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Okay, so maybe they did have passion, but that was it. She did not love Derrick Fletcher in the way he wanted her to.
Derrick’s phone rang, but he didn’t stop.
“Your phone,” she said against his lips.
“I don’t care,” he replied and then slid his tongue through Taylor’s parted lips and slipped his hands up the sides of her face, burying them into her hair and anchoring her to him.
The ringing of Taylor’s phone drew her slightly from the heaven she was currently in. She didn’t know if anything was certain between them, but right now it didn’t matter. Except the incessant ringing of her phone was starting to distract her.
“Ignore it, Taylor, ignore it and stay here with me. Figure things out with me,” Derrick pleaded against her lips.
This really did seem like the best idea, so Taylor nodded and pressed her lips back to Derrick’s. Her confidence was gaining, so she slid her tongue forward and just completely fell in rhythm with Derrick. She didn’t notice anything.
Even Henry entering the room.
“Mr. Fletcher,” he said with a strained tone. Taylor jumped. Neither she nor Derrick had noticed another presence until Henry had spoken.
Derrick’s head whipped quickly in his direction. “What?” he exploded.
“Ms. Fletcher is on the phone. Your sister, sir, she needs you,” he said, pushing his phone to him.
Derrick stared for a confused moment at the device and then shook his head, as if to bring himself to the here and now. He grabbed the phone quickly.
“Marty,” he said into the phone. Taylor tried to back up and give him some space, but Derrick just tightened his grip on her, holding her to him. It was different than him wanting her close. Taylor got the feeling that Derrick needed her close right now, and how could she possibly say no? She had leaned on him significantly in the last few weeks, and so she stayed put, squeezing him back to let him know she was there.
And then Taylor heard Marty’s guttural crying through the phone.
Something was very, very wrong.
“Okay, Marty, okay. I’m coming, we’re coming,” he said to her and disconnected. Derrick swallowed, and he looked overwhelmed. He turned to Taylor, “It’s my dad …”
“Go Derrick,” Taylor said to him, nodding that she understood. She didn’t need specifics; she knew that his family needed him. No way was she going to stand in the way of that.
“Please come with me,” he pleaded.
Taylor paused and then nodded. “Of course,” she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the door. How could she not be there for him after all the times she had recently begged him to stay and he had done so without question one minute and then endured her spewing craziness the next?
Henry had the door open before they could even ask him, and together they made their way to a waiting car.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Derrick felt absolutely paralyzed.
If Taylor hadn’t led the way to the car, he would probably still be rooted in his apartment. She had gotten him into the back of the Range Rover and was now holding his hand, giving it the occasional squeeze. It was enough to let him know he was not actually paralyzed, that this was really happening.
His father had sat down with him and Marty four months ago, though it felt like yesterday.
“I am dying. The treatments are no longer working.”
His words shot through the air and landed like a spear right into Derrick’s stomach.
“No, Daddy. No, please no,” Marty had pleaded. She went over to him, kneeling before him and grabbing his hands in desperation. “Please Daddy, no,” she continued on, pleading, tears covering her face, her voice becoming more shrill and disembodied.
“Marty,” Simon softly soothed. Marty resorted to laying her head in his lap and sobbing, but she didn’t call out or interrupt him. “My Marty, I would give you the moon if you asked me, but this is a fate I cannot escape.”
“What do you mean, Dad?” Derrick asked, coming out of the trance that his father had induced.
Simon sighed heavily as he stroked Marty’s head. “Marty, please. Please sit up. I need you to both hear me.”