Chapter Nineteen
Dylan
“Come in,” I said, but no one entered my room.
I had thought I heard Taylor outside, but she didn’t enter. Instead, I heard someone walking away. Intrigued, I got up from my pondering and opened the door.
On the floor was a box wrapped in paper with hammers on it. I looked toward Taylor’s rom, but her door was closed. I couldn’t hear anyone else around. I looked down at the package again. This was what Taylor was trying to tell me about.
It had been a bad day, and I guess I had been rude to Taylor. I sighed then picked up the package. I closed the door and stared at the thing. I couldn’t remember the last time I got a present.
I had to admit that I was a little excited, except that Taylor probably would have no idea what to get me. It didn’t matter. She was trying to get me to forgive her. I missed her company.
I set the package on the desk and sat to stare at it, just enjoying the moment. I’d made the right decision. This was the best place for me to be and part of that was because of Taylor. I guess it was time to forgive her.
Opening the package, I knew I had to talk to her. Inside was something from my list for what I needed to build my own computer. I stared at it. She must have come into my room and seen my list. I couldn’t even be mad at her for invading my space.
This was beyond sweet and so Taylor. I grinned. I couldn’t help it. This present had made the day so much better.
I left it on my desk and went to find her. I tapped lightly on her door.
“Come in.”
She was sitting at her desk. She turned and her mouth opened a little when I opened the door. Guess she hadn’t expected to see me. “I got your present.”
She nodded.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
She eyed me warily. I stepped into her room. “That was really cool that you gave that to me. How did you know?”
Her cheeks went a little red. “I went into your room and saw the list on your desk.”
I nodded. “Really, thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Dylan. I’m really sorry about what I did.”
I leaned on the wall. “It’s okay.”
Silence, but I didn’t want to leave, so I pushed off the wall and came closer. “I had to tell my mother that I wasn’t moving back in with her.”
“That had to be hard. I’m sorry.”
She rose and approached me. She probably wasn’t sure that I had forgiven her.
“I guess all I can do is hug you and tell you that if you want to talk, I’m here,” she said.
That was enough, just that she wanted to do something for me. This was a whole new concept for me. I was still getting used to it all – this idea of family. I guess that made her my sister.
She wrapped her arms around my middle. Suddenly, I wasn’t having sisterly thoughts about her. Her tiny breasts were smashed up against my chest. Well, mostly my stomach because I was that much taller than her. And, there was my boner. Like an unwelcome old friend. I shifted my away from her slightly, but my face was pressed into her hair.
It smelled amazing.
When she finally let go, I felt the loss to my soul. Oh shit.
She didn’t move far. She still stood within my personal space. She looked up at me with her wide blue eyes. “You need to talk?”
Right now, I needed a cold shower. At the very least, I needed to adjust myself. That wouldn’t go over well. Girls didn’t like when you did that in front of them. No scratching. No adjusting. My mother had drilled into me.
“Uh, no, I’m fine.”
I started to back away. She grabbed my hand. “It’s okay, Dylan. I want to hear about it.”
Her touch sent a tingle up my arm. This wasn’t helping my hard friend in my pants. “No, really. We can do this another time.”
She tugged me over to the bed. She sat then patted a spot next to her. I spied a bean bag chair and sat in that. There was no way I was going to sit on her bed, not when I could still feel her tits against me.
Taylor gave me an odd look as she sat next to me on the floor. I could still smell her hair. Strawberries, I thought. No product in it because it had been soft on my skin.
This was bad. This was not going to end well for either of us. I really needed to get out of here.
At least her bedroom door was open so no one would suspect the thoughts in my head. If anyone walked by, they’d see us just talking – nowhere near the bed.
“How is your mother?”
“Upset that I’m not coming back. I’m afraid she’s going to do drugs again if I’m not there to stop her.”
“Then again, maybe your absence will be enough to make her not do them again. She’ll realized what she lost,” Taylor said.
It did make sense. I hadn’t looked at it that way.
Taylor put her hand on my arm. “She’ll miss you, but if she can’t give you a good home, then you have to do this for you. You have to stay here.”
I looked up into those earnest eyes and I was sunk. I leaned in to her. She didn’t back away. My lips hovered over hers as I wondered what she tasted like. When she didn’t move, I saw it as an opening and kissed her.
Her hand gripped my arm tighter, and I realize just what I was doing. I was kissing Taylor Dean.
I pulled away. “We can’t do this.”
I scrambled to my feet and left her room.
***
I leaned against my closed bedroom door, wishing that Mr. or Mrs. Dean had walked by at some point. I wouldn’t have risked it, then.
Her taste was still on my lips as my chest heaved. Damn, I had a boner. I adjusted myself and vowed that I would stay away from Taylor. She was probably mad at me.
Then, I heard soft knocking on the door. “Dylan?”
Oh, shit.
“What do you want, Taylor?”
“Let me come in.”
I sighed. “I think that would be a bad idea.”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m going to stand here until you let me in.”
Then, Mr. or Mrs. Dean would ask why I wasn’t letting Taylor in. I didn’t want to have to explain that I’d kissed their daughter. Taylor didn’t say that, but I’d bet she was thinking it.
I shoved away from the door and opened it.
She stood in the hallway, her lips a little swollen from my kiss. I had assaulted the poor girl. I was the experienced one here. I had been the aggressor.
“I’m sorry, Taylor.”
She put her hand up. “Don’t you dare.”
Huh? She wasn’t mad at me?
“It doesn’t look like dinner is anytime soon. Let’s go for a drive.”
I blinked. “Uh, okay.”
I followed her down to the garage. The rest of the Deans were not in sight. Was dinner even going to happen? I doubted they would forget. Maybe they got involved in something.
“Let’s leave a note,” I said.
No need to get into trouble, I thought. I wrote on the blackboard in the kitchen. “Taylor and I went out. Don’t wait dinner.”
Taylor’s driving skills were pretty good, so I settled back into my seat. She brought us to a deserted park where we sat on a picnic table.
“Look, Taylor. I shouldn’t have.”
“I participated in that kiss Dylan,” she said.
The implication of that hit me. She’d wanted me to kiss her. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve developed feelings for you.”
I was speechless. She felt something for me? Taylor Dean, the most popular girl in school, liked me? “Wait.”
She took my hand in hers. Mine was calloused her soft and small hand. How could this sweet creature like me?
“No, Dylan. I want to pursue his.”
“We can’t.”
“Why not?”
I retrieved my hand from her grasp. I admired that she saw no obstacles, but one of us had to think straight. Since I was the one who would lose the most, I had to be the voice of reason.
I stepped away from her. “Taylor, your dad took me in. I can’t betray his trust.”
“How would this betray his trust?”
“Because I would be dating his daughter. That’s not what he had in mind. He wanted to help me. Save me. He didn’t want to match me up.”
“You really think they’ll have a problem with us?”
“Yes, I do. And they should. We can’t do this.”
“Maybe we can do this without them knowing.”
“How are they not going to know? Your mother watches me like a hawk and your father is not a dumb man.”
Taylor tapped her chin, which meant she was thinking. I had to get this idea out of her head. “No, Taylor. Just no.”
“But we’re adults.”
“We’re eighteen, but we aren’t that grownup. Neither of us have a job.”
“Okay. Maybe we’re aren’t adults, but we both know our own minds.”
“This isn’t some teen movie, Taylor. This is real life. And, real life has consequences. I don’t want to lie to your parents.”
She frowned. “Is it because you don’t like me that way?”
“That is not the case, but I am the one who will be living in a trailer if I do anything wrong. You might get punished, but I’ll have the best thing that has happened to me get taken away.”
“I didn’t see it that way. At least, we could be better friends.”
“I don’t feel friendly toward you, Taylor. I feel more.”
She smiled and I melted. “Don’t you want to see what can happen?”
“We can’t, Taylor.”
I rubbed a hand down my face.
“Anything is possible, Dylan.”
God, she was driving me nuts. I strode to her and kissed her. She clutched my shirt when I tried to pull away. I finally let her loose and rested my forehead on hers. “We can’t. Not while we’re in high school. Not while I’m living in your house.”
“We can do this, Dylan. We can keep it on the down low. Keep it from my parents.”
“Do you really want to lie to your father?”
“Yes, if he can’t see that if you are good enough to save, then you’re good enough to date his daughter.”
She had a point, but I doubted it was a valid argument to a parent. It would feel wrong. “I don’t think I want to lie.”
“Can you trust me?”
“With my life, Taylor.”
“Then trust me that we can do this.”
I sighed. I really wanted to spend time with her. “We need ground rules.”
“Okay.”
“We can’t be in public. We can’t do any PDA in the house,” I said.
She frowned. “We’ll have to sneak around.”
“Yes. Do you really want to do that? It’s hard.”
“I can do it. Can you?”
I sighed. This was a bad idea, but my body and heart wanted to be with her. I wanted to be happy because I had so little of it in my life. Taylor was light and beauty, and my life lacked that.
And, she was hot. I couldn’t deny it. I wanted her in ways that might make her blush at this point.
“We’ll try it.”
She squealed. If anyone had been in the park, they would have heard her. Thankfully, no one was. So, I kissed her to seal the deal.