Page 66 of Tuck & Roll

Jed took a drink and let that information sink in. “Wow, brother. I would hate to be in your shoes.” He waited until he had Tuck’s full attention before he continued. “You can’t let that bitch be the reason you lose the best thing that ever happened to you. Kylie is a good woman and doesn’t deserve that nasty venom spewed at her. It breaks my heart seeing how torn up Kylie is over all this bullshit. You need to get this sorted before it’s too late.”

“What? Like dumping her on her parents’ doorstep is the answer?”

“Yeah. It is. And if the baby turns out to be yours, we have a damn good lawyer at our disposal. There is no way she can keep that baby from you if it’s yours.” Jed pushed his chair back, his beer only half empty.

“Leaving so soon?” Tuck tried not to laugh at Jed’s quick desertion.

“You might have to put up with her shit, but I don’t.”

Tuck followed Jed to the front door and stepped out onto the porch. He could feel another headache coming on, but smoking any of Dillon’s special blend was out of the question.

Jed turned to face him, his hands shoved in his front pockets. “How much longer?”

“Five weeks tomorrow. She has an appointment tomorrow and I’m hoping the doctor says she no longer needs to take it easy. As you can see, she’s getting around just fine.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I think the only reason the doctor suggested for her to take it easy was because she played up the pain so much. He didn’t find a thing wrong with her.”

“I hate this for you, brother.” He tapped Tuck’s shoulder with his fist. He took the two steps to the sidewalk and added, “If the doctor clears her, drop her off and swing by the clubhouse. The brothers miss seeing your face around.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Tuck watched as Jed crossed the yard and straddled his bike. He fired it up and waved before riding off into the night. He watched until Jed’s taillight disappeared, with a deep longing to hop on his own bike and drive until he could breathe freely again. He locked up and went to his room, making sure to lock the door behind him. One episode of waking to find Taylor straddling him naked was enough.

He climbed into bed and turned off the light. He really needed to see Kylie. He missed her like crazy. He had to find a way to get her to talk to him. It had been a week since the last time he’d seen her. A week too long. It was too much time to let Kylie stew in her hurt and anger and allowed her to create more reasons as to why they couldn’t be together.

Tomorrow after Taylor got the all clear from her doctor, he was going to go by Darren’s and force her to talk to him. He wouldn’t leave until they’d hashed things out and he’d told her he loved her. Yes, he could now admit freely that he loved her. He should’ve told her sooner, but he planned to rectify that mistake tomorrow. Face to face.

12

Tuck stood to follow Taylor when a nurse stuck her head out and called her name. She smiled pleasantly and waved for them to follow her to the scales in the hall. She asked Taylor to step on it so she could get her weight. He wasn’t sure what the digital read out displayed, but her cheeks flushed red.

“Okay. Hop down and you can follow me.” The nurse led them to an exam room and motioned for Taylor to have a seat on the paper-covered table. “I’m going to get your blood pressure now.” Taylor offered her arm and the nurse secured the blood pressure cuff around it. She stuck the stethoscope ear pieces in her ears and placed the flat side in the center of her inner elbow. Next, she pumped the bulb to make the cuff tighter, then slowly released it, watching the numbers closely. When she was finished, she unfastened the cuff, handed Taylor a paper blanket thing and told her to undress from the waist down. “The doctor will be in shortly,” she advised and left the room.

Taylor hopped down from the table and started to pull her shorts and panties off. He studiously counted the ceiling tiles until he heard the crinkling of the table paper as she once again took a seat.

“You can look now.” Taylor laughed. “I don’t know why it’s such a big deal to see me undress considering we’ve both seen each other naked and fucked like rabbits.”

“That was in the past. We won’t be seeing each other naked or be fucking like rabbits ever again,” Tucked informed her. He readjusted the way he was sitting in the hard plastic chair he’d sat in. Taylor hummed her agreement in that way that said “we’ll see about that.”

He rubbed a hand down his face, feeling tired, both mentally and physically. This situation with Taylor and how it was affecting things with Kylie was wearing him down. It was hard work trying to find a balance between the two of them and so far, he was dropping the ball big time with Kylie. He should have never let her pull away from him. Race was right, he needed to get in there and not take no for an answer. If given too much time to her own thoughts, Kylie would make this separation between them permanent. He’d left Kylie several texts and a few voicemails trying to explain what happened and not to let Taylor get her way by driving her off. Considering he hadn’t heard from her, his guess was she either deleted the texts without reading or having listened to the messages.

The door swung open and in walked Dr. Peters. “Hello again. Everything go well after your E.R. visit?”

“Yes. Everything went very well. Tuck did a really good job taking care of me.” Taylor’s beaming smile fooled the doctor into believing everything was perfect in their world. Most people took Taylor at face value, thinking her to be a bubbly, happy woman. If they’d take the time to get to know her, they would learn to see past the facade to the manipulative, vindictive woman she was.

“Good. Glad to hear it. We’ll do a quick exam to make sure everything is going as it should be. If you’ll lie back, I’ll begin.”

Taylor lay back with the doctor helping her get her feet in the stirrups. He pushed the paper covering up to her knees and did whatever it was he did that Tuck couldn’t see. Then the doctor did a quick ultrasound. “Everything looks amazing. No problems. You can go about your regular daily activities. Do you have any questions?”

“Is it true that having sex can induce labor?” Taylor asked as the doctor helped her to sit up.

“Yes. There have been instances that having sex has induced labor.”

“Did you hear that, Tuck? Having sex can get the baby here faster,” Taylor’s smile was calculating.

“I’ve also heard that a baby will come when its darn good and ready,” he responded, trying to filter his language in front of the doctor.

“That’s also true,” Dr. Peters chuckled. “Go ahead and get dressed, then come out to the checkout so you can set up your appointment for next week.”

“Okay. Thank you, Dr. Peters.” She waited until the doctor exited and closed the door behind him before stepping down to get dressed.

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