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Don’t worry, though. Someone else had noticed I’d returned, because a feminine voice spoke with a huff, “You’re back. You’re back and you didn’t wake me up when you got home.”
I turned my head toward the voice, my eyelids cracking open just slightly to see Taylor standing beside my bed with her arms folded over her chest. She was dressed in jeans and a light sweater; ready to go to class.
“It was late,” I whispered. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You didn’t…” She shook her head, sounding miffed as she went on, “I talked to Jeff. Your job is dangerous, Creed. Why the hell wouldn’t you wake me up so I know you’re back and you’re safe?”
I ran a hand along the side of my face, slow to sit up. The sheet covering me fell to my lap, and Taylor’s gaze dropped to my bare chest—but only for a moment. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t think you’d care too much.” Oh, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it.
“Didn’t think I’d care? You were the one icing me out before you left, not me. I—” Taylor stopped herself from saying whatever it was she was going to say. Her lips pursed, her eyebrows furrowing. “I’m mad at you.”
That got me to get to my feet after whipping off the sheet. I swung my legs off my bed and stood near her, using my height to my advantage to tower over her. “You’re mad at me? Ditto, Taylor. I heard about your trip to the Hooting Owl. You shouldn’t go there—”
“I thought it was a safe place. It’s where you had us meet.”
“That was before.”
“Before what?” Taylor demanded to know. When I didn’t answer her, she carried on, “And who are you to be mad at me? I didn’t do anything. So what if I went to the Hooting Owl? You were gone. I didn’t even get any texts from you. You could’ve been dead and I never would’ve known.” Her green stare held mine, fury in those beautiful eyes. “And… and I was lonely. Even though you weren’t talking to me before you left, I still missed you.”
Those words meant something different now, something far different than what they’d meant back when she’d first called me and come back into my life. An added weight to them, a new meaning.
“I thought you didn’t want to talk to me,” I whispered.
“Apparently the only way to talk to you is to do something to annoy you, like waking you up. Or going to talk to Jeff at the Hooting Owl. Or bringing a boy back after a party—”
“Don’t.” It was all I could say. A single word.
“Don’t what?” Her arms fell away from her chest, hanging at her sides. She lifted a finger to my chest, poking me just above my heart. “You’re impossible, you know that? You’re just—you’re impossible!” She poked me again, but then her breath caught.
Ah. She must’ve realized I was standing less than a foot in front of her, totally naked.
A blush crept up her cheeks, and Taylor whirled around, giving me her back as she stuttered out, “You’re… you’re naked!” It sounded as if she could hardly get the words out.
“That’s what happens when you wake a man up from his dreams,” I said, staring at the back of her head, at her kinky brown hair. How badly I wanted to reach out for her, to turn her around, to watch as that pretty emerald stare dropped to take my entire body in. I barely held back.
“Put some clothes on so we can finish this conversation.”
I smirked. “No.”
“No? So, you’re just going to stand there, naked? Come on, Creed. If this is how you’re going to act, then—” She took a step away from me, going to leave, as if I’d let her.
“Then what?” I grabbed her wrist and yanked her back to me. Her body spun toward me, her chest colliding with mine. “You’re going to go to another party tonight, hmm? Bring home another boy?”
“Creed,” Taylor muttered my name, trying to pull her wrist from me, trying to push herself off me—but I’d moved an arm around her lower back to stop her from doing just that. “At least I get some emotion out of you when I do,” she pointed out. “At least then you’re not pretending I don’t exist.”
“What do you want, Taylor? You’re the one who told me to get out of your room that night,” I reminded her. “I think I showed you plenty of emotion then.” My heart had begun to beat wildly in my chest, and I fought internally with certain parts of me—certain lower parts. Parts that had started to ache with a particular need.
“I want you to be my brother, not whatever you were that night.” She was going to say more, but I stopped her by letting go of her wrist and taking that hand to her jaw, cupping her jaw and forcing her to gaze up into my eyes. She inhaled sharply at the movement, suddenly frozen. The pupils in her eyes had dilated, a signal of desire most people might miss.
But I didn’t.
“I told you,” I breathed out the words, my grip around her lower back tightening, pulling her in even harder against my body, “stop lying. Stop lying to us both.” My cock twitched, and I knew right then fighting with it was nothing more than a losing battle. Having her here, in my arms, would get me hard regardless.
Taylor must’ve felt it, for she let out a breathy sigh, her eyelids fluttering shut.
“How’s this for emotion?” I whispered, “If you bring another boy here, if you try to throw another worthless boy in my face, I’ll kill him. That’s a promise, Taylor.” I lowered my head somewhat, asking, “Do you know why I’d do that, why I’d make that promise?”
She could only shake her head once, her jaw still gripped by my hand. Her eyes had peeked open, nothing but slits staring up at me. Both of her hands had found themselves on my chest, palms flat against my skin, taking my heat and exchanging it with some of hers.
