Chapter Twenty-Five
Taylor
Dylan moped few a few days, then seemed to be okay. I didn’t blame him. It was selfish of me to delight in all the time I was able to spend with him, but I did. I liked being with him.
I shouldn’t use a tragedy to take advantage of the situation, but Dylan seemed to like that I was around. We still hadn’t talked about that night. I hadn’t forgotten it. I had hoped he hadn’t, either.
Dylan and I did homework together in the basement every night. My father came down at least once a night to sneak some junk food. It was proof he was feeling back to normal.
My mother and I were okay. We hadn’t made any progress, but we hadn’t fought in days.
The prom was coming up and tickets would go on sale in two weeks. No had asked me. I guess everyone assumed that I was going with Dylan, but he didn’t ask.
I decided to bring it up while we were doing homework. My father had already been downstairs and my mother was out at a class to learn about getting her real estate license.
“Prom tickets go on sale in two weeks,” I said.
Dylan grunted. He was working on his laptop, doing programming homework I thought. He liked that class the best, from what I could tell, and wanted to study it in college. We hadn’t talked about college, but I knew he was going for a visit soon.
I wasn’t ready to think about us parting. I had looked at colleges for nursing and most of the ones with a four year program were at least an hour away – no commuting, I’d have to live there.
“Are you planning on going?” I said.
Dylan’s fingers stilled over the keyboard. “Uh, I hadn’t thought about it.”
“No?”
“No, not really.”
He went back to typing.
“No one has asked me yet. By this time before the junior prom I had a date.”
“It’s the twenty first century. You should ask someone.”
Was that an invitation? Was he telling me I should ask him? I didn’t know what to think. I’d never asked a guy out.
“Okay. I hadn’t thought of that.”
He laughed, but didn’t look up at me. I wanted to see him naked again. I wanted him to make me climax again.
I shrugged all of that off because I’d be happy if he just kissed me again – if he looked at me as if I were the only girl in the universe, the only girl that mattered.
And, we needed to talk about it. I wanted him to know how I felt, but the longer time went on, it seemed more and more awkward.
I sighed. “If I asked you, would you go with me?”
His fingers stilled again. His gaze rose slowly from the screen to me. I was holding my breath, but I kept my gaze steady.
“Are you asking me?” he said.
“Yes.”
He frowned. It was not the reaction I was hoping for. My heart sank. I wanted to run out of the room, but that would be childish.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because I doubt that your father would want us to be together.”
I thought about that for a minute. I thought that I could get around that. “So, it isn’t that you don’t want to go with me.”
He laughed. “You’re fishing, Taylor.”
“Yes, I am. I want to know where I stand.”
I needed to know that he felt something.
His eyes fell closed. “What I feel doesn’t matter. It’s a moot point. We can’t be together.”
“What if I could get my dad to agree that you should take me to the prom?”
“Wishful thinking. I admire your optimism.”
“I always get what I want with Daddy,” I said.
He shook his head. “Not this time. This is a whole different realm of wanting a car or a material thing. This is you, going out with someone like me.”
“What does that mean? My father loves you.”
“He wouldn’t if he knew what we’d done. What I’d done to you.”
I put down my pen. “You didn’t do anything to me. I was a willing participant.”
“I’m the more experienced one, so I’m more responsible.”
“Is that how you feel? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me since that night?” I said.
He nodded. “We can’t do it again, Taylor. My stay here can be shortened if something happens between us. I have only a trailer to go to and nothing else. My future depends on being in this house.”
I knew he was right, but I wanted to be selfish. “But I want to be with you. I want you to kiss me.”
He rubbed a hand down his face. “I thought you were over that. I don’t think we can spend time together.”
As he started to get up, I said, “Wait.”
“What?”
“If I get it past my father, will you go with me? I can’t imagine wanting to spend that night with anyone else.”
He frowned. “If your father agrees, I’ll go. If he doesn’t, I’m not sneaking around.”
“Fair enough. And please, don’t leave. I’ll stop talking.”
He eyed me for a moment. “Okay, but stay quiet. I’m programming.”
“What are you working on?” I said.
He laughed. “That’s not being quiet.”
“Okay, fine.”
I let him work and I tried not to stare, but I knew what he looked like naked. I knew what that body could do to mine.
“Staring at me isn’t helping.”
“I’m not staring.”
“Liar,” he said.
“One kiss?”
“Taylor, stop.”
“One kiss and I’ll shut up,” I urged.
I always got what I wanted.
“Fine.”
I stood, then climbed onto his lap. I put my lips on his and our tongues met. This wasn’t going to be a half-hearted kiss. If I was only getting one, I was going to get a good one.