CHATPER 16 - PART 2

Tim flicked the indicator on in his truck and swung a right into Kingston Lane. Six and a half hours had passed and he was hankering to see Taylor.

Jutting along the road, he spotted a figure sitting against the base of a large oak tree. Street suggested he play it cool. He doubted he could.

As he neared, he recognised Taylor's outfit and pulled the truck to a stop by the kerb. She'd picked a good spot, nobody from school was around. A slow smile spread across her face when their eyes locked. Tim toned down his own enthusiastic grin smoothing the crinkles out of his shirt.

She stood, grabbed her backpack and began walking to his truck. Tim was mesmerized by her figure-hugging jeans, the way her hips swung as she stuffed her book inside her bag. He felt a lightness in his chest knowing he no longer had to imagine their afternoon together. She was right in front of him.

A flicker of light drew his eyes north. The sun sparkled against a gold chain necklace that dipped down between her breasts. Her hair shone as light bounced off it.

She was angelic, Tim could stare at her all day.

With her fast approaching, he leant across the bench seat to open the passenger door. She climbed inside, placing her backpack in the foot cavity. "You're early," she said closing her door. The smell of perfume permeated the truck cabin, jogging his memory of the last time he kissed her neck. He put his hands over hers preventing her from securing her seat belt.

"Come here," he huskily begged.

Her eyes were warm with a hint of apprehension as she leant towards him. Tim met her halfway desperately cradling her face close to his. He crushed his lips against hers erasing the distance between them. He intended to savour this, craving the shiver of her touch. She drew her lips away prematurely, resting her forehead against his. "Hi," she whispered.

"Hey," he replied stealing another kiss, a silkier one this time. He waited for her to return the favour, to trail her hand down his chest like she usually did. Her lips remained subdued under his. Confused, he pinned her with his eyes searching the depths of her soul. She bowed her head breaking their connection. In return he let go of her face. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." She shifted back to her side of the seat and buckled her belt.

"Landry let me leave early today… that's why I made good time. I think he was fed up trying to teach me the same thing over and over again. When he's frustrated his face goes red and he gets this little vein right above his eye that bulges."

Taylor shook her head, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. "I didn't see you at first break?"

"I was getting a stern talking to from Mr Mitchell's about showing up late and mouthing off in class… I didn't see you at lunch? I'm guessing you weren't in detention."

"I was talking to my teacher about an art project for a bit, then I went to the Library to catch up on homework."

"Are you all caught up?"

"Yeah."

If Taylor had no homework, it would be a very interesting afternoon. "How were classes?"

"Boring," she replied folding her arms across her chest.

"Then I'll have to keep you entertained to make up for it." She turned her head and their eyes met. She instinctively parted her lips and Tim lost track of their surroundings basking in the new energy between them. He considered sliding over and playfully yanking her onto his lap.

"We should get going," her eyes darted back to the windscreen. "I have to be home by 8."

"Someone's eager!" Tim joked pulling away from the kerb.

After a few minutes of silence, he cast a sidelong glance at her. She was leaning against the door, the furthest she could possibly be from him. His mind drifted back to his interaction with Tyra at school. He wondered if she was the reason for Taylor's aloofness.

"I ran into Tyra today." Taylor's wary eyes, indicated he was on the right track. "You lied to her about the night you stayed over at my place."

Her eyebrows knotted together as she tried to find the right words. Tim wished time would speed up, he had to know what was bothering her. Was she done with him? He swallowed the ache in the back of his throat focused on keeping his fear at bay long enough to hear her out.

"I'm not the sort of person who tells lies, I promise. Tyra was so worried about me. That night wasn't at all like the fictional concoction she invented and I tried to tell her that. Sometimes she doesn't listen. We did kiss in the morning…we wanted to kiss each other. I just needed her to stop going on about it." Taylor became increasingly animated, "I get enough lectures from my parents about how I should be living my life. Everyone seems to forget that it is my life!"

"I get it," Tim added, to defuse the tension in the air.

"Sorry," she sighed. "I didn't plan to unload all of that on you."

"That's what I'm here for." Tim hit the brakes, bringing the truck to a stop at a red light. "We both know Tyra hates the idea of us hooking up, it's not a surprise. Your parents probably would too and I don't know how to change that." He kept his eyes fixed ahead; white knuckling the steering wheel. He was her dirty little secret. "We don't have to go back to my place. I can take you home."

"Tim-"

"It's cool." Tyra had plenty of reasons to doubt him because their relationship was a shit show. Taylor didn't have one.

He heard a click and felt Taylor moving. A forming pit of emptiness disappeared the second her soft lips pressed against his cheek. She rested her left hand on his right thigh snuggling into his side.

Tim removed his right hand from the wheel and entwined their fingers. He brought their joined hands up to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand.

"Can we start over? I'm in a bad mood today… I want to hang out with you. I wouldn't be here if I didn't." Her eyes glistened as she tried to reassure him. Tim lowered their joined hands to rest on her lap.

She lifted the cap from his head and put it on hers. The sight of her wearing his cap gave him mixed emotions. While it excited his lower body, a part of him understood, she was hiding from the prying eyes of Dillon.

The traffic lights turned green and Tim drove to his house with Taylor huddled against him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Home sweet home." Tim announced, reluctantly letting go of her hand to pull into his driveway.

He parked his truck in front of the garage and Taylor's warm body disappeared from his side. He missed her calming touch.

Tim opened the driver's door and climbed out, grabbing his bag from the tray. He shut his door as Taylor opened the passenger's jumping down with her backpack on. She had remained uncharacteristically quiet during the rest of their trip.

She closed her door and walked beside him up to his house. Tim unlocked the entrance and she ducked inside. The moment she was out of sight she removed his sweaty cap.

Tim tossed his bag onto the couch and closed the front door. He stood directly behind her, watching as she straightened her hair and surveyed his house. "Do you remember where everything is or is it a little hazy?"

She dropped her backpack and swiftly elbowed him in the stomach. "I wasn't that drunk."

"Drunk enough to forget your pants," he teased spinning her around to look at him.

She covered her face with her hands and mumbled, "Oh God, I didn't come here to get teased."

Tim gently pulled her hands away from her face, placing them on his hips to pull her close. "What did you come here for?"

Her eyes darted to his lips. He seized the opportunity and hungrily pressed his mouth to hers. The sensation worked wonders on his body. She abruptly drew her lips away from his for the second time today.

"Stop!"

Why were they stopping? She squirmed out of his grip.

"I came here to study. Remember?"

Tim took her wrist pulling her flush against him. "Sure, you did. Billy won't be back for hours." Based on Tyra's inside knowledge, Tim figured Billy was out nailing Mindy.

"Tim…" Taylor warned with her eyes fixed on his chest. "Maybe I should go?" Tim slid his arms around her body encasing her in a hug.

"You're not going anywhere," he chuckled. He expected her to soften into his embrace. Her whole body remained tense. "You said your homework was done. I thought… that meant you-"

"I'm not here to have sex with you!" Her cheeks flushed as she cut him off. "Is that all you think about?"

Tim dropped his arms putting distance between them. "Go easy alright, that's not what I was going to say."

"I did my homework because I have a test to study for. You said you could keep your hands to yourself. Can you?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean I want to." He inspected the messy lounge room, wishing he'd bothered to clean it.

"Where are we going to study?"

"My bedroom." Her eyebrows rose in suspicion. "You'll see why."

She grabbed her backpack and led the way to his bedroom while he grabbed his. "It's really clean," she marvelled inspecting his room.

"I knew you were coming this time. If you want, I can make some space on the dining room table?"

"This is okay," she said with a smile. "You're bed's comfy." She kicked off her shoes and sat down on his bed. He stood in the doorway caught off guard by how at ease she appeared in his bedroom. Her backpack was being emptied out onto his mattress, textbook after textbook. She glanced over at him expectantly, "You can come inside."

Tim did as he was told and walked over to the other side of the bed. He placed his backpack down and pulled out a book Landry said he should be reading.

When her movements ceased, he noticed she was staring at the carpet lost in thought. He waited for her to say something, when she didn't, he walked around to her side of the bed to see if there was something incriminating on the floor. It was spotless, just like the rest of the bedroom.

"Jules, what's going on with you. Talk to me…" A pair of worried eyes shot up to his. His stomach started to squirm. "Everything's okay between us, we can study."

"That's not why I'm weirded out." Tim sat down on the mattress beside her, encouraging her to continue. "My Dad asked about you on the way to school." She fidgeted with her hair looking out his bedroom window. "I thought he knew about the restrooms. It scared me; I've been thinking about it all day. I have no idea what I would've said."

"What did your Dad want to know?"

"If we were dating." She absentmindedly flipped through the pages of one of her textbooks, oblivious to the warning Tim had already received from her father. "In case he asks you, I told him we became friends when he was away... which wasn't a complete lie."

"Bet he liked hearing that," Tim replied running a hand through his hair.

"What could he say? It's not like he can ban me from having friends."

Friends. Tim hated hearing the word leave her mouth in reference to them. "We're more than friends. We hang out alone a lot. We make out. Saturday night at Lois's was a date, wasn't it?" Out of self-preservation his eyes didn't quite meet hers. He wasn't imagining the bond they shared, was he? Her hesitation prompted him to ask the obvious, "I saw you today in your science class with some blonde guy. Do you hang out with him outside of class?"

"Are you joking?"

"You tell me."

"We're just friends, he was borrowing my textbook. He's my lab partner. You shouldn't have to ask me that." She stared down at her feet which hung off the edge of his bed. "You seriously want me to tell my Dad you're my boyfriend?"

His heart rate increased. "Am I?"

"I don't know." She closed her textbook and turned her full attention to him. "We haven't had the talk."

"I'm not into anyone else. Are you?" Her mouth gaped open at the suggestion. He swiftly pulled her back down onto his mattress. She giggled as they laid facing each other. "It's settled then, your mine," he drawled.

Tim trailed a hand delicately along her thigh, then her hip, stopping to rest in the curve of her waist. Her cheeky grin sent his nerve endings into overdrive. Her fingers raked through his hair and tugged him close. Her mouth covered his in a demanding kiss.

He responded almost instantly to her, tracing his tongue over her lower lip to gain entrance. The motion of her tongue probing against his, clouded his mind.

Dazed and flustered, the sounds of their kisses filled the room. He let his hand roam up and down her side squeezing her body in waves of pleasure.

There was something he had to get off his chest, so he pulled back from her lips. She groaned in disappointment while he caught a breath. She watched him through hooded lashes and dilated pupils. She was kissable on any day. Right now, she was painfully irresistible.

He had to tell her quickly. "Since you're officially my girl now, I should tell you that Coach T warned me to stay away from you."

"What! When?" She stilled his exploratory hand.

Tim shrugged, nuzzling his head between her neck and shoulder. He sucked on her earlobe and planted butterfly kisses on her skin nearby, trying to distract her. She lifted her chin to expose more of her neck to him. He smiled against her skin and trailed his mouth down her neck. "Tim," she breathily whispered.

"He told me when he suspended me from the football team."

"How did he know?"

Tim moved his mouth back up to hers. "Dunno, still wanna be my girl?" He uttered tugging gently on her lower lip. She shuffled her body closer to his and willingly returned his kisses.

Tim pulled her slender jean clad leg over his thigh, groaning at their lower body contact. One of his hands hovered on her behind keeping her next to him while his other hand cradled her head.

"I have to study," she gasped a few minutes later, breaking apart from his lip's. Her chest was heaving and he was sure her skin was on fire, just like his.

"It'll wait," he murmured against her lips feeling the corners of her mouth rise. He angled her onto her back and hovered above her, one leg sidling in between hers. With his arms either side of her body he took a minute to enjoy the view.

She was a sight, cheeks flushed, plump lips and hair splayed out like a blonde crown. Her gold necklace lay crumpled up near her neck. He tentatively brought his lips down to her cleavage, depositing kisses.

He peered up at her to find her fondly observing him. Warm fingers slid up under the back of his shirt tugging his body closer.

He lowered his body onto hers and a feminine moan of appreciation echoed in the room. Her quick high-pitched laughter followed.

"If you keep making sounds like that, I'm gonna think you want me to take my shirt off," he remarked with a wink.

Her fingers reached between them and fiddled with his top button, undoing it. Tim leant back allowing her to undo the rest of his buttons. He removed the fabric from his arms and threw it across the room.

"There's no pressure Jules. We can study later… Right now, we're celebrating."

Taylor arched into his embrace, her fingers raked along the muscles of his bare back, up his neck and scrunched amongst his hair. Tim let himself get lost in the overwhelming feeling of her all around him.

Studying be damned, his girlfriend was on his bed and they had the house to themselves. This was a much better way to spend the afternoon.