Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
The night had turned out so much better than Taylor originally anticipated.
Alex reminded her a bit of Jess, and she could see why Sam liked her so much. She was the kind of friend you could talk to about any topic, but also give them shit right off the bat with no hard feelings. Will seemed a bit more on the quiet side, but clearly not afraid to speak his mind. She’d almost spat out her drink when he’d asked about her and Sam. She knew they were definitely getting closer, and they were going to have to talk about it soon. Though tonight was not that night. She watched as Sam launched herself back in a howl of laughter, almost falling off her stool at one of Will’s jokes. She waited for a lull in the conversation.
“Well,” she said, grabbing her keys off the table, “I think I’m going to make tracks.”
“Yep, we’re with you there. We’ve got work in the morning anyway.” Will stood up, picking up Alex’s coat off the back of her chair to help her slip it on.
Sam joined them with a slight wobble, so Taylor slipped her arm around her without a second thought.
“Thank you,” Alex mouthed, though she was looking pretty tipsy herself.
As they walked to the stairs, Sam got out her phone and tried to order a ride, one eye squinted at the screen. Taylor turned the screen off. “How about I drive you home, huh?”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. You live too far away.” Sam scrunched up her nose in an unfairly cute way, making Taylor smile.
“I live twenty minutes away. It’s not that far.” Taylor chuckled.
By the time they reached Sam’s place, it seemed the alcohol had well and truly hit. Taylor kept a hold of Sam while she fumbled with the keys to let them in.
“Wow, this place is amazing,” Taylor said as she stepped inside, looking up at the raked ceiling. Like the boat, the space was bigger than she expected. It was all open-plan—a cosy lounge nook off to the right, a black dining set straight ahead and a white kitchen beyond that with a large island bench.
“Yeah, I renovated it with my Dad. It was such a good project together, plus a super cheap house for me.” She was quiet for a beat, staring at nothing in particular. “I miss him,” she whispered.
“Things still awkward?”
“It’s just… he’s felt more like Matt the co-worker, and not Dad . We haven’t spoken properly since my big reveal.” She huffed out a breath. “But I know one conversation is not enough. I think I’ve been avoiding it again because I don’t know how to fix things and I hate how unhappy it’s making both of us even if we’re pretending everything is normal.” She wiped at her eyes. “And now I’m just blabbing at you again. So embarrassing,” Sam said, almost to herself.
“Hey,” Taylor said softly, stepping closer and giving her shoulder a squeeze. “You’ll sort it out.” She found her eyes. “Be brave. Maybe you both don’t have the answers right now, but keeping it as an open conversation might be what you both need to figure things out—together.”
Sam really looked at her then. They both stood there as the words sunk in, more meaning in them than Taylor had originally intended. Sam swayed a little closer. Tonight was not the night, Taylor reminded herself. She cleared her throat, breaking eye contact and stepping back. The moment gone.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
She gave Sam privacy while she did her bathroom routine, keeping close, making sure she didn’t pass out and end up on the floor.
“I’m fine, seriously,” she said, slightly slurring her words as she came out into the kitchen and leaned on the counter, almost falling asleep then and there.
“I’ll believe that when you’re in bed asleep.” She laughed lightly, coming around the corner to guide her up the stairs.
Once they’d made it over to the bed, Sam started taking off her clothes. Her boots went flying, then she dropped onto the bed and unzipped her jeans.
Oh lord.
Taylor spun around, squeezing her eyes shut. “Uh. Where’s your pyjamas?”
“Middle drawer of my dresser. Mmm, just a T-shirt please,” Sam mumbled, now taking off what Taylor assumed was her jumper.
Taylor swallowed.
She quickly found a shirt, and walked backwards holding it out without turning around until Sam grabbed it.
“Okay, all good.”
Taylor turned around.
It was not all good.
The shirt barely brushed her thighs… and those legs. Taylor tried to look everywhere else as she helped Sam slide into bed, pulling the covers up.
“Right, get some sleep you,” she said, bopping her on the nose again.
Sam let out a sleepy giggle at that. “Sorry for making you do this. Tomorrow me is going to be mortified.”
“It was terrible; I’m so put out.” She smiled, turning off the side light as Sam shut her eyes. “Seriously though, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it was a great night.”
Taylor stood up and turned to leave.
“I really like hanging out with you, Tay,” Sam said so quietly, she almost missed it.
“Me too,” she replied just as soft, as she made her way out.
Taylor had a great morning walking Belle, listening to the singing birds in the trees and thinking a lot about last night. She’d come to the decision to just see where things might go with Sam. She couldn’t deny the attraction, even if her thoughts on everything that had happened with Liz were still very much at the forefront of her mind.
She’d leave it up to Sam though. While she was pretty damn sure Sam had almost kissed her last night, sober Sam might be a completely different story, and she wasn’t about to be some straight girl’s drunk experiment.
Taylor started making her morning smoothie, her favourite combo of kale, oats, banana and soy milk with a good dusting of cinnamon, and had just finished pulsing it a second time when she realised her phone was ringing.
She smirked when she saw the name.
“Good morning, Ham.”
“Ugh. I’m never letting Alex make the drink selections ever again. Also, that is a terrible name.”
“You love it.” Taylor grinned, holding the phone between her shoulder and ear as she poured her smoothie out. Belle’s tail started wagging at her feet, hoping for some sort of spillage to end up on the floor.
“So, I’m calling for two things,” Sam continued.
“Uh-huh.”
“First, to apologise for having to look after me. I swear I’m not usually like that.”
“You apologised enough last night. Apology accepted nonetheless, but not necessary.”
“I did?”
“Yeah, you did,” Taylor replied with a soft chuckle. She could almost picture Sam wincing at the other end.
“Sorry—”
“Stop apologising!” she scolded, her voice warm with affection.
“Right.” Sam laughed with a little huff. Could she get any cuter?
“What I’m trying to ask is… can I invite you over for dinner tomorrow night to apologise?”
“Oh. Uh—sure.” That was unexpected. She mentally checked her calendar. “I’m free.”
“Awesome.” She could hear the glee in Sam’s voice. “But it won’t be at my place.”
“It won’t?”
“I want to take you out on Manny. It’s set to be perfect weather for a slow sail out past the marina entrance. Then we can anchor just off the coast to eat.”
If someone had to describe a perfect date to Taylor, this was it. But technically, this wasn’t a date.
“Is that okay?” Sam asked as Taylor realised she’d been fantasising for way too long to answer.
“Of course!” she rushed. “That actually sounds amazing. What can I bring?”
“Nothing. You’ve done more than enough for me already. Just meet at the marina at six.”
“Done. I’ll see you then.”
“Great. Bye Tay,” Sam said, almost shyly.
“Bye Ham.”
“Argh!” was all she heard before she hung up with another chuckle.
She sighed, looking at Belle. “That woman is way too easy to rile up.”
She knelt down to give Belle some proper attention and let the call sink in. Suddenly nervous at the thought of tomorrow, she wondered what the hell she was going to wear. She shot off a quick text to Jess, who usually knew how to help in these situations. She wrapped her arms around Belle, unsure if it was for the dog or for her.
“What am I getting myself into pup?”
Belle turned into Taylor, licking the side of her face.
“Go get the girl, huh? We’ll see.”