Chapter Twenty-Six
Dylan
Taylor talked me into a date. I don’t know how she managed to, but that girl was persistent. Her parents were going out. We knew the restaurant they were going to and their plans. So, Taylor talked me into taking her out for dinner.
Nothing fancy, and a few towns away so we wouldn’t run into anyone we knew.
I had to admit I was nervous, even though it was Taylor. This was still a first date. What if we spent time together like this and then didn’t like each other? Things would be awkward at the house.
I dressed in clothing that I’d wear to a mathlete meet and a tie that Mr. Dean had lent me. I guessed I should get another one since I had two more meets before the mathlete season ended. Not that anyone really cared about what I wore, but Taylor had suggested that I wear different ties. Probably something only a woman would notice.
I tugged at the collar. Mr. Dean wore one of these every day. Guess you got used to it.
I glanced in the mirror to make sure that there was nothing on my face before I walked down the hall to get Taylor. Knocking softly, I realized I probably should have gotten flowers or something.
Too late.
She opened her door and my mouth went dry. Taylor stood there in a red dress that hugged her curves. I bet if her father saw this dress, he wouldn’t let her out of the house. He certainly shouldn’t let her out of the house with me.
I had designs on this date starting and ending in her bed. With maybe some food in between. I could microwave like a demon.
I’d seen her naked, but this was even better than that.
“You like?”
“Holy crap, Taylor. A blind men would like.”
She smiled. “Good.”
“You’re mine for the night? I get to look at you all evening?”
“Until right before my parents come home. Then I turn into a pumpkin,” she said.
There was nothing pumpkin-like about her. She had a tiny waist and lovely hips. Her breasts peeked out over the neckline.
Damn. “You’re beautiful, Taylor.”
She blushed. Who knew this popular girl could be insecure? Who knew this bad boy would reform and be able to be in the same space as this almost woman? Well, in some ways she was a woman. I’d taken care of that.
“Thank you.”
I just wanted to stare at her for the next hour. How did I get so lucky?
Instead, I held out my arm. “Milady.”
She laughed as she took my arm. I escorted her out to the car and held her door for her. I did all the things I’d seen men do in movies. Hopefully, I was doing the right stuff.
Taylor smiled at me when I climbed into the car.
The restaurant was forty minutes away, which I had to remember for our return trip. We knew which movie her parents were going to, so we knew when they’d be home. Hopefully, their plans wouldn’t change at all.
I was just as nervous about being found out as going on this date.
I’d made reservations at the restaurant, so it wasn’t long before we were seated. I’m pretty good for a teenage boy. Not all of us are buttheads. Okay, I’m usually a butthead, but not tonight.
I pulled out her chair for her and everything. We ordered sodas, and when they came, Taylor held up her glass. “To our first real date.”
I touched my glass to hers, then sipped. I felt like a grownup.
“Tell me one thing that most people don’t know about you?” Taylor said.
“That’s hard since you know so much about me.” I scratched my chin. “I was born in Iowa.”
“Iowa? How did you end up here?”
“My mother’s brother offered us the trailer to live in,” I said.
“Do you remember Iowa?”
“No, I was two when we moved.”
“You’ve lived in that trailer that long?”
“No, at one point we were in subsidized housing, but my mother got us kicked out,” I said. “We went back to the trailer then.”
“Hm.”
“You’ve lived in the house all your life?”
“No, we moved into it when I was six, but I don’t remember that much about the old house. My father had a job change and his raise was a lot so we bought this house.”
I nodded. This was nice – just two people talking. Not that I wasn’t thinking about her naked. I was. How could I not? I’m a guy and I’d seen her naked.
“It’s a nice house.”
“It’s home.”
I laughed. “It’s become home to me, too. That’s why I don’t want to mess anything up.”
“I know, but I really like you, Dylan. I want to be with you. I think I know a way we can go to prom. Let me think on it.”
“Just be careful. I’ll be the one paying the price if it gets messed up,” I said.
I didn’t relish being back in the trailer. I was used to the comforts of a real house. Four walls. Couldn’t hear the wind at night. The place didn’t shiver with a large gust. No animals underneath it.
And Taylor. I got to see her every day.
We had fifteen minutes to spare when I pulled her car into the driveway after dinner. No one was home. “We better hurry and get out of these clothes and go watch a movie,” I said. “Act normal.”
“Okay, but I want one more kiss before the fairytale ends,” she said.
I took her face gently into my hands and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Her lips were swollen when I stopped, but she smiled. “Thanks, Dylan, this was fabulous.”
The sound of a car outside had us both running upstairs. Taylor was putting in a movie and I was eating some chips when Mr. Dean came downstairs.