Page 54 of The Princess

Undeterred, Damon nudged the plate closer to him. “How’d you sleep?” He watched Taylor close his eyes and take a sip of his coffee.

“Not bad, all things considered.” He caught Damon’s eye. “You snore.”

Damon put a hand to his chest and pretended to be offended. “Me? Snore?”

“Like a chainsaw.”

“If you nudge me, I stop. Nash can show you all the tricks he’s developed.”

“He’s a cover hog.”

“Ah, that can’t be helped. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and he’s cocooned himself in the blanket and I’m lying there shivering. With you on my side, though, it can be two against one. He doesn’t stand a chance.” Damon nudged the plate of toast again and Taylor scowled at it, then at Damon.

“I’m fine.”

“You should eat something.”

Taylor slid the plate toward Damon with a frown. “I don’t eat first thing in the morning.”

“You missed dinner. Oh, your dad sent a cake. I can cut you a piece of that if you want.”

Taylor looked like he was going to be sick. “Cake? For breakfast? Immediate no. I work with food, Damon. When I’m hungry, I’ll eat something.”

Damon knew the toast was now a losing battle so he grabbed a piece and started eating it. “And you’re okay to work today?” Damon watched Taylor bristle at his question.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I got mad, Damon. It’s not the end of the world.” Taylor bypassed Damon on his way into the kitchen. Damon looked on as Taylor dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink.

“I need to get to work.” Taylor patted his pockets for his keys, pulling them out with a little more force than necessary.

“I’ll come with you.” Damon pushed away from the counter he’d been leaning against.

“Why?” Taylor shot at him. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“No. I know you don’t. I thought that you might like having someone there to support you. I can throw Colby out if he comes to bother you.”

“I don’t need you to handle my brother for me.”

Damon stopped and put his hands up like he was surrendering. “I know, I just?—”

“You wanted to involve yourself in my shit like Colby wants to involve himself in my shit. I don’t need an escort to work. I don’t need cinnamon toast, and I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.” Taylor walked to the front door, and Damon followed like a lost and very confused puppy.

He watched Taylor angrily stuff his feet into his shoes before standing up straight and looking at Damon. “I’ll say that I appreciated last night, you two coming clean to everyone about what’s been going on was for the best, but I am tired of people knowing my every move. I’m tired of Colby sticking his face into my life. I need you to not act like him, okay? I need you to let me go to work and whatever happens, happens. If he shows up, I’ll deal with it. He’s my brother. The worst that’s going to happen is that he’ll piss me off.”

Damon opened his mouth to say literally anything that wouldn’t be stupid. The options were plentiful. He could apologize and tell Taylor he was sorry for being too eager to do too much and that he’d let him handle his own stuff. He could tell Taylor that he was sorry if he made him feel like he couldn’t handle his own life.

What he said was, “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” He winced at his own idiotic words. They were the words of an insecure child. Someone who desperately wanted to help. A little too desperately.

“This isn’t about you, Damon. I get that you’re trying to be helpful, but I seriously just explained to you why I don’t want it. And why I don’t need it. No one fucking listens to me, and I’m sick of it.”

Damon watched the door open and then close, Taylor disappearing through it without so much as a goodbye or an I’ll call you later. Damon leaned against the wall and stared at the empty space where Taylor had just been. He knew Taylor wouldn’t be turning around to come back and make amends. He didn’t have anything to be sorry for. It was Damon and all his pushing.

After staring at the door for several minutes, Damon dragged himself into the kitchen and tidied up. He berated himself while he washed the mugs and dumped the rest of the toast into the trash. Had Taylor always been this brusque and independent? Or was this a whole new side of him that Damon was just now becoming privy to? Whatever it was, Damon’s only hope was that Taylor let him in, even if he didn’t want Damon to help.

Damon didn’t have to work for another couple of hours, so he climbed back into bed with Nash. He wasn’t about to go back to sleep, but he wanted to be close to Nash after his spat with Taylor that morning.

Nash grumbled a little when Damon tugged enough covers away from him so he could cover up.

“Taylor leave?” Nash asked.

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