Craving You (TBX #2) (21 page)

When she tries to sidestep me to free herself from my pull, my hand reaches out to push back a few strands of her hair that have floated over her face. “You’re welcome.” Gray eyes snap to mine as she allows a slight sigh to escape. The world moves all around us, minutes seem to pass at a snail's pace, my hand in slow motion while it grazes over her soft skin. I twist my finger in her hair, and with a gentle pull, she’s a breath away.

A shrill ring comes from my pocket effectively breaking the moment. “I gotta go.” Kelsey rushes past me, and before I can stop her, she’s in the Jeep kickin’ dust up down the drive. Pulling out my phone, I see the Unknown Caller light up again on my screen. This is getting out of control; I need to know who this asshole is.

“Hello?” I answer with clear anger in my voice.

“Parker Taylor?” An unknown male’s voice travels across the line. My body freezes. Something about this voice is familiar …

“Yes,” I hiss. “Who’s this?”

“Blaine.”

“Blaine who, and how did you get this number?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, Parker. I just …”

“Spit it out, dude. You’ve been calling me from an unknown number all day, and to top it off, you just interrupted an important issue I was dealing with.”

“Blaine Taylor. My name is Blaine Taylor,” he rushes.

“What?” The world warps around me. There are many people who share the same last name, but from the tone of his voice, it’s like he knows something I don’t.

“Brian is my dad.” Everything starts to click together and runs like a horrible movie through my head. Dad and Mom fighting for days over a secret I was determined to find out. Mom throwing things around the room, cursing my dad to hell for cheating on her yet again and the stranger who came to the house the day before the accident. Comforting her when he and Dad left.

The secret she shared with me.

The promise I’d made her.

I didn’t know.

I thought it or
he
was a baby. The man on the other end of this line is not a baby. That means Dad had to have been cheating long before Mom ever found out. How long had Mom been livin’ with this? How long would I have to? I promised I wouldn’t tell my siblings about
the baby
, not the man on the other end of this phone.
This changes everything
. ‘Dark secrets always find light,’ Mom had said the day before she died. Had I known her plan, I’d have never left her side. She wanted to hurt Dad like he’d hurt her, but in the end, she wrecked us all by leaving forever.

“How old are you?” Gravel would feel better than whatever is stuck in my throat at the moment.

“Twenty-three. Listen, I’m-”

“Who’s your mom?” I curse myself for sounding so weak over the line.

“Elaine.” The sound of the plastic and glass of my phone shattering against the brick of the house never registers over the blood rushing through my head.
My fuckin’ aunt
, my mom's sister. She and my father may as well have killed her themselves. More things begin to click through the angry fog of my brain.

They’re always together.

“Whoa, what happened here?” Brealynn’s voice reaches my ears, but I’m frozen in pain. “Oh, let me guess, you just saw Kelsey leave for her date? When will you two finally realize you belong together and stop pussy footing around?” She shakes her head with a regretful smile.

The only thing she said that filters is that Kelsey just went dressed like that on a date with another guy. Your brain can only register pain in one location at a time and the greatest pain overpowers the other. I feel a dull pain radiating, but it’s overshadowed by the crippling agony of lies.

Turning away from Brealynn with a mumble of ‘Gotta go,’ my legs sprint down the road. It doesn’t matter that I just ran five miles. That was to help get Kelsey off my brain, to keep me from crossing the line with Ava just to forget about her for a few minutes. This,
this
is a pain run. How much strain can your body physically take before it gives? I’m about to find out.

If I can put enough distance between myself and the burn in my chest, maybe it’ll dull and I’ll never have to tell Colt or Jamie about the demons that just came to light.

If crawlin’ wouldn’t make me look like a pussy, I’d be crawlin’ up the driveway right now. But I’m a badass, so my weak muscles deal with the pain. Mind over matter and all that bullshit. Looks like my body can take about five more miles of strain before it starts fightin’ back. I’ve no clue how to handle my life right now. Everything is fallin’ apart. My family … The girl … My soul …

Inhaling a deep breath before it shudders out of my tired lungs, I notice a Chevy in the drive.
A Chevy
. No one I know drives one, and besides, this is Texas—we’re Ford guys. Pain stabs my abdomen while my stomach twists into a knot. This must be Kelsey’s new guy.
Fuck.
My mind can’t take much more today. Straightening my spine, a shaky hand turns the knob on the front door, my adrenaline weaning.

The minute our eyes collide, I know exactly who he is. We look so much alike, how could I not?

“What’re you doing here, Blaine?” Kelsey sits too close next to him on the couch. “Wait. Did you … did you two go on a date today?” Fury bubbles under the surface of my skin, threatening to ignite.

“What? No!” Kelsey shrills.

“Don’t fuckin’ lie to me.” My voice strong, but low, intimidating.

“Parker …”

“Shut the fuck up.” A firm finger pointed toward Blaine’s face. “Kelsey, how do you know him?”

“I – I don’t!” She jolts up from the couch and nervously approaches me. “Parker, he just came by asking for you.” She looks between the two of us. “He said he was family, and well, you guys all look similar so I figured he was.”

“It’s nice to know you allow strangers into
my
house.” It’s irrational, but I’m pissed.

“I live here too, you jackass!” She shoves past me, but I capture her arm in a firm grip. “Let me go,” she growls, and I release her before she stomps up the stairs.

Once she’s out of sight, my eyes return to Blaine. “Get out.”

“Parker, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted to finally meet you guys and we got disconnected earlier.”

“I threw my phone against the house and it shattered into a million fuckin’ pieces. About how my mom’s life was after she found out about you, I suppose.”

“Listen, I had no idea. I thought my dad had left when I was a baby. I didn’t find out until last year that Brian was my dad. You think you’re angry? He fuckin’
abandoned
me.”

“My mom’s dead because of you.”

“No. She’s gone because of Brian and his lies. I’m an innocent bystander, like you.” My stance relaxes some, the hair on my arms and neck finally lying down.
He’s right
. We were kids and had no control over any aspect of the past.

“You’re right.” A heavy sigh releases from me. I have no cause for my anger, so I try to be polite. “Have a seat and let’s talk.” The anger leaves my body and is replaced with curiosity.

“So … sorry to have stopped by unannounced.” He wipes his hands down his jeans.

“Why’d you call me? Why not Colt or Jamie?”

“I originally went to
Ramp Jam
to meet you guys but lost you in the crowd. I asked some reporter if she knew how I could contact the Taylor boys, said I was family, and well, we do look a lot alike. She gave me your number.”

“I saw you the day before the accident. At our house.” I throw it out there, hoping he’ll pick it up and fill in the blanks for me.

Head in his hands, he answer, “Yeah,” then he sighs. “Once I found out that Brian was my dad, I became obsessed with meeting him. Wanting to question why he’d never wanted anything to do with me. I mean, I was a good kid, got good grades, and stayed out of trouble. My mind just couldn’t wrap around it. I was just a fuckin’ kid.” Rubbing at his temples he continues, “Mom … Elaine would spend so much time with me when I was younger. It was when I started askin’ about if I had a dad and such that she finally started sending me to boarding schools. Year round. She’d come visit, but I’d never get to come home. I got into a good college after school, but I couldn’t get over thinking that part of me I didn’t know was out there. Did I have siblings? It drove me mad.” More events click into place. Aunt Elaine and all of her traveling for work; the holidays she missed with us.

“When’d you get back to Texas?”

“The day I went to confront Brian and Elaine. The address I had was your home.”

“What happened that day?”

“When I knocked on the door, your mom answered. As soon as she saw my face, I swear a light bulb went off and she yelled for Brian. I heard his steps rush down the stairs at the urgency in her voice. When he stopped in the doorway, he froze. That was all the confirmation your mom needed. She invited me in, despite her hesitation. She was very kind to me that day. We all three sat down, and Brian spilled his guts to both of us. From my standpoint, she handled it very well. Had I known that’d be her breaking point, I would’ve stayed hidden.”

“According to Brian, Mom and he have always been in love. Elaine and he were in a fight and he got drunk and slept with your mom and then the next thing he knew, she was pregnant with Colt. Brian felt obligated to marry her and a year after their marriage, her depression started to worsen. He tried to make it work with her for the sake of Colt and you, and the last chance was right after Jamie was born, but her depression took hold and never let go. Elaine stepped back and tried to allow their marriage to work, but nothing ever made her happy. She knew Brian loved Elaine but refused to let him go. Said he ruined her and she’d make sure he was ruined before it was over. Brian didn’t touch my mom again after he found out about Colt. He touched every other woman, but not the one he wanted the most. Your mom never knew that when she found out she was pregnant with Colt, Elaine was already four months pregnant with me but never told our dad. My mom ‘
went away on business’
to have me and kept me hidden from your mom and Brian.”

“She knew it’d break her.” It now made sense why Aunt Elaine was always around for us; she missed Blaine and the son she couldn’t be with, the family she couldn’t have, all to protect her sister. This is some fucked-up, twisted version of
Romeo and Juliet.

“My mom said that yours battled with depression all of her life, that it could be really bad at times, but when she got with Brian, it became better. When she had her kids, it helped her. So she didn’t want to interfere with that.”

“I saw you leave that day, and I had no idea who you were. Mom had cried and locked herself away for most of the day. When I finally got her to open the door for me, she smiled and it faltered a bit. Now, I wonder if she was remembering you. That day she opened up to me and told me Dad had a baby with another woman.
A baby
. Made me promise to keep this to myself because she wasn’t sure if it was true. So I did. I had no idea how twisted up everything was …”
Fuck, I may cry.

“I’m sorry. I know this is a lot, but I hope we can build a friendship out of the chaos.”

“Just have to break this to Colt and Jamie. Maybe we can all meet here one day?” I was still trying to wrap my mind around everything.

“Sounds good. Who’s the girl?”

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Point taken.”

“We’ll be in touch. I have to get a new phone, but you have my number. Call me in a week.” Opening the door, Blaine walks out into the night and a rush of air leaves my lungs, too much information in one night.