Blind Love (The Complete Box Set Romance Series) (5 page)

, the teacher
collected our papers. When Taylor turned to put something in her purse, she
glanced at me. Her brow was furrowed and her frown creased her face.

That bites. She’s
pretty unhappy. I smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back. I didn’t take it
personally.

The class went
quickly and, to my surprise, Taylor was waiting for me in the hallway at the
end.

“I really need
your help this weekend,” she said.

She didn’t look
around at all. She just stared at me.

“I can help you,
but maybe you better let your mother know that you can’t do this class.”

“We’re in the
second semester already. I can’t drop it now.”

I nodded. She was
right. “That sucks. Okay. We’ll set aside some time this weekend.”

“Thank, Dylan.”

She flitted away.
I watched her for a moment, and then I realized Cole was walking the other way.
He glanced at Taylor as she went by, then at me. He shook his head.

“Nothing’s going
on, Cole. She asked for math help.”

“That’s how it
starts. Haven’t you seen any teen movies? That’s how it starts.”

“We live in the
same house and I doubt that Mr. Dean would appreciate me doing his daughter
right under his nose. He’d kick me out and I don’t want that to happen.”

“Keep that in
mind, sport.”

I would. I owed
Mr. Dean a lot. Fucking his daughter would be the last thing I should do.
Besides, she wasn’t interested in me and wasn’t my type. No worries. We could
probably be practically naked and I wouldn’t be interested in her.

Cole slapped me on
the back. “I got class. Hey, I’m getting some friends together on Saturday.
Come by my house about eight. We’ll hang out. Play some video games.”

“Sure. Sounds
good.”

My weekend was
wide open, after all. No dates. No parties, but really there never were.

***

I stopped in the
men’s room before my last class. I’d waited all day. I was in there alone,
thankfully. Using the urinal then washed my hands. That’s when I saw it.

I’d been thinking
about what Cole had said about Taylor. She’d been on my mind all day, and I
hoped I could help her.

Written on the
wall were the words: “Taylor Dean is a slut.”

I didn’t think she
was. Cole had said she was a cock tease. That usually meant that she was
virgin. So how could she be a slut?

Someone came in
and I took my time washing my hands. I’d be late for my next class, but that
was fine.

“Hey,” the person
said as they washed their hands.

“Hey.”

That guy left as
the bell rang. Shit, I was going to be really late for class. I dug into my
backpack for a marker. I couldn’t let that sit there. I’d never had a sister,
but I wouldn’t want someone to say that about her if I did.

She wasn’t and
even if she was, it wasn’t up to someone else to make that judgment. I knew
what it felt like to be on the receiving end of judgment. Most people thought
things of me that weren’t true. I knew that I’d never overcome my reputation in
this school, but no need to drag Taylor down.

I found the
marker. Uncapping it, I began to cover it up.

The door swung
open. I jumped and probably looked guilty.

“What are you
doing?”

The newcomer
looked from me to the marker and then to the wall. I had covered a good portion
of it by then. “You should be in class and not in the bathroom.”

The man grabbed my
arm and dragged me out of there.

“I was just-”

“Save it. We’re
going to Principal Elliot’s office.”

I didn’t know this
guy, but I had a feeling he knew who I was. Principal Elliot certainly knew who
I was. Sadly, I’d get no leniency from him, even if it had been months since
I’d been in to see him.

I was able to snag
my backpack before I was pulled into the hallway.

“I don’t know what
you kids are thinking when you do stuff like that.”

He hadn’t let go
of my arm. He was going to bruise it, but I sucked it up. I wasn’t going to
whine. I just followed him to my punishment. It wouldn’t be my first.

The teacher
dropped me onto a chair in the outer office. “Wait here.” Then he turned to the
secretary and asked, “Is he in?”

“Go ahead.”

She waved her hand
without looking up. When she did look up, she frowned at me. “Haven’t seen you
in
awhile
.”

I shrugged. I
wanted to try and explain the situation to the principal, even if I knew he
wouldn’t listen.

Staring at my
feet, I just grunted in her direction. She went back to her work. The door to
Principal Elliot’s office swung open. The teacher who had nabbed me left with a
smirk on his face. Was he enjoying this? Was this how he got his rocks off?

“Come here, Mr.
Cabot,” Principal Elliot said.

I sighed, slung my
backpack over my shoulder, and trudged into his office. He closed the door behind
me. “Sit down.”

I knew the drill.
He was going to listen to my story, then lecture me as if I was guilty. He’d
already decided I’d get detention. Yada, yada, yada. Been there, done that.

I sat on the chair
across from him. He might have tried to call my mother, but she wouldn’t be
answering.

He settled back
behind his desk, a frown on his face. “We haven’t had the pleasure of seeing
you in
awhile
. Have you kept your nose clean or just
gotten better at not getting caught?”

I picked at a spot
on my jeans. I really wasn’t a bad kid. I just made poor decisions. “Kept my
nose clean.”

“I understand that
your living situation has changed.”

I looked up at
him. “How do you know?”

“Mr. Dean called
me yesterday and told me that you were under his care at the moment. You’re
eighteen, so I don’t have to call him, but I’ve been friends with him for
years, so I’m going to let him know that you were in here. I want to give you
detention. For a week. We’ll see what he says.”

I didn’t care if
he gave me detention, I didn’t, but I really didn’t want him to call Mr. Dean.

“I was covering up
something bad said about Taylor Dean,” I blurted out.

He stopped with
his hand poised over the phone. “Oh?”

“Yes. It said she
was a slut, and I think that’s awful, so I covered it up.”

He folded his
hands on the desk, clearly thinking about what I said. “Whether that is true or
not, it is still vandalism.”

“I know, sir.”

“You do. Mr.
Carter said you resisted him.”

“What?” I looked
the man square in the eye. “I didn’t. I didn’t even say anything.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I knew he
caught me, and I just came here with him.” I rolled up my sleeve to where the
marks his fingers made. “He did this.”

Principal Elliot
eyed the bruises. He blinked a few times. “I’m going to call Mr. Dean. I’ll talk
over your punishment with him. Then, one of us will tell you.”

He opened his desk
drawer and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here’s a pass to get into your last
class. Try to stay out of trouble on your way there.”

I snagged the
paper and left. I wasn’t going to thank him because I didn’t think he’d done
anything great for me. He was on as much of a power trip as Mr. Carter.

Chapter
Six

Taylor

I came home from
practice early. I’d heard from several people that Dylan had been in the
principal’s office. I’d never been sent there and had no idea what you had to
do to be there. What kind of trouble was he in?

As soon as I
opened the front door, I could hear my parents arguing. They rarely did that,
so it freaked me out.

“Why did you bring
that delinquent into my house?” my mother asked.

Guess my father
had left work early to pick up Dylan from school. That sucks. My parents don’t
yell at each other. Why was Dylan here if he was just going to make them do
that? I sighed, leaning against the door.

They were in the
living room, and I didn’t want to be roped into the argument if I walked past.

“It’s my house,
too,” my father shouted back.

I cringed. I’d
never heard him so angry. I didn’t want this disruption. This was my senior
year and I wanted the second half to go as smoothly as the first. Would my
parents get a divorce? Was this the end?

I just didn’t know
what was happening.

“You did this. You
and your projects. Well, he isn’t a stray dog.”

“Mallory, you are
overreacting. He didn’t kill anyone. He’s not even going to get detention other
than to clean that bathroom on a Saturday.”

“What will the
neighbors think? This isn’t a large town. How will I hold my head up in the
grocery store?”

I sighed again. Of
course, she’d worry about that. I was worried about my standing in school. I
was popular, but that could change in a heartbeat. Something like this could
drag me down. I wanted to be mad at Dylan. What had he done?

If this was the
result, I knew that I didn’t want to be in trouble ever.

I wondered where
he was and if my mother had already yelled at him.

“The kid lives in
a trailer and eats cereal for every meal. Can’t you open your heart for him?”

“Open my heart? He
was caught vandalizing the school.”

So, that’s what he
did. Why? Odd, I thought. He seemed to be trying to fit in now, instead of
being an outcast. Why would he risk it? There had to be more to this story.

I pushed away from
the door, debating running upstairs. I’d have to close the door like I just
came home. They’d be mad if they knew that I was eavesdropping on them. I
didn’t usually do that.

So, I opened the
door then closed it.

“Hi, Mom. Hi,
Daddy,” I said as I ran past the living room up to my room.

I closed the door,
but stood in the hallway. I wanted to hear what else they had to say.

“If he corrupts
our daughter, there will be hell to pay, Rob. I want him out.”

“I’m not throwing
the kid out on the street,” my father said.

“Why not? What has
he done for you?”

“It isn’t about
what he’s done. It’s what I can do for him. I think he has a chance. He’s a
smart kid. He just needs a leg up. Why can’t you see that, Mallory?”

“Because I’m more
worried about our daughter and what he could do to her?”

“Our daughter is
fine. He isn’t going to do anything to her. You’ve made the leap from vandalism
to murder. God, Mallory. Do you hear yourself?”

I could tell that
he stormed out of the living room. I heard his feet pound on the bottom steps.
Crap. I couldn’t make it back to my room without him seeing me. I was
eavesdropping and I shouldn’t have been.

So, I did the only
other thing that I could. I ran down the hall on my tiptoes and barged into
Dylan’s room. It wasn’t until after I closed the door behind me that I realized
he might have been naked or in the bathroom or something embarrassing like that.

Instead, he was
laid out on his bed, his books around him.

“Do you knock?”

I leaned on the
door. “Sorry. I was listening to my parents and my dad came upstairs. This was
the only place to hide.”

“Good thing I
wasn’t changing.”

“I know, sorry.”

I listened at the
door, not hearing anything. I hoped my father had gone upstairs. I didn’t want
to talk to him. Dylan rubbed a hand down his face.

“Your parents are
arguing?”

“Yes. About you.”

The admission
brought me no joy.

“About me.”

“What did you do?”
I asked.

“What does it
matter?”

“I want to know.”

“Do you always get
what you want?” he said.

I nodded. “Most of
the time.”

He then frowned.
“Well, princess, not this time.”

“Tell me, Dylan.
You were in the principal’s office.”

He shrugged. “I’ve
been there before. Not everyone is as pure as you are.”

What an odd term
to use. Pure. I wasn’t exactly, though I was still a virgin. I had given a few
guys blow jobs. That was it. “I never said I was pure. I just wanted to know
what you did. Mom said vandalism.”

He crossed his
arms. I crossed mine. I could be stubborn if I wanted to. “If you give them a
good reason why you did what you did, then they’ll forgive you.”

“I doubt it’s that
simple.”

I walked closer to
the bed. “It is. I promise.”

He shook his head.
“No, Taylor. You need to stay out of this. It’s not your business.”

“Tell my dad.
He’ll listen.”

“No, just stop. Go
back to our pink princess room and pink princess life. Things aren’t that
simple for everyone.”

I wanted to hit
him. I could feel tears in my eyes. “I’m just trying to help. You don’t have to
be mean.”

I ran out of his
room. I heard him call my name, but I wasn’t going back. I’d been humiliated.

***

Someone knocked
softly on my door a few minutes later. Now, I wiped my eyes and stood up from
my bed where I had thrown myself to cry. As I walked to the door it opened.
There stood Dylan, looking sheepish.

“Can I come in?”

I nodded, not sure
what I would say to him. Maybe I had overreacted. Maybe he had a right to his
privacy. I’d only known the kid for a few days.

“I’m sorry,” he
said.

“You don’t have
any reason to be sorry.”

He shuffled his
feet a frown creasing his face. “I made you cry.”

I sniffed then
wiped some more tears. “Well, yes, but I might have been sensitive.”

“You need some
chocolate?”

“Chocolate?”

“Yes. Your parents
aren’t arguing anymore, and I snuck downstairs to get you chocolate. I knew
there was some in the cabinet. It always made my mom feel better.”

I looked at his
outstretched hand with the chocolate bar in it. It was probably the best peace
offering anyone had ever given me. I took it, a smile on my face. “I probably
could use some chocolate. Thanks.”

I sat at my desk
then opened it. “You want some? I’ll share.”

“No, go ahead.”

As I ate the
chocolate, I’m sure I had a look of pure ecstasy on my face. “I’m really sorry
about how I reacted. It is none of my business.”

“It’s okay. I
understand your curiosity.

For the first
time, I really looked at him. He was tall, probably over six feet. Right now,
he had long sleeves on so I couldn’t see his tattoos. He didn’t have anything
strange pierced that I know of. I wasn’t going to ask, but who knew.

“How do you think
you did on that pop quiz?”

He leaned on the
doorframe, crossing his feet at his ankles. “I think I did okay. You didn’t
seem too happy.”

“I wasn’t. The
homework was hard, and I didn’t understand it.”

“You should have
asked me. I can help you.”

“I didn’t want to
bother you.”

He shrugged. “It
isn’t a bother when it comes easily to me.”

She nodded. “Has
Daddy been in to talk to you?”

“No, everyone has
steered clear of me. Except for you. I expected your mother to come in, but she
just walked past my door. I don’t want to cause friction.”

“I think if you go
to my dad, he’ll understand. He’s on your side, from what I heard of their argument.”

He looked at his
shoes. “Maybe I should leave.”

“No, Dylan. If my
dad says you can stay, you stay. My mother can be a pain in the ass at times,
but I can’t imagine that she’d throw you out.”

“If you say so.”

“I do, Dylan,
really.”

He looked at me with
sad eyes. He reminded me of a puppy left out in the cold. I but he had been
more than once and my heart went out to him. Maybe this is the person that
Daddy saw and took pity on. I hadn’t seen this side of him yet.

“Okay. You need
some help with math tonight?”

I frowned. “I do.
You don’t mind helping me?”

“No, Taylor. I
said I didn’t.”

I dug in my
backpack for my notes and my textbook. He stepped closer.

“Go get the chair
from your room.”

He nodded then
came back with it. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Did something
happen between you and Cole? I only want to know because we hang out.”

“Freshman year he
asked me out. I turned him down. Why?”

“Well, he just
said some things about you that didn’t seem friendly,” Dylan said.

I cocked my head.
“We aren’t besties, so it doesn’t matter what he thinks, but what did he say?”

“He said you were
a cock tease.”

I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus among the jocks. It’s because I
haven’t put out for them.”

“You shouldn’t.
Most of them are dicks.”

I laughed. Was
Dylan giving me guy advice? He might be a useful resource. “I’ll make you a
deal. You give me the inside scoop on guys and I’ll do the same for you on
girls.”

He grinned.
“Okay.”

He made it sound
like he didn’t need my help. He may not, but I bet I knew far more about women
than he did. “Now this math homework.”

“Right. What do
you understand about it?”

Telling him took
all of about thirty seconds.

“Okay. Well, we
need to start from scratch,” he said.

He moved the chair
closer. I could smell him. He smelled good. Like soap and water. Nothing fancy.
I had no idea what kind of soap was in that bathroom, but it suited him. Why
was I thinking about Dylan this way?

“Before we start,
can I appeal to you one more time to talk to Daddy?”

He shook his head.
“Let it go, Taylor. It’s not something I want to talk about.”

“I bet you weren’t
even vandalizing. I feel like there is more to this story.”

He rolled his
brown eyes. “Stop, Taylor. I’ll take my punishment. It’s okay.”

“But it goes in your
record.”

“It isn’t the only
thing in my record.”

I looked at him
for a moment. “No?”

“I’ve never been
an angel, okay? Can we just talk about math?”

“I’m really
curious now.”

“I’ll leave if you
keep bringing this up. Do you want to fail math?”

He had a point. I
didn’t want to fail. I wanted to pass, but I didn’t think it was possible. I
was so far behind it would take a miracle to get me caught up. Clearly, Dylan
was in for a long night.

“No, but I don’t
think you should take a punishment if you didn’t do anything.”

“Taylor, let it
go, for God’s sake.”

Chapter
Seven

Dylan

I spent my
Saturday morning cleaning the bathroom that I had supposedly vandalized. I knew
Taylor would be upset if she knew guys were writing that shit on the walls of
the bathroom.

She didn’t deserve
that, even if she’d been annoying about me not telling her what I’d done. She
didn’t need to know. Her life had been easy, and I figured I could keep it that
way. No need to taint her with stuff like this. Guys could be dicks. She’d laughed
when I’d told her that. A sweet, innocent laugh.

She was a
beautiful girl and so clean – untouched by the dark side of life. As if the
world around her glowed when she was there.

Holy shit, what
had I just thought? There was no girl more off-limits to me than Taylor. On so
many levels. She was out of my league. Her father had let me into his house. I
was bad news for anyone. I even looked like bad news.

Maybe the snake
tattoo had been too much, but I was flexing my freedom muscles when I’d done
that. I glanced at my arm where that snake would sit for eternity. Oh well.