Chapter 13
Then
I’m late. I’ve never been late to pick up Taevin, and today of all days isn’t the day to start.
Of course my father chose today to berate me about needing to prioritize hockey over, in his words, “some high school fling that will inevitably flop.” Not sure why it took him nearly three months to realize I had a girlfriend, but it did.
My mom was gushing about Taevin and prom being today, and it unfortunately set my old man off.
Which meant I had to take a lengthy meeting in his home office where he proceeded to threaten to cut me off financially if I fucked up my scholarship with Harvard.
I try to put his threats behind me as I pull into Taevin’s driveway.
I’ve got enough to worry about as today’s going to be one of the first times I’m sitting down with her father as Taevin’s boyfriend.
She told him about us last month. Some time after we’d declared our love for one another, she decided it was time to stop sneaking around and be truthful.
To say he wasn’t pleased to learn his daughter is dating would be an understatement. And when he saw I’m the lucky bastard who gets the privilege of dating her, well, let’s just say the guy proved that even pastors aren’t immune to passing judgement.
As I approach the front steps of her mid-century house, I can’t help but fidget with the bowtie threatening to strangle me.
I knock on the front door and then tighten my fingers around the plastic box holding the corsage I got for Tae.
The only thing she told me about her dress was that it’s black—not shocking at all—so I got her a black corsage with a black bracelet and myself a matching boutonniere since I’m decked out in black from head to toe from my Ray-Ban sunglasses to my Tom Ford dress shoes.
The front door opens to reveal Pastor Gray and a scowl that I’ve come to learn is reserved just for me.
“Good afternoon, Pastor Gray,” I say, aiming to start the conversation off as politely as possible.
“Make sure to have her home by ten o’clock sharp,” he grumbles, not bothering to greet me.
Caught off guard, I try to reason with him. “Oh, um, I thought perhaps Taevin’s curfew would be pushed back a bit considering it’s senior prom, and I don’t know if Taevin told you, but my school’s dance doesn’t get over until ten thirty.”
“You’re lucky I’m even allowing her to go. I thought for sure when her school refused to let you attend hers, that it’d mean I’d be able to avoid her going to a prom with you. But it seems like public schools will let anyone through their doors.”
I don’t say it out loud, but considering my high school’s prom is in a local hotel’s ballroom, yeah, I think we’re a little more lenient than Taevin’s private, Christian school.
Instead I say, “I’m thankful we’re able to experience this milestone together, though I would’ve gladly gone to her school’s prom over my own so Tae could dance with her friends. ”
He grunts and I’m not sure if he’s agreeing or just mocking me. “Well, it seems she’s made friends with some of yours,” he notes dryly.
“She has—my best friend Carson’s twin sister, McKenna, and her best friend Katie have adopted her into their group. They’ll both be with us tonight.”
Pastor Gray simply grunts, again, in reply.
“So, um, may I come in?” I ask him, shuffling side to side on my feet. My collar feels like it pulls even tighter as he stares me down for what feels like a full minute before he steps back and waves me inside.
Walking into the entryway of their home, I take in the interior, having never been inside until just now.
All of our dates thus far—at least since she told her father about us—have ended with me walking Taevin to her front door and telling her good night after thoroughly kissing her in my car seconds before.
The entryway consists of a den with glass-paned french doors to the right, and a staircase on the left side, and a hallway in between.
All of the walls are filled with dozens of pictures of a young Taevin, making me wish we had more time for me to look at them all.
Dark wood floors run the length of the hallway, but the den and the steps share the same dark burgundy carpet that reminds me of that in the Home Alone house.
What I’d give to have Taevin home alone with me for a few hours, let alone a few days.
I must have a dumb smile on my face because Pastor Gray turns to me, and almost as if he read my mind, grumbles, “Wipe that smile off your face. This is the first and last time you’ll be invited into my home.”
Noted. Though, I don’t need to be invited in by him in order to visit Taevin. Sneaking in could be fun.
Before I can strategize how I’d manage to do that, the breath is stolen from my lungs when the most beautiful vision appears at the top of the stairs.
Taevin looks drop-dead gorgeous in a black gown that is beaded and fitted on the top with a sparkly bottom that flows to the floor.
As she walks down the steps to me, I don’t miss the slit on the side of her dress that showcases a teasing amount of her thigh.
The dress isn’t overtly sexy, still having straps and a skirt that doesn’t cling to her curves the way it certainly could, and yet I’m having the most impure fantasies about me inching the dress up and exploring what she’s got on underneath.
When she reaches the last step, she giggles at me before placing her hand beneath my chin and closing my mouth. Wiping the side of my mouth and giving me a wink, she teases, “You had a little something there.”
You bet your ass I did, I think to myself. I mean, how could I not?
This dress.
Taevin.
Fuck, I’ve never been so awestruck.
“T, you look stunning—you’re quite literally dazzling in this dress,” I tell her, holding her hand in mine as she takes the last step down the stairs. Lifting her arm, I twirl her around so I can see the back of her dress, loving the way it moves as she spins.
“You like?” she asks, lifting the bottom of her dress to show me her black Converse sneakers. Waggling her foot side to side, she says, “I had to go for comfort over fashion on the shoe choice, though.”
“I love it. The dress. The shoes. All of it. Everything,” I assure her, completely in awe.
“Oh, can I see the flowers? I promise I’ll try not to poke you when I pin your boutonniere on,” Taevin swears as she gestures to the plastic box I forgot I was even holding.
Clearing my throat, I open the lid. “Yeah, here you go. The florist said she stuck the pins right in the back of it.”
She grabs the boutonniere and slips one of the pins out, placing it between her lips while she takes the other and lines it up on the lapel of my jacket.
As she rearranges it to where she wants it, I gaze down at her and take in the details I missed when she was walking down the steps.
Her raven hair is curled and pulled back into some sort of wispy bun.
And instead of her typical makeup-free look, she told me she was going to get her makeup done this morning with Kenna and Katie.
Whatever they did somehow makes her brown eyes even more enchanting.
I’m entranced as I take in her bold, burgundy lips that are still wrapped around the second pin. If we weren’t standing right in front of her dad, I’d claim those lips without a care in the world about getting the dark lipstick all over me.
She smiles brightly when she successfully pins the boutonniere on without poking me. “Alright, my turn,” she tells me as she holds out her right hand.
Bringing it up to my mouth, I place a chaste kiss on the back before grabbing the corsage out of the box and looking around for where to set it down.
Her dad reaches his hand out, signaling for me to hand it to him. “Thanks,” I murmur and then slide the corsage onto her wrist.
“It turned out perfect, J. I love the black roses. Thank you so much.” Turning to her dad, she holds out her wrist. “Look, Dad. Jackson got Mom’s favorite flowers in my favorite color. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”
“Yeah, Taev, it was. She’d probably be beside herself with tears seeing her baby girl all grown up and going to her senior prom.
” Her father is looking at her with a faraway look in his misty eyes, and it’s one of the first times outside of church I’ve seen him look something other than stern, though I can’t quite get a read on the fleeting emotion before his face neutralizes as he glances at me.
“That was, uh, kind of you to think of Taevin’s mom.” Offering his hand out to me, I shake it as he says, “Have her home no later than eleven o’clock. I’ll be up waiting, you hear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Robert. You may call me Robert.”
I’m shocked but hopeful to see a sliver of progress in getting him to like me.
“I’ll have her home safe and sound by eleven, Robert. Thank you.”
He turns to Taevin, and at first I think he’s holding out his hand to shake hers as well, but he holds hers in his for a moment before pulling her in for a side hug.
The gesture looks like it catches Tae off guard, and I’m not surprised considering what she’s told me of how their relationship has been since her mom passed away.
“You look beautiful, Taev. Be safe tonight and have fun.” Robert steps away and just as we step out the front door, he calls out, “Oh, before I forget. Could I get a picture of the two of you?”
Taevin looks to me and blushes when I nod and shoot her a quick wink.
Wrapping my arms around her waist from behind her, I position us in the typical prom pose and smile at her dad as he snaps a few photos of us on his phone before thanking us and seeing us off.
Once we’re inside the cab of my truck, Taevin turns her wide eyed gaze to me. “Okay, that was weird, right? He hasn’t gotten sentimental like that since my mom died—at least, not in front of me he hasn’t.”