Page 44 of Tuck & Roll

Tuck stepped back inside and saw Darren was sitting at the end of the bed putting his boots on. “What’s this about Kylie moving in with you?”

He shrugged one big shoulder and said, “She’s homeless and needed somewhere to go and I have an extra room.”

“She doesn’t need to live with you. She can live with,” Tuck faltered, unable to come up with an alternative solution.

Darren gained his feet and smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Here at the clubhouse? You really want her subjected to a constant barrage of people fucking? Or maybe with you and Taylor? How would that work out?”

Fuck! Tuck knew he was right. He scrubbed his hands over his face and growled. He hated this whole situation.

“Why don’t you tell Taylor to go to her parents’ house?” Darren frowned.

“I tried. Every time I brought it up she started crying and saying they won’t have anything to do with her.” Tuck sighed heavily, letting his head fall back as he stared at the ceiling. Damn. Not a cobweb in sight. Did Darren clean his own room or did one of the sweetbutts do it?

Darren shook his head. “That bitch is still yankin’ your chain.” He pulled his cut back on.

A sudden thought crossed his mind. “If you’re here, where is Kylie?”

“She’s with Bellamy at Race’s house. With Race. He took over so I could take care of some business.”

“Business with Tori?” Tuck scoffed.

“Business, then Tori was my free time.” He picked up his sunglasses from the nightstand. “Are we going to have a problem?”

“No. No problem.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re a Goddamn idiot. Taylor has never done anything other than wreck your life. Race said you asked Kylie to give the two of you a shot. Now Taylor’s back and fucking everything up again. Kylie’s not the kind of girl who will play second fiddle to another woman. Especially one who made her life hell in high school.”

“What are you talking about? Taylor did something to Kylie in school?” This was the first Tuck had heard of this. Why wouldn’t Kylie have told him when it was happening?

“That’s her story to tell.” Darren pushed past him, clearly done with the conversation.

A headache had been building ever since Taylor showed up and it was getting worse. No longer in the mood to be here and nowhere else he could go, he set out for home.

He opened his front door and walked in to find Taylor in the kitchen dressed in another of his tees, eating out of a box of Cheez-its.

“Where have you been? I had supper done three hours ago. I saved you a plate and put it in the fridge.”

“Don’t start, Taylor. I’m not hungry and I’m going to bed,” he replied as he passed the kitchen and headed down the hall to his room. He thought he might have ibuprofen in his bathroom.

“It’s only nine o’clock,” Taylor whined, following behind him.

“So. I have a headache.” He stopped and turned in his doorway, not wanting her to follow him farther into his room.

“Oh. You want me to give you a massage?” She smiled and tipped her head to the side as she offered. That very same look used to get her almost anything she wanted. Not anymore. Nothing she could do or say would ever have him entertaining the thought that he wanted to get back together with her.

“No. Goodnight.” He shut the door in her face and locked it just to be on the safe side.

Mentally exhausted, he stripped out of his clothes, climbed into bed and shut off the light. He forgot the ibuprofen. FML.

8

Kylie had had a busy week so far. She’d gotten a new license and debit card first thing Monday morning then contacted her insurance company to make sure that they’d gotten the form she’d filled out online and the claim was being processed. They’d told her she would have to go online again and fill out a different form listing all the contents she’d lost and how much it would cost to replace them. That had taken the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday to get done. They said they would issue a check for her car and transfer it electronically to her bank. She really needed to find time to look for a new car, but she needed to get some work done for Race first. She felt like she was behind and letting him down.

It was Thursday and she’d been making headway on the information pertaining to Chet and his BIKES account. She was also running a search on Chief of Police David Whitener on another computer. The set-up Race had bought her was beyond amazing. She had four different high-end computers, of which she only had two up and running at the moment. The guys were going to custom build her a U-shaped work area and were calling it her “command center.” They acted like she’d be working for them long after she finished what she’d originally been contracted for.

---