Page 23 of The Princess

CHAPTER 10

TAYLOR

For their second date, Taylor convinced Damon that an afternoon picnic would be a good idea. Taylor had secretly been hoping for a little making out…or maybe a lot. A lot of kissing would be better. That’s all he’d been able to think about ever since Damon kissed him goodnight.

The weather wasn’t overly cooperative, though. A cold front had blown in, and a bitter wind threatened to ruin their good time. Damon, however, didn’t seem worried about it. He drove them out of town to a nearby lake that was deserted in the current weather conditions.

Taylor looked at his weather app and frowned. “It wasn’t supposed to be this cold. We’re going to freeze our asses off.”

“Don’t worry.” Damon unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car as Taylor watched him from his warm spot in the passenger seat. Damon went around to the trunk and popped it open, then came around the passenger side. His arms were full of not just blankets, but camping chairs too. Damon set the chairs up side-by-side, facing the water. He looked over his shoulder at Taylor and waved him over.

Taylor got out of the car, carefully carrying the picnic basket he’d packed and joined Damon at the shore. “This is amazing.”

“I figured the weather might suck. Here, let me take this and you can get comfy.” Damon took the basket from Taylor and let him get tucked into his chair. The blanket Damon had brought was a thick, homemade quilt. It was made of denim and had to weigh half as much as Taylor did. Embroidered daisies decorated it, giving the heavy material a delicate look.

“Oh, my God, this blanket is magnificent.”

“My aunt made it for me when I was a kid.”

Taylor ran his hands over the top, looking at the stitching and the fabric. “It’s still in great shape.”

“Most of the time it’s too warm and weighty.”

“It’s perfect.” Taylor wanted to live under that blanket forever. The weight of it made it feel like a hug. Like one of those full body, can’t move, can’t breathe kind of hugs.

Damon got situated under a blanket of his own and popped the basket open. “What did you make?” He pulled out a container. “What’s this?”

“Macaroni and cheese wrapped in phyllo dough and baked in the oven. Crispy on the outside, gooey in the middle.”

“That sounds fabulous.” Damon wasted no time getting into the container. He passed one of the macaroni and cheese pastries to Taylor and took one for himself. Taylor watched as Damon took a huge bite, consuming almost half of his pastry at once.

“Holy crap, this is the best thing I’ve eaten all week. Maybe ever.”

“How was work this week?” Taylor asked. He knew Damon worked in a pharmacy, but that was it.

“Insane, actually. Sometimes certain medications are in short supply, so we didn’t get our shipment. Sometimes we can make do with generic brands but not always. Most people are understanding.”

“But there’s always that one customer, right?” Taylor could empathize with that. Most of the time the people who came into the diner were awesome, but every so often they got someone who was determined to have a bad time.

Taylor shivered when a gust of wind slammed into them. “I hope you plan on warming me up.”

“Of course.” Damon smiled, but only sort of. It was the kind of smile someone gave you when they were trying to appease you. Surely Damon wasn’t still nervous, was he?

Taylor decided to let it go and enjoy their date. It wasn’t every day that he found someone who wanted to do nice things for him. Like bring thick, warm, clearly sentimental blankets to the lake to keep him warm because he was an idiot and had wanted a picnic date.

“Thank for this, by the way,” Taylor said. “I know we could’ve eaten in the car. Or anywhere warm, but this is nice.” He didn’t want to tell Damon that this was on his romance bucket list. Most people had bucket lists of things they wanted to do and they were filled with grand adventures. Travel and adrenaline junkie activities. Skydiving would never appeal to Taylor.

“I’ve never gone on a date like this before.” Damon’s admission surprised Taylor at first. But then he remembered that this was Damon. Life of the party. Everyone’s best friend. “Usually people want to go drinking and dancing. Parties and clubs and concerts. It’s hard to connect to people who don’t want to spend their time the way you want to spend yours. Who have different values and shit, you know.”

“I know exactly how you feel. Everyone I knew in high school went off to college and university and they were all on my ass about going with them. How can you survive without college parties, right?” Taylor rolled his eyes. He dug into the basket and pulled out more food. “They thought I was like deprived or something because I didn’t want to go to university and spend my weekends getting bombed with them. But I’ve never been deprived of anything, and that’s what they don’t see. They don’t see how good I have it here and how much I like my life.”

“You do have a pretty kickass family,” Damon said softy.

Taylor looked out at the lake. It wasn’t a calm day and the wind was making the water choppy. But there was something breathtaking about watching the subtle power of nature. How easily it could move water with nothing but a bit of wind. The changes it could make, cycling through the seasons again and again, undeterred by the passage of time.

“I don’t remember her, you know.” Taylor almost never talked about his mom. When he was a kid, it had been hard for him. It was like missing a tooth and poking the space where it should’ve been. And then sometimes he was okay and didn’t notice, and then he’d feel awful when he did notice.

“You look like her a bit,” Damon said.

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