“What is it that drew you to me? I mean, I was a dumbass teenager who cared more about basketball and playing video games than I did about girls.”
“Oh, come on, Austin. You can’t tell me you aren’t aware of how you came off in high school. You were the most popular kid in school, not to mention our town. You won homecoming king all four years. And I mean … look at you.”
She waves her hand up and down my naked body, the one she just rode like she was a professional cowgirl.
“Well, it’s yours to explore now if you want to.” I stretch out, the cockiness in my voice shining through.
She takes one of my pillows and cowers under it; her voice muffled as she says, “All right, can we stop the ‘embarrass Taya time’ now? Please?”
I pull her in, shimmying down the bed to press kisses into her stomach. “Well, beautiful, I have some affection to make up for.”
“And I,” she rolls out of my grip, “need to go to class. I’ll leave you here to think about all the ways you can make it up to me.”
“What an interesting idea.” I flop back, tapping my finger to my chin.
As Taya pulls the black lacy boy shorts over her hips, a sight that makes my dick hard but also makes me want to slide them off all over again, she tries to ask me what she assumes is a simple question.
“So, big bad senior, what will it be after graduation? A job in radio, I’m assuming.”
Of all the things we’ve talked about in the last week or so, this isn’t one of them. Maybe we’re both avoiding the fact that I’ll be leaving here in May. Maybe I just haven’t wanted to address it because I still have no idea what the hell I’m going to do.
“Maybe … it’s complicated.” I try not to get too in-depth.
“Ah, I remember your dad basically threatening you into that job with your uncle.” She comes back over to sit on the bed as she clasps her bra and pulls her T-shirt over her head.
“Yeah, that kind of complicated.” I can tell Taya wants me to spill a little more, so I sigh and try to articulate. “I want to be in sports radio. More than anything. I’ve actually been applying to stations all over the country and have an interview for a lowly assistant to one of the on-air talents at a station in New York City. But it would be a foot in the door.”
She takes my face in her hands; her smile all excitement. “Austin! That’s amazing!”
I shake my head humbly and turn my lips to kiss one of her palms. “Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s just an interview. But if my dad ever found out I was looking outside of the family business, he’d come down here and kill me with his bare hands. I’m a Van Hewitt, I don’t get a choice. Going into the family business is what everyone before me has done, and what everyone will continue to do. Moving back to Webton is a non-negotiable to him, and I know if I do that, I’ll be miserable.”
She frowns, her eyebrows drawing in. “Then what is there to think about? Your happiness comes first. Always. Why go live a life you don’t even want?”
“Because my family would turn against me. Most of them would never talk to me again. I’d be the black sheep, cast out. And yeah, I don’t have a supportive family to begin with, and most of them are absolute sharks out for blood. But there is a big difference between having a crappy family and not having one at all. I’m not sure I’m ready to find out what it’s like being all alone in this world.”
Taya nods, her expression growing sad. She can grasp that, because while we might not love the situations we’re both in with our respective families, considering not having them at all is a scary thought.
“Well, I think you’re going to kill that interview. And with how dedicated you are to the radio station, you’d be brilliant in New York City. I think you could really be something, Austin.”
Taya has started to listen to my show with Gio. And although she says she couldn’t care less about the sports talk, she told me that my voice coming through her car speakers gets her hot. Which, in turn, gets me hot. I can barely sit in the booth anymore without thinking about her circling her clit to my voice in her car. The thought has my dick twitching even now.
“Thanks.” My head takes over, realizing how she’s just complimented me.
There aren’t many people around me who support what I actually want to do with my life. And here she is, doing it without question.
A sense that something bigger is happening between us hangs in the air as Taya leans in to give me one last kiss before heading downstairs and out the door to class. I pull her in, taking the kiss deeper, and lean into the feeling.
Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to chase the high she provides. Maybe I’ve been waiting for her. Maybe it could work when I leave Talcott.
The spark of hope inside me is both dangerous and thrilling. And I’m too infatuated with Taya to blow it out.
24
Taya
Lavender fills my nostrils, along with sage and a hint of lemon.
I put the soap down, trying not to gag, and smile at the small business owner. She’s looking at me like I’m going to purchase one of her organic soaps, but they smell more like cleaning products than something I want lingering on my skin.
Walking along the row after I exit her stall, I link up with Bevan and Amelie as we peruse the farmer’s market.
This collection of local good’s sellers, which is about a fifteen-minute drive from our house in the opposite direction of campus, overlooks the lake. The outdoor, open-air market is comprised of a wooden structure with dozens of different stalls for different businesses selling their goods. There are candle makers, vegetable farmers, CBD producers, and all kinds of organic or natural products. The college town around Talcott is known for its hippie attitude, and so it’s not uncommon to see people walking around downtown without shoes on or frequenting the shores of the lake completely naked. These are granola kind of people, and I kind of love it. I’m not ever going to be a vegan or wash my hair with shampoo made of sap and beeswax, but I can appreciate how they’re trying to make the planet a better place.
I can also appreciate their delicious assortment of cheeses from a local dairy farm. I pop a piece of cheddar in my mouth and peruse the gouda they’re displaying in their stall.
“We could get that with a fig jam and bake it,” Bevan suggests, catching where my gaze is landing.
“It’s not a bad idea. Would Callum eat it?” I question.
We’re having a family dinner tonight. Well, of sorts. My roommates and I are actually having a Top Chef sort of challenge, boys vs. girls. We’re both cooking an appetizer and a main course. Dessert is being provided via the famous macaroons they sell here at the farmer’s market, because none of us are daring enough to be the pastry chef.
“Callum would eat Tide Pods if I put them in a bowl for him. He’s that amenable.”
“Please don’t tell us you’re trying to poison your boyfriend.” Amelie cringes.
“Some days I’d like to,” Bevan mutters, and I know they’re on the rocks again.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Austin, but I can still recognize when Bevan and Callum are in a spat. They’ve been avoiding each other, and I can feel another breakup coming, but don’t want to upset her even more.