“Why’d you leave? We were havin’ fun.” He pats the bed beside him and against my better judgment, I sit. He moves his hand to rest on my back.
“You passed out… with your head in my lap.”
“So? You probably watched me sleep, played with my hair, and other weird shit girls do.”
I blush and duck my head down, hoping he wasn’t pretending to be asleep to see what I would do, because that’s exactly what I did. “Not even close,” I say.
“If I pass out while we are hangin’ out just wake me up, seriously.” He rises from his back. When he shifts to hang his feet off my bed, our thighs touch. With him inches from my face, I study him. His amber eyes, the stubble lining his jaw, and the mystery scar above his brow.
“Well, you shouldn’t do that to girls. Maybe it was a wakeup call,” I whisper, needing to distract myself from him. I can’t think straight with him this close to me.
He leans in, holding my gaze. “Maybe it was.”
I don’t have time to think of a snarky response or move away, his lips touch mine, he pulls back to judge my reaction. His right hand snakes up my neck and rests in my hair. He pulls my mouth back to his, this time it’s not brief. His tongue parts my lips and caresses my mouth.
I used to question why I never kissed anyone, why I didn’t date. Within a second of Hayze’s touch I know the answer. Nothing would compare to this, every nerve in my body awakens as he deepens the kiss.
I lean back on my bed and prop my body up with my elbows. He pulls back. His eyes are burning as he looks at me. When he pushes himself from the bed, I even out my labored breath; he sits, this time at the end of my bed with space between us.
“That was a first for me too, ya know?” He said.
“You don’t bother with kissing? You just go straight to home plate?”
He smirks, “Nah, pulling away from you, having enough respect to stop.”
“You never cease to amaze me. You made yourself sound like an asshole and a saint all within the same sentence.”
He laughs and walks over to me. He leans down, places his hands on the outside of my thighs and brushes his lips against mine.
“See you tomorrow?”
I nod my head, “Tomorrow.”
seven
“Are you dating my brother or not?”
I lose interest in my textbook and toss it to the table. Lea watches me, anxiously chewing the side of her mouth. I drag my legs from the top of the table and sit straight in my chair. The month of October treats Texas good. The angry brown leaves scatter on the ground from the drought, but the cool wind allows us to spend this gorgeous day outside. I take another sip of my coffee and sit it down on the table.
“Well?” Lea urges me to answer. Her face is anxious, yet excited.
“Oh, he’s your brother now?” I taunt her.
Her face screws into a scowl. “Seriously, I’m dying over here!”
“C’mon Lea, Hayze isn’t the dating type,” I say, swirling my Frappuccino around with my straw. I know she’s wondering what’s going on between Hayze and me, and, well…that makes two of us. We haven’t had the talk, and I’m not sure where we stand. We hang out¸ we kiss, and that sums us up in one sentence.
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” She yells and I bring a finger to my mouth, silently asking her to quiet down.
I shrug my shoulders and slide my sunglasses back over my eyes. She groans in frustration. I smile as I bring the cup to my mouth. Lea keeps badgering me about Hayze, but I won’t tell her anything. I have tried and then I imagine hearing about my brother’s experiences and I stop dead in my tracks.
“Look who it is, maybe I should ask him what’s going on,” Lea says. I turn and find Hayze walking up. He looks so simple in a white V-neck and jeans, even still he draws attention. I won’t deny that the girls looking in his direction piss me off.
“You wouldn’t,” I say, daring her to.
She leans over the table and waves. Hayze cuts across the sidewalk and hops the iron fence that separates the patio from the campus. He pulls out the chair beside me.
“What are you doing over here?” Lea asks.
“I was going to the dorm, you saved me the trip,” he says, smiling at me.
“Why were you going to the dorm?” Lea asks and winks at me. My eye roll is shielded by my glasses.
“Just seeing if Taylor wanted a ride to work,” he says. He looks at me with a boyish grin; his dimples are in full force.
“That sounds promising,” Lea chimes in. “Taylor, what do you think? Do you want a ride?”
“I’d love a ride.” My voice is short and much harsher than intended.
Hayze looks between us before standing. “You two are so fucking weird. I’ll come by in an hour,” he says. He surprises me when he places a quick kiss on my cheek before walking away, Lea smiles, pleased with herself.
“I’m going to change,” I tell her before she can make a comment.
I walk to the dorm and change my clothes. I smooth my black Mystic shirt and tie my hair back. I inspect myself in the mirror, usually I don’t wear makeup to school or work, but today I decide to. I’d like to believe I’m doing it for myself; I chew on my bottom lip and pull out my small makeup bag. One coat of mascara, lip gloss and I slip on my shoes as there’s a knock on the door.
“Ready?” Hayze asks. I nod and follow him to his car.
I send my mom and Scott an update text on the ride to work. They’re the only two that keep in contact after the family dinner situation. Although my mom is upset about it, cutting ties with my dad isn’t considered a loss to me.
Hayze parks in the back, facing away from the bar. He slides the key out and shoves it in his pocket. He leans in and kisses me once. I peel my eyes open to find that he’s watching me in amusement.
“That’s all I get?” I ask, bravely. I’m surprise at my words as they tumble from my mouth. His lips find mine again. The kiss lingers, I part my mouth and he pulls back.
“You’re gonna make me late, woman.” I giggle and mutters than I’m insatiable.
I climb out of the car, he jogs over to me. He takes my hand in his and we walk to the bar. When the door comes into sight I drop his hand. He looks at me, his brows furrow. I can tell that his mood instantly sours.
“What?” I ask.
“You don’t wanna be seen holding my hand,” he says. His mouth presses into a hard line, he walks ahead of me and holds the door open.
“I didn’t say that.” I shake my head, looking at him as if he’s lost his mind.
“You didn’t need to, Taylor.”
“I just don’t know if we should walk into the bar holding hands,” I say. Hoping no one comes this way, I step in the corner.
“Why? You don’t want other guys to see?” My jaw drops and I push past him. He catches up to and grabs my wrists. “Taylor, stop.”
“What!” I seethe.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says. His hand runs down his face with frustration.
“Okay, whatever. Let’s talk about it later,” I say.
“No, we’re talking about it now!”
I narrow my eyes at him. I want to tell him off, I want to yell that no one demands that I do something, but I’m embarrassed and it’s the only reason I’m giving in. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate to walk in our place of work holding hands. Now move!”
His face falls with defeat but he lets me pass. I spot Shea sitting in a booth alone, crunching on nachos. Her eyes snap from her phone when she sees me.
“Hey Tay, join me,” she says.
She shoves her purse and plate over to make room for me. Cheese sticks and nachos fill the plates. I collapse in the booth next to her. She has an open textbook in front of her. This corner of the bar is always closed off, the lights are dimmed and the booths are dusty and yet we seem to migrate to the room.
“Is something bothering you?” She closes the book and folds her arms on the table.
“Nope,” I say.
“You sure? You look pretty upset after that little argument,” she says and points to the front of the bar, I sigh.
“Hayze is,” I sigh, thinking of a word to describe him. I’m almost positive Webster would have to add an entire new word to the dictionary to accomplish that. “Intense,” I say, finally.
“Yeah…But why is that affecting you?” She pops a chip in her mouth, crunching as I think. That is the question of the year, right? Why is he even affecting me?
“We’ve hung out a few times and we kissed and it’s just getting, well, intense,” I say, repeating myself.
She rolls her eyes and pops another chip in her mouth. “He’s trying to sleep with you,” she groans with frustration.
I shake my head. “No, that’s the thing. He’s not trying to sleep with me.” I realize how naïve I sound but he’s had opportunities to try and he’s the one that stops us from going further. I frown at that thought; he’s the one with restraint. Weeks ago I was repulsed at the stories I heard about him and the things I witnessed. But now that’s changed, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
“And you want him to?” Her brows furrow, her eyes drop to the table, thinking, as she scoops cheese with a chip.
“What? No, I didn’t say that! I don’t know what I want. I just, I want him to calm down, I guess.” I shrug my shoulders. I rest my forehead in my hands. I thought venting would help sort things out in my head, but I was wrong. Now I feel dumb not only to myself, but to Shea. “It’s stupid,” I say. “He’ll be over it in a few days. He never goes after just one girl,” I laugh.
“You are right about that, he never goes after a girl,” she says, stressing each word.
Randy walks up and slaps the back of the booth to get our attention. “Doors are open,” he says and walks off.
Shea picks up her mess, stacks the plates and stands. “My boyfriend can be like that, but now that we have space things are better,” she says.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I tell her. She winks and walks away with the plates.
I walk in the main room, thinking about what Shea said. Space. I’m surrounded by Hayze throughout my day. Our paths cross at school, we work together, his sister is my freaking best friend. She might be right about one thing; we do spend a lot of time together, but is it too much? The bar is quiet but steadily filling up as Friday night’s crowd shuffles through the door. Eric and Jace are greeting tables, Hayze stands at the bar, pouring drinks. I scan the room for new tables, spotting a group of girls. I walk to them, but their sights are set on Hayze.
With reluctance, the girls give me their drink orders. Their disappointment is evident as I walk away, but the guys are busy with other tables. A huddle of guys walks in; they take the tall table next to the girls.
I cringe when Corey staggers in behind them. How is he always here? His eyes are not glossed over, so that’s a good sign. “Taylor!” He calls out as he sits next to them.
“Hi…” I say, hoping to embarrass him. Maybe he’ll leave me alone.
“Corey,” he says. His face falls and the guys laugh at him.
“Right,” I said. I snap my fingers and slap my hand to my forehead. “I’m bad with names.” I write their drink orders on my pad and take it to the bar. Hayze grabs it from my hands, looking over my head to the table and then his eyes are fixed on me again.
“Shea’s taking that table,” he says.
I frown. “Why?”
“She doesn’t have a table yet,” he says. He fills the beers to the rim and sets them on the bar for Jace. I scan the room, finding Shea talking to a table.
“She has that one,” I say. I point to her, he looks up and shrugs.
“Oh, guess you are right. Well, she wants your table.” He continues to make drinks without glancing up at me.
“You mean you asked her to take it,” I deadpan, catching on to his trick. I cross my arms, waiting for him to defend himself but he doesn’t look like he cares.
“Same difference,” he says, shrugging. He passes off drinks to Jace and moves around the bar to avoid me.
“No,” I yell over the music and his head snaps up, glaring at me. I grab the drinks from the bar and walk to their table.
Hayze storms in my direction. “Taylor.” He grabs my hand and tries to pull me to the corner of the bar.
“You are insane, that guy is actually being really nice to me. I don’t need you to save me,” I say and shove past him.
“You are new, Shea handles this all the time,” he said.
“I’m not going to hide every time some drunk idiot comes in the bar. He’s fine tonight,” I said. He looks unsure. “I have got this,” I stress to him.
“Yeah, well we’ll see what happens when he gets a few drinks in him,” he shouts back.
“I will handle it. You don’t have to keep an eye on me just because I’m your sisters best friend,” I say with narrow eyes.
“You know it’s not like that.”
“Whatever, Hayze, I honestly don’t care,” I say. With his jaw clenched, he walks to the bar.
Shea’s warning replays in my head, he won’t let guys bother us here. I stalk over to my tables, as friendly as possible I ask them if they want more drinks. With Hayze’s glare beating down my back all night, I handle any situation that arises. I don’t ask him for anything, I only speak to him when he’s the only one at the bar. When the bar closes I sit by Shea and count out our money together.
“Nineteen is sneaking up on you,” Shea says. She counts her tips out, leaving a percentage to the bar.
“What…When?” Hayze eyes glue to my face as he slips in the booth beside me.
“Halloween,” I tell him.
Shea folds her arms on the table and smiles at me. “Just so you know, we’re throwing a party,” she said.
“No! We can go out or something! No party!” I threaten with my finger pointed at them. I look at Shea then to Hayze. She frowns and shakes her head.
“We’ll think of something. We still have time to decide,” she says.
Hayze disappears into the back. Shea stands and pulls her keys from her pocket. I’ve been going back and forth about this all night, but I know what I have to do. I glance around the room before standing with Shea. “You live in the dorms, right?”
“Yeah,” she says.
I look over my shoulder and back to her. “Mind if I ride with you?”
She shakes her head. “Yeah, where’s your car?”
“I rode with Hayze,” I say. I watch her face shift from happy to concerned. I know I shouldn’t drag her into it but I have no choice. I’ll start driving myself, but tonight I need her help. I need space to figure out what I’m getting myself into.
“Oh boy, what am I getting in the middle of?”
I laugh once, but she doesn’t look convinced. “Nothing, I just don’t want him to drive all the way back to the dorms. It’s kinda late,” I say.
“I’ll wait in the car,” she tells me. Her eyes drift behind me and I look up to see Hayze walking to me.
“You ready?” He asks. He walks to me wraps his arms around my middle. I pat his chest and step back.
“Actually Shea said she would give me a ride, since we are in the same building. I don’t want you to have to drive out of your way.”
His face falls. He steps back and grabs his keys from the table. “Okay.”
“See you tomorrow,” I say. I walk from the bar. Shea is standing next to a Corolla. When I hear someone stomping behind me, I stop. Hayze slams into me from behind and wraps his arms around my shoulders.
“Hayze,” I say, breathless. My intentions were protest but my voice comes out flustered. He plants a kiss on my cheek and walks away and then he turns and winks.
“Goodnight Shea,” he says. She waves to him then turns to me. Her eyebrows shoot up. She climbs into the car without saying anything.
“Does your boyfriend go to ETU?” I ask. I’m eager to get back to our conv
ersation. She made it sound like they had problems before they distanced themselves.
“No, he’s in Louisiana now.” She frowns and shakes her head. As she pulls in the dorms she laughs softly.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Hayze,” she laughs. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“We are friends,” I remind her. “Just wait, when he sees this little flirtation isn’t going anywhere, he’ll move on.”
She watches me, with one brow cocked. Her eyes inspect my face, with a funny look, as if she sees something I don’t. “Okay, Tay. Get some rest.”
eight
The dreaded last day of October approached, Halloween, a time for girls to flaunt lingerie at parties, and my birthday. But this year is different. I no longer have to explain to my friends why I can’t have a party, or celebrate. They would crinkle their nose at my dad’s rules and even laugh behind my back. That’s in the past, this year I can be whoever I want to be.
Like the Texas forecast, Hayze’s mood swings were unpredictable. As I let myself inside the dorm, a dancing figure catches my eye. Flipping on the light, I find a balloon tied to side table and a banner draped above my bed.
“Surprise,” Lea yells from her bed.
“Is this really necessary?” My brows pinch together. I toss my backpack on the floor and plant my hands on my hips. “I thought we’re going out tonight, what’s this?” I point to the silly decorations crowding the corner of my space.
“That’s just for fun…We’re still going out.”
“What’s the plan?” I ask her.
She shrugs her shoulders, with huge grin crowding her face. “You’ll see.”
“Ugh, Did I tell you how much I hate surprises?” I roll my eyes and fall on my bed. I crawl to the top and push my hands under my pillow.
“You’ll love this one,” she assures me. A smile is engraved on her face; her dimples dance as she speaks. “Oh! I got you something.”
“You didn’t have to get me a present,” I say.
“It’s not really a present, more like an outfit for tonight.”
“Oh God,” I whisper. She tosses me a sack. When I see the orange logo on the side, I cringe. I pull the metallic material from the bag and hold it out for inspection.
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