Page 8 of Taylor
“What?” he asks innocently. “I can’t help it, as I’m sure you wellknow.”
“Whatever,” I mutter, turning back around to focus on what I should be doing. “Just cover it up.”before I do something I shouldn’t be doing with it,I think as I grab the jar of coffee on theside.
“You know you want it,” I hear him say before he disappears into thebathroom.
I lean forward and place my palms on the work surface as I try to get my headstraight.
I don’t want him. I want something meaningful,I say to myself as areminder.
Taylor
Present…
My body feelslike lead when I wake up. I try to move an arm but it doesn’tcooperate.
What thefuck?
I go to open my eyes but they only open half way and refuse to go anyfurther.
What thefuck?
And then it hits me—almost with the same force hedid.
Fuck.
My eyes begin to focus in the dark room and I see I’m not alone. Propped up on the headboard on the other side of the bed is a stunningly topless Caleb. Well, if anything can make this better, it’s the sight of him half dressed.If only he was totally undressed, I think to myself as I run my eyes over his sculptedtorso.
I look up to see his head resting back against the headboard. His eyes are closed, his long lashes resting on his cheekbones, and his full lips are slightlyparted.
How is it possible that I still want him as much as I did that first night? I thought I would’ve got over my infatuation by now. I want to say that the only reason I’m still interested is because he constantly turns me down, but I know that’s not true. It’s not just about sex; It’s about him—aboutus.
We just work together. We click in a way I’ve never discovered with anyone else. I hoped when I moved in with him last year he would have some really irritating habit that would turn me off, but unfortunately, all I discovered by living with him is that he’s perfect. I mean, yeah, I find his worn socks on the coffee table after he takes them off watching TV, and he never washes the hair away after shaving, but it’s his flat and he can do what he wants. I’m just crashing theparty.
I should have moved out a long time ago. I’m earning enough to get a small place to myself now, but something keeps stopping me from mentioning it. He’s never brought it up either, and I like to imagine that’s because he secretly doesn’t want me toleave.
It used to freak me out when thoughts of him beingthe oneentered my head. The one everyone is looking for; the one person who completes you. The one person I never had any intention of looking for, let alone finding. I’m starting to get used to the idea that he could be a constant in my life and it wouldn’t worry me. It would far from worry me—I’d loveit.
I never thought I would even consider something like that. After years of watching how my mum’sthe onetreated her—and me—I knew it wasn’t something I wanted. But I’m beginning to realise that what they have isn’t the norm. People do actually have loving relationships that work, that make both people happy. Just look at Lilly and Lucas. I thought that was a disaster waiting to happen at the beginning, but I’ve never seen Lilly as happy as she is now. Maybe I could havethat.
I pull myself out of my own head and once again focus on the body in front of me, and that I don’t seem to be in a hospital. I smile as I think about the fact he listened to me but I suck in a sharp breath as I feel the skin on my lips crackopen.
Caleb sits forward and looks down at me. I can see the worry etched into his face as his eyesfocus.
“Are you okay?” he asks in apanic.
“Yeah. You looked after me,” Istate.
“Well who else was goingto?”
“Hmmm.” That’s a good question. I’ve been so wrapped up in work that other than the odd hook up—and I really mean odd—my only friend in London is Caleb. Yes, my colleagues are great, but they’re not really my kind of people—not to hang out with regularly,anyway.
“What happened,Tay?”
I look into Caleb’s concerned eyes and fight the need to lie about what happened. I’m just about to make something up about getting jumped on the way home when there’s a light knock at thedoor.
“Come in,” Caleb calls and in a second Lilly’s smiling face appears around thedoor.
“I heard voices. I wanted to come and check on you. You’ve been asleep for almost thirty-sixhours!”
