Page 46 of Taylor

She breathed him in and squeeze him one last time, and he did the same. Then she let go of him and followed him to the door. Their eyes connected in a quiet respect for what had happened here.

He cupped her jaw with one hand, looking down at her. His eyes were filled with adoration. It would make her cry if they drew out this goodbye any longer, and she was hoping he would be gone before the breakdown hit.

His hand slid from her jaw until it was holding the back of her head and bringing her to him. This kiss was like a promise yet still weighed down by the goodbye.

“I’ll text you,” he said, breaking the kiss. He gave her one last kiss before reaching for the door.

She took a shaky breath as he turned the handle. The cold air that hit her in the face was enough to snap her out of the emotion wave she was just about to be swept away in.

“Bye, Alice,” he said with one last kiss. Before she could say anything, he squeezed her hand and turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

His car rumbled as her back collapsed against the back of the door. But before she could sink into a good cry, a sudden knock rapped behind her.

As she stood, she pulled the door open. Taylor was standing there with a sheepish expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I can’t text you when I get home if I don’t have your number,” he said, handing her his cell phone.

She took it and put her number in and handed it back to him. He texted her.

“There. Now I’m really leaving, but you’ll be hearing from me soon,” he said with one last kiss.

“Looking forward to it.”

This time, she watched him walk to the car from the porch as she pulled her hoodie around herself. He opened the door and waved. She gave a small wave before turning around and watching him pull away. She didn’t have the strength to actually watch him drive away from this cabin and her.

That night, she made brownies, ate them out of the pan with a big glass of milk, watchedIt’s a Wonderful Life, and cried. This is how she had envisioned her whole Christmas break going, but instead, it had been utterly life changing. She could do this. She could get her life back on track.

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table.

Taylor: I’m home

Alice: Glad you made it home safe

That was it. But it didn’t matter. Even if that’s all it ever was, he had been great. It’s not his fault she fell in love entirely too easily. After drowning her sorrows in brownies, she was crawling into bed.

She went to plug in her phone, but the cord seemed to have gone under the bed. As she reached underneath, her hand connected with something. She pulled it out and could help but laugh. There, in her hand, was the rainbow unicorn horn dildo. Yeah... these past few days have been utterly life changing.

21

Taylor

Taylor was unlacing his skates after a good hard practice. Sweat dripped off him as Cash came and sat next to him.

“Man, you were on fucking fire out there,” he said as he pulled off his jersey.

He wasn’t wrong. Taylor had a great practice. It could be the pretty girl who hadn’t left his head since he left the cabin. He was just glad they’d been working on the penalty kill. That meant Coach Wagner hadn’t been on the ice with them, and part of him wasn’t looking forward to that. How was he going to look Coach in the eye after what he’d done with Alice the past couple of days?

Then, as if he summoned him, Coach Wagner walked into the locker room.

“Okay, boys, listen. We play Boston tomorrow. I just want to remind you we are the better team. You all had a good practice. Wes and Conner, good hustle out there. I do want to mess around with the power play tomorrow during morning skate.Nothing too intense, just moving something. So, special teams, be here tomorrow. I’ll see the rest of you guys tomorrow before the game.”

“Thanks, Coach,” all the boys said as they finished getting undressed.

“Taylor,” Coach said, walking over to him. “How did the cabin work out?”

Fuck. Did he know that he was there with his daughter? Had Alice said they’d spend time together? He didn’t want to say fine and not mention seeing her if she’d told her they’d spent time together. But then, even if he said nothing about her, it would come out eventually. Although her family thought she was on a business trip. He had no idea how much time had passed, but he just sat there, blinking at his coach, utterly tongue tied.

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