by Naomi Niles
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.
Chapter Twenty
Taylor
I couldn’t sleep, so I scrolled through Twitter while I lay in bed. A text came through with a picture.
It was of me and Dylan, kissing at the park. It was from Bailey. “Call me.”
Oh shit. So much for being on the down low. I called Bailey, who hadn’t spoken to me in days. Not since the incident. They were all mad at me because Greg had been kicked out of school.
None of them could grasp that I was the victim in all of this.
“What?”
“I saw you and Dylan today at the park.”
Shit. “So?”
“I would bet Daddy would love to know what delinquent boy is doing with his daughter,” Bailey said.
Maybe this hiding thing wasn’t going to work so well. “Where were you?”
“Going for a walk and I hid behind a tree. Very Romeo and Juliet.”
We were not star-crossed lovers. Shit. Shit. Shit. “Very classy, spying on people.”
“If you we doing something you didn’t want anyone to see, you shouldn’t have been in a public park.”
“What’s the point of his conversation?” I asked.
“I have demands.”
“You have demands?”
“If you don’t do them, I’ll tell Daddy, and guess who will be back in his trailer faster than you can say drug addict.”
Bailey was right. My father would kick Dylan out if he found out. What had I been thinking? I’d hoped to ease my father into the idea. He gave me just about anything I wanted. If I wanted Dylan, couldn’t I have him?
“What are your demands?”
“I’ll send them to you in a text. Sleep tight, Taylor.”
Bailey hung up on me. I wanted to throw the phone across the room. This was the worst. Why did Bailey have to see us? I called Helena.
“Lo.”
“Did I wake you?”
“That is what people do at night,” she said.
“I have two things I have to tell you.”
“Okay, but ignore my snores. I’m really listening.”
“Helena.”
“Okay, I’m awake. Go ahead.”
“Dylan and I kissed today.”
I heard her covers rustling. “Okay. Now, I’m really awake. When did this happen?”
I guess I had to tell her everything. “Well, I gave him that present I bought him.”
“Obviously that went well.”
“Yes, it did, ultimately. I left it for him, and he came and found me. He ended up kissing me. We went for a drive and we talked about being together.”
“That’s great, but what about your parents?”
“Yeah, that’s part of the problem. We weren’t going to tell them. Just keep it to ourselves.”
“Did you really think you’d get away with that?”
“We’d hoped.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’ here.”
“Well, apparently Bailey was at the park. She took a picture of Dylan and me kissing.”
“That bitch.”
“It’s worse, Helena. She told me she would tell my parents if I didn’t do what she asked,” I said.
“What exactly does she want you to do?”
“I don’t know yet. She’s going to text me her demands.”
“You need to tell Dylan.”
“I am not telling Dylan,” I said. “This is my problem. If my parents find out, he’ll be back at the trailer. He has a lot to lose.”
“But it is both of you going through this. And knowing Dylan, he would want to know. He wouldn’t want you to go through this alone. He certainly wouldn’t want you to capitulate to Bailey.”
“Then, I’m in a bind.”
“You need to tell him.”
“I’m going to wait until I see the demands.”
“You know they are going to be outrageous. This is Bailey we’re talking about.”
My phone dinged. “Let me look at them and I’ll call you back.”
I read the text. The first thing on the list was to retract my statement to the police about Greg. What the hell? I couldn’t do that.
I called Helena and told her.
“You know you can’t do that. You and Dylan haven’t done anything wrong. You can stop this now and never have to tell your parents.”
“But I don’t want to lose Dylan.”
“Come on, Taylor. Don’t be so dramatic. You can still be friends.”
“But I don’t want to be friends.”
“It’s better than Dylan going back to the trailer. He’ll have a future. If you really care about him, that should be more important than the short term.”
Leave it to Helena to tell me what I didn’t want to hear. She was a true friend because she was not going to enable bad behavior. She wasn’t going to let me get away with anything. “You’re right.”
“I am, Taylor. Break it off with him. You can’t do this. It’s selfish.”
I hated when she was right. And, she was very right. I couldn’t hold Dylan back with my selfishness. My head knew the right answer. My heart didn’t like the answer.
“I have no argument, Helena. This really sucks. He’s the first guy I’ve liked in a few years. And, he’s a really good guy.”
“Well, he can’t be your really good guy.”
I groaned. “I know. So, what do I tell Bailey?”
“After you break it off with Dylan, tell her what you’ve done. She will have no hold over you. If she still tells your dad, tell him it was a moment of weakness and that you’ve broken up with him. Blame yourself so it doesn’t reflect badly on Dylan.”
Helena was so much smarter than I was. “What would I do without you? You are the best friend a girl could have.”
/> “You don’t want someone who will yes you to death?”
“No. You save my ass. That’s better.”
Helena laughed. “I got a test in the morning. Can I go back to sleep?”
“Love you, girl. Sleep tight.”
We disconnected. I hated what she had to say, but she was right. In the morning, I’d have to talk to Dylan. He’d been right, after all. Everyone else was right. I sighed.
Story of my life.
Chapter Twenty One
Dylan
I didn’t know what to think when Taylor approached me the next morning. I was hoping for a kiss, but she was standing in the hallway, keeping her distance. This couldn’t be good.
“Uh, we need to talk,” she said.
“Okay. Here?”
“There is no other place.”
“Fine.”
She sighed. “We can’t do this. You were right.”
My heart hurt a little, but this didn’t make sense. “What changed from last night?”
“I just had more time to think about it. We can’t risk you being kicked out, and I can’t lie to my father.”
I nodded, but I didn’t think she was telling me the whole story. We went down to breakfast. I couldn’t argue with her, at least not in the house. I’d been saying the same things yesterday, but she’d talked me out of it. What had talked her into my way of thinking?
I chose to let it lie, but when no one was on the room, I checked her phone.
Bailey. Of course. If she couldn’t have me, she didn’t want Taylor to.
When they arrived at school, I found Bailey. She always had an entourage around her, the way Taylor had before the Greg situation. What crappy friends Taylor had chosen – other than Helena.
“Bailey.”
The girl spun around, a seductive smile on her face. I wanted to tell her to save it; it wouldn’t work on me.
“Did you change your mind about loser girl? Come back to a real woman?”
I glanced at all of her followers. “Beat it.”
They scattered like cockroaches when the light turns on. I’d seen that more than once in my life. Bailey licked her lips. She wasn’t so brave now that she didn’t have an audience. “What do you want, Dylan?”
“I want you to stop threatening Taylor.”
“She told you about that? She wasn’t supposed to. It was part of my demands.”
“I don’t care what your demands are, stop it. We aren’t together, and if we were, it would be none of your business.”
“Really? I have a picture that says differently.”
She looked smug. I’ve never hit a woman and I wouldn’t, but she made me want to. “A moment of weakness. Won’t happen again. And for the record, Taylor didn’t tell me. I snooped and looked at her phone.”
Bailey was willing to destroy Taylor, someone who had been her friend. I had dodged a bullet with this one. She was bat shit crazy.
I stalked away to find Taylor. She was at her locker, staring at the contents of it.
“It’s taken care of,” I said.
She turned to me slowly. “What is?”
“Bailey.”
“How do you know about Bailey?”
“I looked on your phone. Look, we don’t have to be together, but I’m not going to let her ruin any more of your life.”
She looked up at me with sad eyes. “Well, she was one of my closest friends, so she knew my kryptonite.”
I put a hand on Taylor’s shoulder. “I can come clean to your dad. Then you don’t have to worry about Bailey. I’ll take the blame.”
“No, Dylan. I’m more to blame than you.”
I shook my head. This is one of those decision I would have to make more and more of as a man. “No, Taylor. I’ll make this right. I promise.”
Before she could say more, her phone rang. “It’s my mother.”
She answered it and her face became distraught. She disconnected and stared into space. “My dad’s been in an accident. He’s in the hospital.”
I grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
“Don’t we need to talk to the office?” she said.
Right. We were old enough to sign ourselves out. I dragged her to the office, Bailey forgotten for the moment. We signed ourselves out, and I drove her car and her to the hospital.
Mrs. Dean was there and she hugged Taylor. She mouthed a “Thank you” to me over Taylor’s shoulder. Maybe I was being dismissed, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Mr. Dean was my family now, too.
Some crappy daytime show was on the television, but no one else was in the room, so I turned it off.
“I’m going to get some coffee.”
I left them crying together and found the cafeteria. I bought three coffees and brought them back. “Here.”
Taylor and her mother took them absentmindedly. I sat down near them. I didn’t want to intrude, but I felt I should be there.
Mrs. Dean reached out to me, squeezing my hand. “Thanks, Dylan. For being here.”
For the first time since I moved in with them, I felt warmth from her – genuine warmth. I nodded, squeezing back.
“Have you heard anything?”
“No, they’re still working on him. From what I can tell, another car t-boned him,” she said.
Taylor was curled up next to her. She sniffed. My heart went out to her, and I longed to gather her up on my lap.
“They said something about surgery,” she said.
I was scared, but I couldn’t let on. I was the man and had to be strong. Mr. Dean had taught me that in the short time I’d known him. “I’ll go find out.”
“No, Dylan, stay here with Taylor. I’ll go. I’m his wife.”
She composed herself and stood. I took her seat to put my arm around Taylor. “He’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do, okay? I know you’re scared, but this is a good hospital. They patched up my mother,” I said.
I had no idea about anything, but Taylor needed comfort and I was going to give it to her. Bailey was forgotten. Greg was forgotten. All we had to think about was Mr. Dean. I’ve never prayed, but as I sat there with Taylor looking so small, I wanted to hope there was a God and that he’d let Mr. Dean live.
Not for me, but for this girl who had my heart.
Chapter Twenty Two
Taylor
I couldn’t sleep. My father had come out of surgery and now they weren’t sure what was going to happen. My mother had opted to stay at the hospital. Dylan had driven me home. He’d made me eat something before we both went to bed.
I stared at the ceiling. I couldn’t get the image of my father helpless in a hospital bed out of my mind. I’d never seen him that way. He was always my hero. The surgery had gone well, but they weren’t sure what was going on since he was in a coma.
I punched my pillow. My phone dinged.
“I’m here if you need me,” Helena had written.
Of course, she would. She had been my best friend for years. I might have lost her because of the B girls, but fate had intervened. I almost didn’t care anymore if I was popular. I wanted my daddy back and I wanted to be with Dylan.
I called Helena. “Thanks.”
“You need to talk?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know what to say. It was so scary seeing him that way. My dad has always been larger than life to me.”
“He is. I’m sure it was scary. You want to come over?”
“No, I’m in bed.”
“Still. Get in the car in your pajamas. I’ll be here.”
“No, I want to just be home and in my own bed.”
“I’ll come over there.”
Helena would. Why had I taken her for granted? “No, but thank you, Helena. You are the best friend a girl could have. I’m sorry if I’ve ever taken you for granted.”
“It’s okay, Taylor. How’s Dylan doing?”
“He has been so sweet and such a rock for my mom and me. He drove me to the hospital. He dr
ove me home and made me dinner.”
“He cooked?”
“It was just heating up leftovers, but it was what I needed,” I said.
“Aww. How cute. Will you be in school tomorrow?”
“My mom wants me to go, but I don’t think I could concentrate. Unless my dad wakes up in the night, I can’t even think about school. I already cancelled practice for tomorrow.”
“Good for you, Taylor. You need some time.”
“Let me let you go.”
“It’s okay, Taylor.”
“I think I want to sleep. Thanks.”
I disconnected. Then, I stared at the ceiling again. I yawned, but sleep wasn’t visiting me tonight, so I got out of bed. Turning on the light, I blinked to get used to the brightness.
I didn’t want to go on Facebook or Instagram. I didn’t really care about what anyone was doing online tonight – or this morning, since it was after midnight.
I peeked out my door. Dylan was asleep. Or at least in the dark. I wanted a human here and I regretted not having Helena come over. Her mother would have let her, she was a sweet woman.
I stood in my doorway, looking at the dark hallway. I really wanted Dylan to hold me, but I felt guilty for waking him up. He wouldn’t get mad at me, though.
I stalked down the hallway to his door and knocked softly. If I woke him, then it was meant to be. He didn’t answer. I let my eyes adjust back to the dark and opened his door. He was sprawled on his bed. Then he shifted and I froze. Had I awakened him? No. He shifted to his side.
If I crawled under the covers, I could gather warmth from him. If I did it carefully, he wouldn’t even know I was there. I’d go back to my own bed after, and I’d feel better. I lifted the covers carefully.
I slid underneath then froze. He didn’t move. I scooted closer to him until I could feel his warmth. He was all hard planes, not nearly as skinny as he had been when he joined us, and I had to admit that I had enjoyed watching him fill out.
My father had weights in a room off of my part of the basement and Dylan had been using them. I leaned closer. He smelled so good.
I wasn’t touching him, but my fingers itched to feel the muscles. He was only wearing boxers and I was invading his space, but I really needed human comfort.
The tears started and I tried to cry quietly.
“Taylor?”
Dylan shifted away from me.