Page 70 of Anyone But Her

"I've had dreams about you too."

If she only knew how many dreams I've had about her. I've been dreaming about her for years.

"I guess that explains it," she says.

"Explains what?"

"Why I felt something for you right away. It was because I'd seen you before. You were familiar but I didn't know why until now."

I think it's more than that. I think Taylor and I felt something right away because we share some kind of connection. It's not something that's tangible or makes sense. It's just a feeling that happens when you know something's right. When you feel like maybe this could be your person. The one you're meant to be with. It's too soon to say if Taylor's that person but it feels that way whenever I'm around her. When I'm not around her I can't imagine being with anyone else. There's no one like Taylor. No girl has ever made me feel like she does.

"Guess we were meant to meet," I say, "just not until later."

"How weird is that? We both liked each other back then and thought about each other all those years and now here we are, with you living in my parents' guest house."

"Unable to act on how we feel."

"I was thinking about that."

"And?"

"Maybe if we're really careful we could meet somewhere."

"Where could we go that would be private?"

"I don't know. That's the problem. My dad's well known, especially here in Phoenix, and because of that, people know me too. And anyone who follows golf knows who you are. If they saw us together it could end up online and then my dad would know. So on second thought, maybe we can't meet."

"Why don't we postpone that idea until later? For now, we should probably focus on convincing your family there's nothing going on between us."

"Good idea. We should practice being just friends." She smiles. "Although I really want to kiss you right now."

"Oh, yeah?" I lean over to kiss her but stop when I hear a voice.

"What are you guys doing out here?"

I quickly sit back in my chair and see Cal heading this way.

"Hey, Cal," I say. "Taylor and I were just talking about coaches. I was telling her about the guy I worked with in San Diego."

"Harris?" Cal picks up a patio chair and sets it across from Taylor and me, then says to her, "We call him Mustache Man. The guy has this thick furry mustache and refuses to shave it off."

Laughing, I say to Taylor, "Only time he did was when I got a hole in one. He didn't think I could do it so he said if I did he'd shave his mustache off. A week later the thing was gone." I look back at Cal. "What are you doing up? I thought you went to bed."

"I did but I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd hang out by the pool and get some fresh air."

Cal hasn't slept well since before his attempt to play professional golf. The pressure to win had him so stressed he couldn't sleep. Now he can't sleep because he's no longer on the pro tour and feels like he failed both himself and his dad. He hasn't told me this. I just know. I've tried talking to him about it but he shuts down if I even try. He doesn't want to talk about what happened. He gets pissed if I even bring it up.

"I'm going to bed." Taylor gets up from her chair. She attempts to put her flip flops on but struggles to get her feet in them.

"Need some help there?" Cal laughs as she almost trips.

She's nervous because we almost got caught kissing. She needs to act normal or she's going to clue Cal in that there's something going on.

"I got it. I'm fine." She hurries off.

"Does she seem off to you?" Cal asks as he watches her go in the house.

"Off how?"

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