Decisive Moments (In Time Series Book 2)

by Trinity Hanrahan

  The feel of his hard, muscled chest under my hands took my breath away, and his nearness, his scent, enveloped me. I ran my hands up his chest to clutch his shoulders before tilting my head back to look at him. My breath caught at the soft look in his eyes.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  We stood there for several minutes before I remembered the main reason I was there, and nearly groaned. My head dropped forward for a moment before I leaned back with a sigh and met his gaze, hesitant.

  “I need to talk to you.” I cleared my throat. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  He studied me for a moment, his gray eyes searching mine before he spoke. “Is this about Caldwell?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. He just…he’s relentless. He keeps showing up everywhere, following me around.” I took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “The rumors are already flying, Teagan. I don’t want you to think the wrong thing.” Tears welled up a bit, and I added, “I’m not doing anything, I swear.”

  The silence that met my statement was unnerving. When I forced myself to look back at him, he was regarding me with a dark expression. I tried to step back, but his arms tightened, almost to the point of being painful. “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded, his voice soft and low.

  “You’re upset with me,” I whispered, hiding against his chest.

  “You bet your ass I’m upset with you.”

  I swallowed hard. Teagan growled and stepped back, grabbing my wrist, and all but dragged me up the stairs and into his room. Once there, he walked me to his bed and sat me on the mattress. Then he stalked over, closed the door, and leaned against his dresser. He crossed his arms over his chest and proceeded to glower at me.

  I fidgeted under his regard. What should I do with my hands? I tried clasping them in my lap, but that felt too passive. Clutching the bedspread at either side was too exposing. Finally, I snapped, “What?”

  “You’re worried I think you’re off doing something you shouldn’t be, Aislinn. That is my problem.” He ran a hand through his hair, clenching it between his fingers. “I trust you.” I started to speak, but he cut me off. “I know Caldwell, baby. You’re right. He’s relentless, and he’s going to be a problem. I’m going to have to talk to him.” He dropped his hand to his side. “Caldwell’s a prick, Aislinn. He’s dangerous. He’ll try to blindside you.”

  I stared at floor, murmuring, “He made it sound like you two were a lot alike before.” I took a deep breath and met his gaze. “It’s barely into the semester, but I’ve heard the whispers. No one can believe you’re actually in a relationship, especially with a freshman.” I paused before I finally asked what had been on my mind for a while now. “Teagan, exactly how big of a player were you?”

  He paused before answering and I felt my heart stop momentarily, then start back up, beating double-time as I waited for his response.

  “Well, you already know about high school, and when I got to college,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting nervously against the dresser, “I cleaned up my act a lot when I moved from Washington to here. But, yeah…” he trailed off and grimaced, “I was no saint. I partied, slept around…I was single, baby. But some lines I did not cross.”

  “What were they?”

  “I didn’t mess around with anyone I knew was in a relationship, whether they came to me or not,” he said as he held up a finger. “I didn’t mess around with anyone who’d had too much to drink.” He held up a second finger and then gave me a tight smile before he held up a third. “I didn’t sleep with anyone who wasn’t legal.”

  A weight settled onto my chest. A lump began to form in my throat, and I fought to keep it from choking me. Could that be it? Was that why Teagan wouldn’t take this further with me? Did my age play a factor after all?

  I blurted, “Is that why you won’t be with me? Because of how old I am?”

  Horrified that I’d actually said it aloud, I slapped my hands over my mouth and stood up. Teagan was staring at me, his brow furrowed and head tilted. The moment he realized what I meant, a sudden, clear understanding burned in his eyes, and his jaw tightened. My face heated up and I took another step away from him.

  He straightened from the dresser and pointed to the bed. I shook my head; there was no way I was staying in his room at that point. Teagan scowled and pointed again. “Sit down.”

  “No way.” I shook my head again. “I’d just like to go now, please.”

  “Not gonna happen.” He took a step toward me and gestured to the bed again. “Sit your ass down, Aislinn. Now.”

  My breathing kicked into high gear, racing in time with my heartbeat. I dropped my hands and clasped them in front of me. I forced myself to focus on a spot on the wall in an attempt to gain control of myself once again.

  “Sweetheart, please sit down,” he said softly. Something about the way he asked, along with the gentle look in his eyes as he held out a hand, made me reach for him. Pulling me to the bed, he gently pushed me to sit before he hunkered down in front of me. It wasn’t lost on me that our last major relationship discussion had taken place exactly like this.

  Teagan must have realized the similarity as well, because he reached out and took my hands in his with a dry smile. “At least I didn’t have to drive three hours this time, huh?”

  I gave him a wan smile, and he squeezed my hands. “Now, back to your question…”

  I flinched. “Look,” I said, trying to pull my hands from his grip, “it’s okay. It doesn’t matter.” The more I tugged on my hands, the firmer his hold got. Looking up, I saw his gray eyes had darkened with determination, and narrowed mine in response. “Really, I’m over it. We can move on.”

  He smirked. “You can’t lie for shit, honey.” That brought me up short. He raised his eyebrows at me. “What? It’s true.”

  I snorted and looked away.

  “But back to the topic at hand, no, your age has nothing to do with it. Well,” he paused for a moment, and despite myself, my gaze came back to his. “At the very beginning, it was part of the reason.”

  I smiled and made a noise. I was both smug and upset. I hated being right, but at least I knew why.

  Teagan shook his head. “No, I said it had been part of the reason. You were seventeen. But your age has nothing to do with this now.”

  “Then what is it, Teagan?” I cried. “We’ve been together almost six months now. Am I not pretty enough? Not what you want in bed?” I blinked against the tears trying to build. “I don’t understand.”

  He looked at me, wide-eyed. His arms snaked out and jerked me off the bed, both of us dropping to the floor, me landing on his lap. Before I could wriggle away, his arms tightened around me.

  “Aislinn, you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried,” he said. “You wanna know why we haven’t done anything more? You only lose your virginity once, baby. I want it to be perfect for you. I want to be perfect for you.” He paused and cleared his throat as he smoothed his hands up and down my back. “I’m not going to have your first time, our first time, be a rushed fifteen minutes of worrying about Connor showing up.”

  I was dumbfounded. At my reaction, he gave me one of the beautiful smiles that never failed to push heat through my veins. He leaned down and ran his nose alongside mine, and then he trailed his lips along my cheek until he reached my ear. “Don’t think I don’t want you, baby,” he murmured in my ear. He tugged me closer. “Because I do.”

  Before I could say anything, he knotted my hair in a fist, pulled my head back, and gently covered my mouth with his. Immediately, I moved myself closer, wrapping my arms around him and opening my mouth. When his tongue swept in to tangle with mine, the word claiming came to mind. When he kissed me, Teagan claimed me. I also realized, if the tension through his body was any indication, there would be a lot more claiming going on.

  With a groan, Teagan pulled away and sucked in a breath. Both of us were panting heavily, and I could feel his heart racing in his chest. I knew mine
was beating just as quickly. He raised a hand and swept a few loose strands of hair from my face before tracing my jaw and down along my neck. I closed my eyes, shuddering at the sensation, and tilted my head for better access. I couldn’t contain the soft moan that escaped when his warm, wet mouth started to trace the same path his fingers had drawn.

  I ran my hands across his shoulders then clutched at his shirt to pull it off. He paused long enough to snatch his shirt up and over his head. It was tossed somewhere out of sight, and he returned to his previous onslaught as I clung to his bare muscles and warm, smooth skin.

  Teagan pushed me over onto my back and looked down, hovering over me. His eyes were the shade of darkened storm clouds, shining with desire. He studied me for a long second then dove to capture my lips once again.

  His fingers skimmed my sides as he slipped my shirt off, and after a long moment of his appreciative gaze, he whispered, “You are beautiful, Aislinn.”

  A frantic scratching sounded at the door. We both froze, then I giggled and Teagan groaned. His head dropped to the valley between my breasts, and I raised a hand to run my fingers through his hair. “Unbelievable,” Teagan muttered. He levered himself onto his hands and knees, straddling me, and he paused reluctantly. The scratching sounded again, more frantic than before, and he sighed. “I love you,” he said, and he gave me a quick kiss. “I’m sorry asshole interrupted us.”

  The dog whined through the door, and I laughed. “It’s okay. Go take care of Zver.”

  We sat up and put on our shirts again. As he helped me stand, he murmured, “I like that bra. Make sure you wear it again.” He then pulled back, winked as I blushed, and left to walk the damn dog.

  My skin was going to turn permanently red because of that man.

  ***

  The knocking on the front door took both of us by surprise the next morning. We had just finished getting everything ready to go to St. Augustine Beach, and we’d been cleaning up breakfast when a banging sounded, echoing in from the front door. “Was someone supposed to come over?” I asked Teagan.

  He shook his head. “No…and it couldn’t be for Connor.”

  I nodded. Connor’d had an early morning shift at work, and had left before we got up. The knocking sounded again. “You better go check it out, baby.”

  “Stay here. I’ll be back,” he said as he left the kitchen.

  I could hear the murmur of voices at the front door as I finished cleaning up our mess, but I couldn’t make out individual words. I heard the front door close and waited for Teagan to return, curious. Long seconds ticked by, and he didn’t come. When I couldn’t even hear him walking around, I went to look for him.

  He stood next to the couch in the living room, his back to me. A cold stillness wormed its way into my stomach, and Teagan’s stance did nothing to dispel the worry. “Teagan?”

  He didn’t answer. He didn’t even turn to look at me. A sense of foreboding filled the room.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” This, at least, made him move. He dragged his fingers through his hair, letting out a shuddering breath. Finally, he turned around and met my gaze. His eyes were blank-cold. He still didn’t say anything.

  “Please, Teagan,” I cried. “You’re scaring me.”

  He shook his head slowly, as if waking from a daze. “I don’t even know how to tell you this one, Aislinn.” His fingers riffled through his hair again, then he lifted his other hand to stare at the stack of yellow, pink, and white papers it held.

  “What are those?” The cold worm of dread sat heavily in my stomach.

  “These?” He held up the papers. “Nothing much.” He gave a bitter, humorless laugh. “Just summons for a child support hearing.”

  Chapter Four

  In retrospect, I probably could have handled things at that point a bit better. Blurting out, “Are you shitting me? Who are they for?” probably wasn’t the best route to take. Especially if the look on Teagan’s face was any indication. Not one of my smarter moves at all.

  He turned and looked at me in disbelief. “They’re for me, Aislinn,” he snapped.

  I recoiled in surprise at his tone. Even at his angriest with me, he’d never been rude. I opened my mouth to respond in kind, but quickly thought better of it. Now wasn’t the time for my mouth to get ahead of my brain. For once, I needed to think things through. I took a deep breath and moved around to sit down on the loveseat and studied Teagan.

  He still stood by the couch, his head bowed and hands clenched into tight fists. I watched as the papers he held were crumpled and wrinkled beyond repair. His shoulders were tense, and I could just barely see how tight his jaw was. The anger and anxiety radiated off of him in waves. It was a tangible thing and I felt as if it were trying to strangle me and swallowed hard against it.

  “Fuck!”

  I jumped at the sudden outburst. My attention had wandered briefly, and now I saw he had turned slightly toward me. His shoulders were hunched up and he had his hair in a tight grip with one hand as he took several deep breaths.

  “Teagan?” I kept my voice soft, much like I would with a wild animal. “I really need you to explain to me what’s going on here.” I was so confused and I didn’t know what to think or how to act. And if that was how I felt, I could only imagine how he felt.

  He whipped his head toward me and frowned. “It’s pretty obvious, don’t you think?”

  At that, I felt my temper flare. I stood up and pointed at him. “No, actually, it’s pretty damn far from obvious, if you ask me.” I forced myself to take a deep breath and relax. My lashing out right now would accomplish nothing.

  Teagan began pacing back and forth, making several circuits from the front door to the hallway and repeating. He kept running a hand through his hair and his breaths were heavy and erratic. He finally stopped after several long minutes and stood, still as a statue, studying me. I cocked my head, looking at him in confusion.

  “What?”

  He sighed and shook his head before he moved around to sit on the couch. He sat heavily and rested one arm on his leg while he rubbed the back of his neck. I had never seen him look so unsure of himself before.

  All the while, I struggled with the guilty feeling of not being more sympathetic. I was preoccupied with questions. Questions that created more questions. They built upon each other, one after the other, and I needed answers. Who had filed against him? How old was the baby? Was the baby his? How long were they together?

  But the one that I kept circling back to, time and again was…did he love her?

  “Jesus, Aislinn! Now really isn’t the time to do that shit, okay?” he said, his tone biting.

  I bristled at the attack. “What are you talking about?”

  “Disappearing into your head. Just…don’t,” he muttered.

  “For your information,” I said while I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture, “I wasn’t doing that. Thank you.”

  He shot me a pointed look, complete with a raised eyebrow. He accompanied it with a snort. Personally, I felt that part was unnecessary. It also succeeded in pissing me off immensely. I straightened in my seat and sucked in a breath to fire back at him when he cut me off.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, bowing his head. “You didn’t deserve that.” He sighed and tossed the papers onto the coffee table. “This isn’t your fault, and I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

  Well, that certainly took the wind out of the sails of my self-righteous anger.

  He scrubbed his hands over his face and released a long breath. He looked up and saw me watching him and gave me a confused frown. “What?”

  I had to ask the questions that were the most pressing for me, despite what the consequences could be. I needed to know; I had to know. Therefore, I took a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, steeled myself, and blurted out the questions. I wouldn’t address the fact that I couldn’t look at him when I asked them.

  “Teagan, is the baby really yours? Did you know about it?”

&
nbsp; Silence met my queries, and I glanced at him and gulped when I found him giving me a steady glare. Being on the receiving end of Teagan’s anger really kind of sucked. I didn’t like it, and honestly just wanted to be away from it. I leaned forward to stand up when he stabbed a finger at me.

  “No,” he stated in a cold, firm voice. “You’re going to sit there and listen to what I have to say about this.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. We’re both upset and things—”

  “I really don’t give a shit, Aislinn.”

  My jaw dropped at his cool tone and his choice of words as he interrupted me. I glared at him and stood up anyway. “I’m leaving. I’ll talk—”

  “No, you’re not,” he interrupted me once again, blandly.

  I pursed my lips and squinted at him as I pondered the possibility that he’d lost his mind. Whether he had or not, he was seriously pissing me off. I planted my hands on my hips and opened my mouth to blast him, when he threw me a curveball.

  “Baby, please,” he whispered. “I really need you here with me. Please.”

  The catch on the end of his ‘please’ caused all of my anger to drain away, and my heart ached for the man sitting across from me. The man who now had his head in his hands. The man whose body language screamed ‘defeated.’ I walked to him and laid a hand on his head before I ran my fingers through his hair. With a shuddering breath, Teagan reached out and wrapped his arms around my waist. He drew me close and buried his face in my stomach. His breathing was stuttered and choppy and tremors wracked his body. My heart broke for him as I stroked the back of his neck and shoulders.

  I didn’t know how long I stood like that before he heaved a breath and turned his face slightly. He tightened his grip around me, almost as if he were afraid I was going to disappear. I kept my arms securely around him while I continued to attempt to soothe and comfort through touch.

  “Her name is Lauren Halloway,” he said quietly. “I dated her for a few months back in high school. I was a senior, she was a junior.”