Exception (43 page)

Never in her life had Emily felt more complete or alive. Nothing was more vital to her at that moment than that connection, not the air in her lungs or the blood in her veins. It was all secondary to her need for him.

With his strong arms holding her by the waist, he sat up, bringing her with him. With their bodies pressed together and his lips traveling over her neck, he loved her until she was, once again, seeing stars and completely satisfied. Rocking her one last time, he joined her, finding his own release.

When Emily opened up her eyes, despite the coldness of the fall morning, she was covered in sweat. The light was shining next to the sides of the drapes, and Taylor was sound asleep on his side of the bed.
Fucking hell,
she thought, swinging her legs over the bed.

With careful, soundless feet, Emily picked up her phone from the bedside table and walked to her suitcase. She fumbled blindly through it, and picked up the first pair of jeans, thermal tee and sweater her fingers touched, before moving to the bathroom.

Once she was changed and her teeth were brushed, she quickly typed a message on her phone and walked out of the bathroom. Fitting her feet in her Ugg boots and grabbing her coat, she opened the door as carefully as she could and walked out of the room.

W
HEN HIS
alarm beeped, Taylor found himself in an empty and cold bed. As he looked across the room, he noticed Emily and her phone were nowhere to be found. Throwing the covers to the side, he walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door, but no answer came.

It was very unlike Emily to leave without at least a note, which worried him. He changed his clothes as quickly as he could, brushed his teeth and, having no will to deal with his weird-looking hair, placed a baseball cap on his head and walked out the room with his boots still untied.

When he arrived at the sunroom, where breakfast was served, he knew something was wrong. Brad and Toby were sitting at one of the tables having their breakfasts alone. The two men were deep in conversation as Taylor approached.

“Where are they?” Taylor asked, not wanting to waste time with pleasantries.

Toby looked at him over the rim of his coffee mug. “Good morning to you too, Tay. Care to join us?”

Something was clearly up, and his patience was running short. “Cut the shit, Darcy. What happened? I woke up and Ems is gone. I come here and you two are eating alone; something is up. Please tell me what the hell is going on.”

Neither man had thought much when their partners left their respective beds. They also didn’t think much when the three friends went to the porch to talk; after all, they always had their “leave us alone” moments. However, Taylor’s worried face, and his display of short temper, left them wondering what happened.

Being the overprotective big brother that he was, Brad spoke first. “We should be asking you that, shouldn’t we? All we know is that, about an hour ago, both J and Zack received texts from Emily. Jody left the bed as if it was on fire, and the three of them have been talking outside since then.”

“We went to ask what happened and Jody told us it was none of our business, so we came to eat,” Toby continued.

That information confusing to Taylor. He searched his memories but couldn’t find anything that would have made Emily bolt from the room like that and call in the reinforcements. He wondered if he’d said anything during his sleep, or if he’d touched her accidentally during the night.

A thousand different scenarios ran through his mind, and none of them were good. A panicked feeling threatened to overtake him. “I have no fucking idea what happened. We talked last night, I played with her hair and then we fell asleep. That’s it.” He rubbed the heel of his hands against his eyes “Fuck. I’m going out there.”

He turned and, with quick steps, walked to the front door, shrugging his coat on at the same time. His two friends called after him, telling him it was a bad idea, but Taylor ignored them.

When he reached the lobby, the door opened, and Emily, Jody and Zack came through it.

Their happy expressions were the complete opposite of how he felt, which only contributed to his annoyance. When his eyes met Emily’s he could swear he saw her blush, which was weird. It had been months since he’d last made her blush just by looking at her.

“Good morning, Tay,” Jody greeted in a flirty tone that was strange, even for her.

“Morning guys,” Taylor replied, without taking his eyes from his best friend. “Hey, I need to have a word with Ems, if it’s okay with you.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw the other two turn their eyes towards their friend, who seemed like she was about to explode with embarrassment. His pleading look made Emily give her friends the smallest of nods, their okay to go. Before they walked away, Zack kissed Emily’s temple and whispered something in her ear, while Jody batted her eyelashes at Taylor and giggled.

Finally alone, Taylor looked Emily in the eyes. Utter confusion shone in those chocolate irises. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Tay,” Emily replied without hesitating. “Everything is fine, let’s just go have breakfast, okay?”

She took a step towards the dining room, but his hand stopped her. It was the touch, a light graze of his fingers on hers, but it was enough to halt her.

They were standing side by side looking in opposite directions. Emily could feel his head turning and his eyes on her, but she couldn’t make herself look at him. Talking to her friends had helped to organize her thoughts, but she still needed time to work through the images that were burned onto her mind.

His fingers curled around hers and gently squeezed them. “Look at me,” he whispered his plea.

Emily reluctantly turned her head to the side and met his eyes. They were extremely close to each other. The smell of toothpaste and coffee stained the inches of air between them where their breath collided. With his free hand, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“Tell me what happened. Whatever it is, Ems, let me be a part of it. Let me help you through it, if that’s what you need.”

Emily looked in his eyes and felt blood rush to her face once again. How could she tell him what had happened without making things weird? Telling him would ruin everything. She offered her most honest smile before speaking. “It’s nothing Tay, really. Just let it go. Please.”

At her words, he let go of her hand and stepped back. For the first time since they’d met, she was keeping something from him. For the first time, something serious enough to take her two best friends out of their beds had happened, yet she refused to tell him what. For the first time, she didn’t trust him enough to be open and honest, and he had no idea why.

The pain he felt was indescribable and it showed in his eyes. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “It is something. Something you chose to share with them and not with me.” He shook his head, slowly. “I thought our friendship was special. I thought I was special, Emily. I thought you and I kept no secrets.” Holding her gaze, he was silent and took a long breath. A small, sad smile tugged at his lips before he spoke again. “Guess I was wrong.”

Tears pooled in Emily’s eyes and she took a step towards him, but for the first time, he didn’t welcome the closeness between them and, lifting his hands, took a step back. She opened her mouth to speak, to try to explain what had happened, or at least to ask him to wait a little until she could tell him, but he shook his head and walked away before she ever had the chance.

She followed him with her eyes until his back passed through the door, and he slammed it closed behind him. Tears ran from her eyes to her cheeks, and she barely felt the set of hands that held her shoulders. For the first time in years she couldn’t care less if someone touched her. Nothing in the world could crush her any further.

When her eyes finally focused she saw her two best friends standing next to her. Zack wiped the tears from her face with the same loving and understanding expression he always had, while Jody muttered curses behind him.

“He hates me.” Emily’s hands covered her face.

The words had barely left her mouth when a low laugh escaped Zack’s mouth, and Jody muttered a new set of curses. Firm yet gentle hands held Emily’s wrists and pulled them down. Using his index finger, Zack lifted her face and looked her square in the eyes. “He absolutely does not.” The love that filled his voice made Emily wonder if it might be the tone loving parents used with their children. “He’s just hurt, Cheesecake. Why don’t you go take a shower, relax and let me try and talk to him?”

“Yeah, and if that doesn’t help I’ll kick the shit out of him for making you cry.”

In spite of her sadness Emily laughed at Jody’s offer. She shared a meaningful look with both of her friends. Even without words, everything that needed to be said, was, and she turned and walked away.

Emily had barely turned down the hallway when Jody bolted out the door with filthy words on her lips and murder in her eyes. Zack didn’t know if he should laugh or cry from all the drama, but he knew he had to catch her before she did something stupid.

Taylor was pacing under the red canopies of the trees, completely unaware that Jody was working her short legs to maximum speed towards him. That was, until the profanities coming from behind his back reached his ears.

Taylor turned to face Jody just in time to duck from her right hook. The look he gave her in return made Zack run faster and, by luck, he caught Jody’s hand before she could try another blow.

“That’s enough, Jody. Taylor didn’t do anything wrong,” Zack tried to calm his friend down.

“Are you as much of an idiot as he is? That douchebag made her cry,” Jody screamed pointing her finger to Taylor. “I should be cutting his fucking balls off, Zackary.”

As much as he loved his oldest friend, he found her inability to think once upset funny and irritating at the same time. He held her by the shoulders and lowered his face to stare at her with his “shut up and think” look.

Knowing she was still seeing red, when he spoke again he did so using his most conciliatory voice. “Cupcake, look at him. I don’t know how that looks to you, but to me, he doesn’t look happy.” He moved to Jody’s side, turning his face to Taylor and offering a small smile. “I would even dare to say that, if he hasn’t cried yet, he’s holding the tears in.”

With an angry and stubborn voice Jody replied, “You know I like him, Z, but I couldn’t care less if he was crying like a little bitch. Emily is my person, and she was crying because of him.”