Her cheeks reddened under the mud caked to her face. “I’ll go ‘commando’,” she whispered and shut the door.
“My kind of girl,” Jaxson smirked.
“Go to hell.”
“Already am. Army in three weeks, remember?”
I had no comeback. He was going “Hell” and as each week brought the time closer, joking about it seemed cruel. Still, I had to give him something.
“Just so you know, Jax, you scream like a girl.”
**
After I finished my turn in the shower, I scooped Taylor’s dirty clothes off the bathroom floor and put them in the washer with mine. I hopped on top of the rumbling washer and made the daunting call to Lydia Daniels. After she chewed through me when I told her Taylor would stay here tonight, my mother lectured me on “appropriate behavior under her roof.”
Quietly, I slipped into my room where I told Taylor to stay to avoid Jaxson. The lamp on my computer desk washed the room in a warm glow. Outside, the rain pulsed relentlessly against the window, but in here with Taylor curled on my bed, her damp head on my pillow, everything felt perfect. I didn’t want anything to change. I never wanted tomorrow to come.
When I crawled on the bed next to her, she nuzzled into me. “I called your grandma to tell her you were all right.”
Taylor’s brows wiggled into a serious knot. “I’m not going back.”
“You don’t have to. I told her you were staying here tonight.”
“What about your parents?”
I wrapped my arms around her, smelling the coconut scented shampoo lingering in her hair. Nothing mattered outside this moment. “They’ll have to deal with it. Right now, I need to know you’re safe and I can only feel that if you’re in my arms.”
While usually this close proximity would trigger certain body parts to prepare for action, tonight I only wanted to protect Taylor, not ravage her. Maybe because my sweatshirt and sweatpants completely covering her naked body looked anything but sexy, but probably because she felt vulnerable to me. I kissed her forehead, tugged her closer.
“Taylor, who’s Michael?”
Her long dark lashes brushed her pale cheeks, now clean and glowing from moisturizer. “He’s my supposed boyfriend back home, or I should say the boy everyone thinks I should marry.” My body stiffened, but her arms held tight. “Relax, Riley. I don’t love Michael and have no intention of marrying him, regardless of what everyone wants me to do.”
“Sounds like he’s going to be rich someday. Your future would be secure.”
She settled deeper in the bend of my arm, her eyes still shut. “He’ll be rich because his daddy will give him money. Not because he earned it. I know what it’s like to have your future bought. Grammy’s right. I’ve been accepted to Harvard, but I haven’t decided to go. That’s why I didn’t tell you. My dad wants me to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer.”
“What do you want?”
She yawned wide. “Honestly? To be a school teacher or counselor. Anything but a lawyer. What about you?”
“Anything but the ‘son of the local sheriff’. I’ve thought about becoming a doctor—one for kids.”
“You’re good with…”
She never finished her sentence. She’d fallen asleep. I stared at her slumbering in my arms, her breaths warm and feather soft against my skin. I found it hard believe someone as special as Taylor could be in to me. I didn’t deserve such a gift.
The soft rap at my door sounded in my dreams, until it happened a second time, interrupting my fantasy dirt bike race. I’d rounded the last berm, heading for the finish line when Lydia Daniels’s voice blared over the speaker system, instead of the announcer.
“Riley, can I come in?” she asked.
I wanted to sit up, but Taylor snuggled deep into my curves, my legs spooning under her hips. No way would I disturb her. I covered her with a quilt and motioned for her to come in. I pushed my finger to my lips.
“Quiet. She’s finally asleep. Don’t wake her.”
Mrs. Daniels nodded and pulled my desk chair closer to the bed. The lamp still glowed and the room actually had a cozy feel to it. Of course it didn’t hurt that I held a gorgeous girl’s body in my arms, enhancing the effect.
“Your mom said you found her by some pond?”
“In the thicket, there’s a pond Jaxson and I made years ago. That’s where I first met Taylor. She found it on a walk and was swimming when I came to do the same.”
“Oh. I had no idea one existed.”
“No one did until tonight.”
“Riley, about what happened earlier. I was out of line. My accusations were harsh. You and Taylor are adults, and as hard as that is for me to face, it’s really none of my business if you two are having sex.”
Hearing the word “sex” come out of Taylor’s grandmother’s mouth sounded nasty. From now on, if I needed anything to stop my lustful urges from getting out of control, I’d picture Lydia Daniels’s thin, pale lips mouth the word s-e-x.
“Well, we’re not. The hickeys really were just playful.”
At least mine. Taylor’s, on the other hand, was a pure unadulterated turn on.
“Promise me you’ll be responsible, Riley. Use protection.”
Okay this reached beyond the boundaries of weird. Taylor sighed, shifting her sweet, round bottom against my stomach. “Riley Jr.” awakened. I tucked the quilt between us and draped my arm over her waist, wishing Lydia Daniels would go home. Now.
“Riley, there’s a reason I lost it. You see, I was only seventeen when I got pregnant with Taylor’s mother. The baby’s father was a smooth talker who worked on our ranch for the summer. He made me promises of a life together, traveling and seeing exotic places—a fantasy that appealed to a young girl trapped in farm town, facing a future as a rancher’s wife.
“My boyfriend was backward when it came to romance, so when ‘Mr. Tight Jeans’ told me he loved me, I believed the lie. He knew all the right things to do and say, even promised to marry me if I gave him what he wanted. Then one morning I found the bunkhouse empty, his room cleaned out. He’d left me behind with a shattered heart.
“I lied and told my boyfriend the baby belonged to him. We’d had sex a couple of times, so he didn’t question me. But then Taylor’s mother was born a month early at a healthy eight pounds, her head was crowned with thick blonde hair. We both had dark brown hair. He finally asked the ultimate and I told him the truth. The man had the decency to stay with me another three years, working two jobs to give me enough money to survive on my own. That’s when I bought the house down the way. I raised Grace by myself.
“When she went away to college, she met Richard, a law student with a promising career like Michael. I pushed her into marrying him when I found out she was pregnant with Taylor, even though she had her doubts. I didn’t find out for ten years, that their marriage had been a sham. He’d dated other women behind Grace’s back, and the worst was, she allowed it. All for the sake of appearances. Not even for Taylor. On Taylor’s eighteenth birthday, they announced their divorce, spinning her world out of control. She arrived on my doorstep the next day.
“Riley, my point to all of this is that I don’t want Taylor to repeat history. She’s got a chance to break the bad karma. You’re a nice kid, but Michael can give her the life she needs to survive. That’s why I got so upset. If she got pregnant it would ruin everything. Michael’s made it very clear he wants Taylor to be a virgin when they marry.”
At this point, my head snapped back in the game. I’d tuned out most of the story because I didn’t want pictures in my head to match the words describing Lydia Daniels as a barnyard slut.
“They’re engaged?”
“He’s asked her, but with the divorce, she told him she couldn’t deal with the pressure. That’s the main reason she’s here. She needed time to sort through her feelings before starting law school in the fall.”
“Taylor doesn’t want to go to law school. She doesn’t want t
o be with Michael, either. She says he’s who everyone else wants her to be with. Not her.”
“Love is overrated, Riley. With the way the world is, she needs security. Not love.”
Taylor turned over and nestled onto my chest, mumbling. I folded my arms tightly around her, keeping her safe from the outside world grabbing at her. Safe from her grandmother—safe from Michael.
“No offense, Mrs. Daniels, but you’re wrong. Taylor deserves to be loved.”
“Riley, you’re not saying you’re in love with my granddaughter, are you? You can’t be in love this fast. You’re too young and naïve to think otherwise. Sorry, boy, but the only thing you’re feeling is lust…not love.”
I wanted to wipe the smirk off her face. Every muscle tightened, causing Taylor to stir again. I didn’t want her to wake and find her grandmother sitting next to the bed, nor did I want anyone taking her from my arms. Not tonight.
“Mrs. Daniels,” I hissed as quietly as possible, “I’m going to ask you to leave.”
“I’m taking my granddaughter with me.”
Her voice jarred Taylor awake and she looked at me, blurry eyed, then to her grandmother. “Grammy? What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing, cupcake. Don’t you think this behavior is a bit questionable? You’re in a boy’s bed for crying out loud!”
“Shhh! Grammy, you’ll wake everyone in the house. And I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here tonight.”
“Taylor!” she gasped.
“What? Is my behavior inappropriate? Would it be better if we were screwing in a stall on pile of hay?” All the oxygen in the room swirled and circumvented into Taylor’s grandmother’s gaped mouth. “That’s right. I heard the last of your sordid story Don’t sit in judgment, Grams. I’m spending the night with Riley. You on the other hand, can take your sanctimonious self home and wonder what I’m doing in his bed. I’m not planning on having sex, but if I do, that will be my business.”
The door slammed against its frame and Lydia Daniels’s feet clicked loudly on the stairs, the echo following her out the entry door.
I kissed Taylor, welcoming the taste of minty toothpaste on her tongue and the torturous way it stroked the roof of my mouth. I focused on her lips, swollen and covered in a dewy sheen.
“So you’re thinking about having sex with me, huh?” I teased.
“Riley Martin, I’m always thinking about having sex with you.”
Sixteen
MORNING HANGOVER
Taylor
Riley’s breath felt warm on the back of my neck, the raspy sounds of a snore rattling deep in his throat. I turned, nuzzled my head under his chin, feeling his arms constrict tighter.
“Morning,” I whispered, praying my morning breath wasn’t lethal.
His eyes remained shut, but the corners of his lips pulled. “Shhh. Don’t remind me. If I don’t open my eyes, you won’t disappear.”
“I’m only going to disappear across the hall to the bathroom. Keep the bed warm for me?”
“Better hurry. You could have company if Riley Jr. discovers its morning.”
I giggled and lightly kissed the smile on his face, before tiptoeing to the bathroom. There were no signs of life, all the bedroom doors shut. When I’d finished my business, I opened the bathroom door, finding Riley leaning against the door frame. I also noticed other parts of Riley awake. His boxer shorts showed obvious signs of being tighter than normal.
“You ogling, woman?”
“Impressive,” I commented before scurrying back across the hall and burrowing beneath the covers. I snuggled into the spot in the sheets still warm from Riley’s body heat.
He snuck in beside me, his cold feet brushing mine. When I tried to move away from the icy appendages, he trapped me inside his arms and tucked his toes between my legs.
“Riley!” I gasped, only to have my protest silenced by a deep kiss. Hands slipped under my sweatshirt, his cool fingers feeling alarmingly wonderful on my bare breasts. “Riley,” I moaned quietly.
I fisted my hands in the sides of his T-shirt, pushing the fabric up so I could taste his chest. Salty—a musky smell caught in the fine hairs tickling my cheeks. He yanked his shirt off, then mine. I didn’t protest, relishing the wonderful feel of skin on skin. Soft, warm, brushing—a silky slide, opening every nerve ending.
Maybe it was Grammy’s lecture, her hidden secret, or my mother’s weakness toward my father that fueled my need to be reckless. In any event, I didn’t censure Riley’s advances, until he slid his hands slid inside the waistband of my sweatpants.
“No, Riley—I’m not ready.”
“No, not okay. I’m dying here, Taylor. I want to go to the next level. I don’t want bits and pieces of you. I want you, baby. All of you.” He kissed me hard, his fingers tickling the sensitive skin below my navel.
I shoved against his chest. “I said no! Can’t you take what I can give right now without pushing for more?”
He flipped onto his back, heaved a loud, frustrated huff. I pillowed my head on his chest, listening to his heart slam against his ribs. His fingers pulled through the strands of my hair, twirling circles on my bare back that sent shivers down my spine.
“Is it that Michael guy? Have you taken some oath of celibacy?”
“While Michael would like to be the one to pop my cherry, it isn’t happening. I told you, Riley, I don’t like Michael that way.” I crawled on top of Riley, pressing my lips to his. “If there’s any ‘cherry picking’ to be done, I think I’d like you to be the one doing it.”
His smile was so wide it had to hurt. Something crinkled in his fingers and he held up a bright blue foil packet. “So I should keep a couple lozenges in my pocket, just in case?”
“Sounds like a good plan. ‘Be prepared’ like a good Boy Scout.” Our next kissing frenzy was interrupted by the sound of a door closing in the hallway.
“Shit! ‘Parent alert’.” He threw me the sweatshirt I’d been wearing, and quickly pulled on his jeans and a T-shirt.
“Turn over and pretend you’re asleep,” he whispered.
Riley grabbed the bedspread off the bed and wrapped into a cocoon on the bean bag chair in the corner. The door creaked and Sheriff Martin poked his head inside. Without looking, I could feel the burn of his eyes in the back of my head.
“Riley?” he whispered. Riley faked a raspy half-snore. “Riley!” he hissed.
“Huh?” Riley grumped. “What?”
“Can I see you downstairs?”
I could sense the tension snaking into the room. The bean bag chair squished under Riley’s weight and the door creaked shut. I waited to make sure no one remained in the room watching me, before rolling over. The sound of muffled voices carried up the stairwell and under the crack at the bottom of the door. I slipped from bed and peeked into the hall. No one lurked, so I stepped out and perched on the top stair to listen.
“Riley, I’m not sure what to make of this situation. Lydia Daniels is worried sick about her granddaughter and the fact she spent the night in your bed isn’t helping.”
“Dad, we weren’t sleeping together.”
“Riley, you’re old enough to be responsible for your actions. Be safe, or be ready to change your name from ‘Riley the stud’ to ‘Riley the dad’.”
His dad launched into some lecture about safe sex and casual relationships, all the mundane stuff drilled into teenagers from every angle about abstinence. Except one. The Trojan commercials.
A hand tugged the back of my sweatshirt, startling me. Jaxson took a seat beside me on the step. “I believe the last time I saw you, that tag was on the inside.” My cheeks warmed. “Way to go, Riley.”
“You’re wrong, so dial down the ‘man parade’. Nothing happened last night. Sorry to disappoint.” When I stood, Jaxson’s hand wrapped my ankle.
“Too bad. Just so you know, my door doesn’t have a lock. Riley sleeps pretty sound. You can come play with me then crawl back next to him and he’d
never be the wiser. But you would.”
“You’re a pig. No wonder Riley keeps you hidden. Now let go of my ankle and crawl back under your bridge, before I scream.”
Jaxson’s hands went up in defense. “Someone’s not a ‘morning person’.”
No longer interested in the discussion downstairs and more concerned with ditching his leering brother, I retreated back into Riley’s room. My underwear and dress were washed and folded on the dresser. I must have slept at some point and Riley took care of things, or his mother knows I slept without my underwear. I chose to believe Riley handled matters.
I fastened my bra, slid on my lacy white thong and had my hands trapped inside my dress, suspended over my head, when the door opened. I froze, picturing Jaxson drooling, his Dad clenching his heart, Dirk never looking at my face again, or his mother barring me from coming within a mile of her son.
“Wow. A butterfly tat on your ass! Hot stuff, babe.”
Riley.
I yanked my dress over my shoulders and turned to face him, fumbling with the buttons. His hands covered mine, finishing the top two. He kissed me tenderly, pensively, keeping a slight distance. I desperately wanted to drop my eyes to see if there was a big reason he couldn’t come closer, but I met his eyes instead.
“I should go.”
“Let me drive you.”
I didn’t argue. Walking a mile this early in the morning didn’t appeal to me, nor did sitting at Riley’s kitchen table and facing his father, or worse, Jaxson.
**
We pulled to the side of Grammy’s house after nearly disappearing in a couple of deep puddles in the driveway. She would be awake, but I didn’t want to go in. I also knew after last night, she wouldn’t call me inside either.
Riley looked contemplative, his chin pressed to his fist, gaze somewhere beyond the windshield.
“Penny for your thoughts, handsome.”
“Careful, don’t bankrupt your trust fund,” he grinned, angling to face me.
I giggled. “Seriously, what are you thinking about?”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
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