A Taylor-Made Life (13 page)

I smiled as Gavin lay down on the bed
and looked up at me. “Are you going to stay with me?”

The plea in his eyes made my heart
race. I loved that he needed me. The past couple of nights I’d
snuck into his room and crawled into bed with him. Just to cuddle.
It wasn’t like we were doing anything wrong. His arms around me
gave more comfort than the biggest, fluffiest pillow. I was pretty
sure he received the same benefit, because he never asked me to
leave. Not even a mild protest.

I set my phone alarm and left him each
morning before dawn. Not that I really thought Mom would mind. But
Dad might freak. Even so, I liked the idea it was something only
the two of us, Gavin and I, shared.

“I can’t right now. I’ve gotta clean
the kitchen. Mom didn’t get a chance before she left, and she’s
pretty beat.”

“And you’re not pretty beat?” He
frowned and shook his head. “That doesn’t work for me.”

“Huh?” I wasn’t sure what he meant,
but the determined look in his eye made my stomach
flutter.

“Hand me my phone.”

I tossed him the cell from the
dresser. He dialed a number. “Sara, I need you to set up a
housekeeper for two residences in Dallas today.”

My jaw dropped open. “Gavin, you don’t
have—”

He glared at me with a shut-your-hole
expression and proceeded to give Sara our address and the
Johnsons’. Then he scheduled the jet to pick him up early the next
day. My heart sank low in my chest. He was leaving.

When he hung up, he beckoned me to the
bed. “I want to talk to you.”

My spirits had lifted since he’d
agreed to stay. I couldn’t have handled both Rachel’s funeral and
him leaving. But now that it was over, he’d be going home. As much
as I loved him, nothing had changed for him.

“Taylor, I’ve been here almost two
weeks. I have to get back. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“I understand.” I hung my head and
tried to swallow down the painful lump in my throat. “Thank you for
staying as long as you have. It’s meant the world to me.” I barely
held back my tears. “I couldn’t have made it without
you.”

He put his arm around my shoulder and
pulled me close. He’d done that a lot in the past couple days. His
arms felt protective and his warm chest familiar, but also
bittersweet.

“I want you to come with
me.”

My heart thudded. “What? I
thought—”

“I know. I know.” Pulling back a
little to look in my face, he rolled his eyes. “But I’ve grown so
used to you. Not seeing you every day would be…
too hard.
” He
cupped my cheek, sending tingling sparks into my brain. “And I have
enough
hard
in my life. I want easy. Being with you is
easy.”

I threw my arms around his neck and
kissed him.
Finally.

* * * *

Gavin blinked. His mouth molded to
Taylor’s in a kiss he was fairly certain he’d been participating
in.
Shit
.

He pulled from her lip-lock and
removed her arms, trying to calm his thumping heart and other
evidences of his body’s desire.

“Taylor, you misunderstand me. I want
you and your mother to come to San Francisco…as my
friends.”

She frowned. “Friends?”

“That’s the stipulation.
Just
friends
. Okay?” Friendship was a thinly veiled guise to what he
felt. They both knew it, but it was what he was willing to give.
And if her mother came, then that made it okay in his
mind.

She lifted her gaze and smiled. “If
that’s what you’re comfortable with, then I’ll take it.” She laid
her hand over his heart. “But you know I want more.”

Her hand seared right through his
shirt. He rubbed his face. “I know you think you do, but if you got
what you desired, I’m not certain you’d still want it.”

She pushed a lock of hair from his
face. Her gray eyes sparkled. “I’m certain, Gavin. I want you as
way more than a friend.”

His skin tingled from her touch. He
swallowed hard.

“But I’ll take as much as you’re
willing to give.” Her face glowed with innocence, honest
vulnerability.

He pulled her into a big bear hug.
“You’re something else, Taylor Smith. Go ask your mom if she’ll
come too, and let’s get packed.”

I waited for Gavin’s driver to open
the limo door. My feet tapped the floorboard in anticipation. Was I
really here? At Gavin’s house? I did a mental happy
dance.

A luxury private jet, limo ride from
the airport, and all I could think about was how cute Gavin looked
in blue jeans and his navy blue polo. I’d been right. His eyes
turned cobalt when he wore blue. He’d said we were friends, but
he’d
said
a lot of things. Maybe he needed time to get used
to the idea of being with me. Maybe he would feel differently next
week when I turned eighteen. All I knew was that I was here with
him, and right now that was okay.

The formally dressed chauffer took my
hand and helped me from the car into the garage. Gavin took two
steps up a landing and opened the entrance, allowing me and Mom to
step through the threshold.

My brown flats clicked on hardwood in
a kitchen that sprawled as big as our whole house back in Dallas.
The beautiful room was covered in dark wood cabinets with brushed
metal hardware. Granite countertops spread across cabinet space
that would make Mom drool. I glanced over. Yup. A little spittle
was already forming in the corner of her mouth.

A short Hispanic woman bustled around
the kitchen, and the smell of fresh bread permeated the air.
Yummm….

“Hola, Zelda,” Gavin called
out.

The squat woman’s eyes widened, and
she smiled. A curl of her salt-and-pepper hair fell over her
forehead. She pointed an accusing finger at Gavin and spoke in a
flood that my two years of high school Spanish couldn’t keep up
with.

Gavin smiled guiltily. “No. I haven’t
been eating a lot of junk food.” He shot a glare to me as if I
might throw him under the bus.

Zelda eyed him suspiciously and nodded
as she grabbed him in a big bear hug.

The chauffer carried our bags
upstairs, as opposed to downstairs, because there was a staircase
going in either direction. I spun in a circle, taking in the
colossal space and feeling a little lost.

Gavin took my hand and pulled me
along, giving me and Mom the grand tour of his gorgeous
home.

We ate a quiet dinner of roast beef
and fresh asparagus. The cheesecake was
tickle-your-tummy-to-die-for. Mom and I stood and gathered our
plates to take to the kitchen. Zelda shot us a vicious glance that
indicated she was insulted. We sheepishly lowered our dishes to the
table and retreated to the living room before she scolded us in
Spanish.

Gavin chuckled, which wasn’t a very
nice, host-y thing to do. “C’mon, you two. You’re in the lap of
luxury now. Luxuriate.”

Dad had remained in Dallas but planned
on coming out in a week or so for a meeting at Gavin’s company.
While Mom was gone, Gavin had insisted on paying for a housekeeper
and cook to keep the old man happy. I rolled my eyes. Dad was
pretty spoiled. So was I, for that matter. Mom knew how to take
care of us. We hadn’t determined a length for the stay, and I hoped
it would last indefinitely or at least long enough for Gavin to
realize he wanted me as more than a friend.

We sat on the sofa, and Gavin dimmed
the lights with a remote control. A
huge-mongus
screen
lowered from the ceiling in front of us. “How about a little game
of
CROG
, cheetdeath20?”

“Oh, you’re on, Ogger15.”

He lifted his chin in a display of
superiority. “I will not acknowledge your little mind
games.”

“You don’t have to, ‘cause I’m gonna
wipe the Appollyon floor with you, Rhema filth.”

“Ha. There’s no way you can defeat me
again. That was a one-time fluke.” A sinister laugh shook his
shoulders.

I pulled out my laptop and powered up.
“Hide and watch, mini-mage.”

His face twisted with mock anger, and
he growled. I giggled. Mom quirked a disapproving brow over her
paperback smut book.

My phone rang. I glanced at the caller
ID, and a chill swept over me.

Matt.

What was he doing calling? I stood
from the sofa and walked to the other room. “Hello.”

“Taylor?” That familiar voice rang in
my ear.

“Yes.”

“This is Matt. Matt
McCallum.”

I raised my eyebrows. What the heck?
“Hey, Matt. What’s up?”

“Your dad told me you were here in San
Francisco with that computer guy. Look, Taylor…I’m back at school
this week.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I—I was wondering if you’d like
to meet up while you’re in town. We could go see the sights or a
movie. I actually—” He paused. “You aren’t seeing that computer
guy, are you, Tay?”

“No. We’re just friends.”
So he
tells me.

“Oh, good. I wouldn’t want to cause
trouble.”

Cause trouble?
Why hadn’t he
thought of causing trouble before now? “I don’t
understand.”

“Taylor, I feel so bad about… I’ve
missed you. Will you please go out with me? I need to talk. To see
you.”

My heart thudded. I’d been conditioned
to think ‘yes’ to anything Matt McCallum asked, as if the world
would stop turning if I denied his request. But things were
different now. For lots of reasons. “I don’t know. Can I think
about it, and call you back later?”

“Uhh…Sure.”

I walked back to the living room and
sat next to Mom. Gavin watched me intently. Did he know who’d been
on the phone?

“Everything okay?” He settled his
wireless keyboard over his knees, but kept his gaze on
me.

I nodded and picked up my
laptop.

Fluttery feelings about Matt made my
heart race, strange and familiar at the same time. I’d been in love
with him two years ago, but every girl at James Markham High was in
love with Matt. He’d said he would call me when I saw him a couple
of weeks ago, but I never thought he’d actually do it. No one ever
meant it when they said crap like that. Seeing him had been a jolt,
and if it hadn’t been for Gavin, it would’ve messed me up more than
I cared to think about. Having him call me here in California
wasn’t exactly something I’d expected, either.

I shot a sideways glance at Gavin. How
would he feel if I went out with Matt? Would he—

My computer screen detonated with
graphics of fire and explosion sounds. His destruction of my
Yurbine Fortress shook me out of my thoughts. I quickly countered
his attack and landed a heavy blow. He groaned and typed in a
command. I grinned.

We finished our game, and Gavin
finished me. Lucky for him, he’d exploded a thermal pod as I was
gathering my procurements, because I was about to annihilate
him.

Bouncing up and down on the couch like
a thirteen-year-old, he wailed in the annoying voice of a banshee.
“Ha ha ha. I got you!”

I pouted and crossed my arms over my
chest. “You landed a lucky strike. That’s all.” But truthfully, my
heart hadn’t been in the game. Why would Matt be thinking about
me
? He must have had hundreds of girls he could go out
with.

“Lucky strike? That was calculated
precision with no viable defense.”

Mom scolded, “Gavin, you need to learn
to be a good winner. And quit jumping on the furniture.”

He froze mid-jump. His jaw dropped,
and he stared at her in disbelief. Mom caught herself, quirked an
eyebrow, and laughed hysterically at the absurdity. Gavin and I
looked at each other in a moment of hesitation and busted out
laughing for several minutes. God. It felt good to
laugh.

The lightheartedness was an escape I
always got from playing my games.
His
games. Although it was
much better if I won. My thoughts forced me back to
reality.

Mom stood and stretched, still wiping
her eyes. “You guys behave. I think I’ll take a shower and go to
bed. I’m still on Dallas time.”

“Night. Let me know if you need
anything.” Gavin’s gaze followed her up the stairs. His eyes held a
look of love and longing. Mom held a special spot in his
heart.

He’d had Zelda place Mom and I in
side-by-side rooms upstairs with a Jack-and-Jill bath. Soothing
pastels adorned the plush queen-sized beds, and each room had a
view overlooking the city. Lap of luxury was an understatement. We
were in the pants of lush opulence. And it
totally
rocked!

Scooting across the butter-soft
leather sofa, he asked, “How you feeling?”

He stretched his lean arms over his
head and dropped one over the back of the sofa behind me. His shirt
strained under the pressure, revealing his nicely formed chest, and
my voice tangled in my throat “Pretty good. Tired.” Travel always
wore me out, but my energy levels still hadn’t returned since the
last batch of chemo, and in a word, I was pooped. “You?”