A Taylor-Made Life (7 page)

“I should’ve guessed that.” She stared
down at the wax wrapping. “So, why don’t you talk to your parents?”
She sweetly raised her gaze.

His chest tightened. He set his
sandwich aside and wiped his fingers with a napkin. He hadn’t
spoken of the incident to anyone in years. Rick and Charlie were
the only two who actually knew and only because they’d been there.
He studied her, and she waited, wide-eyed, for an honest answer to
her honest question.

“When I was thirteen, my mother put me
in a special training program for advanced students. I had tutoring
once a week from a college-level professor. The man recommended my
admittance into the accelerated learning program with in my school
district.” He took a swig of soda. “Less than one percent of
applicants are accepted. Within a year and a half, I had enough
credits to graduate and was accepted on full academic scholarship
to the University of Kansas’ Computer Science
Department.”

“Wow. You must be a
genius.”

He chuckled. “That’s what they told
me. But that’s not how I felt.” Stretching his legs, he leaned back
on his palms. “During my first semester at college, my mom left my
dad for someone else.”

“I’m sorry.” She patted him on the
leg. Her soft touch sent warmth up his thigh. “But that shouldn’t
have affected
your
relationship with them, should
it?”

He shrugged. “Probably not, but my dad
blamed me for her leaving. He hasn’t spoken to me since I graduated
from college.”

“How could that possibly be your
fault? You were a kid, and you weren’t even there.”

“It was my fault my mom met her
lover.”

“How?”

“My mother left us for my
tutor.”

She winced. “Ohh.”

“Exactly.” He frowned. “Dad accused me
of knowing about the affair and encouraging it, but the truth was,
I never knew. He was always jealous of my relationship with
Professor Grable. When Mom left, it made his humiliation complete.
He wanted nothing more to do with either of us.”

Gavin stared out over the manicured
lawn. So peaceful. “After the…incident, I spoke only once with my
mother. She tried to contact me before I graduated. I told her
unless she left her boyfriend, I didn’t want to see her again. The
saddest part was I lost all three of them.”

“That’s awful. You must’ve felt so
alone.” She laid her hand over his.

“I was embarrassed and hurt. My dad
wasn’t the only one Mom betrayed. I knew she and Professor Grable
were friends but had no idea their relationship went beyond
that.”

“But now that you’re older and
sick….”

“I’ve thought about trying to contact
her, but it seems like too much bad blood.” He pulled at a blade of
grass. It had been all about what his mother wanted and no thought
for what it’d do to him. That was something he couldn’t get
past.

A Monarch butterfly lit on Taylor’s
hat-clad head. Like a golden and orange tiara, its wings slowly
opened and closed as her sparkling gray eyes stared into his. A
honey-like sweetness warmed his body. He smiled. It was the most
beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and without thinking, he reached
out and touched her cheek. She blushed but didn’t look away.
Something long frozen inside him melted. For a moment he could
see—

“Taylor?”

A tall shadow fell across the blanket.
Gavin looked up at the hulking presence.

“Matt? What are you doing
here?”

The guy held a daisy out to her, and
she smiled in bewilderment as she took it. Gavin’s gut clenched and
burned. The football-player lover boy? And he looked every inch the
star quarterback. Damn him.

“Spring break. Mom asked if I’d take
the twins for an outing. They wanted to go to Six Flags, but found
out some ‘
hawt
’ boys were here today.” He squatted down next
to the blanket, but didn’t sit.

That’s right. Keep your distance,
College Boy.
His easy smile and white teeth made Gavin want to
hit something. “You look great, Tay. I’m so glad you’re outta that
hospital.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “So. How are
you?”

Sickening sympathy spread over the
guy’s face. Gavin had seen it too many times, and it made him want
to spew his lunch. The smile on Taylor’s face fell, and her
shoulders slumped.

Sonofabitch.

“She’s doing great. We’re having our
first date.” He probably shouldn’t have said that, but the guy
finally pulled his head out of his ass and took notice. “I’m Gavin
Taylor.”

“Date?” He looked to Taylor then back
to Gavin. His eyes widened as he held out his gigantic hand. “Hey.
Matt McCallum.”

Gavin ignored the offering and shot
the young guy his most condescending smile. “Nice to meet
you.”

College Boy dropped his hand with a
clap against his leg. “Well, I better find the twins. It was good
seeing you, Tay. Let’s catch up sometime. I’ll call
you.”

“She’s going to be busy.”

The guy’s jaw clenched. Gavin shot a
look to Taylor whose eyes bugged out like a stomped-on toad’s. She
raised her hand. “Bye, Matt.”

Matt’s mouth opened then closed as he
shifted his gaze uncomfortably. Gavin shot Matt a look of triumph.
The guy apparently knew he’d been dismissed.

Taylor stared blankly, looking a
little shell-shocked as the big guy lumbered away. “I can’t believe
he was here. That’s so random.”

Gavin snarled at the daisy when he
took it from her trembling hand. “He really hurt you, didn’t
he?”

She met his stare with her beautiful
gray gaze. “It wasn’t his fault. I understood why he couldn’t face
the hospital. And why he didn’t want to see me there. I didn’t want
to see me there, either.” She sucked in a shaky breath.

“Come on. We can catch a movie or go
somewhere else.” He stood and pulled her up from the
blanket.

She nodded. “That sounds great.” Her
quietness told him how much meeting up with College Boy had
affected her.

“So what do you want to see?” He
grabbed the picnic basket as she zipped the blanket back into a
tote.

She grinned. “Something that I’ve seen
at least a hundred times.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not
going to force me to watch teenaged vampires, are you?”

The sound of her laughter coursed
through his veins. She dimpled, her color returning to normal. “No
vamps. I promise. Have you seen
The Lord of the
Rings
?”

He lifted his brow. “Of
course.”

“Would you like to see it
again?”

“Of course.”

A sly look covered her face. “Then
it’s a
date
.”

Damn.

Maybe it hadn’t been the wisest thing
to tell football boy they were on a date, but the cocky punk
assumed she’d fall all over him.

He took Taylor home.

She led him upstairs to a loft that
served as her TV room. He scanned her DVD shelves while she pulled
the extended version of
Fellowship
from its casing. His
stomach did a double back flip. “Ahh. Taylor?”

“Yeah.” She glanced over.

“Are you dead set on Orcs and Morgul
blades?”

She came over and stood next to him.
He held up the set of disks hopefully.

“Oh my God, You like
Firefly
?”

“Like it? It’s my all-time favorite. I
even worked as a consultant on the RPG.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I met Joss Whedon and Nathan
Fillion at a fundraiser. Joss had already signed a contract with
another company. He had no idea I was a fan of the
show.”

“Oh my God, you met Nathan Fillion,
too. He is so hot.”

Her face lit up. He
frowned.

She mused, “I tried playing the RPG
but couldn’t get into it. The only part I remotely liked was
Serenity
’s Command Control.”

He grinned. “That’s the part I helped
construct.”

She blushed. “I should’ve
known.”

His chest puffed out. “Maybe I could
arrange a meeting sometime, if you’d like.”

“If I’d like? Of course I would.
Meeting Joss would be amazing. And Nathan…” Her eyes went all
dreamy, and she let out a long sigh.

Gavin determined there and then he
might introduce her to the show’s writer/director, but he would
never introduce her to the star. The guy had too many chicks as it
was. “You know, I’ve changed my mind. I haven’t watched the
extended version of
Fellowship
in a long time. Would you
mind?”

She smiled and shrugged. “Okay. Either
works for me.”

Gavin spent the afternoon curled up
next to her on the comfortable couch, the best time he’d had in
recent memory. They watched eight hours of dwarves and elves in a
disgusting, bloody battle over a ring. Maureen brought up popcorn
and s’mores. The day stretched into evening. They ordered pizza and
drank soda. Being with Taylor caused his body to relax and
regenerate. Even with all the junk food, he felt stronger than he
had in weeks.

Taylor leaned back against him. He
placed his arm around her shoulders, breathing in the soft smell of
her.

Imagine having her all the
time.

That wasn’t possible. His chest
tightened in disagreement.

Her phone vibrated for at least the
twentieth time. Hell, even his phone didn’t buzz that much. “Who
keeps calling you?”

She chewed her cuticle as a blush
swept over her face. “It’s email notification.”

“Really? Who wants to talk to you so
bad?” He playfully scrutinized her face. “You’re not a dealer are
you?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I
kinda put an ad on this website.”

Now he was curious. “An ad for
what?”

She squirmed a little and dropped her
gaze. “I was looking for a—”

She murmured the last word. He
squinted and leaned toward her to hear better. “A what?”

“A hook up. A booty call. A one-night
stand.” She looked up and bit her lip. “I don’t want to die a
virgin.”

His body broke out in a sheen of sweat
as if summer had hit the Lone Star State with a vengeance. And if
he didn’t clear his mind quick, he would be headed to another very
hot place—
hell
. Because that was where bad men with thoughts
like his went. His gaze traveled down his arm draped across her
shoulders, and he snatched it away, scrambling back on the sofa
like a clumsy crab.

“It’s okay. I know you’re not in the
market for a dying cheerleader.” She cocked a hairless eyebrow that
shot desire straight through him. “But if you were, you’d tell me,
right?”

Her teasing gaze heated him in
hard-to-reach places, and he vehemently shook his head.
“No.”

He must’ve had a comical look on his
face, because she laughed. “I figured. No worries, Ogger19.” She
playfully nudged him with her shoulder. “So, why don’t
you
have a girlfriend?”

The tension ebbed. He let out the
breath he’d been holding then took a swig of soda to soothe his
parched throat. The last few minutes notwithstanding, being with
Taylor was easy. Nothing like the other girls he’d dated—
we are
not dating!
—some he had to pay, others were looking for a
different kind of pay day. He didn’t have to pretend to be
something he wasn’t, because she liked who he was, not what he had.
“I’m actually looking for someone. I hired a matchmaker, Marissa
Owen.”

“The celebrity lady?”

“Yeah. But so far, I haven’t been
impressed with her selections.”

“Oh.” Her face fell in obvious
disappointment, and he dropped the subject.

It pained him to hurt her. No one had
cared for him like that in a long time, even if hers was a
schoolgirl crush, but after tomorrow he was leaving. The thought
sliced through him with surgical precision, and he tried to concoct
any legitimate justification to stay or bring her along.

If nothing else, she was a friend. A
good friend. Though they’d only known each other two days, he’d
shared more with her than with anyone else in his life.
It’s
selfish, Gav. You know how she feels about you.
To bring her
with him would send a message he didn’t intend.

After the movies, she walked him to
the door.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at six.
Don’t forget to dress formally.” He hugged her, lingering a tad
longer than he probably should’ve. Her soft curves pressed against
him. His muscles tensed and rebelled as he reluctantly pulled away
and left.

How in the world was he going to get
through tomorrow? Or worse, how was he going to leave her
here?

Gavin led me through the crowd of the
dim ballroom. My hand flitted to the soft curls that spilled over
my bare shoulders. It had been so long since I’d felt hair against
my skin. The mesh cap of the wig pressed uncomfortably over my
scalp, hiding my baldness, the evidence that cancer was beating me
and taking what was most precious—my life.