Pivotal Moments (In Time #1) (17 page)

“We’ve already talked about this, ma’am. I let Aislinn know she’s the one in charge on this topic.”

Both of Mom’s eyebrows lifted. “Really?”

We both nodded. I was rather impressed with Teagan; he was handling the whole situation with maturity and confidence. Me? I just wanted to drown in the river of parental humiliation.

She smiled at us. “I’m proud of you both. That couldn’t have been an easy conversation.”

I should have been given a medal for not rolling my eyes. She had no idea. That was an experience I was eager to forget.

“I have one more thing to say. Ash, baby? I love you, and I do trust you.” She turned her attention back to Teagan. “Teeg, you seem like a nice guy. But first and foremost, I’m a mother.” She shook her head with a sad smile. “I expect you two to be responsible, safe. And I expect you,” she shot Teagan a stern look, “to treat her with complete respect.”

Her voice held such a warning that I paled.

“And one last thing. I’m pretty modern in my views, but I refuse to let my daughter sleep in the same bed as her boyfriend under my roof. So this,” she waved a finger between us, “will not happen again. Understood?”

I groaned, rolled my eyes, and nodded. Teagan flushed an even deeper shade of red, nodding as well. Mom watched us with her evil eye stare for another second. Then sighing, she turned and left the room, pausing at the door. One hand on the jamb, she turned her head to speak over her shoulder.

“For whatever it’s worth, I think you guys will be good for each other,” she said, then left, making it a point to leave the door wide open.

We were silent for a long moment. Then I started to giggle. Teagan looked at me like I was crazy, then the humor of the situation dawned on him. In moments, we had collapsed against each other in gales of laughter.

Finally, I sat up, gasping and wiping tears from my eyes. “Well, I guess that went better than expected.”

“Boyfriend caught sleeping in his girlfriend’s bed by her mother, and he’s still alive? Yeah, I’d say so.” He laughed again.

“We have her stamp of approval,” I said in a soft voice. I met his gaze. “She’s the one I was most concerned about. It’d be nice to have Connor on board, but…” I trailed off.

Teagan reached over and cupped my face, his thumb brushing my cheekbone. “He’ll come around, baby. He just needs some time.”

I nodded. He was right. Besides, my brother didn’t have much of a choice anyway. It was my decision, and at some point, he’d have to accept I was no longer a little girl. For better or worse, I had made up my mind. I alone would deal with the consequences.

Chapter 14

My boyfriend was insane. It was a shame, really. Such a gorgeous body wasted on such a feeble mind. Life wasn’t fair.

“Aislinn? What do you think?”

“I think you’ve lost your mind,” I said bluntly.

His quizzical frown would’ve been funny under different circumstances. As it was, I wasn’t sure how to handle dating someone who didn’t possess all of his mental faculties.

“Why would you say that?”

“Teagan, sweetie…when have I ever indicated that I was—” I cringed, “—an outdoorsy sort of girl?”

“I’m not asking you to go survivalist here, babe.” His lips quirked. “I’m just asking you to go for a hike with me. Zver needs the exercise, and it’ll give us some time alone.”

Hiking, camping, surviving—it all boiled down to the same thing. The outdoors. I shook my head. “No way. I’m not going into the woods. There’s creepy crawlies and…things.” I shuddered.

He stared at me for a minute, restraining a laugh. I should have been insulted, but I was concerned he wasn’t firing on all six cylinders. I frowned at him and his lips twitched.

“Sweetheart, it’s a trail through some woods. Hell, it can’t even be classified as hiking. It’s more like a hard walk.” He smirked. “Seriously, you’ll be fine. It’s no worse than at the lake, okay?”

I narrowed my eyes. As if that was a comfort. I was about to give a resounding no when something wet nuzzled my hand. I groaned. I’d just lost this argument. Because sitting there on his haunches was Zver, staring up at me. This animal had mastered the art of puppy dog eyes. Giving a slight whine, he shuffled forward a bit and gave my hand a small lick. He had a flair for the pathetic, I’d grant him that much.

I glared at Teagan. “You taught him to do that.”

He stepped back, grinning, hands up in surrender. “No, he figured that one out on his own.”

I turned back to the dog, whose eyes shone in adoration. I caved. “Fine. Fine. We’ll do your hiking crap. But you have to suffer through a chick flick afterward.”

“Okay, sounds fair,” he said, laughing. “We’ll leave in thirty minutes.”

I glared at him and spun on my heel, stomping off to the stairs. “I swear,” I muttered, “if one insect so much as lands on me, we are marathoning every sparkling vampire movie ever made.”

Oh, yes. He would pay.

Thirty minutes later, I was still standing in front of my closet. What was I supposed to wear for the Outing from Hell? Clothes were strewn across the room, and I was on the verge of tears.

I considered calling Mom, but she had that new case at work. As many hours as Mom had been putting in the past few days, it was important. Definitely more important than my clothing crisis.

A tap came to my door, and defeat washed over me. Who got this worked up over a freaking hike? It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. I was a hopeless mess. “Yeah, come on in,” I said with a frustrated sigh. It wasn’t like Teagan hadn’t seen me worked up over something petty before.

“Hey, baby. Are you…ready…?” His voice trailed off as he stepped through the doorway, glancing around the bedroom, then at my almost-empty closet. His lips twitched as he struggled not to smile.

“What?” I challenged.

Still fighting the grin, he moved farther into the room, carefully stepping around the piles of clothes until he reached me. Finally, he cleared his throat and shook his head. “Nothing, really.” He leaned down and picked up a discarded tank top from the floor. “I was just curious—when did the clothing store throw up in here?” He snickered.

I snatched the shirt out of his hand. “I’m in the middle of a crisis here, thank you very much, and you’re not helping.”

“You do realize it doesn’t matter what clothes you wear, right? It’s the shoes that are important.”

I exhaled sharply and shook my head. “No, it is important.” He cocked an eyebrow, and I added, “It’s important to me.”

“Why?” He was openly smirking now.

“Because it is, okay?”

He grinned and nodded. “Fair enough.” Smiling, he added, “Would it help if I picked something out?”

To say I was surprised would’ve been an understatement, but Teagan wore an expectant expression that had me nodding hesitantly.

“All right then,” he said. “Let’s see what we have here.” He walked over to the bed and began rummaging through piles of clothes. He’d occasionally hold up a shirt or a pair of pants, study it for a moment, and then toss it back. He finally settled on a lightweight white shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. He turned to me, eyebrows raised. “Will these work?”

I nodded, stunned. This man had just accomplished in less than five minutes what I couldn’t in thirty. I may or may not have been pouting as I held my hand out for the clothes.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, handing the bundle to me. “I’ll head downstairs while you change. Don’t forget comfortable shoes. Okay?”

“Yep. Got it.” I headed toward the bathroom. “I’ll be right down.”

He flashed me a grin and walked out. And Zver walked in.

“What do you want?” I demanded of the mammoth dog.

He walked to the middle of my room and flopped down on a pile of my clean clothes. I scowled, and he leveled me an annoyed look.

I shook my head at him. “Don’t even start with me,” I warned. “Now is not the time.” He stood and shook himself out with a dismissive air, and I glared at him. “Are you serious? Did you really just come in here and do that?”

Zver glanced at me, sneezed, and turned away. I stood there, stunned, as he proceeded to saunter away. I had just been brushed off. By a dog. What the hell.

***

Despite the clothing meltdown and likely dismissal from an animal, I was enjoying the time with Teagan. We meandered along the paths and through the trees, holding hands, Teagan throwing a ball for Zver. Each time, the dog would retrieve the toy and bound back to his owner, who took the ball and repeated the action over and over again.

“It’s like he never gets tired,” I muttered as Zver raced after the ball for probably the hundredth time.

Teagan laughed. “Seems that way, doesn’t it?” He brought our hands up to his mouth and pressed a warm kiss to my fingers. Smiling, he said, “He needed the exercise. He’s used to running with me every morning.”

I nodded; I’d lost my voice about the time his lips met my hand. The feeling of his warm breath zinged through my body, robbing me of my ability to speak. It was disconcerting, the effect he had on me. We walked for several minutes before I could talk again. “Tell me about your family,” I said.

“Well,” he drawled, “first off, there’s Dad. He’s a pediatric neurosurgeon.” He paused for a moment. Then, quietly, he said, “Dad is…he’s a great doctor. But he’s not home much. When he is, he’s kind of…distant, I guess.”

Teagan hesitated, biting his lip. He glanced at me briefly, and then abruptly continued. “Anyway, it got worse when Mom split. Dad stayed at the hospital more, to avoid noticing she wasn’t there anymore, I guess.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “He’s good at what he does, though. People bring their kids from all over to be treated by him.”

It didn’t escape my notice that there was a hint of pride in his voice.

“Then there’s my brother, Blake. He’s twenty-six. Dad wanted him to go to med school, follow in his footsteps. Problem was, they don’t get along. Blake had the grades and the brains to go to any school he wanted to, but the day he graduated from high school, he went and enlisted in the Marines, just to piss Dad off.” He gave me a tight smile. “Dad was a little upset about that…they haven’t spoken since.”

“Sounds like he was more than just a little upset to me,” I said quietly. Mom might have hopes for us, but no matter what path Connor and I chose, she’d never turn her back on us.

Teagan shrugged. “Yeah. That’s how Dad is, though. Stubborn, set in his ways to an extreme.”

Zver raced up to us just then, the ball in his mouth. Teagan stooped down, took it from the dog, and threw it once again. We watched Zver bound after it for a moment, then Teagan squeezed my hand, and we continued down the trail.

“I told you about my sister, Adrianna.” I nodded, and he said, “Yeah, she’s after me. She’s, like, crazy smart.” There was no mistaking the pride in his voice. “Last but not least, there’s Samantha. She’s the baby, spoiled beyond belief. You can’t help but love her, though. That about sums it up.”

“What about your mom? What’s she like?”

He snorted. “Well, she’s definitely not like yours, that’s for sure.”

“What does that mean?” I pressed.

His lips drew tight and his jaw clenched before he answered. “Aislinn…this isn’t something I want to talk about right now. Maybe one day…but not now.”

I nodded, frowning to myself. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried.”

He pulled me to a stop beside the creek we had been walking next to for several minutes. “It’s not like that, sweetheart. It was really rough when she left, and when I think about her, I think about then. It really tore us up, the way she left.” He gazed at me, his eyes intense. “I do promise to tell you about it someday.”

I nodded, and my heart stuttered as Teagan regarded me with the softest of gazes. His free hand came up, and he brushed his knuckle across my cheek. My gaze dropped to his lips then snapped back to his, and I blushed.

He let go of my hand and swept his up my back to tangle in my hair. The other slid around to cradle my cheek, and the gentle pressure had me stepping closer. My heart pounded faster, and by the way his eyes darkened, he could feel it. My breathing picked up.

Zver raced toward us, his ball in his mouth. His paws dug furrows into the ground as he tried to stop, but the dog slammed into me. I let out a squeal as I plunged into the creek. Submerged, I spluttered and thrashed around until I could push up onto my hands and knees. Gasping for breath, I sat back on my butt and glared at the furry menace, who was happily splashing in the water next to me.

“Zver!” Teagan bellowed. “Ostanovit! Sidet!”

The colossal canine halted mid-frolic and sat down. Meeting my death glare, he had the common sense to lower his head. But it didn’t help my current predicament. I was still soaked from head to toe, and to say I was irked would be putting it mildly. I stood up and pushed my hair out of my face as glanced at Teagan, still standing on the bank, dry.

He frowned. “You okay, baby?”

I planted my hands on my hips. “Do I look okay?”

He smirked. “Actually, you look better than okay.”

“What?” His grin grew wider, and I threw my hands up, sending drops of water flying. “What the hell is so funny?”

“Whoever designed that shirt should get an award,” he answered, a sexy grin on his face.

I scowled and looked down at myself. Then I gasped. My white shirt was soaked and see-through. Clearly showing off my lacy blue bra—of which Teagan had a perfect view.

“Oh, my God!” My voice probably neared a decibel level that only bees and dogs could hear.

His grin faded. “Aislinn, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

I scrambled to my feet and fled to the opposite bank of the creek.

“Aislinn, stop!” Loud splashes sounded behind me, but I kept slogging through the knee-deep water. “Sweetheart,” Teagan called, “where are you going?”

I had to get away. He couldn’t see me like this. My shorts clung to my thighs and my shoes seemed determined to see me humiliated, but I finally gained my footing at the head of the embankment. Shoes squelching, I sprinted for the tree line running along the edge of the creek.

A hand clamped around my wrist. I stumbled to a halt, breathing heavily, but didn’t turn around. Teagan tugged on my arm, but I didn’t move. I wasn’t going to face him. I couldn’t.

“What’s going on?” he asked, also out of breath.

I shook my head.

Teagan sighed and slid his hand up my arm until he gripped my elbow. “Did I upset you?”

I closed my eyes, praying the moment would just end. But he wouldn’t let it go. He’d been true to his word and forced me to talk to him about everything. Granted, it made me feel better afterward, but didn’t change the fact that this was awkward as hell.

“Aislinn, c’mon, talk to me. If I did something wrong, you need to let me know.” His tone was earnest, worried.

I sighed. Tipping my head back, I gave him a tight smile. “Can we just go? Please?”

He studied me, and then shook his head. “Something’s wrong. We’re not leaving until I know what it is.”

I slumped in defeat. He was like a dog with a bone. “You didn’t upset me. Really, you didn’t. Okay?”

“Then what is it?”

I opened my mouth, and then closed it. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure why I had reacted the way I had; it’d been a knee-jerk reaction.

“Sweetheart, help me out here. Please.” He ran a hand through his hair, and my heart sank at his frustrated expression.