Indelible Love Series + Entwined Bundle

by DW Cee

  “Do I have a choice?” I dared, but Max interceded.

  “Emily, you go in and rest. We can all clean up after ourselves. We’ll even bathe the twins and bring them to you ready for bed when they’re done in the pool.”

  Jake looked happy. “Great, Davis! I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Keep Jane in line and I think you’ll do all right in this family.”

  Before I could say anything, Jake pulled Emily towards the house when all of a sudden, we heard a screeching sound from one of the guys.

  “Jake! Emily‼ What the hell is this in the pool?” Nick hollered.

  We all ran over to the pool as quickly as possible, and died laughing when we saw what was in the pool. The guys on the shallow end with Ellie had no clue.

  “Um...guys,” Emily said while motioning for Nick to hand over Ellie. “It seems as though our princess has had a little accident. I’m sure the chlorine will kill the germs, but you’re all swimming in a mass of diarrhea.” Emily busted up as soon as she finished her sentence. I’d never seen five guys fly out of a pool so quickly.

  Well, I’d gone through how beautiful these two were on the outside, but on the inside, their bodies functioned like a one-year-old. They ate whatever, slept whenever, and pooped wherever. What a life!

  May 27, 2013 Truth or Dare

  I took off a few days from work this holiday weekend and joined Becky and Evie in planning our bachelorette party before Ashley and Jared’s Sunday wedding. Max was unusually busy with school and the hospital so he didn’t make it to any part of this celebration. My parents arrived on Saturday to join in the fun, and Jake and Emily, who were considering joining since Austin wasn’t too far from Emily’s parents’ grave, ended up making it as well. Since Emily was seven months prego and the twins were an absolute handful these days, theirs was a last minute decision. They also brought Laney as their babysitter. We all grew up together, and Ash’s parents were still buddy-buddy with my parents, so Ash had no issues with Jake’s family + Laney being a last minute add-on.

  All of the Taylor sisters came in to Austin between Friday and early Sunday morning, and Becky was my date since Al was out of the country on a business trip. Donovan came without a date, so the three of us kind of hung out the whole weekend. It was a fun time of catching up with all our childhood friends.

  “What’s up with you and Max these days?” Evie started a long round of conversation between the four of us. We were sitting at the bar of a posh restaurant because Ashley decided she only wanted the four of us at her “bachelorette party” and she wanted a mild one. She was exhausted with wedding prep and her three other bridesmaids who lived in town were driving her nuts.

  “Let’s table Max for a few minutes. What in God’s name is going on between you and my brother?”

  Evie and Ashley choked on their drinks, and Becky just stared at me expectantly and demandingly.

  “There’s nothing going on between me and your brother. Why do you ask that question?” Unfortunately, I wasn’t very convincing.

  “Donovan said something to Al, and Al mentioned something to me, and…spill the beans Jane, what’s up with you and Donovan?”

  “Donovan and I are friends, we are coworkers, and…”

  “Shit Jane,” Ash was getting impatient. “Just say it. Did you cheat on Max and do the nasty with our favorite older brother? Was Donovan good in bed? He’s so tall and long everywhere, is he as anatomically perfect as we all believe he is?”

  “Eew! That’s gross, Ash. I don’t need to hear that about my brother.”

  “Well we do. I want to know everything about Mr. Donovan Taylor.” Ashley downed her first drink before the rest of us even got started.

  “I can’t believe you girls would think that I would cheat on my boyfriend. Of course I did not cheat on Max, and of course I did not do the nasty with Donovan. He and I just have this unnecessary tension between us from time to time.”

  “What the hell? Details!” Becky demanded.

  “You know I’ve always crushed on your brother. A man doesn’t get much hotter than Donovan Taylor. Geez, he could audition for the role of Christian Grey with his brooding looks and charming charisma.”

  Ash and Evie both shouted, “Amen!”

  “Well, around the same time Max came back to me, or better stated I came back from New York, your brother started showing interest. We went to a Laker game at the onset of my ‘dating’ period with Max and that was it. We went out once, enjoyed ourselves and...what else is there to say…we’ve always gotten along really well.”

  “You haven’t done anything with my brother, have you?” Becky asked, sounding disgusted.

  “No!” I told all the ladies. “We’ve had a few meals together, and most of those are innocuous lunches during work time. Your brother has confessed that he is attracted to me, and I confess to no such thing. We are…we are nothing to one another.”

  Becky wanted to know, “What does Max think? Does Max even know?”

  “I made Max plenty angry and insecure thanks to your brother, Becky! Once Donovan and I worked the entire night, separately, but your brother gave me a ride home, and of course Max was there in the morning waiting for me and totally jumped to the wrong conclusion. That was not a happy morning.”

  “Now that you know that the hot Donovan Taylor is attracted to you, you going to act on it?” Ash asked suggestively.

  “How can I act on it? I am dating Max. I’m also in love with Max. I don’t want to ruin anything. Things are so good between us right now.”

  “But…” Ash kept at it.

  “Donovan asked me not too long ago if I thought that we would be as good in bed as we are out of bed.”

  “No!” All three girls spoke aloud.

  “And in all honesty, there are times when I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be with him. I know that’s not the thing to say, or the right thing to think when I’m with such a wonderful man, but I can’t help what’s looming between me and Donovan.”

  Ashley suggested, “I think you two should just do the nasty, get it over with and see if that’ll go anywhere. Then you need to come back and give us every detail of what a fine specimen Becky’s brother is.”

  “Ash,” Becky chided. “That’s disgusting. I don’t care to know about my brother’s sexual escapades.” Then she turned to me, “But I think if you are that curious, and since my brother is in agreement, you should give it a go with Donovan. I feel bad for Max because I know he’s a great guy, but there’s a part of me that knows you would be great for my brother! I’m so sorry to Max but I’m rooting for my brother, and hoping you’ll become my sister—though there is the slight complication with your cousin.”

  “What???” Ashley, Evie, and I gasped.

  Becky took a sip of her drink, a bite of her food, and an inordinate amount of time explaining herself.

  “Shit, Becky. You can’t just drop a bomb like that and eat and drink like nothing’s pressing! Which cousin are we talking about? Which cousin is within age range for our favorite big brother?” Ashley started mentally going through her Reid contacts.

  “When I was out in LA for the week of Mother’s Day, I saw my brother and Laney together—A LOT!”

  “Laney?” Ashley choked on her drink. “Is she even out of high school?”

  “Where have you been? She graduates this week from college.” Becky seemed to know more about my cousin than necessary.

  When had this Donovan-Laney connection happened and where the hell was I when this memo was disseminated? “Explain.” I demanded.

  “Well, there was...oh never mind. Al asked about Laney, and Donovan flat out told him that he thinks of her as another Rachel. You remember how overbearing he was with me and my sister, Rachel? Al and I thought there was something going on with the two of them but if Donovan says there isn’t, I believe him. So back to you and Donovan...” Becky turned the attention back to me.

  “Ladies!” Evie brought us all back to reality. “
Let’s not forget that Jane is dating Max! She is going to move in with Max! She is in love with Max! Jane,” she now started scolding me, “I think what you are thinking and feeling is terrible. I’m sorry but you are being a total bitch for even contemplating another man, when you are with the perfect guy whom you consider marrying.” Great, now she made me feel guilty. The preaching continued. “Just because you find Donovan attractive...shoot, who doesn’t find Donovan attractive...does not mean you need to act upon every attraction that’s out there. I know you’ve crushed on Donovan since you were little. All of us have had a crush on him at some point in our lives, but we were little. And that’s just it; he was our obsession as little girls. Just because he’s shown some interest in you, it does not mean you are still attracted to him. Curious maybe, but not attracted.”

  “I certainly would be tempted if Becky’s big brother wanted to do the nasty with me.”

  Evie rolled her eyes. “You would really give up Jared for one night with Donovan?”

  “Today, no. A couple years ago…maybe?”

  “No you wouldn’t and you know it, Ash. You know you were in love with Jared from day one and there was no way you would cheat on him, no matter how gorgeous the man.”

  “I suppose you’re right, Evie, but Jane just started dating Max again, and it’s not like they’re getting married tomorrow. I don’t see anything wrong with Jane and Max taking a hiatus and Jane exploring other options.”

  “I agree,” Becky nodded her head yes. “I think you should check out life with my brother and see what happens. You’ve known him your entire life. There are no secrets with him, at least not that we are aware of.”

  Our saint Evie put in her two cents again. “Well I think it’s wrong. And I think this entire conversation is wrong. I just wonder Jane, what you would be thinking and feeling if you knew that Max was having this same conversation with his buddies about his ex-girlfriend, Hannah. If you knew that he still found her attractive, I think it would kill you inside. You know you’re in love with Max. I know you’re curious about Donovan, but that’s just curiosity, Jane. It’s not love. Don’t throw away love for a roll in the hay. Because in the end, you’re going to regret it!”

  “Evie makes all the sense in the world, but I still say go for it.” By this point Ash was a little drunk and I think she was getting sloppy with her words. “In fact, I dare you to have a one night stand with Donovan. He’s going to be here this weekend. Sleep with him.”

  “I don’t know Ash. I think she should get together with my brother, but I don’t want her to cheat on Max. I want her to break up with him, then have a relationship with my brother. So no sleeping with my brother this weekend, unless you’re going to break up with Max via phone. Or you can do it Taylor Swift/Joe Jonas style and do it via text.”

  At this point Evie was furious. “Jane Reid, if you cheat on your boyfriend, I will never speak to you again. That is just not something any decent woman would do. I have a good mind to call Max right now and tell him about this entire conversation.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Ash and Becky said at the same time.

  “Why not? You dared Jane to have a one-night stand with Donovan. Why don’t you dare me and see if I’ll go running to Max.” Now she was taunting us with her threat, though I knew she wouldn’t go through with it in the end. Even if I did something so wrong as cheating on Max, Evie would stay true to me.

  “Okay, Ladies!” I called out. “Let me clear up this fight. I am not cheating on Max. I love him, I’m going to move in with him, I’m going forward with him. Becky, as much as I’d like to be your sister, I don’t know that you truly want me as a sister, especially when you already have three very bossy ones.”

  “She’s got a good point there,” Ash slurred her words and Becky giggled.

  “And I admit, there is some attraction between me and Donovan Taylor, but I think Evie is right. It’s just an attraction and more of a curiosity than anything else. But that ship has sailed. Evie, no need to say anything to Max, I will not cheat on him. I really do love him,” I confessed.

  “Hello pretty ladies.” Donovan, in his 3-piece pin-striped suit and black Ferragamo dress shoes looking smokin’ hot, just walked up to the bar. He was our ride tonight. Every woman eyed him as he stood at the bar. Did I mention he looks like Henry Cavill? Shoot, Mr. Cavill had nothing on this man.

  “You ready for me to take you all back to the hotel?”

  “Yep. We’re all bachelorette partied-out. Where are you staying?” I asked innocently.

  “Same hotel, right next door to you.”

  Oh dare—I mean, dear!

  May 30, 2013 Which “Gap” Do I “Mind”?

  Let me open with...NOTHING happened! Literally! Donovan, Becky, Evie and I had a fanfreakin’tastic time at Ash’s wedding, and I did not touch Ash’s dare with a ten-foot pole. Even Al, Becky’s husband, made a surprise appearance which thrilled my best friend. You see! I can be a good girl when not with Max, and show everyone that I am totally committed to making this relationship work. It’s no joke when I tell you that I am SOOOO in love with Max right now. Why, you ask? Because we are getting along, there’s no more petty jealousy, no more misunderstandings, and we LOVE each other despite our flaws. Is that reason enough?

  Having said that, my cousin Laney became a bona fide unemployed college graduate today. With there being so many graduates and so few jobs, it was no wonder people her age were seeking alternative “jobs.” Laney’s “job,” will come in the form of living off our grandmother’s generosity and discovering life on a new continent. Josh, who also graduates this year, will find his “job,” in the form of gallivanting from town to town, making beautiful art and enjoying life.

  What the hell was wrong with these young people? Didn’t they believe in getting a 9 to 5 job and putting money away in the bank, like the rest of us? This devil-may-care attitude only postponed the inevitable entry into daily society. It didn’t seem fair that some of us worked hard, and worked hard some more, while others of us went off to live in Japan and England just to satisfy their fancy.

  If I’m honest with myself, much of what I’ve said comes from jealousy. Being in the lawyer rat race, I wish I could’ve stopped and taken some time for myself, rather than having been so driven to succeed, and succeed young. It wouldn’t have killed me to go away for a year or two and just live, before starting law school. I know I’ve done a lot of traveling in the past, but it was always within the comforts of a family member. I was never brave enough to go out and explore life without having life mapped out first.

  And also, in fairness to both Laney and Josh, they’re not just postponing life with no thoughts of ever jumping back on the human tram. Laney started her own little business of editing student papers, and I’m sure she put aside a nice slush fund for herself. Josh does well day trading and has built up enough capital to spend it on his artistic side. Who was I to critique how they should spend their money?

  “Hi Jane.” The woman I was just begrudging and admiring in my head popped into my office.

  “Laney.” I knew I sounded surprised. I hoped I didn’t look too guilty. “What brings you here?”

  “I came to say goodbye to you and Grandfather.”

  “Goodbye?”

  “I’m leaving today for London. My plane leaves in a few hours and I’m making the rounds. You and Grandfather are the last people on my list.”

  I stared for a bit. “Didn’t you just graduate? Isn’t there a barbeque at your house tonight, in your honor?”

  Laney laughed softly. “Yeah. There is a barbeque, but I won’t be there.”

  “Does your mom know this?”