Blind Love (The Complete Box Set Romance Series) (15 page)

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 drove 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.

“I’m sorry. I just needed to feel
comfort.”

“You could have woke me up,” he said.

“I guess it’s creepy to find me in your
bed.”

“Creepy isn’t the word I’d go for.” He
wrapped me in his arms, and I felt safe, like nothing bad could happen to me
there.

His erection nudged me. “You’re happy I’m
here.”

“I don’t have a lot of control over that,
Taylor. You’re a female. I’m a male.”

He shifted so his pelvis was not against
me. I kind of liked that he was excited. It gave me an idea for how I could
forget what was going on.

“Dylan?”

“It’ll go away in a minute.”

“I don’t want it to go away.”

He gasped. “Taylor, we can’t. You’re
vulnerable. I could never. Besides, we agreed we weren’t together.”

I sat up to look at him, his hair rumpled
from sleep. “But it would make me forget.”

“You’d regret it, Taylor. Then, you’d hate
me, and I couldn’t stand that.”

I sighed. I knew what I wanted. “Do I ever
change my mind?”

“You did this morning.”

“Extenuating circumstances.”

“And these are, too. If you want to talk,
fine. If you want me to hold you, I’ll do it, but I can’t do more. It isn’t
fair to you. You’re a virgin, I suspect.”

“Uh, yes.”

“Your first time should be special. With
someone you love.”

“What if I love you?”

“You can’t know that right now, Taylor.
You’re sad and vulnerable, and I’m not that much of an ass to take advantage.”

I reached over and turned on his light.
Then I pulled off my nightgown.

Dylan gasped. I knew what I wanted.

I thought his eyes were going to pop out
of his head. He stared at me and at my breasts, then back at my face. Sweat
beaded on his forehead, and I knew he was even happier to see me. At least, his
body was.

He slid out from under the covers, his
head shaking. “We can’t, Taylor.”

“No condoms?”

“I have those.”

“You don’t want me?”

He glanced down at his erection. “What do
you think?”

I looked down at his penis tenting his
boxers. I reached out to touch him, but he moved away. “Dylan, you’re killing
me.”

“No, you’re killing me. I am not taking
your virginity on the day your father is in the hospital.”

“It’ll make it all better.”

“I don’t know about that,” he said.

I stood in front of him, naked. I felt
empowered. I wanted him. I wanted this. “Please.”

His eyes fell closed and he groaned. “Are
you sure?”