Blind Love (The Complete Box Set Romance Series) (18 page)

I decided to bring it up while we were doing
homework. My father had already been downstairs and my mother was out at a
class to learn about getting her real estate license.

“Prom tickets go on sale in two weeks,” I
said.

Dylan grunted. He was working on his
laptop, doing programming homework I thought. He liked that class the best,
from what I could tell, and wanted to study it in college. We hadn’t talked
about college, but I knew he was going for a visit soon.

I wasn’t ready to think about us parting.
I had looked at colleges for nursing and most of the ones with a four year
program were at least an hour away – no commuting, I’d have to live there.

“Are you planning on going?” I said.

Dylan’s fingers stilled over the keyboard.
“Uh, I hadn’t thought about it.”

“No?”

“No, not really.”

He went back to typing.

“No one has asked me yet. By this time
before the junior prom I had a date.”

“It’s the twenty first century. You should
ask someone.”

Was that an invitation? Was he telling me
I should ask him? I didn’t know what to think. I’d never asked a guy out.

“Okay. I hadn’t thought of that.”

He laughed, but didn’t look up at me. I
wanted to see him naked again. I wanted him to make me climax again.

I shrugged all of that off because I’d be
happy if he just kissed me again – if he looked at me as if I were the only
girl in the universe, the only girl that mattered.

And, we needed to talk about it. I wanted
him to know how I felt, but the longer time went on, it seemed more and more
awkward.

I sighed. “If I asked you, would you go
with me?”

His fingers stilled again. His gaze rose
slowly from the screen to me. I was holding my breath, but I kept my gaze
steady.

“Are you asking me?” he said.

“Yes.”

He frowned. It was not the reaction I was
hoping for. My heart sank. I wanted to run out of the room, but that would be
childish.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I doubt that your father would
want us to be together.”

I thought about that for a minute. I
thought that I could get around that. “So, it isn’t that you don’t want to go
with me.”

He laughed. “You’re fishing, Taylor.”

“Yes, I am. I want to know where I stand.”

I needed to know that he felt something.

His eyes fell closed. “What I feel doesn’t
matter. It’s a moot point. We can’t be together.”

“What if I could get my dad to agree that
you should take me to the prom?”

“Wishful thinking. I admire your
optimism.”

“I always get what I want with Daddy,” I
said.

He shook his head. “Not this time. This is
a whole different realm of wanting a car or a material thing. This is you,
going out with someone like me.”

“What does that mean? My father loves
you.”

“He wouldn’t if he knew what we’d done.
What I’d done to you.”

I put down my pen. “You didn’t do anything
to me. I was a willing participant.”

“I’m the more experienced one, so I’m more
responsible.”

“Is that how you feel? Is that why you’ve
been avoiding me since that night?” I said.

He nodded. “We can’t do it again, Taylor.
My stay here can be shortened if something happens between us. I have only a
trailer to go to and nothing else. My future depends on being in this house.”

I knew he was right, but I wanted to be
selfish. “But I want to be with you. I want you to kiss me.”

He rubbed a hand down his face. “I thought
you were over that. I don’t think we can spend time together.”

As he started to get up, I said, “Wait.”

“What?”

“If I get it past my father, will you go
with me? I can’t imagine wanting to spend that night with anyone else.”

He frowned. “If your father agrees, I’ll
go. If he doesn’t, I’m not sneaking around.”

“Fair enough. And please, don’t leave.
I’ll stop talking.”

He eyed me for a moment. “Okay, but stay
quiet. I’m programming.”

“What are you working on?” I said.

He laughed. “That’s not being quiet.”

“Okay, fine.”

I let him work and I tried not to stare,
but I knew what he looked like naked. I knew what that body could do to mine.

“Staring at me isn’t helping.”

“I’m not staring.”

“Liar,” he said.

“One kiss?”

“Taylor, stop.”

“One kiss and I’ll shut up,” I urged.

I always got what I wanted.

“Fine.”

I stood, then climbed onto his lap. I put
my lips on his and our tongues met. This wasn’t going to be a half-hearted
kiss. If I was only getting one, I was going to get a good one.

Chapter Twenty Six

Dylan

Taylor talked me into a date. I don’t know
how she managed to, but that girl was persistent. Her parents were going out.
We knew the restaurant they were going to and their plans. So, Taylor talked me
into taking her out for dinner.

Nothing fancy, and a few towns away so we
wouldn’t run into anyone we knew.

I had to admit I was nervous, even though
it was Taylor. This was still a first date. What if we spent time together like
this and then didn’t like each other? Things would be awkward at the house.

I dressed in clothing that I’d wear to a mathlete
meet and a tie that Mr. Dean had lent me. I guessed I should get another one
since I had two more meets before the mathlete season ended. Not that anyone
really cared about what I wore, but Taylor had suggested that I wear different
ties. Probably something only a woman would notice.

I tugged at the collar. Mr. Dean wore one
of these every day. Guess you got used to it.

I glanced in the mirror to make sure that
there was nothing on my face before I walked down the hall to get Taylor.
Knocking softly, I realized I probably should have gotten flowers or something.

Too late.

She opened her door and my mouth went dry.
Taylor stood there in a red dress that hugged her curves. I bet if her father
saw this dress, he wouldn’t let her out of the house. He certainly shouldn’t
let her out of the house with me.

I had designs on this date starting and
ending in her bed. With maybe some food in between. I could microwave like a
demon.

I’d seen her naked, but this was even
better than that.

“You like?”

“Holy crap, Taylor. A blind men would
like.”

She smiled. “Good.”

“You’re mine for the night? I get to look
at you all evening?”

“Until right before my parents come home.
Then I turn into a pumpkin,” she said.

There was nothing pumpkin-like about her.
She had a tiny waist and lovely hips. Her breasts peeked out over the neckline.

Damn. “You’re beautiful, Taylor.”

She blushed. Who knew this popular girl
could be insecure? Who knew this bad boy would reform and be able to be in the
same space as this almost woman? Well, in some ways she was a woman. I’d taken
care of that.

“Thank you.”

I just wanted to stare at her for the next
hour. How did I get so lucky?

Instead, I held out my arm. “Milady.”

She laughed as she took my arm. I escorted
her out to the car and held her door for her. I did all the things I’d seen men
do in movies. Hopefully, I was doing the right stuff.

Taylor smiled at me when I climbed into
the car.

The restaurant was forty minutes away,
which I had to remember for our return trip. We knew which movie her parents
were going to, so we knew when they’d be home. Hopefully, their plans wouldn’t
change at all.

I was just as nervous about being found
out as going on this date.

I’d made reservations at the restaurant,
so it wasn’t long before we were seated. I’m pretty good for a teenage boy. Not
all of us are buttheads. Okay, I’m usually a butthead, but not tonight.

I pulled out her chair for her and
everything. We ordered sodas, and when they came, Taylor held up her glass. “To
our first real date.”

I touched my glass to hers, then sipped. I
felt like a grownup.

“Tell me one thing that most people don’t
know about you?” Taylor said.

“That’s hard since you know so much about
me.” I scratched my chin. “I was born in Iowa.”

“Iowa? How did you end up here?”

“My mother’s brother offered us the
trailer to live in,” I said.

“Do you remember Iowa?”

“No, I was two when we moved.”

“You’ve lived in that trailer that long?”

“No, at one point we were in subsidized
housing, but my mother got us kicked out,” I said. “We went back to the trailer
then.”

“Hm.”

“You’ve lived in the house all your life?”

“No, we moved into it when I was six, but
I don’t remember that much about the old house. My father had a job change and
his raise was a lot so we bought this house.”

I nodded. This was nice – just two people
talking. Not that I wasn’t thinking about her naked. I was. How could I not?
I’m a guy and I’d seen her naked.

“It’s a nice house.”

“
It’s
home.”

I laughed. “It’s become home to me, too.
That’s why I don’t want to mess anything up.”

“I know, but I really like you, Dylan. I
want to be with you. I think I know a way we can go to prom. Let me think on
it.”

“Just be careful. I’ll be the one paying
the price if it gets messed up,” I said.

I didn’t relish being back in the trailer.
I was used to the comforts of a real house. Four walls. Couldn’t hear the wind
at night. The place didn’t shiver with a large gust. No animals underneath it.

And Taylor. I got to see her every day.

We had fifteen minutes to spare when I
pulled her car into the driveway after dinner. No one was home. “We better
hurry and get out of these clothes and go watch a movie,” I said. “Act normal.”

“Okay, but I want one more kiss before the
fairytale ends,” she said.

I took her face gently into my hands and
kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Her lips were swollen when I stopped,
but she smiled. “Thanks, Dylan, this was fabulous.”

The sound of a car outside had us both
running upstairs. Taylor was putting in a movie and I was eating some chips
when Mr. Dean came downstairs.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Dylan

I drove Taylor and
I
to the college fair at our high school that Monday evening. We entered the gym
to see rows and rows of tables lined up. Other students were strolling around.

“Where to do we start?” Taylor said.

“Have you done any research?”

I hadn’t.
so
I
wasn’t going to judge her for not doing any.

“I did some. I think those schools are
supposed to be here.”

“What did you want to major in?” I asked.

She frowned. “I haven’t talked to my
parents yet, but I’d like to be a nurse.”

“That’s great, Taylor. Why haven’t you
told your parents?”

“Because my mother wants me to be an
engineer,” she said.

“But your math skills are horrible.”

Of course, that needed to go through
another filter. I’d been helping her with her math, and she was terrible at it.

She laughed. She could have gotten mad at
me. “Yeah, I know. I’m good at science, but not so good at math.”

“You better talk to them soon. We’re
behind, not having applied to schools yet. Don’t waste time applying to a school
you don’t want to go to.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know, Dylan. What
about you?”

“Computer science,” I said. My favorite
class was my programming class. “I’m getting an A in the class without a lot of
work. I must be good at it.”

“That’s cool. Must be nice to know what
you’re good at.”

“Why do you want to be a nurse?”

“I know this is going to sound odd, but I
like helping people. Every year the cheerleaders do community service. I really
like it. I figure a nurse is a way to help people and actually get paid to do
it.”

“Makes sense. I’m sure if you tell your
parents that it will make you happy and you can get a job doing it, they’ll
support you,” I said.

She nodded, but I didn’t think she was
convinced.

I stopped at the first table. “Computer
science?”

The man smiled wide. “Yes, Penn State has
a good Computer Science Program. You just need to be ready to take calculus
your first semester.”

“I’m taking
precalc
now,” I said.

“Then you’ll be fine.”

He handed me some brochures. “Thanks.”

“We have prospective students nights
coming up next month, if you want to attend. You can ask alumni questions about
the school.”

“Okay.” He handed me a card. His
excitement was infectious.

Taylor stopped at the next table to look
at a school with a nursing program. She read the brochure she was given. “If I
go an extra year, I can get my Masters.”

“Does that benefit you?”

“Not sure, really. I’ll have to do some
research.”

“Go back and ask. That’s why people are
here,” I said as I tugged her back in the direction of the table.

“Hi, I just talked to you. I wanted to
know what benefit getting a Masters in Nursing gives me,” Taylor said.

The woman smiled and listed off what she
could do with a Masters in Nursing. It sounded impressive to me. Taylor nodded,
but I didn’t think she was taking it all in. Hopefully, she’d get the idea of
what the woman was saying.

“Thanks,” Taylor said.

We kept walking. “Wow, that was a lot of
information,” Taylor said.

“I think the bottom line was that you can
do a lot of things. I guess it depends on what you want out of your degree,” I
said.

“A lot to think about.” She tugged me in the
other direction. “Computer science.”

And so the night went. We looked out for
each other’s majors. Both of our bags were full when we were done.

“You want to get coffee?” Taylor said.
“I’m not ready to go home.”

“Sure.”

We drove to a coffee shop. I guess this
was our second date, in a way. Taylor had her brochures laid out when I got
back to the table and put down her drink. “Thanks.”

“What do you think?”

“I think I need to talk to my parents and
maybe visit some schools. I have a better idea now.”

“Why didn’t you do this earlier? I didn’t
think I was going to college, but now I can, that’s why I didn’t do it.”

“I didn’t want to disappoint my parents.”

“Why would they be disappointed with you
being a nurse?”

Taylor shrugged. “I was the only child
that my parents were able to have. I think they have high hopes for me.”

“But it’s your life, not theirs.”

“I know.” She took a sip of her coffee.
“So, what did you figure out?”

“I know I want to visit a few of these
schools. Hopefully, I can do that. Maybe borrow your car and go to them.”

“Sure. I’m sure my dad will let you.”

“I hope so.”

“He might even attend them with you.”

I shrugged. “Your father has done so much
for me. I can’t ask for more.”

“You’re the son he never had.”

 
“I
just hope I can stay living with you guys.”

“I can’t imagine he’ll kick you out.”

“If he thinks we’re together, he will kick
me out. I’m still not sure us being a couple is a good idea, Taylor.”

“I’m still working on an idea.”

“Well, you better figure it out before
they find out on their own. There will be no negotiating with them then.”

She nodded, but I wasn’t sure she really
got it. She was a little selfish, but I think it was because she just didn’t understand
the life I had led.