Dylan and Taylor (Soul Mates 101 Series) Page 2

  “Did I make you uncomfortable, so you have to turn the tables?”

  Shit, he’s making my palms sweat. “Um, just answer my question.”

  “First off, I’m guessing Jasmine or Morgan gave you this information. Second, I never professed my love for her. I’m not currently, nor have I ever been in love with Hannah. I told Brett I liked her, and although I’ve never been in love, I’m certain I didn’t love her.”

  “How do you know if you have nothing to compare it to?”

  “I know because I started having feelings for someone else soon after that. If I loved her, I can’t imagine I would’ve got over it that quickly. She feels like a sister now. That’s how I know, sunshine.”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Why can’t you be nice for longer than five minutes? I thought we were having a nice conversation.”

  “See, I can’t tell if you were being sarcastic with that last sentence.”

  “Who burned you, Taylor? You obviously don’t expect a male to be nice to you.”

  I’m curious if he still likes this other girl he mentioned, and I don’t want to be curious. I don’t want to care about him. Unable to share with him the hurt the male species has caused me, I lay my head against the window again. It’s dark outside, and it’s beginning to snow hard.

  A Storm is Brewing

  Dylan

  My phone rings, and I see it’s Brett.

  “Hey, man.”

  “How far away are you?”

  “I’m guessing we have a little over an hour still.”

  “You’re going to shit when you see this place.”

  “Nice huh?”

  “It’s huge. How’s it going? Are you ready to throw her from the car yet?”

  I move my phone to my ear that’s closest to the door, so Taylor can’t hear him. “Let me just say that since I can’t touch Hannah, you need to tickle the shit out of her. I’m going to need a beer when I get there. Actually, make that plural.”

  Brett chuckles. “I’m loving every minute of this.”

  “Shut up, asshole. I’m hanging up.”

  “See ya, dude.”

  I’m looking forward to getting to the cabin and out of this vehicle. Hannah told me eight bedrooms make up most of it, all with private baths equipped with jetted tubs and showers. Two hot tubs set on the back deck, which stretches across the whole length of the cabin.

  There’s supposed to be an enormous great room with vaulted ceilings, and a huge kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. I’m dying to see the game room that’s supposed to be very similar to the one in Hannah’s home. She said there are two pool tables, a flat screen television and old style arcade games.

  “So, what’s your major?” Taylor asks.

  I’m really not in the mood for more of her shit. We get into an argument every time we talk, so I don’t know why she’s bothering. “Electrical engineering.”

  “You’re smart then.” She sounds surprised.

  I hang my head and shake it. Do all the girls just think I’m stupid?

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You sound surprised, which is the same reaction I got from the rest of your girlfriends.”

  “I’m sorry. Of course I know you’re smart. Don’t take this wrong, but the way you goof around all the time overshadows your intelligence a bit.”

  I laugh. She’s probably right since I joke around a lot.

  “I guess I can see how that’s possible. Thanks for clearing that up.”

  “Was that sarcasm?” she asks.

  Has she been living under a rock? “No, Taylor,” I say exhaustingly. “I see you missed sarcasm 101 while you were away. Where was it again you were at your freshman year, New York?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to elaborate on that?”

  “I studied photography there. My major at Vandy is film studies.”

  “That’s cool.”

  “I just need to get a degree, but I’ll probably always do photography. I guess I have plenty of time to figure it out.”

  “I can’t say my major is my ideal choice, but my dad’s an electrician, so I’m trying to take it a step further with this degree. He’ll be proud, anyway.”

  “What would be your first choice?” She seems genuinely curious, and I’m shocked she’s carrying on a normal conversation with me. One that’s more than five words. “I wouldn’t mention this, but Brett told the girls, so I’m sure they’ll blab about it. I would’ve went to school for music.”

  “Oh shit, were you in the school band?”

  “Hell no I wasn’t in band!”

  “There’s nothing wrong with it, I just couldn’t see you doing it.” She’s laughing at me.

  “Now you’re just hitting below the belt.” I start laughing with her. It is kinda funny to imagine. This is the first time we’ve ever joked around together. I like it.

  “If you weren’t in band, then what do you want to do with a music degree?”

  “I play electric guitar.”

  Taylor chokes and starts coughing loudly. I’m guessing on the gum she’s chewing.

  “Are you OK?” I glance over to her a few times.

  “Umm ... yeah, I’m good now.”

  “I’m kind of ate up with it, actually. I’d play all day if I could.”

  “That’s awesome, Dylan. I love guitar. Why are you becoming an engineer then?” She coughs again.

  “It would really upset my dad if I didn’t, and honestly, I don’t know if I play good enough to do it professionally. I occasionally fill in for a guitarist in a bar band; otherwise, I just play at home.”

  I start struggling to see out the window from the snow blowing. I didn’t even think to check the weather, and Brett didn’t mention them having any trouble. “Taylor, could you check the weather on your phone? We’re just past Knoxville.” I try to concentrate on the road while she looks at the radar.

  “It looks like a lot of snow is over us. It’s covering a large radius.”

  “Dammit, call Hannah and find out if this cabin is up a hill, and ask how much snow there is already. We may have to stop for the night.”

  “No, we need to keep driving. We only have an hour, so I just want to get there.”

  “I want to get there just as much as you do, but I also have no interest in being stranded in the car all night.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  Like she’s an expert on driving in the snow. She has a damn chauffer. “Call and ask. Then we can decide.” I’m losing my patience. I’m sick of being in the car after working all day, and now I’m worried about the weather. Also, Taylor’s getting under my skin, and not just in a bad way.

  “Hannah, how’s the weather there?”

  Taylor talks back and forth with her for a minute.

  “OK, I’ll call back later,” Taylor says with a sigh before she hangs up.

  I look over at her. “What’s going on?”

  “She said they have a ton of snow, it looks bad out by the road, and they don’t know if we can make it or not. She also said they’re ten miles off the main road, but I don’t want to stop, Dylan. I think we can make it.”

  This chick has definitely lived under a rock if she doesn’t realize what can go wrong in a snow storm. “No, you want to make it. There’s a huge difference. The weather could get bad enough to where it won’t matter what kind of vehicle we’re driving.”

  “Please, Dylan. I don’t want to stay in a hotel. I want to be with our friends and sleep in a nice bed.”

  “If we get stuck in the snow, we freeze.”

  “Please can we try?” She looks at me pleadingly.

  Dammit, she’s gorgeous. Now she’s giving me that pitiful yet alluring look with those expressive brown eyes, and it’s really turning me on. I want Taylor in a bad way, so I need to get out of arm’s reach from her since she’s never going to give me the time of day. We probably couldn’t get along no matter how har
d we tried. “Fine, we’ll keep going, but this is on you. I think we should stop.”

  “I’m going to text Hannah and tell her.”

  About a minute later, I hear her giggling, so I glance over and see that she’s texting. I love seeing her smile, and it’s a rare occurrence. “You’re even prettier when you smile, Taylor.” I glance her way again and see that she’s blushing.

  “Thanks. Um, it sounds like we’re going to walk into a cabin full of drunk people.”

  “I’m gettin’ tired. I don’t think I could catch up with them tonight,” I say. It’s ridiculous how slow I have to drive, but we finally make it into town and find the road we have to turn on.

  The weather continues to worsen the closer we get, and I can hardly see out the windows. There’s a steep hill as soon as I turn onto the road the cabin is on. “Dammit, I knew it.”

  “We can make it.”

  “I’m just going to tell you this once. If you say that again, I swear I’m getting out and making you drive.”

  “Bullshit. You wouldn’t let me drive.”

  “Can you just stop talking? I need to concentrate.” I’m able to gain some traction after I start up the hill, but I can barely see anything in front of me due to the heavy, wet snow coming down. The road becomes steeper and winding the further we creep along, and after four miles, the tires start to spin.

  “We’re sliding. I’m trying to stay in the middle of the road, but I can barely see where that is. Call Hannah, and ask her if there’s a drop off on either side of this road.”

  “Please don’t yell at me, but I can’t get a signal. I already tried to text her.”

  I throw the thing in park. “I’ll try a little longer to get up this hill, but I’m not getting any traction, and I can’t risk us going off the side. I can’t see what’s there, and it could be a cliff for all I know.” Taylor glances over at me, and I can tell she’s beginning to worry.

  I try several times to back up and go forward, but there’s no change. “Stay here. I’m going to get out and look around,” I say angrily as I put the SUV back in park. I can hardly shield my face from the sting of the snow, and it’s freezing for Tennessee weather.

  The headlights give off enough light that I see my worst nightmare when I edge the road. There are drop offs on both sides. They’re steep enough that the SUV would easily flip and roll if we slid off.

  I hurry back into the vehicle, knocking the snow off my boots before I shut the door. “We’re screwed. There are steep drop offs on both sides. I’ll try again, but we have six more miles. I really doubt we can make it.”

  “What will we do?”

  “We can’t walk that far in this weather, so we’ll have to stay put until morning, when we can see, and let’s hope the snow will have stopped by then. I wish there were some homes around here, but I can’t see any kind of lights.” Taylor’s only wearing a thin, button up shirt with skinny jeans and flat shoes. I hope she has warmer clothes in her suitcase. She’s going to need them.

  I start the vehicle and try for fifteen more minutes to gain traction, but the tires continue to spin. I turn off the ignition and slam my fist down on the steering wheel, causing the horn to go off. Taylor jumps. “I’m so sorry, Dylan. I really didn’t think it’d be this bad.”

  “Don’t even say that, Taylor. I told you what could happen, and I told you we shouldn’t do it, but you just thought about what you wanted. You went and gave me those puppy dog eyes and sucked me right in. You probably get anything you want with that look!”

  “Don’t yell at me. You can be mad at me all you want, but you’re not going to scream at me.” She bursts into tears.

  “Dammit, Taylor. I’m sorry I yelled, but don’t even turn on the waterworks to get me to feel bad. You’re the reason we get to freeze tonight. I’m going to try to get a phone signal, so stay put.” I put my gloves back on, and I’m thankful I wore my work boots.

  The snow stings my face once again as I walk around to see if I can get a signal to make a call. I can only hold the phone up for a few seconds at a time due to the moisture hitting it. After several minutes, I give up. My body is feeling the chill of the cold air.

  I don’t know how rough our night’s going to get, so I’m worried I won’t be able to protect her. I’m more upset with myself than I am with Taylor. I should’ve made her stay in a hotel, and I should’ve thought ahead to check the weather. With it being a rental, I didn’t think to bring anything in case we became stranded.

  She’s still crying when I get back in the SUV, and that’s when I notice we’re low on gas. Shit, what else is going to go wrong? It’s eleven o’clock, and I realize what should’ve been a four hour drive has already turned into five and a half.

  “Taylor, stop crying. I can’t listen to that all night. We don’t have much gas, so I’m going to warm us up, but then I have to turn off the vehicle. Do you have some warm clothes in your suitcase?”

  “Yes,” she says as she wipes away her tears and stares out the side window. There’s nothing but darkness there, so I don’t know what she’s doing.

  “Well, get your ass back there, and put some more clothes on.” I get what I ask for when her ass is practically in my face as she climbs between our seats to the back. I’m aggravated that I want to put my hands right on it. “Here’s what I think we need to do. We’re going to have to sleep in the back, and then maybe every hour or so, I can turn the SUV back on to warm us up some.

  “We’re going to have to lie against each other, and I’m not gonna listen to you argue or whine about it. I don’t want to do it any more than you do, but there’s no choice if we don’t want to end up with hypothermia.”

  “Fine, I guess I’m the repulsive one now,” Taylor says, groaning from the back.

  I do want to sleep next to her, but like I could say that.

  “What do you want from me? You reject me if I’m nice to you, then I say what I did, and now you’re mad. What happened to you to make you so defensive? I can tell there’s someone nice behind that exterior, but for some reason, you’d rather treat people like shit.”

  “That’s just mean to say. You know nothing about my life or what I’ve been through!” she says, practically hissing. She’s about like a damn cat, hot and cold.

  “And why is that, Taylor?” I’m eying her in the rear view mirror while she adds layers of clothing. “You won’t share anything, nor do you want to get to know my friends and me.

  “You know, having money doesn’t make you better than the rest of us, and if you’d be nice for more than five seconds, you’d see that we don’t give a rats ass if you’re wealthy or not. But no, you just want to be a big—pain—in—my—ass every time I’m near you!”

  “I know you’re pissed at me over us being stuck here, but you don’t have to be a dick about it, and I told you not to yell at me!” She starts to cry again.

  “You drive me crazy in every possible way, and you crying is gettin’ under my skin more than anything!”

  “Well, get used to it. I’m sure I’ll be doing more of it since I’m stuck in here with your mean ass.”

  “I swear, sunshine, if you don’t shut it, I’m gonna use my mouth to make you stop talkin’.”

  “Uugghh! Stop calling me that, and don’t make empty threats. You don’t even want to be within a foot of me.”

  If she only knew what all I’d like to do to her. I shut my own mouth and rest my head back against the seat. This fighting is getting us nowhere.

  Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

  Taylor

  He finally shuts up. I already feel alone and scared, and I’ve got a news flash for Dylan. He’s mistaken if he thinks I’m lying against him. My leg bumps into something while I’m dressing, so I run my hand across it and feel the contour of a guitar case.

  The familiarity comforts me a little. At least there’s one thing Dylan and I have in common. After adding another shirt, sweatshirt and thick socks, I climb back up front, trading him places so he c
an add more clothing.

  “OK, climb back here,” he says after a few minutes.

  I start to climb over the seat and remember something. “I have a small blanket in the bottom of my suitcase for when I fly. We can both get under it, but I don’t need you to keep me warm.”

  After I get the blanket out and hand it to him, I roll on my side with my back to him. The next thing I feel is Dylan’s arm wrapped around my waist and the cover being pulled over us. “I told you I don’t need you against me,” I say bluntly.

  “Shut it, sweetheart. I have no interest in freezing to death.”

  I think he just likes to get a rise out of me. I can’t deny how good he feels, and I need his warmth, so I back up against him.

  Dylan

  I take my hat off and close my eyes, trying to think of anything other than Taylor’s fine ass pressed against me. What the hell did I do to deserve this? I’m spewing with anger, hating that I can’t stop having feelings for her.

  I have sex with chicks and move on without a second thought, yet even without sleeping with Taylor, I have feelings for her stronger than any I’ve ever felt. I imagine it’s because there’s more to her underneath the anger, and we’re a lot alike. I’m sure the fact that she’s the sexiest woman I’ve ever been around has something to do with it, too.

  Shit. Don’t think about how sexy she is. Picture her being a total bitch. Even though I’m cold, I know my body’s going to respond if it’s up against her, so I try to keep my lower half away and picture the girl scowling.

  “I bumped into your guitar case. That’s cool you brought it,” she says.

  “I can’t go that long without playing.”

  “Dylan.”

  I sigh. She needs to be quiet and go to sleep. I can’t have her being nice to me right now. “What?”

  “I’m really sorry I didn’t listen to you. I hope with time you’ll forgive me for this.”

  She decides to be sweet now that my dick’s an inch from her ass. “I’m sorry I didn’t come more prepared. I should’ve made sure we had supplies for an emergency. Unfortunately, you’re going to feel much colder soon, but I’ll do what I can to keep you warm,” I say before I nuzzle my nose against her hair and breathe in the smell of her perfume. I can’t resist.