Blind Love (The Complete Box Set Romance Series) (20 page)

“I’m not going to let you starve,” he
protested.

I took the cash. I didn’t count it, just
shoved it into my pocket.

“Look, I have to go, but if you need
something, please call me.”

“I would if I could, Cole, but I have no
phone.”

“That sucks. She took everything?”

I shrugged. “I left the stuff there. I
didn’t want her accusing me of stealing it.”

“I still think you should have a party
here. I could supply the alcohol. I have a few friends who are of age.”

I shook my head. The last thing I needed
was to get caught with underage drinkers. I wouldn’t drink because that was a
cop out. I wasn’t going down that road. “Absolutely not.”

“Damn. That’s cold. I
gotta
go. I’m sorry, Dylan. I can pick you up for school tomorrow.”

“That sounds good.”

He left me to my trailer. Home, sweet,
hovel, as my mother would say. Why had I thought I deserved more?

Someone knocked on the door. I though Cole
had come back. It was Mr. Dean. Was he here to yell at me, too?

I let him in. He looked around. “Dylan.”

“Mr. Dean.”

What was I going to say? I wasn’t sorry. I
really cared about his daughter. I knew I’d been stupid, but I didn’t know how
to handle the situation any differently.

He handed me the laptop and the phone.
“These are yours. You keep them. I’ll pay the phone bill.”

I nodded. Why was he being so nice? He
looked around again. “She’s my daughter, Dylan. My pride and joy.”

“I know. I care about her, Mr. Dean.”

“Well, I don’t think I can trust you
anymore.”

“I understand. Is Taylor okay?”

“She’s upset. Grounded, but she’ll live,”
he said.

I could see the struggle on his face. He
liked me, but Taylor was his daughter. His loyalty was to her. He pulled out
his wallet. He handed me an even bigger was of cash than Cole did. “This should
hold you for a little while.”

“Thank you.”

The trek to the grocery store wouldn’t be
fun without a car, but I needed to at least get some food for a day or so.

“I trusted you, Dylan.”

“I know, sir. And, I betrayed that trust.
She isn’t just some girl to me. She’s special.”

“Well, that isn’t enough. I’m disappointed
in both of you. Maybe if you had come talked to me, we could have worked
something out, but the two of you snuck around behind my back.”

“I know, sir. It was wrong.”

I couldn’t apologize anymore. He wasn’t
going to forgive me. That was the reality of my situation.

And, I’d done it to myself. I had a chance
at a good life and I’d
thrown
it away. Mr. Dean
pulled a business card out of his pocket. “This person is hiring part timers. I
put in a good word for you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

At least I’d have a job. Hopefully, I
could get rides to it and not screw things up – like I did with the Deans.

As long as my uncle would let me live here
I think I’d be okay. Too bad that uncle lived far away and wasn’t willing to
help me any further than this trailer.

I should be grateful for that. Right? I
should be grateful for my time with Taylor. All girls after her would be judged
based on how she’d been.

“I better go. Mrs. Dean is pretty mad.
Even at me. I wish things had been different, son. Good luck and don’t give up
on college.”

He stuck out his hand. I shook it, then he
left. I was alone in my new home, or rather, my old home.

I sighed. I might as well clean it up, but
part of me just wanted to crawl into my lumpy bed. Maybe things would look
better tomorrow. Or I’d wake up from this nightmare in the Deans’ house again.
That this was all a mistake.

As I looked around, I knew it wasn’t.

My phone dinged with a text from Taylor.

“They are taking my phone away, but if you
need anything from me, call Helena. She’ll get a message to me.”

I smiled down at her. Still taking care of
me.

“Thanks,” I texted back.

I dropped the phone on the table.
Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

I crawled into my crappy bed, remembering
the soft sheets and the even softer daughter at the Dean house. I’m stupid.
That has to be it. Why did I let myself get sent back here? I stared at the
ceiling as the wind began to blow.

The trailer shook, and I’d forgotten it
did that. Fuck.

What an idiot I am and now I was back
here. The last place I’d ever wanted to return to.

I curled up on my side as the wind picked
up.

Chapter Thirty Two

Taylor

Helena drove me home from school a few
days later. My mother was out and my father was travelling.

“Can we detour to see Dylan?” I said.

“You want to chance it?”

“I have to. I have to make this right.”

“You’re going to get into deeper trouble,”
she told me.

“Probably.”

I needed to see Dylan. I’d only seen him
in class, and we didn’t have time to talk. He wasn’t staying after school
anymore, either. I wondered if he quit the mathletes. That would be a shame. He’d
enjoyed that.

I wanted to kiss Dylan, but I wanted to
talk to him more.

Helena parked by the trailer. I had to
admit I was astonished when I saw it again. “Holy shit. He wasn’t kidding when
he described this place.”

“Sad, really,” Helena said. “I’ll wait in
the car.”

“Thanks.”

I didn’t know if he was home, so I knocked
lightly on the front door that looked like it would fall off if I knocked any
harder. Dylan couldn’t stay here. I had to make this right. I had to fix this.
No human should have to live like this.

“Taylor. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you, Dylan.”

He glanced past me, waving at Helena. He
opened the door further so I could go in. I kissed him. “You’re going to get
into trouble, Taylor.”

“I know, but I needed to see you.”

I didn’t want to stop touching him. He had
dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t been sleeping.

“I have to get ready for work.”

“Go ahead.”

“I need to change.”

“I’ve seen you naked,” I said – and
wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

He frowned as he led me to the bedroom.
Tiny was an understatement. I sat on the bed as he stripped down to his
underwear then put on his uniform.

“My parents have agreed to let me study
nursing. I’ve applied to a few schools.”

“Have you gotten anything back?”

“No, but I’m thinking it will be for a
January enrollment.”

God, he was hot. Even in that stupid
uniform. He pumped gas and had his name on the pocket. I knew my father had
gotten him the job.

“That won’t be too bad.”

“No, it won’t. I just wish I’d figured
this out sooner.”

“Right.”

“There’s still the prom,” I said.

He stopped to stare at me. “Has someone
asked you?”

“No.”

I had hoped he would, but he might have
changed his mind about me. I cleared my throat. “I think I can talk my dad into
letting you take me.”

“Taylor, that’s wishful thinking.”

“I think he feels guilty about my mother
kicking you out.”

Dylan shook his head. “He isn’t, Taylor.
He’s right. We shouldn’t have been messing around.”

“They only know that we dated. They don’t
know what else we did.”

Dylan looked at his watch. “Will Helena
drive me to my job?”

“Of course.”

“Then you need to get home after that.
Don’t get in trouble for me.”

I kissed him. He kissed back, and I wanted
him to make love to me, but he had to get to work. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, Taylor, but this can’t
be. Please don’t come around.”

I felt my eyes get wet. “You don’t care
anymore.”

He pulled me into his arms. “Of course, I
do. I don’t want you to get into trouble. Don’t make it worse. Just let me be.”

“But this isn’t fair, Dylan.”

“Life is not fair, sweetie. It isn’t. The
sooner you learn that the better,” he said.

“I know, but you’ve been trying so hard
and now you’re back here in the trailer. I worry about you here.”

He stroked my face. “Oh, Taylor. I’m fine.
I can take care of myself.”

He kissed me, and I really didn’t want him
to go to work. Helena beeped the horn. Dylan smiled. “We better go or we’ll both
be late.”

I nodded, but I liked how I fit into his
arms.”

He nudged me away. “Let’s go, Taylor.”

He climbed into the backseat. “Where am I
taking you?” Helena asked.

I told her which gas station he worked
for. She nodded. “I know it well.”

“Good because I can’t be late.”

She smiled. I turned in my seat to look at
him.

“What?”

“I’m just glad to see you.”

“Taylor, we can’t keep doing this.”

“I know, but I’m going to look at you
while I can. I’m going to figure this situation out.”

He reached up and squeezed my hand. “I
think this is something that you can’t fix. I appreciate the effort, but you
have to move on.”

“I refuse.”

He cocked his head. “You have no choice,
honey. This is how life is, and you need to listen to your parents. I have to
work to get money for food, and I won’t have a lot of time for you.”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

He took a deep breath. “
It’s
how it has to be, Taylor.”

I felt a lump form in my throat. “I’m not
giving up on us, Dylan. We were meant to be together. I know it.”

He frowned. “I wish you would just let it
go.”

“No, Dylan. I won’t.”

Helena dropped him off at the gas station.
He kissed me through the window. My heart hurt as I watched him walk into the
office.

“Help me, Helena. There has to be a
solution.”

“Unless you can convince your parents that
you are better off with Dylan than without, I don’t see this working. And, I
don’t mean emotionally. I mean, like, you’re safer with Dylan.”

“Hm.”

Her statement got some creative juices
flowing. I didn’t have the answer yet, but I would. I was determined. My
parents would see Dylan for the good kid he was. They would see what I see in
him and he’d be back in our house.

Chapter Thirty
Three

Dylan

When I returned home from work a few days
later, there was a box of mail waiting for me. I guess Mr. Dean had dropped it
off. That was important; I needed to see if I had any acceptances. Even if I
wasn’t sure I was going to be able to go, I wanted to know I could go to college.

I hadn’t sorted things out with financial
aid, but I would. I had to figure out how to make this work. I wasn’t going to
stay in this trailer forever.

My phone rang. The caller ID read Helena.

“Hi.”

“It’s Taylor.”

A smile lit my face. That girl could
always make me smile. “Hey.”

“I haven’t gotten my phone back, but
Helena and I are doing homework. I wanted to hear your voice.”

“Nice to hear your voice, too.”

“Are you doing homework?”

“No, I just got home from work. I need to
shower and then get started.”

“Are you keeping your grades up?”

“I am,” I assured her.

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

Clearly, she wasn’t going to listen to me
about not keeping in touch. Taylor had her own mind and she was going to be an
amazing woman when she grew up. She was already pretty cool. I did miss her.
We’d begun to spend so much time together, I was almost having withdrawal
symptoms from not seeing her.

“You still in uniform?”

“I am.” I stood in my bedroom. “I’m going
to put you on speaker so I can get out of these clothes. They smell like
gasoline.”

“Yuck.”

“Tell me about it. This trailer now
stinks.”

“Do you have a washer and dryer?”

“No. It’s a trip to the laundromat for
me.”

“How do you get there?”

“I walk. It isn’t far.”

“Damn, Dylan. That sucks.”

Tell me about it. I was the one who had to
do the walking. Tomorrow, I’d have to do it. I had the day off from the gas
station and after school would be laundry time. At least I could bring the
laptop and get some homework done since the laundromat had Wi-Fi.

“Yep, but it is what it is.”

“I’d be pissed.”

“I think you’re mad enough for both of
us,” I said.

She laughed “I guess so.”

“I’d love to talk, sweetie, but I can’t stand
how I smell and I can’t take the phone into the shower.”

“Wow. You should send me a pic of you in
the shower.”

I laughed. “You’re using Helena’s phone.
I’m not sending her a naked picture of me.”

“Good point.”

“I need to sort through the mail your dad
dropped off,” I said.

I’d noticed come college envelopes in
there. Maybe they were acceptances.

“One more minute, Dylan? Please. Helena
has to go soon,” she said.

“Okay, but we both have homework.”

“Why are you so practical?”

“I’ve had to be, Taylor. I’d love to be
frivolous, but I can’t be. Life is serious now.”

She sighed. I knew that she was never
going to really understand what I was going through. I almost hoped she’d get
bored with me, that way she’d move on and I would have to see or hear her.

It hurt. Truly, it hurt. Maybe I was in
love with her. I didn’t know. I was eighteen and suddenly had to grow up and take
care of myself. She didn’t have to.

“I’m really sorry. I haven’t figured out a
solution to our problem, but Helena is helping me.”

I sat on the bed in my underwear, sorting
through the mail. “How was your day?”

I didn’t want to hear about a non-existent
solution to this problem. I’d done this to myself, and I had to man up and deal
with the consequences.

“It was okay. Barbie quit cheerleading.”

“What was her reason?”

“She said it was because of her grades,
but I think it is her new boyfriend.”

Guess she’d moved on from me, not that I
was hurt or surprised. The girl had the attention span of a toddler. I’m sure
I’d only been a blip on her radar, despite the stink she’d made.

“Yeah,
us
guys
distract you.”

I opened a large envelope from Penn State.
It said: “Congratulations.” I scanned the letter while Taylor chattered on.
When she took a breath, I said, “I got into Penn State.”

“Nice, Dylan, congrats.”

I was pretty stoked. It was number one on
my list. I just needed to know what kind of financial aid they were going to
give me. That was the key. I clearly couldn’t afford college on my own. I’d
probably have thousands of dollars of debt when I got out if I didn’t get
grants.

A problem for another day. The next two
envelopes were acceptances also. So far, I’d gotten into every college that I
wanted to.

Now to pay for it.

I sighed. Taylor talked on as I said
non-committal things at the right moment. Guess that was enough. I was suddenly
very tired. I laid down on the bed, missing the comfortable one at the Dean
house.

“You still there?” Taylor said.

“I am. I have to get into the shower and
get my homework done before I fall asleep. I better go. Thank Helena for
letting you use her phone.”

“She’s a good friend, I know.”

“Yes, she is, Taylor. Keep her close.”

“That sounded ominous.”

“No. It isn’t.”

We hung up finally about ten minutes
later. I wanted to close my eyes for a moment, but I knew if I did, the next
thing I knew, it would be morning and my homework would not be done. That would
be bad.

Now that I had tasted the good life, I
wanted it. I was determined to make myself better and to get out of this
trailer. I was never going to be poor again.

College would do that for me and I had to
finagle a way to pay for it. If it killed me, I would graduate and make
something of myself.

I would have that big house.

Chapter Thirty
Four

Taylor

Since I wasn’t grounded anymore, I told my
mother that I was staying at Helena’s house. My girl was covering for me. I had
no intention of being at her house, but she was a good friend.

No, I was heading to Dylan’s house. He was
working, but I knew when he’d be home. I also knew where his spare key was. I
had a surprise for my man.

Me.

The place smelled, but I’d probably get
used to it. He was a guy and notoriously they weren’t as clean was women. At
least, from my experience. Dylan’s room had always been messier than mine, but
the trailer was not messy.

It just smelled of gasoline. Guess he
couldn’t help that unless he undressed outside.

I knew which room was his bed and he’d made
it that morning. I undressed and slid into the sheets. They smelled of Dylan
and I was already turned on when he came in. He flicked on the light.

“Hi,” I said, trying to act like I surprised
my lover all the time.

He put a hand on his chest. “Taylor, you
scared me.”

“That wasn’t the reaction I was hoping
for.”

He laughed. He stood there in his boxers
and a t-shirt. If it was up to me, he wouldn’t be wearing them. But I suddenly
felt shy. This didn’t seem as cool as it had in my head.

“Hi,” he said finally.

“Come on in. The covers are warm.”

“I need to shower first, Taylor. I smell
like a gas station.”

“I’ll wait. I have all night.”

His eyebrows shot up. “All night?”

“My parents think that I’m at Helena’s,” I
said.

He nodded and strode to the bathroom. The
water turned on then he was back a few minutes later, a towel wrapped around
his waist. Just when I thought he couldn’t look any sexier, he did.

He dropped the towel, then slid under the
covers. His hair was damp and messy. I didn’t care. I wanted to be with Dylan
again.

“You sure?” he said.

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure,” I
said.

He kissed me and my body was already on
fire or him. When he stopped, he lifted up the covers to look at me. His smile
said it all, which sent a thrill through me.

He nibbled at my neck as I ran my hands
down his back. Then he took one of my breasts in his mouth. My fingers were jammed
into his hair, my body writhing as he kissed down my stomach.

Where was he going? “Dylan?”

“Trust me.”

He ended up between my thighs.

“Spread your legs a little more.”

I did as he asked, not sure what was
happening, but going with it. I did trust Dylan. He wouldn’t hurt me. He licked
me down there. My butt would have come off the bed from the sensation, but his
hands were holding me down.

Then another lick. His tongue flicked at
me, and I didn’t know what to do with the sensations. I felt as if I were about
to explode. A tension tightened in my gut. This was a far more intense feeling
than when I took care of my own needs.

“God, Dylan.”

I could feel the vibrations of it up my
body when he chuckled. His whiskers scraped my thighs, but it wasn’t a bad
feeling. None of it was bad. I was happy there were no houses close because
this wasn’t going to happen quietly.

I moaned as his tongue danced across my
center. My back arched. I fisted the sheets in my hands. And then it let loose
– my orgasm and a high keening noise. I don’t know how long it lasted, but when
it stopped, I wanted to cry. I’d never felt so relieved in my life.

Dylan wiped his face on the sheet and slid
back up my body, a grin on his face. “I love doing that.”

“You like it?”

“I could spend the day down there if there
was a fridge.”

I laughed. “That was amazing.”

“Yeah, it was.”

I took his penis in my hand. He was hard
and long, and I knew where I wanted him. But it was my turn.

“Roll over.”

He shifted onto his back. I saw a condom
on his nightstand and snagged it. I opened it with my teeth while I sat on his
thighs. I was still weak from my climax, but I was going to do this. I wanted
to be on top. I wanted to be in control.

I rolled the condom onto him, then poised my
body above his erection. “Ready?”

“Holy shit, Taylor. Yes.”

I laughed then slid myself onto him.
Slowly. It was torture as I wanted to take him whole. He gritted his teeth,
then grabbed my hips to push me on further. I laughed. He’d lost control.

I slid up and down his length, my body
igniting again. All of a sudden, I was racing to the finish line. I knew the
orgasm was close. He arched his body into mine. We met at every thrust until I
was falling over the edge. Dylan thrust a few more times as my body had stopped
being mine.

He let out a low growl as I slumped onto
him. He rubbed my back, which was the only part of me that wasn’t numb. Our
chests heaved.

He eventually nudged me. “I have to get
the condom off before it leaks.”

I slid off of him. He went to the
bathroom, then returned to snuggle up next to me.

“We really have all night?”

“All night, Dylan.”

“Damn. Glad I don’t work until later
tomorrow. I’m going to need some sleep after this.”

“Right now?”

“No, not right now, but before I go to
work. Right now, I only need a few minutes before we do it again.”

My body tingled with the thought.