Page 27
Story: Taylor (Glendale Magic #3)
26
Alice
S omehow, Alice made it to her car, able to wipe away a few errant tears that spilled down her cheeks. But by the time she got safely to her car, she collapsed in sobs. The angry glare on his face was permanently etched into her mind. What had happened? She knew she had made too much of it, but she thought he would at least be nice to her. Worst case, he would ignore her. Glaring angrily at her, without saying a word . . . that was not what she thought was going to happen.
She needed to get out of this parking lot before someone like her dad happened to stumble upon her while utterly losing her shit in her car.
She managed to make it home, even if she hadn’t stopped crying the entire time. Fumbling with the lock as she went in, she headed straight upstairs to get out of these clothes. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The only color anywhere on her were her red eyes. Guess “New Year, New You” wasn’t going so well.
After pulling out her comfiest pj shorts and an old hoodie, she crawled into bed.
She would have to quit tomorrow. Hopefully, Sasha would understand. She’d seen the way he just glared at her. The thought gave way to another sob. Before she knew it, she was clutching her pillow, sobbing again.
She had felt real feelings for him. How had she thought he felt them, too? How could she have been so stupid?
There was a knock at her door. She sat up and looked at her phone. It was after eleven. Who would be knocking on her door at this hour? She didn’t want to see anyone, so she just pulled her pillow over her head.
The knocking continued, but so did her refusal to get up.
“Alice,” a voice called.
She sat up. No. It wasn’t.
“Alice, can we please talk?”
Was Taylor here? Why was he here? He wasn’t mean enough to come and tell her to stay away from him, was he? No, he wouldn’t do that... but she also wouldn’t have thought he would have just glared at her the way he did.
He knocked again. “Please, Alice,” he said, his voice sounding almost as rough as she felt.
She threw back the covers. Her bare feet padded down the stairs as she made her way to her front door. The deadbolt clicked as she turned it, but she wasn’t quite brave enough to open the door.
“Alice,” he said, sounding slightly more hopeful.
She cracked the door, and nothing could have prepared her. There he was, in his peacoat, cheeks rosy from the cold, but his eyes looked just as pained and red rimmed as hers did.
“What do you want?” she asked quietly.
“Alice,” he whispered her name. “I’m so sorry... Can I come in?” he asked as his voice cracked.
She wanted to tell him to leave and be strong and confident, but her heart wouldn’t let her. Her stupid heart still fucking craved him like he was the breath of life itself. She flicked another tear away as she opened the door, stepping aside.
He came in, and they just stood there for a moment. The only light in the whole place was the glow from her distant bedside lamp at the top of the stairs and the ambient light from the parking lot, but it was enough to see the emotion in his eyes.
“Alice, I’m so fucking sorry,” he said in a gravelly voice. He stood there, his gaze trained on her.
“For what?” she said, trying to sound unbothered, even though there were still tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Can I hug you?” he asked barely above a whisper.
She should say no. She should’ve kicked him out, but instead she just nodded. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. This made her break all over again. How she still had sobs left to sobs she didn’t know. Surely, the tears had to dry up soon.
He just held her and gently brushed her hair and let her cry. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there like that, but she finally had herself under control and pushed back.
“Why are you here?” she asked carefully, internally telling her traitorous heart to get it together.
When she looked into his eyes, he seemed to be in just as much pain as she was. That didn’t make any sense.
“I needed to talk to you because I think I fucked this up.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Fucked what up?” asked Alice, still trying for the nonchalance she did not feel.
“Whatever is happening between us.”
Her eyebrows scrunched, and she shook her head. “There’s nothing going on between us. I get it.”
She looked down at their feet. He was in dress shoes, while she was barefoot, with her rainbow toenails. Another tear streamed down her cheek as she remembered looking at their feet just like this in the kitchen in the cabin—except he’d had his socks on. Why did that feel devastating? Why was she like this?
“How can you say that? After everything at the cabin,” he pleaded as he lifted her chin to meet his gaze. His head shook, but his eyes stated laser focused on her.
She huffed and pulled her chin out of his gentle hold. “We hooked up.”
“No. It was more.”
She fought back another wave of tears. “I thought so, too.”
“Fuck, Alice,” he said roughly, running his hands through his hair. He paced and shook them out.
Alice just watched with curiosity, not quite willing to let herself get too hopeful yet.
“When I saw you there tonight... I don’t know. It was like my brain stopped. You didn’t look like yourself.”
“What do you mean?” she asked with a furrowed brow.
“At the gala, when we met, you had on this colorful dress and purple streaks in your hair, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. Then at the cabin...” He came back to her. “You were a fucking rainbow. From your hair to the way you dress, you were so colorful. But more than that, you were so full of life. I couldn’t get enough of you. I just wanted to soak it all up. But then I saw you tonight... It was like all the light was gone. I didn’t like it.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what else to say.
Her brain was the one that came to a stuttered stop. If he liked her, why hadn’t he called her?
“Now, if this is how you want to dress, that’s fine. You should dress however the fuck you want. I think you’re beautiful, no matter what, but it just didn’t feel right. Is that how you want to dress?”
She slowly shook her head.
“Okay, so at least I got that right... even though there were a million things I got wrong.”
She walked into her living room and sat on the couch, finally turning on a light. Which might not have been the best idea because he was still in his game-day suit, looking like a fucking snack. She didn’t even want to think what she looked like, but she supposed it didn’t matter. He got the truth tonight. She just hoped she got the same.
“It was brought to my attention that if I wanted to keep dating you after I left the cabin, I should have been calling you and texting you,” he said as he turned to her with a look that almost took her breath away.
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve been communicating. I thought about you all the time, but then, when it was time to call you, I would be wrapped up in my routine and hyperfocused on the upcoming game... I fucked up.”
“What?” she asked again, shaking her head.
She had thought lots of things when he had dropped off the face of the earth after their time in the cabin... but not this.
He came over to her couch and sat next to her. “Please say I didn’t fuck this up for good.”
She shook her head, gaping at him. “I’m sorry, Taylor, but I’m so confused. We had that amazing weekend, but we never clarified anything. I thought you wanted to date when we got back to Glendale?—”
“I do. I want to be with you,” he said, taking her hands.
“Then, why didn’t you talk to me?” she said with her mind still reeling.
“Because I fucked up. I’m so tied to my routine, I thought about you constantly.”
“You thought about me but didn’t even call me... or text me. Why didn’t you at least text me?” she said with her emotions seeping into her voice.
He winced at her anger, so she took a breath.
“I promise I’ll do better,” he said as he cupped her face.
The feel of his hand on her face was everything. She had missed him so much. Another tear escaped down her cheek.
“I thought I’d made it all up,” she said quietly as he wiped away her tear. “I thought I had fallen too fast and tricked myself into thinking you had feelings for me when you didn’t.”
“No, Alice, I have feelings for you. You didn’t make it up,” he said as his thumb traced her cheek.
She let out another shuddering breath. “I didn’t?”
“No, you didn’t. I’m so fucking sorry I put you through that. I thought we were good, but I realize you needed to know that.”
“So, you have feelings for me... What does that mean?”
He cocked his head. New Year, New Me , she thought. If she was going to be in a relationship, she wasn’t going to be an afterthought.
“It means I want to be with you.”
“Okay, but I don’t want to be in a relationship where I’m an afterthought. I don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t call or says they don’t want to be with me without even a reason.”
His head gave a little shake. “What are you talking about?”
“I texted you New Year’s Eve to hang out,” she said.
“I don’t do anything on New Year’s. I just stay in and watch movies.”
“Well, I would’ve done that with you,” she said with a huff.
“But you were going to a party,” he said, confused.
“Yes... but I wanted to be with you. If I knew you didn’t want to go to the party, I would have happily hung out with you.”
“Oh,” he said before shaking his head harder. “I fucked up in so many ways, but if you give me another chance, I’ll show you I can do this. I might need you to spell some stuff out for me, but I want to make you happy. The idea that I caused you pain-—” His voice broke. “I hate it,” he said as a tear streamed down his own cheek.
“Taylor,” she said with reverence as she brushed the tear away. “What do you want?”
“I want to be with you. I want to be your boyfriend. I haven’t been a boyfriend in a very long time, but I can do it. I can make you happy. I promise.”
“What happens when you leave here? Do you forget about me again? When you go on road trips, what then?”
“I don’t know,” he said, scooting closer to her. “But I can promise that I won’t neglect you again. I never forgot about you, even a little, and that you think that is totally my fault. I’ll make it work. I can do it. Please, give me another chance. I promise I’ll do better.”
He sat next to her, facing her, his hands on her knees, his intense eyes fixed on her.
She could tell he meant it.
“Really?” she said through a watery smile.
Hope was buoying her sinking heart. He had thrown her a rope, and she was taking it.
“Yes,” he said, cupping her cheeks. “What do you want, Alice?”
“You.”
And with that, his mouth met hers in a perfect kiss. She melted into him as he slipped his arms around her waist. It was as if all the weight and sadness of the past couple of weeks fell away. Part of her thought, Be careful. Don’t fall too fast . But that part was silenced as he tightened his grip on her and held her close.
She pulled back to gaze at him. His expression told her all she needed to know. She needed him close. Her head rested on his chest and found his heart pounding just as fast as hers was.
“Do you want to go upstairs?” she asked.
“Yes,” he answered back instantly, before pressing a heartbreaking kiss to her forehead.
Her breath caught in her throat at the simple gesture. She was all in. It’d been three weeks since their time in the cabin together. Three weeks that she had muddled through. But him here, in her home, did give her hope. Whether that hope was good or not was yet to be determined, but it was there all the same.
Alice’s heart thumped as she made her way up her stairs. Even though Taylor’s hands were still on her back, she was starting to second-guess this. But when they made it to her room, and she turned to see his reaction. Those doubts evaporated by the look on his face. The heat in his gaze, his blown pupils, the flush on his cheeks and neck set her on fire.
She threw caution to the wind that threw her arms around his neck, and her lips crashed into his. After that they were a mess of teeth and tongues and hands ripping at each other’s clothes. Before she knew it, she was naked, still working on the buttons of his shirt.
He stepped back long enough to strip out of the rest of his clothes. He turned to her and picked her up. A surprised squeak came from her but then she wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him as he walked them the few steps to her bed and laid her down.
The feel of his hard cock pressing into her slick center had her panting. Taylor kissed down her neck and continued lower until he sucked a nipple into his mouth. Her hips gave an involuntary rock, and his cock slid along the juncture of her thighs.
“Fuck,” Taylor rasped out. “Do you have a condom?”
Crap! She sat up in a slight panic. “No. I don’t.”
“I think I have one,” Taylor said as he got off the bed and pulled his wallet out of his suit pants. “Yes,” he whispered as he returned to the bed with a victorious smile on his face and a condom.
“I need you right now,” Alice said, taking the condom from him. She ripped the package open and rolled it down his length.
His guttural moan at her touch felt good. Like maybe he was just as gone for her as she was for him.
His hand reached between them and found her core.
“Fuck,” he groaned against her neck. “You’re so wet. Are you ready for me?”
“Yes!” She raised her hips, trying to urge him to get on with it. She wanted him to fill her and fuck her.
He pulled back and lined up before pressing in. He bit her shoulder as he sheathed himself fully inside of her.
“Fuck, baby, you feel so good.”
“I need more,” she said, needing him to move.
“I’m going to try and be gentle,” he said, restraint thick in his voice.
“Don’t be gentle.”
He pulled back to check in. She kissed him and bit his lip. That seemed to do it. Having pulled almost all the way out, he slammed back in. A cry of pleasure ripped from her as he drove back into her again.
She had never felt anything as pleasurable in her entire life. Everything except what was happening here between them fell away.
The pleasure coiled deep in her belly, but the build was intensifying. Her hands clung to him, and the ripple of his muscles working as he continued to drive into her was pushing her closer to the edge.
“Taylor,” she called out right on the edge of her orgasm but not quite there. “Please,” was all she could say not knowing what she needed. Luckily, he knew exactly what she needed, working circles on her clit.
That was all it took. The orgasm coiling deep in her belly exploded, and she screamed out as the release ripped through her body. She pulsed in pleasure as Taylor’s thrust got a bit less controlled as he chased his own release. With a loud groan, he grabbed her hips and slammed into her one last time. His pulsing inside of her was everything. She couldn’t help the tear that ran down the side of her face. The emotional reaction wasn’t one she was expecting, but she wasn’t surprised. She clung to him as he peppered her neck and shoulder with kisses.
Finally, he pulled out of her. He slipped into the bathroom to deal with the condom but was back before she could become self-conscious. Before she knew it, he was crawling back in bed with her, getting them situated under the covers. His arms wrapped around her, and she rested her head on his strong chest.
Table of Contents
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- Page 27 (Reading here)
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