Page 38 of Then There Was You

“Taylor! Are you in there?” a voice shouts through the apartment door.

“Fuck! It’s Paisley!” Taylor rushes around the room, snatching up her sleep shorts and tank.

Shit. I drag my hand through my hair and blow out a breath. I wasn’t expecting anyone to see me at Taylor’s place and especially not half dressed. I know exactly how things will go if Paisley realizes I spent the night in Taylor’s bed.

“Tay, maybe we don’t tell anyone what happened between us last night. Paisley will only start playing matchmaker and we both know that’s not how things are between us. What do you think?”

A look flashes across her face, but it’s gone before I can process what it was, and she schools her features. “Suits me,” she says. “Would you get the door? I need to pee.”

She disappears into the bathroom, and I jog through the living room. I think maybe I’ve hurt her by wanting to keep what happened between us a secret. I’ll have to speak to her about it another time. Right now, I think Paisley might tear the door down if I don’t open it.

“Taylor… oh,” she says when I swing the door open. Her eyes track over me before she grins. “What are you doing here and why do you have no clothes on?” She looks past me into the empty apartment.

“I stayed the night. Taylor’s in the bathroom.”

I step aside to let her in and she walks past me, her eyes fixed on mine. “Stayed the night? Likestayedthe night?”

I close the door and move to the sofa, picking up the comforter that Taylor used before she came in to me. “If by,stayed the night, you mean slept on the sofa. Then yeah, I stayed the night.”

“Why?”

Before I can answer her, Taylor appears in the bedroom doorway.

“Hi, Paisley. What are you doing here?”

Paisley rushes across the apartment and pulls Taylor in for a hug.

“Are you okay? I heard what happened last night. Why didn’t you call me?”

Taylor’s eyes find mine before she looks away. “I’m okay. I didn’t call because you were drunk and I knew you’d be asleep.”

Paisley frowns and takes Taylor’s hand, tugging her to sit down on the sofa. “That wouldn’t have mattered. I would have come anyway.”

“I know, but I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Bother me? You’re my best friend, Taylor.”

“I’m okay, really.”

“If you’re okay, why did Seb stay the night?”

Taylor blows out a breath. “Fine. I wasn’t okay last night, but I am now. I just want to forgeteverythingthat happened last night and move on.”

I look at her, but she won’t meet my eye. When she says she wants to forget everything, does she mean what happened between us too? I know for sure now that I’ve upset her.

“Actually, I didn’t sleep on the sofa,” I blurt out. Paisley looks at me before looking at Taylor.

“Okay,” she says slowly.

“Seb,” Taylor warns.

“I slept in Taylor’s bed and we had sex. Twice.”

“What the fuck! What are you doing?” Taylor asks, standing from the sofa and pushing me backward into her bedroom. “I’ll be right back,” she says to Paisley over her shoulder before closing the door behind us.

She prods me sharply in the chest, forcing me backward and farther into the room. “What are you doing? Why did you tell her that?”

“Because I should never have asked you to keep what happened between us a secret. I was being selfish. I didn’t want people playing matchmaker, but I don’t want you to think I’m ashamed about us sleeping together because I’m not. I think that might be how you took it, though. Am I wrong?”

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