Page 65 of Dreams
Chapter Sixteen
“I don’t even know why I’m getting involved in this.” Taylor sighed as she walked down High Street with Abigail at her side.
They slipped into their favorite Mexican restaurant and found a table in the back.
“I so didn’t want something like this to happen.” Abigail buried her face in her hands, muffling her voice.
“I thought Colin was supposed to be one of the good ones.”
“Obviously, I did too.”
“Is that why you cheated on him with Mack?” The words slipped out before Taylor could stop them, and she knew how they sounded. Judgy. And she didnotwant to be that judgy friend.
“Wanna know something awful?” Abigail asked, finally looking at her friend.
“Ummm, probably not, but I guess you’re going to tell me, anyway.”
She didn’t get a chance to because their waitress showed up at that exact moment. She set a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa on the table before taking their orders. This place was popular with the underclassmen because they weren’t known for carding.
Abigail didn’t continue with their previous conversation until her margarita appeared a few minutes later. Taylor sipped a water as she eyed her roommate. This was their last hangout before they went their separate ways for Thanksgiving and she hoped the Colin situation would blow over by the time she got back.
Abigail took a long drink before setting it down and squeezing her eyes shut. “I don’t even think I regret being with Mack.”
“After everything that’s happened?”
“Especially after that.”
“Wait a second,” Taylor held up one finger. “Are you telling me you like Mack?”
“No,” she said quickly. “Maybe. Does it even matter?”
“Yes. It does.” Taylor leaned away from the table and crossed her arms over her chest, a smile forming on her lips. “Really?” she laughed. “Mack? Huh…”
“Don’t look at me like that.” Abigail kicked her under the table.
“Don’t get me wrong, Mack is definitely more your type, it’s just…” She paused for effect. “He’s been chasing you for a while now, and you’ve been running. Fast.”
“He only wants me because I didn’t want to jump right back into bed with him.” Abigail frowned. “Besides, what does it matter now?”
“Oh, it matters.”
“No. When I picked you up on Sunday, I promised I’d take care of the Colin problem. For Mack. That’s why it doesn’t matter. It can’t. Not anymore.”
“Abigail, what did you do?”
Abigail finished her margarita and threw some money on the table before standing. “Have a good break, Tay. I’ll see you when you get back.”
As she watched her friend walk away, Taylor thought of the girl she’d met when she first moved into the dorms a couple months ago. The girl who picked her up when she was crying in the rain. The one who was annoyingly bubbly and always in search of fun. That wasn’t the girl who just left here. But she was right. The articles that’d been released over the past few days, chronicling Mack’s transgressions, had no more quotes from Colin. No more talk of lawsuits or references to drugs. The clean drug test took care of that.
Now theDispatchand other hockey sources were reporting trade rumors. Taylor’s dad was on edge and Josh was putting all of his spare energy into helping Mack. The team was on a winning streak and that alone was enough to silence some of the questions.
Mack was on a tear, with five goals in the last three games. Josh was doing his best on the first line. He wasn’t potting goals, but every other part of his game was solid. Taylor was forced to watch it on TV because the team was on the road. She didn’t mind though. She was perfectly happy sitting on the couch in her parent’s house with her mom and sister.
It was like old times. When the Winterhawks would go on the road, they’d have girl time. No dads. No boyfriends. Before college and everything else that’d happened.
Taylor got out of her car and hiked her bag up on her shoulder before walking up the driveway and in the front door. “Mom,” she called.
Her mom appeared from the kitchen and wrapped her in a hug before she could get any more words out.
