Chapter Twenty One
Dylan
I didn’t know what to think when Taylor approached me the next morning. I was hoping for a kiss, but she was standing in the hallway, keeping her distance. This couldn’t be good.
“Uh, we need to talk,” she said.
“Okay. Here?”
“There is no other place.”
“Fine.”
She sighed. “We can’t do this. You were right.”
My heart hurt a little, but this didn’t make sense. “What changed from last night?”
“I just had more time to think about it. We can’t risk you being kicked out, and I can’t lie to my father.”
I nodded, but I didn’t think she was telling me the whole story. We went down to breakfast. I couldn’t argue with her, at least not in the house. I’d been saying the same things yesterday, but she’d talked me out of it. What had talked her into my way of thinking?
I chose to let it lie, but when no one was on the room, I checked her phone.
Bailey. Of course. If she couldn’t have me, she didn’t want Taylor to.
When they arrived at school, I found Bailey. She always had an entourage around her, the way Taylor had before the Greg situation. What crappy friends Taylor had chosen – other than Helena.
“Bailey.”
The girl spun around, a seductive smile on her face. I wanted to tell her to save it; it wouldn’t work on me.
“Did you change your mind about loser girl? Come back to a real woman?”
I glanced at all of her followers. “Beat it.”
They scattered like cockroaches when the light turns on. I’d seen that more than once in my life. Bailey licked her lips. She wasn’t so brave now that she didn’t have an audience. “What do you want, Dylan?”
“I want you to stop threatening Taylor.”
“She told you about that? She wasn’t supposed to. It was part of my demands.”
“I don’t care what your demands are, stop it. We aren’t together, and if we were, it would be none of your business.”
“Really? I have a picture that says differently.”
She looked smug. I’ve never hit a woman and I wouldn’t, but she made me want to. “A moment of weakness. Won’t happen again. And for the record, Taylor didn’t tell me. I snooped and looked at her phone.”
Bailey was willing to destroy Taylor, someone who had been her friend. I had dodged a bullet with this one. She was bat shit crazy.
I stalked away to find Taylor. She was at her locker, staring at the contents of it.
“It’s taken care of,” I said.
She turned to me slowly. “What is?”
“Bailey.”
“How do you know about Bailey?”
“I looked on your phone. Look, we don’t have to be together, but I’m not going to let her ruin any more of your life.”
She looked up at me with sad eyes. “Well, she was one of my closest friends, so she knew my kryptonite.”
I put a hand on Taylor’s shoulder. “I can come clean to your dad. Then you don’t have to worry about Bailey. I’ll take the blame.”
“No, Dylan. I’m more to blame than you.”
I shook my head. This is one of those decision I would have to make more and more of as a man. “No, Taylor. I’ll make this right. I promise.”
Before she could say more, her phone rang. “It’s my mother.”
She answered it and her face became distraught. She disconnected and stared into space. “My dad’s been in an accident. He’s in the hospital.”
I grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
“Don’t we need to talk to the office?” she said.
Right. We were old enough to sign ourselves out. I dragged her to the office, Bailey forgotten for the moment. We signed ourselves out, and I drove her car and her to the hospital.
Mrs. Dean was there and she hugged Taylor. She mouthed a “Thank you” to me over Taylor’s shoulder. Maybe I was being dismissed, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Mr. Dean was my family now, too.
Some crappy daytime show was on the television, but no one else was in the room, so I turned it off.
“I’m going to get some coffee.”
I left them crying together and found the cafeteria. I bought three coffees and brought them back. “Here.”
Taylor and her mother took them absentmindedly. I sat down near them. I didn’t want to intrude, but I felt I should be there.
Mrs. Dean reached out to me, squeezing my hand. “Thanks, Dylan. For being here.”
For the first time since I moved in with them, I felt warmth from her – genuine warmth. I nodded, squeezing back.
“Have you heard anything?”
“No, they’re still working on him. From what I can tell, another car t-boned him,” she said.
Taylor was curled up next to her. She sniffed. My heart went out to her, and I longed to gather her up on my lap.
“They said something about surgery,” she said.
I was scared, but I couldn’t let on. I was the man and had to be strong. Mr. Dean had taught me that in the short time I’d known him. “I’ll go find out.”
“No, Dylan, stay here with Taylor. I’ll go. I’m his wife.”
She composed herself and stood. I took her seat to put my arm around Taylor. “He’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do, okay? I know you’re scared, but this is a good hospital. They patched up my mother,” I said.
I had no idea about anything, but Taylor needed comfort and I was going to give it to her. Bailey was forgotten. Greg was forgotten. All we had to think about was Mr. Dean. I’ve never prayed, but as I sat there with Taylor looking so small, I wanted to hope there was a God and that he’d let Mr. Dean live.
Not for me, but for this girl who had my heart.
Chapter Twenty Two
Taylor
I couldn’t sleep. My father had come out of surgery and now they weren’t sure what was going to happen. My mother had opted to stay at the hospital. Dylan had driven me home. He’d made me eat something before we both went to bed.
I stared at the ceiling. I couldn’t get the image of my father helpless in a hospital bed out of my mind. I’d never seen him that way. He was always my hero. The surgery had gone well, but they weren’t sure what was going on since he was in a coma.
I punched my pillow. My phone dinged.
“I’m here if you need me,” Helena had written.
Of course, she would. She had been my best friend for years. I might have lost her because of the B girls, but fate had intervened. I almost didn’t care anymore if I was popular. I wanted my daddy back and I wanted to be with Dylan.
I called Helena. “Thanks.”
“You need to talk?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know what to say. It was so scary seeing him that way. My dad has always been larger than life to me.”
“He is. I’m sure it was scary. You want to come over?”
“No, I’m in bed.”
“Still. Get in the car in your pajamas. I’ll be here.”
“No, I want to just be home and in my own bed.”
“I’ll come over there.”
Helena would. Why had I taken her for granted? “No, but thank you, Helena. You are the best friend a girl could have. I’m sorry if I’ve ever taken you for granted.”
“It’s okay, Taylor. How’s Dylan doing?”
“He has been so sweet and such a rock for my mom and me. He drove me to the hospital. He drove me home and made me dinner.”
“He cooked?”
“It was just heating up leftovers, but it was what I needed,” I said.
“Aww. How cute. Will you be in school tomorrow?”
“My mom wants me to go, but I don’t think I could concentrate. Unless my dad wakes up in the night, I can’t even think about school. I already cancelled practice for tomorrow.”
“Good for you, Taylor. You need some time.”
“Let me let you go.”
“It’s okay, Taylor.”
“I think I want to sleep. Thanks.”
I disconnected. Then, I stared at the ceiling again. I yawned, but sleep wasn’t visiting me tonight, so I got out of bed. Turning on the light, I blinked to get used to the brightness.
I didn’t want to go on Facebook or Instagram. I didn’t really care about what anyone was doing online tonight – or this morning, since it was after midnight.
I peeked out my door. Dylan was asleep. Or at least in the dark. I wanted a human here and I regretted not having Helena come over. Her mother would have let her, she was a sweet woman.
I stood in my doorway, looking at the dark hallway. I really wanted Dylan to hold me, but I felt guilty for waking him up. He wouldn’t get mad at me, though.
I stalked down the hallway to his door and knocked softly. If I woke him, then it was meant to be. He didn’t answer. I let my eyes adjust back to the dark and opened his door. He was sprawled on his bed. Then he shifted and I froze. Had I awakened him? No. He shifted to his side.
If I crawled under the covers, I could gather warmth from him. If I did it carefully, he wouldn’t even know I was there. I’d go back to my own bed after, and I’d feel better. I lifted the covers carefully.
I slid underneath then froze. He didn’t move. I scooted closer to him until I could feel his warmth. He was all hard planes, not nearly as skinny as he had been when he joined us, and I had to admit that I had enjoyed watching him fill out.
My father had weights in a room off of my part of the basement and Dylan had been using them. I leaned closer. He smelled so good.
I wasn’t touching him, but my fingers itched to feel the muscles. He was only wearing boxers and I was invading his space, but I really needed human comfort.
The tears started and I tried to cry quietly.
“Taylor?”
Dylan shifted away from me.
“I’m sorry. I just needed to feel comfort.”
“You could have woke me up,” he said.
“I guess it’s creepy to find me in your bed.”
“Creepy isn’t the word I’d go for.” He wrapped me in his arms, and I felt safe, like nothing bad could happen to me there.
His erection nudged me. “You’re happy I’m here.”
“I don’t have a lot of control over that, Taylor. You’re a female. I’m a male.”
He shifted so his pelvis was not against me. I kind of liked that he was excited. It gave me an idea for how I could forget what was going on.
“Dylan?”
“It’ll go away in a minute.”
“I don’t want it to go away.”
He gasped. “Taylor, we can’t. You’re vulnerable. I could never. Besides, we agreed we weren’t together.”
I sat up to look at him, his hair rumpled from sleep. “But it would make me forget.”
“You’d regret it, Taylor. Then, you’d hate me, and I couldn’t stand that.”
I sighed. I knew what I wanted. “Do I ever change my mind?”
“You did this morning.”
“Extenuating circumstances.”
“And these are, too. If you want to talk, fine. If you want me to hold you, I’ll do it, but I can’t do more. It isn’t fair to you. You’re a virgin, I suspect.”
“Uh, yes.”
“Your first time should be special. With someone you love.”
“What if I love you?”
“You can’t know that right now, Taylor. You’re sad and vulnerable, and I’m not that much of an ass to take advantage.”
I reached over and turned on his light. Then I pulled off my nightgown.
Dylan gasped. I knew what I wanted.
I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. He stared at me and at my breasts, then back at my face. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and I knew he was even happier to see me. At least, his body was.
He slid out from under the covers, his head shaking. “We can’t, Taylor.”
“No condoms?”
“I have those.”
“You don’t want me?”
He glanced down at his erection. “What do you think?”
I looked down at his penis tenting his boxers. I reached out to touch him, but he moved away. “Dylan, you’re killing me.”
“No, you’re killing me. I am not taking your virginity on the day your father is in the hospital.”
“It’ll make it all better.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said.
I stood in front of him, naked. I felt empowered. I wanted him. I wanted this. “Please.”
His eyes fell closed and he groaned. “Are you sure?”
I reached into his boxers and grasped his erection. His shaft was hard and soft at the same time. “Yes.”
He grabbed me and took possession of my lips. I felt that kiss to my toes. He let me go, his chest heaving. “You need to be sure about this, Taylor. I don’t want you to hate me.”
“I won’t. I promise. I want this. I want you.”
I shoved his boxers down his legs, and he stepped out of them. He reached into his nightstand and pulled out a condom package.
He was beautiful – hard and all man. As strong as the kiss had been, it hadn’t hurt. He’d been gentle, and I knew he’d be gentle with me.
I let go of him and lay back on the bed. He crawled in beside, me kissing me again. “Taylor, you’re beautiful.”
I blushed a little as he put one hand on my breast. He rubbed his thumb over my nipple and it was a cascade of sensations. I didn’t know if it would always be this way, but right now, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
The whole world faded away. There was no father in a coma. No former friend blackmailing me. Only Dylan and I. Nothing between us. Nothing stopping us.
“Tell me what to do,” I said.
I wanted to please him.
“How about we make this all about you because it’s pretty easy for me to get off. It’s hard when you haven’t done it before.”
How did he know so much? “Okay. I kind of know what I like.”
“Yeah? Tell me. That would help.”
I was embarrassed to tell him, but this was Dylan. I was safe with him. “Touch me. Down there.”
He smiled and slid his hand down my body. I’d hugged Dylan. He’d touched me in non-sexual ways, but being here, in his bed, naked, everywhere his hand touched lit me on fire. I felt a tension coiling in my middle. I wanted to move or I would explode.
Then, he touched me. It was so much better than when I touched myself. “A little to the right.”
“As you wish.”
He adjusted and that tension became tighter. My eyes fell closed. He kissed my neck as he played down there. He rubbed in a circle, and I almost lifted my butt off the bed. My knees had fallen apart, and his erection nudged at my side.
My fingers flexed and bunched as my hands rested on his shoulders. And then it was there. I was falling. It must be how it felt to go over a waterfall. My body was weightless, and I heard a high keening sound.
It was coming from me. Holy shit. I had trouble catching my breath as Dylan slowed down his movement. When I finally was able to open my eyes, he was smiling at me.
“That was the best orgasm I’ve ever had. So much better when someone else is doing it.”
He chuckled. “You’re very wet, Taylor. So ready. Are you ready?”
“I am.”
He snagged the condom.
“Let me put it on.”
“I might explode if you touch me,” he said.
A part of me felt powerful that I had that effect on him. I laughed. “Dylan.”
His eyes became darker – with passion. For me. Wow.
He shifted to be on top of me. “I’m going to take this as slowly as I can, Taylor. You tell me to stop if you need me to.”
I nodded. He leaned on his elbows, his body above mine. I spread my legs wider. I had never wanted anything so much in my life as I wanted Dylan Cabot at that moment. He slid partway into me. My body tensed.
“Relax, Taylor. It will hurt less.”
I took a few deep breaths. He was right. He slid into me and finally, he was all the way in. He stayed there for a moment, his eyes closed.
“You feel so good. Warm and wet and tight, Taylor. Amazing.”
“I’m okay now. You can move.”
“Just tell me if it hurts.”
“It won’t.”
He began to move, and my knees slid up his body. After a few thrusts, my body met his and we set up a rhythm. I didn’t have that tension inside anymore, but this felt good. It felt right.
“I’m not sure I can hold on much longer, Taylor, but you haven’t come yet.”
“It’s okay, Dylan. I don’t think I’m going to.”
“I’m sorry.”
He thrust into me a few more times, then he groaned, his teeth clenched. He slumped over onto me. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want him to move.
Then I heard a door.
“Shit.”
He jumped off of me. “Your mother’s home.”
“Shit.”
I grabbed my nightgown and ran to his door. I listened, but I didn’t know where my mother was. I glanced back at Dylan who stood, his erection waning. “I’m going to run to my bedroom. Thank you, Dylan.”
I left him there, hoping I would make it back to my room before my mother found us.
PART 3
Chapter Twenty Three
Taylor
I slipped in to my room, turned off the light, then slid under the covers. I was still humming from sex, but I couldn’t have stayed with Dylan – not with my mother in the house. I caught my breath when her footsteps stopped at my door. She couldn’t have seen me cross the hall in the dark and I’d closed the door quietly.
I squeezed my eyes shut and steadied my breath. She opened my door. Shit. I hoped that I wasn’t sweating. She’d know I hadn’t been sleeping, but I pretended to be.
She sat on the edge of my bed. Could she even see me in the dark?
I guess if she sat there long enough.
She began to hum a song she used to sing to me when I was a little kid. Should I pretend to wake up? I was a notoriously deep sleeper, so her singing shouldn’t wake me up under normal circumstances.
Did my mother want to talk? I rolled over. “Mom?”
“Did I wake you? Sorry, Taylor.”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Your father is awake, and he’s going to be okay.”
“Wow, that’s great, Mom.” I was excited. I hugged her. This was great news. “Can I go see him in the morning?”
“After school. He’ll be in the hospital a few days before he can come home.”
“What about his car?”
“It’s totaled,” she told me.
I nodded then realized that she couldn’t see me in the dark. “Do you need to talk?”
“I just need some company.”
“You want to crawl in here with me?”
My mother and I hadn’t been close in years, but she was still my mother. She loved me and my father. Maybe she’d even learn to love Dylan.
“Thanks.”
She crawled in beside me, her head on my shoulder. Kind of role reversal as I used to always lean on her. She was all alone in the world without me and my father. She had been an only child and her parents had died a few years ago.
“Did you talk to Dad?”
“I did. He’s coherent and knew what day it was. The docs say he’ll make a full recovery.”
“That’s good.”
“What did you and Dylan do?”
It was an innocent question and shouldn’t make me pause, but it did. She had no idea that we’d had sex. I felt so different and I was just trying to act like I didn’t.
“He heated up some leftovers for dinner and made me eat, and then I came to bed. I don’t know what Dylan did after that.”
“He must have cleaned the kitchen because it was spotless,” she said.
“He must have after I came to bed.”
“He isn’t so bad.”
“I know that, Mom. Why don’t you give him a chance?”
She lifted her head off of my shoulder, putting it on my other pillow. “I’m just worried that he’s going to snap and do something.”
“He’s never been violent.”
“He got into a fight.”
“That’s not fair. He was defending me. That should give him some points in your mind,” I said.
“I guess. I guess I resent that your father just tilts at these windmills and I have to be the practical one. He always gets to be the fun one.”
“What would you do if you were the fun one?”
She laughed. “I don’t know, I’d have to think about it. I’ve just always taken on the serious role.”
“Maybe when I go to college you can be fun again.”
She laughed. “For the record, I was fun before you came along.”
“Sorry.”
“No, Taylor, you shouldn’t be sorry. I wanted you and I wanted to be home to raise you. It’s just so easy to get so focused on raising a child that you lose yourself.”
“Do you think you lost yourself?”
“Yes, I do, but that’s on me. Not on you. I made these decisions.”
“Then try to get that woman back.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“How hard can it be, Mom?” I said. “Just remember the person you were and do things that she would.”
She laughed again. “The optimism of youth.”
“Try it. Would you go back to work? Write a book? What? Dream, Mom.”
She shifted onto her back. “I think I’d like to get my real estate license and sell houses.”
“That’s great, Mom. Don’t you think Dad would support that?”
“Oh, he probably would.”
“I’m sure he wants to see you happy. He isn’t an ogre.”
“No, he isn’t, Taylor. He’s a good man, but I think he likes to come home to me here.”
“Well, he can adapt.”
“He’s going to miss you when you go off to college.”
“I’m going to miss him, too.” And so I didn’t hurt her feelings, I added, “And you.”
“I think we will get along better when you are far away.”
I didn’t want to go far away. I wanted to go to nursing school right here. I wasn’t ready to tell her. She might be amenable to it at the moment, but I didn’t want to break the magic of this moment – my mother and I getting along. It didn’t happen often, so we usually avoided each other. Peace in the house was kept that way.
Maybe my parents should have had another child so my mother could have had someone close to her like Daddy and I. Then she might not feel so alone. “You seem lost.”
“I guess I just got scared with your father in the hospital.”
“They say life is short.”
“You can’t know that. Your life is ahead of you. This is an exciting time,” she said.
It was and made more so by Dylan in my life. I had strong feelings for him – ones that I had never experienced with someone else. Feelings that I wanted to explore, even if my parents didn’t approve.
“You must be tired.” She kissed the side of my head. “I’ll let you go back to sleep.” She climbed out of bed and in the darkness, I could see her turn to me. “Thanks, Taylor.”
“You’re welcome, Mom.”
***
Daddy came home a few days later. He was supposed to go to a rehab facility, but he wanted to be home. He was still sore and the stitches on his face were still in. He looked like a battered version of my father.
Dylan helped him into his favorite chair in the living room.
“What can I get you, Daddy?” I said.
“Nothing right now, kitten. Just sit with me.”
My mother left us alone, as did Dylan. Dylan and I hadn’t had a chance to talk seriously about what happened the other night. I wanted it to happen again, but he seemed to be avoiding me.
I sat next to my father. The living room had no television per my mother’s orders. She thought the living room was for family or entertaining guests. She didn’t entertain guests, but still, no television in the living room.
My father looked thin, but his color was better than it had been in the hospital.
“You getting a new car?” I said.
“Yes, but it’ll be a few weeks before that happens. I need to get the money from the insurance company.”
I nodded. “Your insurance company or the other person’s?”
“The other person’s because they were at fault,” he said.
“That’s why you buy insurance.”
“Right, kitten.”
I nodded then fell silent.
“Tell me about school.”
“Well, the prom is coming up,” I told him.
“Who are you going with?”
I laughed. “I haven’t been asked yet.”
“Do you have someone in mind?”
I did. I wanted to go with Dylan, but I wasn’t sure how that would work. He was avoiding me and I doubted that he’d ask me. I doubted that my father would be okay with it, unless he thought Dylan was doing me a favor.
Hm. I would have to think about that angle. I might be able to make this work.
“No, Daddy.”
“Are your friends still not talking to you?”
“They aren’t, but they really aren’t my friends. I have Helena and Dylan and that’s it.”
“Doesn’t it make it hard to be the captain?”
I laughed. “Actually, it makes it easier. No one is asking me to cut them a break. I have a feeling soon Bailey or Barbie will start talking to me again just so they can whine about how I’m running the squad.”
“I guess you’ve learned a lesson.”
“I have.”
I really had. Helena was my best friend and she really was the best. Dylan, well, I didn’t know what we were. He’d been taking the bus or getting a ride to school. Supposedly, he had a project due, so he’d been going into school early.
I suspected he just didn’t want to talk to me. Maybe he was embarrassed about the other night. We had to talk. He had to know that I was so glad that he was my first.
“Are you and Dylan getting along?” my dad asked.
“Yes, we are, Daddy.” Better than you could hope, I continued silently.
“He’s not a bad kid. I think even your mother is coming around.”
“Why is she so resistant to liking Dylan?”
“You’ll have to ask her. That’s her story to tell.”
Hm. Guess I would have to ask her. We’d been spending a little more time together lately. She’d taken me for a manicure and we talked like we used to when I was a kid. Guess it’s been hard on her with me growing up.
She isn’t looking forward to it. Instead, she’s trying to minimize the pain.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, Taylor.”
“What if I didn’t go away to college?”
He looked at me, a very serious expression on his face. “You have to go to college, Taylor.”
“I’m going to college, but I don’t know what I want to do, so wouldn’t it be better if I went to the local community college until I figured out what I wanted?”
“You’ll sort it out.”
“Daddy, everyone is getting their acceptance and I haven’t applied yet.”
I didn’t know why I couldn’t tell him that I wanted to be nurse. It wasn’t a bad profession. You could make money and support yourself.
“Then you better get started.”
“How can I choose a college if I don’t know what I want to do?”
He sighed. “I don’t want you to miss out on the college experience, Taylor.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know if that’s what I want to do. Don’t get me wrong, I want to be on my own at some point, but why now?”
He brushed a hair off of my face. “We raise our kids to leave us. That requires you to leave at some point.”
He was all about independence, and I was more concerned about what I wanted to do. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t say them. I think he might be disappointed in me. He didn’t have engineering plans like my mother did, but he wanted me to go to college.
I could compromise and get a Bachelor’s of Nursing, but where? Maybe I could come to them with something, a plan, better than what I had now.
A few months ago, I was content to go to the local two year college.
Maybe I had to rethink that. I didn’t mind going away now that I knew what I wanted. I would have to talk to my guidance counselor.
“Looks like I’ve got you thinking.”
“You have, Daddy. Will you be okay if I go do some research?”
“If this is about college, then go ahead, kitten.”
“Yes, it is.”
I left him, feeling like my future was brighter. I knew that I could go to college and study what I wanted. My mother would be a tougher sell, but if I got my father on my side, then I’d have an ally.