Page 5 of Sweet Surrender
But this time when she had finally finished ranting, she flopped down onto his bed and sprawled there, staring at him.He had to look away, her fiery hair flared around her head, her cheeks flushed from her rage and her eyes beseeching him did funny things to his insides and made his seventeen-year-old body want things it couldn’t have.
He needed a moment to pull himself together, so he went and made her favorite drink. Her love of pink was well known to him by then so of course it made sense that her favorite drink was strawberry milkshake. When he came back to his room she was, mercifully, sitting up on the edge of the bed. She smiled when she saw what he had.
“Thank you, myTeddy Beau, you always know what I need.” She took the drink from him, taking a big gulp and closed her eyes, savoring the taste. He wrinkled his nose at the nickname but didn’t say anything. He sat on the bed next to her, his mattress dipping with his weight and she slid closer to him. Embarrassment heated his cheeks, he really needed to do something about his weight. He was at least two hundred pounds heavier than he should be.
She turned to look at him, her eyes wide and gentle. Her cinnamon scent crept over him and he discreetly inhaled.
“You’re such a good listener,” she murmured, putting her hand on his thigh. He met her stare, her eyes sparkling in the soft light of the room, bewitching him. Something about this evening was different, tension lit the air around them as they sat in silence. His mouth ran dry and he swiped his tongue over his lips, her eyes tracked the movement and her breath hitched.
She raised her hand from his thigh and stroked it down his cheek affectionately. His breath heaved in and out of him, his body pulled tight with tension. He was too scared to move in case he broke whatever spell she was under. She stroked his cheek again, then swiped her thumb across his bottom lip. Her hand continued its exploration, traveling into his hair and caressing the strands. Beau had never been more terrified in his life. Terrified this wasn’t really happening, that she wasn’t real, that his mostdesperatefantasy wasn’t coming to life right before his eyes.
Taylor settled her hand on the nape of his neck and before he could say a word, she pulled him towards her. He didn’t close his eyes, didn’t dare to miss this. His heart beat like a drum in his chest, trying to escape his body with every enthusiastic pound. He watched her eyelashes flutter, hiding those dazzling eyes from his view and then his fantasy became reality.
Her lips touched his. Silky soft. The pressure so light, but he felt it everywhere. She pulled back hesitantly before she leaned in again. This time he returned the kiss, his lips meeting hers and a blissful sigh slipped out of him. He felt like he’d come home.
She moaned softly, the sound jolting him and he hardened beneath the fly of his jeans. Her tongue was at his lips, stroking the seam, begging him to open up and let her in. He opened tentatively as though he still couldn’t believe that he was lucky enough to bekissingTaylor Done-Campbell. Her tongue stroked his and rockets went off behind his eyelids. She tasted like strawberries, and he was addicted to the flavor. The zing of their tongues touching had him gripping her waist tightly. He huffed out a breath and felt her smile against his lips, he could picture that smile now in his mind. Just as he was about to surrender to her kiss, she pulled back, gasping.
“Oh my God, what am I doing?” She looked at Beau, her face twisted in horror and she leapt away from him like she could barely stand to touch him. Confusion replaced his joy as he watched her cover her mouth with a hand, like she was stopping herself from vomiting. Her expression burned itself into his brain as her eyes dropped down to his pelvis where she could see just how much he had enjoyed his first kiss.
Humiliation lashed at him, cutting his heart open and letting him bleed out in front of her. This wasn’t his fantasy; this was his worst nightmare. So why thefuckwasn’t he waking up?
“This was a mistake…” she murmured, wiping at her mouth like she couldn’t stand his taste on her lips a moment longer. Mortification and hurt swirled through him and bled together, creating something new: hate and anger. Of course she didn’t want him, he knew he shouldn’t have pushed his doubts aside but he was too desperate to believe it was real and that desperation made him a fool. How could she ever have been interested in him? It was just a game to her and she was just like all the other girls at school.
“You played me! I can’t believe it,youof all people!” he sneered, and her face dropped.
“No, Beau I…”
“Get the fuck away from me, get out and don’t ever come back.”
She tried to reach for him but he shook her off. “Bobby was right about you; you are a slut!” he shouted and then snapped his mouth shut before any more poison slipped out. Her face twisted at his words and then she was gone.
Beau paced up and down his room, fists clenched tightly. He punched the wall but it didn’t make him feel better. He spotted the glass that still held her favorite pink drink. The one he made her, always taking care of her like some pathetic lovesick puppy. He picked it up and threw it against the wall, watching the glass shatter around him like his heart. Then he sank down on his bed and cried.
He didn’t sleep that night, his hurt burned so brightly he didn’t think it would ever dim. He didn’t understand why she’d done that, how could she be so cruel?
He had dreaded the next day at school. He looked like shit from lack of sleep and crying but he went anyway, nausea churning in his stomach the whole time. He was hurting badly, the backs of his eyes prickling as he walked the halls. But he’d said something horrible last night and even if he and Taylor were finished, even if she didn’t give a shit about the little fat boy who doted on her, he owed her an apology.
He and Dean stood at his locker at lunch, normally the time Taylor would meet him and they would go and people-watch. Maybe if she turned up now, he would know it was all a misunderstanding, they could make up and everything would go back to normal. But as he stood listening to Dean moan about how snooty Christy was, he didn’t see Taylor.
“Maybe she’s not coming today? I saw her with Bobby earlier,” Dean said, looking around. Beau’s nausea increased as time ticked on. The bell rang for class and it felt final. She wasn’t coming. Then the familiar prickle ran along the back of Beau’s neck and he looked up.
There she was. Striding down the hallway towards him, on Bobby’s arm. Popular, muscular, attractive Bobby, the complete opposite of Beau.
Taylor caught his eye, something sharp spiked in the emerald depths and her lips lifted in a cruel smile he’d never seen before. She pulled Bobby to her and kissed him, aggressively, hungrily, watching Beau the entire time. It was the biggestfuck youof all time, and bitterness threatened to consume him. The hope that had bloomed in his chest died a strangled, agonizing death.
When Taylor and Bobby pulled apart, Bobby smacked her ass loudly and she giggled before shooting another one of those new, cruel smiles at Beau and brushed past him. Beau’s apology froze on his lips…
Trying to break himself out of his most painful memory, Beau stepped under the spray of the shower.Why the fuck did you decide to go down that rabbit hole? He wasn’t that sad little boy anymore. He was a grown man. A successful, strong man. Nothing like the boy he had been before L.A. He had moved on and it was pathetic to hold on to past resentments.
But he owed Taylor an apology; he still felt remorse for what he’d said when he was an idiotic teenager who didn’t know how to control his emotions. Call him over-sensitive but he’d had enough insults hurled at him in his time to know that once something was said, it couldn’t be taken back. He couldn’t take back his words, but he could apologize.
The problem was he and Taylor never had a civil enough conversation for him to work it in, and they were definitely never alone together. They hadn’t said a kind word to each other ever since that night. He needed to bridge this gap between them, especially now he was home for good and would see her all the time. She had been his best friend at one point and although they would never get back to that, they could let go of the animosity and be civil again, right?
He needed to grab the cash to pay for the cabin so he would try later to get her alone and then he would apologize, once and for all.
Chapter 3
“I’m pregnant!” Justine blurted out, absolute joy pouring from her. Christy screamed and flung herself at Justine before pulling back at the last minute as though Justine were as delicate as glass.
