no way. For one, no offense, I don’t know you all that well and another, no way am I intruding into your lives.”

“She’s going to stay with me,” a man’s voice said from behind her. She turned around to find Darren standing with his arms folded over his chest, a beer held in one of his hands.

“What?” Kylie didn’t know what to think about Darren’s declaration. Why would he offer for her to live with him?

He shrugged a shoulder. “It makes sense. You need somewhere to go and it needs to be safe. I have an extra room. I’ll be there whenever you’re there and I can take you back and forth to the clubhouse when you want to work.” To him, it all made perfect sense.

“Won’t I be cramping your style?”

“No. Not at all. If I didn’t want you there, I wouldn’t have offered.”

“Are you sure?” It would solve her problem of where to live and she would feel safe having him around.

“Yes, Kylie, I’m sure. If you want, we can go by there now and you can check it out. They’re right.” He tipped his bottle toward the old ladies. “You really don’t want to be living here. If you thought guys in high school were uncouth, you haven’t seen these guys.”

“Um, okay, then. If you don’t care, I’ll take the room,” Kylie agreed.

“Perfect.” Bellamy smiled and clapped her hands. “Race and I live next door. I’ll swing by Tuck’s and get your clothes and bring them by Darren’s.”

“You don’t care to do that?” She couldn’t believe these women, who had known her less than an hour, were going to go out of their way to help her out. She’d never had anyone take her back, other than her sister, Beth.

“No. Not at all.” Bellamy patted her hand where it rested on top of the table.

“Would one of you care to bring Tuck back his truck?” She didn’t want to keep it any longer than she had to. What Darren proposed made sense. He could run her back and forth from his house to the club when she needed to work. After she got here, if she needed to do something, she could con one of the others to give her a ride. She crossed her fingers on that last part.

“Sure. Calliope can drive it over and we’ll drop it off when we pick up your things.”

“Give us an hour so we can hit the grocery store and pick up a few things,” Darren said.

“Okay. See you guys in an hour.”

Kylie wasn’t exactly sure how all of that had come together so quickly, but she was deeply grateful for everyone’s help. It was a few less things on her long list of things to do that she had to worry about. With everything decided, she stood up, ready to go.

“You need to get anything?” Darren asked.

“No. All I have is my cell phone.” She pulled it out of her back pocket. “And it’s almost dead. I guess I need to pick up a charging cord while we’re out. Oh,” she almost forgot. “Let me go get my laptop out of my office. I need to reach out to my insurance company and file a claim for my belongings and my car.” She went to retrieve her laptop and met Darren at the front door. “Okay. I’m good.”

He grinned down at her. “Yeah, babe, you are. Let’s get a move on.”

Tuck needed one Goddamn minute to himself. Taylor had only been at his house for twenty-four hours and he was already on the verge of strangling her. How the woman always knew when to show up and fuck with his life was a mystery to him.

The only reason he even dated her in high school was because of the unexpected way he felt toward Kylie after he kissed her. He’d planned on one date, maybe two with Taylor, but what seventeen-year-old boy would turn down blowjobs and sex on a regular basis?

He’d always thought of himself as being smart and mature for his age until he’d allowed his little head to do the thinking for him. If he could go back and talk to his younger self, he’d tell him to steer clear of Taylor Green at all costs. The woman was calculating, self-absorbed and a world class bitch.

He’d woken up this morning to find her dressed in one of his shirts that she must have gotten out of the laundry room and her panties. His dick didn’t give the first tingle. He was so over her it wasn’t funny. She’d started her inevitable bitching when she opened the refrigerator and didn’t like his choices in food. Then she complained about his shampoo and lack of conditioner. Then she informed him that he needed to take her shopping because none of the clothes in the bags she’d found in the living room were going to fit her and they really weren’t her style.

“No shit, Sherlock. Those clothes aren’t for you, so stay out of them,” he’d told her.

About an hour after he had gotten off the phone with Kylie yesterday to tell her that he was stuck with Taylor possibly until the baby was born, Bellamy and Calliope showed up with his truck and asked for Kylie’s bags of clothes. They were nice enough to him if not a little disappointed, but they completely froze out Taylor. They didn’t even acknowledge her existence.

He’d been disappointed that Kylie hadn’t kept his truck, but supposed since she was staying in his room at the clubhouse, she wouldn’t need it. If, for some reason, she needed to go somewhere, one of the brothers would take her. It made him breathe easier knowing Kylie would be well protected. He wished he could be the one watching over her, but Taylor being here made it impossible.

When he called to talk to Kylie yesterday he’d wanted so badly for there to be a way for the two of them to be together. The way she’d put it about them trying to work around Taylor, he understood her point. He was afraid as long as the bitch was around there could never be a Kylie and Tuck.

Just the idea that the baby could be his and finding himself tied to Taylor for the next eighteen years felt like a prison sentence. He had to fight not to throw up.

---