Page 13 of Faking it With the Player Next Door

Swallowing hard, I waited for Travis to come into my office, and when he didn’t, I considered myself lucky. I didn’t want tospeak to Duncan or Travis. All I wanted at that moment was to shrivel away and disappear.

That’s when it struck me to take an extended vacation. Well, not a real vacation, but time away from Travis, work, and all the problems associated with what was happening.

The movement outside my window pulled me from my thoughts. When I looked down, I saw Van and Hunter had returned, and I couldn’t help but wonder why they were both back.

Biting my lower lip, I watched as the two men in my life continued talking, it appeared their tempers were calming down, and they were taking turns when speaking. A small grin evolved on my lips, and I saw Van glance up at me. He smiled, then nodded. Raising his hand, he signaled for me to come down.

“Oh, boy,” I sighed and nodded.

Taking my time, I went down the stairs one at a time and wondered what I was being summoned for. From what I can tell, Hunter and Van were on good speaking terms, and the rough patch had passed.

I should take that as a relief, but for some reason, my stomach wasn’t believing it. I had a sneaking suspicion I was in for a rude awakening, and I didn’t like it one bit.

“Yes?” I hesitated when I reached the kitchen door leading to the back deck.

“Van explained things,” Hunter said when I was visible through the screen door.

“He did?’ I frowned, glancing at Van, who nodded.

“And?” I opened the screen door, stepping onto the deck.

“Well, he told me how you guys are seeing each other,” Hunter began.

“What?” Shaking my head, I glimpsed at Van, who smiled.

“Yeah,” Van interrupted. “I told Hunter how we’ve spent a few evenings together, and talked about old times, and how we just acted on old feelings.”

“I didn’t know you both felt this way,” Hunter added.

“Yeah, we just…” Van paused.

“Connected?” I offered, and Van nodded.

“Yeah, connected,” he smiled.

I glanced at Hunter and saw him nod, but he was also frowning.

“What?’ I asked my brother.

“I feel bad for blowing up when Pastor Pierce was here,” Hunter replied. “I need to apologize to him.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s fine,” I replied, not wanting my brother to lie to a man of the church. “I’d just let it go and if he mentions it, you can explain.”

“True,” Hunter agreed. “So, how long have you both been pining for one another?” He looked at me. “Van said he’s had feelings for quite a few years.”

I opened my mouth to reply but didn’t know what to say. Did I tell the truth that I’d had feelings for Van since we were teens? Or did I tell a small fib and say it was more recent?

“Taylor?” Van prodded.

“Uhm, well,” I bit my lower lip. “I guess I wasn’t fully honest with Van when we talked…”

“Huh?” Van frowned.

“What?” Hunter said in unison.

If I was going to lie, I was going to make it a whopper.

“Yeah,” I glimpsed at Van. “When I told you the other night that my feelings were sort of recent, I wasn’t completely honest.”

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