Blind Love (The Complete Box Set Romance Series) (8 page)

Instead, two other
cheerleaders came up to sit with me. I glanced at Taylor, who was clearly
staring my way. Why? I didn’t get a read on the situation, but I had a feeling
I was in dangerous waters. The two women sat on either side of me and I got the
feeling I was going to be ambushed.

They were twins.
Every guy’s fantasy, right? I swallowed hard.

“Hello, ladies.”

Smooth. I wasn’t
really. I just came across that way because I was usually quiet. Some girls
thought I was dark and broody. It had gotten me a little ass here and there.

“Hello, Dylan. I’m
Bailey.”

“I’m Barbie.”

Barbie and Bailey.
Okay. I expected porn music to start playing because this was unreal. I rubbed
my hands on my pants. I’d just wanted to wait for Taylor and now, I was
surrounded by women.

“Hello. How did
you know my name?”

Bailey leaned into
me, two manicured fingers dancing across my shoulder. “We were at Taylor’s
house that day.”

“Oh, right.”

I’d forgotten. As
hot as they were, they hadn’t been that memorable. I’d been so nervous about
invading their space in the basement that the details were forgotten.

“Taylor said
you’ve been helping her with math,” Barbie said. “I need some help. With math.”

Okay. “Well, I
guess I could help you.”

This really was
starting to be porn-like, but who was I to turn them down?

Except that my
gaze kept straying to Taylor. When it did, either Barbie or Bailey would put a
finger on my chin to bring my attention back. I could have twins, if I did this
properly, both of them. I bet at the same time.

All I could keep
thinking about was what Taylor would think, though. She looked even less happy
each time my gaze went to her.

“Is practice over
ladies?” I asked.

“Yes, it is.”

I stood. My dick
didn’t want me to, but my heart had other ideas. These were Taylor’s friends. I
wasn’t going to just hop into bed with them. I needed to make sure if I pursued
anything with either one of them that Taylor would be okay with it. “I better
go, then. Have Taylor give you my number if you still need math help.”

They frowned at
me. Barbie pouted.

They were probably
bad news, but I’d have to ask Taylor about asking one of them to the dance. I’d
never had one girl after me, let alone, two. I approached Taylor.

“You ready to go
home?”

“Are you? I
wouldn’t want to interrupt you,” she said. She didn’t look at me. She was
pissed.

“What did I do
Taylor?”

Her shoulders
slumped. “Nothing. Let’s go find my dad.”

I followed her to
the car. “Taylor.”

“What?”

“What did I do?”

She smiled. “You
didn’t do anything, Dylan. I’m being a bitch.”

“We’re okay?”

“Sure.”

When we arrived
home, I followed her to the kitchen. “That dance is coming up.”

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to ask
someone. Is it okay if I ask one of your friends?”

A bunch of
emotions crossed her face. I didn’t know any of them.

“Which friend?”

“Well, Barbie or
Bailey.”

She put a hand on
my arm, then she looked around. “Let me let you in on a little secret.”

“What?”

Her father had
disappeared. It wasn’t dinnertime yet, and besides, tonight pizza was being
delivered.

“Barbie and Bailey
are in a competition.”

“What kind?”

“To lose their
virginity. Whoever loses it to the coolest person
wins.
”

So many questions
crossed my mind. “Who decides who is coolest?”

“The rest of the
cheerleading squad. Not me. I want nothing to do with it.”

“What does this
have to do with me?”

She eyed me for a
moment. “Guys really are idiots. They want to see who can lose it to you
because you’re cool. You’ve got that dark and broody thing going on.”

I took a step
back. “I’m cool?”

She sighed. “In
their eyes. They are using you, Dylan. They wouldn’t give you the time of day,
otherwise.”

Now that hurt.
“You don’t think they could like me?”

“They wouldn’t.
They are snobs and you don’t run in the same circles. That’s all. The problem
is with them, not you.”

“You don’t think
I’m good enough for them.”

“It isn’t that,
Dylan. Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“I’m not. You
don’t think I’m good enough for your friends.”

I was pissed. I
stomped out of the kitchen, not wanting to be near her. Here I’d thought we’d
become friends and now she was not being nice to me, at all.

“Dylan.”

I didn’t stop. I’d
come down when pizza was here, but I wasn’t going to talk to Taylor. I’d been
worried about her feelings, but she wasn’t worried about mine.

Chapter
Ten

Taylor

I tried to talk to
Dylan all week, but he ignored me and managed not to be alone with me except in
the car, and I didn’t want to have that conversation in front of either of my
parents. I’d get my car back soon, but not before the dance.

He’d asked Barbie,
and she was going with him. I was going stag as I didn’t want to go with
anyone. I think if Dylan had asked, I would have gone with him, but that
certainly wasn’t happening.

Men. What was I
supposed to do about him? He was going to get used and I didn’t want to see his
heart broken. I certainly didn’t want to see Barbie get her claws into him.

Tonight was the
dance and the night that Barbie was going to have sex with Dylan. Darn. I’d
really screwed this up. I thought he wanted me to be honest with him.

The gym was made
up to look like a Winter Wonderland. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling. I hadn’t
been on the decorating committee this year, but they’d done a good job. The
music was too loud to talk.

I tried not to be
a stalker, but I kept my eye on Dylan and Barbie. The first time she went to
the bathroom, I pounced.

“Dylan, we need to
talk.”

“No, we don’t,
Taylor. You’ve said all that I need to hear. Barbie thinks you’re jealous.”

I took a step back.
“You told Barbie what I said.”

She hadn’t
mentioned it. I knew he’d texted with her all week, but she hadn’t ignored me.
Guess she assumed that I wasn’t a threat. Nice.

He walked away,
but I followed. “Dylan, listen to me.”

He stopped. “Why?
Best case scenario, you’re just being mean. Worst case, you’re jealous. Either
way, you’re being a bitch, Taylor. Stop it. Is it so hard to imagine she might
like me?”

No, it wasn’t
hard. Because I liked Dylan. Maybe not that way, but I could see myself liking
him that way. I didn’t, but it was possible.

I watched him walk
out of the gym. I had to follow. I wasn’t letting Barbie do this to him. She’d
post it everywhere. Not only would she break his heart, she’d laugh at him and
the whole school would know.

Things were turning
around for him. I didn’t want him to be hurt. I didn’t want to him to have a
setback. He was a good kid, and I finally understood what my dad had seen in
him because I saw it, too. I knew Barbie just saw a chance to win this contest.

Stupid contest.
Girls were bitches.

Guess I had to
talk to Barbie.

I found her in the
bathroom, surrounded by some of the other cheerleaders. One look from me and
they scattered. Barbie wasn’t cowed, though. She probably felt she had the
upper hand. She sat on the edge of the sink where she’d been holding court.

What I wouldn’t
give to kick her off the cheerleading squad, but I didn’t have that kind of
power. I’d have to go through the teacher advisor. She’s trying to have sex
with a friend wouldn’t be a viable reason in the teacher’s eyes.

I stood in front
of her, my arms crossed. “Don’t do it, Barbie.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t do what
you’re planning. Don’t have sex with Dylan.”

She leaned closer.
“I think that you are jealous.”

“I know about the
contest. You couldn’t pick someone other than Dylan?”

She laughed. “No
one is more badass than him. Who else in this school has a tattoo?”

I didn’t tell her
that he had more than one. I wasn’t going to give her the impression that we
were more intimate than we were. “He really likes you, and I don’t want to see
you break his heart.”

She shrugged.
“He’s a guy. He’ll get past it.”

“He has feelings,
Barbie.”

“What guy is going
to turn down getting laid?”

She was right.
Probably. I didn’t know that much about boys, but I knew they were perverts. I
sighed. “Barbie, please rethink this. Dylan doesn’t deserve this.”

“Doesn’t deserve
to get laid or were you saving that for you?”

Why was everyone
so sure that I was jealous? I was just looking out for Dylan.

“I think you need
to leave us alone, Taylor. I’m going to win that contest and the evidence will
be on Instagram.”

She brushed past
me. I took a moment to compose myself before I left the bathroom. When I
entered the gym, I didn’t see Dylan. The dance floor was crowded, but I doubted
that they were there. I looked around anyway.

I spotted Bailey.
“Have you seen Dylan?”

She crossed her
arms and frowned. “I think they went outside.”

I hurried to the
outside doors. We weren’t supposed to go out this way, but I peeked anyway.

“Taylor Dean,
where are you going?” Mr. Carter said.

Dang chaperones.
“Just getting some fresh air. I’m not leaving the gym.”

He stared at me
until I closed the door. I hadn’t seen anyone outside, but the lights only lit
up part of the field. Where were they?

I returned to
Bailey. “Where did Barbie say they were going?”

“I’m only going to
help you so that she doesn’t win. I think she was taking him under the
bleachers. She had a blanket set up there earlier.”

I squeezed her
arm. “Thanks.”

Now, I had to get
out of the dance without a chaperone noticing. I needed to find Dylan and
Barbie before anything happened.

My phone dinged. I
looked at the screen. A group text from Barbie.

“We’re going to do
the deed.”

Shit. I hoped I
wouldn’t be too late. Dylan would probably be pissed at me for butting in, but
I didn’t trust Barbie. She was going to make this a big deal and I doubted that
she’d even thought about birth control.

***

I had never seen
the football field so dark. Thankfully, I spent enough time here to know it by
heart. I also knew the place under the bleachers that Barbie would pick. At
least, I thought I did. Someone had tried to bring me there once.

I had my phone,
but then I was afraid that they would know I was approaching if I used the
light on it to see where I was going.

I got to what I
thought was the fifty yard line, but I wasn’t sure. The whole place looked
different in the dark. I pulled out my phone, suddenly creeped out by how quiet
it was. I saw where I wanted to go, then turned off the flashlight.

I hurried, trying
to listen at the same time. Would they be making noise?

I stopped. There
was someone behind me. Who could that be?

“Taylor?”

My heart jumped
out of my chest. “Bailey?”

“Yes. I’m coming
with you.”

“Fine.”

“Use your phone,”
she said.

“I don’t want them
to see me coming.”

“Okay, then hold
my hand. This place is creepy in the dark.”

“I know.”

I knew Bailey was
only helping me because she didn’t want Barbie to win the contest. I mean,
really. Couldn’t they have picked someone other than Dylan? “Why Dylan?”

Bailey snorted.
“He has tattoos and is a bad boy.”

“He joined the
mathletes.”

Bailey laughed. “I
don’t think that Barbie knows that. That makes him less cool.”

I thought it made
him cooler, but what did I know. Everyone thought I was cool and I had no idea
what cool was. I seemed to have the right clothing and attitude and I was a
cheerleader. The right genes had made me cool. Blonde hair. Blue eyes.
Whatever.