5
Paige
Icould feel his eyes on me the rest of the night. I felt them as I walked inside and heard his hiss of pleasure as I slid my coat off my shoulders, revealing the whole outfit Kyra and I had settled on. It was a little bit Kyra and yet, still a little bit me. A short, tight leather skirt with the black panty hose and heeled boots. But on top, I was my conservative self, wearing a gray sweater vest and ruffle collared shirt beneath. It was skin tight. And I was freezing cold having just come in from outside, making it way obscener than a preppy sweater vest should have been with the way my nipples pressed against thematerial.
I felt his eyes watching me as I ordered a glass of pinot grigio, and again, as Dave chatted with me in the corner of theroom.
But as we sat down to dinner in the dining room, I didn’t see him anywhere. I slid into the chair Dave had pulled out for me besideKyra.
My phone buzzed and Kyra’s name flashed on my screen. Why the heck was she textingme?
Aren’t you glad I made you shave your legstonight?
I looked up, giving her a questioning glance as her eyes drifted past Dave and over my shoulder somewhere behindme.
Before I could turn to look, a deep baritone voice rumbled beside me, straightening my spine with a jolt of electricity that buzzed my body to life. My blood turned hot just at the sound of thatvoice.
“This seat’s taken,” Taylor said as Dave moved to take the chair on the other side ofme.
Dave didn’t seem phased. I, on the other hand, shivered at the dark tone of his voice. “Oh, really?” Dave asked. “It wasn’t takenliterallytwo secondsago.”
“Weird how things change, isn’t it?” Taylor said and leaned back in theseat.
I looked around the table, hoping to find two more seats together to help diffuse the situation. Although something told me that moving to a seat away from Taylor probably wouldn’t appeasehim.
“Here,” Kyra said, standing up and shifting to the empty seat beside her. “Dave, you can sit here.” He smiled at Kyra, and with a smug glance at Taylor, took the chair on my otherside.
“Thanks.”
My cheeks went hot with embarrassment. Why did this feel like a pissing match? Overme? Men hardly ever glanced in my direction… why tonight were there suddenly two pretty-incredible possibilities just in front of me. Well, that was a stupid thought. Taylor wasn’t arealpossibility. He’d be leaving for Boston again as soon as his duties here were done. Dave was the real contender. Taylor was simply adistraction.
A deliciousdistraction.
I cleared my throat and gestured to Dave. "Taylor, you remember Dave Bolton, right? Dave is now the wrestling coach at Maple Grovehigh."
"How could I forget Bolton?" Taylor grunted. "He was one of about a dozen guys that Tiffany cheated on me with senioryear."
I winced. Everyone did stupid things in high school. Maybe notsostupid as cheating on your boyfriend of two years with half of the senior class.Andwith his own dang father. Oh yeah, I knew about that. Everyone knew about that. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that Dave was one of those guys she had cheated on himwith.
I opened my mouth, ready to go into a speech about letting bygones be bygones and how high school was a long time ago, but before I could, Davespoke.
"I'm really sorry about that," Dave said. I had to hand it to him, it sounded awfully genuine. "When I hooked up with Tiffany, I honestly wasn't thinking. Or considering how cruel it was to you." Dave reached across me, holding out his hand to Taylor. "I hope you can accept myapology."
"Dammit," Taylor muttered beneath his breath and reluctantly reached across me taking Dave's hand. "You always were a damn nice guy," Taylorsaid.
Dave chuckled and shrugged. “Guilty ascharged.”
I sat there between them while food was served to us, really considering for the first time how harsh Taylor's senior year was. Of course, Iknewit was a hard year for him, but with my own brother being in the thick of it, I never really stopped to consider the vast amount of betrayals Taylor had dealt with that year. I mean, your girlfriend cheating on youonceis betrayal enough. But over and over again, and with people you considered your friends and family? I had always thought he was being a little dramatic when he refused to come home. But right now, sitting here with him, I understood. He didn't just have to do this once with my brother, or once with his father. He had to face person after person in this town and hear apology after apology. While for me, Maple Grove represented heartache and goodbyes. Maybe for him it meant betrayal? Showing up here tonight, even though it was a decade later, and we had all been practically children, I could still feel how hard it was forhim.
Once the conversation between Dave and Taylor had tapered off, I waited until Dave was deep in conversation with Kyra and Rick, sitting next to her, about this year’s wrestling tournament. Then I leaned into Taylor and whispered quietly in his ear. “I think you are really brave coming here this weekend. I just thought you should knowthat.”
His expression morphed into one of shock, his eyes growing wide and his mouth forming an ‘o’ shape. But no sound came out. After another moment silence, he finally said, “You are the only person who's ever said that to me. Almost everyone just tells me that it's time to move on. That it was ages ago and should be water under thebridge.”
Under the table, I rested my hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I believe all that as well,” I said. “But it should be at your own pace. And it doesn't change the fact that it is really brave to show up to a room full of people that you haven’t seen in years, where many have betrayedyou.”
His hand found mine, still resting on his knee. He laced his fingers into mine and gave my hand a squeeze. We stayed like that, locked into each other's eyes, hands intertwined, his expression sharp. Sharp enough to slice right through me to the bone. And I would happily embrace the wound he inflicted. Smooth skin was taut over his sharp, angular features and his light brown hair was wavy in an unruly way that only he could pull off. He was more than just textbook handsome, he was stop you in your tracks, hypnotizinglygorgeous.
The energy between us crackled with intensity, like a fire roaring to life just after somebody poked it with a stick. That same energy shot straight down to the pit of my stomach. It felt like I was seeing him; really, truly seeing him. Warmth swallowed me, engulfing me as we sat there for what was only a few seconds, but could have just as easily been hours, breathing and gazing into each other'seyes.
“Hey, you’re empty,” Dave said, lifting my wine glass and giving it a shake. “What are you drinking?Chardonnay?”
In the blink of an eye, I watched mine and Taylor’s connection break and a quick flash of confusion filled Taylor's expression. I blinked, and that confusion was once again gone, vanished in a fraction of second, replaced with his standard issue calmreticence.
“I'll get it for you,” Taylor said, pushing his chair back and standingup.
“Oh, um, thank you. I'mdrinking—”
“Pinot grigio,” Taylor answered, giving a pointed look to Dave. “Iknow.”
