Chapter 3 Taylor
Taylor
Thursday evening, Taylor dragged herself down the hall to her bedroom, kicked off her shoes, and flopped down on her bed,
face-first. It had been a long day seeing kids back-to-back, and she was exhausted. It probably hadn’t helped that since Sunday
dinner with the Bradleys, she and Austin had been talking every night until way past midnight. At twenty-seven, she thought
she could still stay up late, then get up the next morning and be fine—she’d done it while combining work and school. Apparently
her body had decided it was done with that lifestyle but hadn’t let her in on it.
She couldn’t deny that she had enjoyed every moment of reconnecting with Austin.
In high school, they’d been inseparable, even when dating other people.
Most of their partners had no problem with it because they knew how close she and Austin were.
Of course, there was always that one who tried to issue an ultimatum, but neither Taylor nor Austin bowed to that pressure, and their friendship had never changed.
No matter how long they went without talking, the next conversation would pick up as if it had been only a day.
Taylor was looking forward to being able to talk to him more now that he’d recently been stationed about an hour and a half away in Oceanside.
It had been harder to keep in touch because of the time zones when he’d been stationed out of the country.
Taylor rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. She startled when her doorbell rang a few minutes later. “Are you kidding
me?” she grumbled. Trudging to the front, she continued mumbling under her breath, hoping it wasn’t her neighbor who always
needed something. Taylor glanced through the peephole, then snatched the door open. “Austin! What are you doing here?”
Austin smiled. “Hey, beautiful. I wanted to spend my last night with you.”
Taylor returned his smile and shook her head at his calling her beautiful, something that always used to lead to speculation
about their relationship. She’d sometimes respond with a “hey, handsome” or some other thing, but for them it was just a reflection
of how comfortable they were with each other. She gestured him inside. “You know I’m always down for hanging out with you,
but what about your family? I know Mama Yvonne misses you.”
He lifted a brow. “You do remember that I’ve been staying with them these past couple of weeks.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay, I’m game. Where are we going?”
“Somewhere casual. I figure after dinner, we can shoot a little pool, and I can wipe the floor with you like I used to.”
She snorted. “In your dreams.” He’d taught her to play during their high school years, and she still played whenever she had
the chance. “Let me go change real quick. Oh, and I hope you’re ready for the butt-whipping you’re going to get,” she called
out on her way to the bedroom.
“You’re doing a lot of trash-talking, girl.”
“And I can back it up.”
Austin laughed. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.”
Taylor changed into a pair of comfortable jeans and a long-sleeved tee, grabbed a jacket and her purse, then made her way
back to the living room. “I’m ready.” He waited for her to lock the door, then slung his arm around her shoulders as they
walked to his car. “I just thought of something. We can eat and play in the same place. There’s a sports bar that opened up
a couple of years ago that serves food, has a few pool tables, and plays some nice R&B music.”
“Sounds like my kind of spot. You’ll have to give me directions,” Austin said after they got into the car.
Taylor gave him the address, and he plugged it into the GPS. After a few minutes, she asked, “Do you know how long you’ll
be stationed here?”
“At least a year. Why?”
“Just wondering. Maybe we’ll get to see each other a little more often.” Admittedly, she’d missed hanging out with him. Because
he’d gone into the military straight out of high school, the times they got together had been hit-or-miss. A couple of times
his leave had been cut short, and she didn’t have a chance to see him at all. While she had a couple of girlfriends she hung
out with, Austin had been her best friend from age fourteen, and thirteen years later, nothing had changed.
“You can come spend the weekend with me.”
She whipped her head in his direction. “I can’t just come stay in your room on base. They don’t allow that, do they?”
“No,” he said with a chuckle, “but since I don’t live on base . . .” He shrugged. “We can hang out at the beach there or head to San Diego.” When she didn’t comment, he slanted her an amused glance and added, “Come on. You know you wanna.”
Taylor bit her lip to stifle a smile. Whenever he tried to coerce her into doing something, that was the line he always used.
She gave him her standard reply: “Yeah, I wanna.”
A grin curved his lips. “We can figure out what weekend works best when I get back and check my schedule.”
“Okay.” They passed the remainder of the drive catching up on her new job and discussing how he liked being in the military
so far and whether he still planned to make it a career.
As he guided her to the bar’s entrance with his hand on the small of her back, Austin said, “I haven’t changed my mind . . .
at least not yet.”
“And you’d still be young enough for a second career.”
“That’s the goal.” He paused just inside the building and scanned the area. “Now, this is what I’m talking about.”
A local band with a powerhouse vocalist was on the small stage playing a cover of a popular R&B song. Taylor had come to the
place a couple of times with one of her friends and enjoyed it. “I told you.” The bar was fairly crowded despite it being
a weeknight, but it didn’t take long for them to be shown to a table.
He picked up the menu. “Do you want to eat first or play?”
“Doesn’t matter either way to me. I’m still going to beat you,” she said, smiling sweetly.
Austin tossed the menu aside and stood. “Okay, let’s go.” They took a moment to place a drink order and asked that their table
be saved before heading to a vacant pool table. “You’re talking a whole lot of trash for somebody who’s never beat me,” he
said as he placed the balls in the triangle.
Taylor placed a hand on her hip, angled her head, and stepped close to him.
He towered over her five-six height by a good nine or ten inches, but that had never stopped her from getting into his face.
“How’re you gonna stand here and tell that lie?
You know I beat you twice the last time we played.
Your memory must be slipping in your old age. ”
He burst out laughing. “Old? Who are you calling old? My memory ain’t so bad that I don’t remember we’re both twenty-seven. So if I’m old, so are you. And those games you’re talking about don’t count because somebody bumped my arm
when I was taking my shot.”
“Mmm-hmm. The result was the same. You. Lost.” She punctuated each word with a poke to his chest.
“Whatever, girl.” He placed a kiss on her temple. “Ladies first.”
Taking up her position, she waited for him to remove the triangle. Taylor lined up her shot and, with her break, sent four
balls sailing into the pockets. She laughed at his surprised expression. “Since three of the four are solid, I’m going to
go with those.” In less than three minutes, she’d cleared the table without Austin ever getting a chance. “Now, what were
you saying?” She batted her eyes.
Austin grunted.
Taylor wrapped an arm around his midsection and reached up to pat his cheek. “Aw. Are you pouting?”
“Men don’t pout. And you’re lucky I love you, otherwise you’d be finding your own way home.”
Chuckling, she placed a kiss on his cheek.
He shook his head and playfully shoved her, and Taylor laughed harder.
Their relationship had always been fun, and she loved that she could be her silly self with him.
Austin was one of the few people she could talk to about anything, and she couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t part of her life.
The server brought their drinks a couple of minutes after they made it back to their table and said she’d return to take the food order.
Austin picked up the menu. “I guess you’ve been practicing.”
“Yep. I figured we’d get at least one game in while you were here, so I wanted to be ready.”
“Apparently so. You know I’m going to want a rematch.”
She sipped her cocktail. “You can have as many rematches as you want, but the outcome will still be the same.”
He eyed her. “We’ll see.” They continued to chat over the meal. Afterward, Austin clasped his hands together on the table
and leaned forward. “Are you still seeing that guy from last year?”
“No. This is the first date I’ve gone on in six or seven months, and we can’t really call this a date.”
“Did he break your heart?”
The tone of his voice and the hard look in his eyes didn’t surprise her. He’d always had her back. “It didn’t last long enough
for my heart to be involved. Something always came up as to why he had to cancel one thing or another, and I got tired of
being an afterthought, so I ended it. The guy before him told me that I was one of three women he rotated. He wanted to keep
his options open until he decided who fit him best.” After that fiasco, she decided to enjoy her life solo for a while.
“That sorry—”
“Right, and I told him exactly that. I don’t know what’s going on with the dating scene these days. I figured with me approaching
thirty that I’d find men who are more settled and not still wanting to spend every night in the club or bedroom.”
“Not all men are that way, Taylor,” he said, grasping her hand.
“Well, I haven’t found the right one, I suppose. How has being in the military worked for your dating life?”
Austin released her hand and leaned back. “It hasn’t, but I’ve only dated three women since I went in nine years ago. It seems
as though they love a man in a uniform, but not all that goes with it.”
“Their loss. You’ll find someone who loves you in and out of uniform.” Silence descended over the table for a few moments
before they continued to swap stories of their dating woes.
“Do you ever wonder why it hasn’t worked out with any of the people we dated?” Austin asked.
Taylor shrugged. “Sometimes. Do you think I’m being super picky? I don’t mind going to a club every now and again, but not
all the time. And I’m not trying to jump into bed with a guy five minutes after meeting him.” She’d gone to a bar and grill
with her friend Melanie a month ago, and two guys had basically propositioned them before they’d even introduced themselves.
She and Mel didn’t bother to stay around to order. “I just want to be with someone who makes me their priority, and I’m not
talking about him being available every second of the day. I want to be able to laugh and hang out doing fun stuff or stay
in and binge movies.” She waved a hand. “You know, sort of like what we do.”
Austin finished off his beer and nodded. “Tay, I don’t think you’re being picky. You don’t have to settle for anyone who doesn’t
put you first, and I understood what you meant. You want someone who’ll do what he says and be more than a convenient bed
partner.”
“See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. How is it you get it, and I can’t find another guy who does?”
He reached for her hand again. “Maybe because the guy you’re looking for is right here—and before you say anything, hear me out.”
Honestly, Taylor didn’t know what to say. Sure, they’d flirted with each other during high school and after, but the timing
always seemed to be off—they were dating other people, focused just on friendship, then college for her and the military for
him—and she hadn’t wanted to risk messing up their friendship. But maybe now that they were older, it would be different.
“You’re everything I want in a woman—intelligent, beautiful, fun, and simply amazing. I never have to worry whether you’ll
have my back—you always have. Our relationship has always been easy. You’ve been there for me through every up and down, like
when I sprained my wrist or when I had that bad case of the flu and missed over a week of school.”
Taylor smiled at the memory. She’d gone over and helped type his homework and did extra studying with him for the two tests
he’d missed.
“We’ve still maintained the closeness we share in spite of me being gone a lot. I know the time has never been right for one
reason or another, but neither of us is dating anyone right now. Maybe it’s our time. You know I already love you, but I’m
ready to fall in love with you.”
“Austin,” she whispered, her heart beating a mile a minute. They always ended their calls, texts, or visits with an affectionate
“love you,” but this was different. Was she ready, and would it change their easygoing rapport?
“I can see the wheels turning in your head. Nothing will change between us, Taylor. We’re friends first. Always.”
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Always. Let’s do this, Austin.
” Austin caught the server’s attention and signaled for the check.
After paying, he stood and came around to help her up.
They’d held hands going in, but this time it meant something different.
She grabbed a couple of the wrapped butter mints from a bowl on the hostess stand as they exited and handed one to him.
“My grandmother used to keep these on her living room table. My cousins and I would always sneak in and grab a few. As we got older, we started to question the cleanliness of those unwrapped mints that sat there week after week.”
He laughed. “Those mints were common in a whole lot of grandma households. And with all our dirty hands reaching in there
after coming inside, we’re lucky to be alive.”
“Thank goodness for these little wrappers.” She held up her empty one.
Austin stopped at his car and unlocked the doors by remote. “You know we have to seal this new dating agreement with a kiss.”
He wrapped his arms around her.
“Is that right?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I seem to recall a kiss when we were around fifteen.”
It had been one of those times when they were studying and ended up experimenting with kissing.
“I’m not fifteen anymore.”
His mouth swooped down on hers with lightning speed. He kissed her with a tenderness and finesse that nearly made her swoon.
When it ended, her breathing was ragged and her heart thumped erratically in her chest.
A slight grin tilted the corner of his mouth. “I see a few things have changed.”
“Yeah. Not fifteen anymore.” Goodness! The way he stared at her and the feel of his hand caressing her face made her pulse skip.
He brushed his lips across hers once more. “I’m going to enjoy falling in love with you, Tay. I think, in some way, I’ve always
known you were my one.”
Somewhere deep inside, she wondered if it had been the same with her.