Page 29 of Big Obsession

I grab her arms and tug her on top of me. “I’m fine. Quit worrying. I promise, I’m okay.”

Her hands go to my ribs. “And your ribs. Oh my God…”

I sit up and hold her before she has a meltdown. “I’m fine, I promise. But I have to admit, it’s nice that you worry about me.”

She looks me straight in the eye. “I love you, Tuck.”

I kiss her. “I love you too.”

CHAPTER 16

DOLLY

I hear loud pounding and raise my head off Tucker’s chest.

“What…?” I ask him.

He kisses my head. “Stay right here. Don’t move.”

I watch him get up and stuff his legs in his jeans and walk out of the room bare-chested.

I can’t help it, I have an uneasy feeling, and when I hear Karla’s voice echoing through the house, I feel like I’m going to be sick.

How could last night be so amazing and now as I listen to her cussing Tucker, it all goes down the drain? Gina must have texted her daughter about Tucker and me being together. That’s the only reason I would think she would show up after all this time.

I sit here quietly, listening for as long as I can. Karla’s voice echoes through the house.

“Tucker, you never gave us a chance.”

“You know Ace would love to have his mom and dad together.”

“Dolly forced me out of his life, did she tell you that? I left because she told me to.”

I sit and listen until I know I need to do something. I grab my clothes and put them on and try to calm my nerves before I walk out because I know when I do, Karla is going to lose her ever-loving mind.

I walk through the house and get to where my shoes are. I put them on and then walk to the entrance of the living room where Karla and Tucker are standing. Karla sees me before I even say anything. “You! I should have known you would take my family from me. You’ve always been jealous of me, and you just wouldn’t stop until you had my man and my son.”

I ignore Karla’s tirade. “Tucker, I think you two have some things to discuss. I’ll talk to you later.”

Karla screams, “You’re not going anywhere until you tell Tucker what you did.”

I point to myself. “What I did? What is it you think I did?”

“You made me leave. You told me to go and then you stole everything I loved?—”

I shake my head. “I didn’t make you leave. I told you to quit hurting Ace. You made promises over and over and never kept them. I couldn’t watch you hurt him like that.”

She blurts out a laugh. “Right, you destroyed my relationship with my kid. You made him hate me!”

“I didn’t.” I deny it, shaking my head.

Tucker walks toward us. “Now, listen, Karla, you can’t come into my house and talk to Dolly like this. I was never your man, and Dolly is right. You have hurt Ace so many times?—”

Karla starts screaming, and it’s hard to understand everything she’s saying, but I do get the gist of it. “You don’t get it. The reason we are not together is because of her. She turned you against me.”

Fear of losing Ace and Tucker has me backing toward the door. “I’m going to go.”

“No,” Tucker yells, but it doesn’t matter because I’m already down the front steps and running toward my car. I get inside but can’t shut the door because Tucker is standing there, holding it open. “Don’t leave, Dolly. She should go, I want you to stay.”

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