When Taylor Lynn kissed him, Jay could barely process what was happening. Several seconds passed before something broke through the haze. A name: Claire.
He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and lightly leaned away from her. She let him go, though their eyes held onto each other.
Jay searched her eyes. He was looking for a trick; the hunt was for an indicator Taylor Lynn was trying to play him. But his search didn’t uncover anything like that. There wasn’t any crack to indicate this was an act or a ploy.
Something was still wrong—Jay couldn’t orient himself without understanding one straightforward question. Until he knew why Taylor Lynn picked now of all moments, there was no chance of letting his mind rest. Claire had a good time getting to know him, and her feelings were reciprocated. So, why now?
Jay tugged himself back to the outside world and verbalized the question, “Why now?”
Taylor Lynn frowned. Jay could tell she wasn’t receiving the reaction she anticipated. Using her hand, she peeled his hand from her shoulder and took it into her own. “What do you mean? Hasn’t this been a long time coming?”
Jay blinked. And then he blinked again. Then again. She acted like this was a natural progression of their relationship, which he didn’t see. She’d spent nearly a decade keeping him at bay. Now, all of a sudden, there was interest—and the time to make her move.
No, it didn’t make any sense.
There was a mercury retrograde, the stars were out of alignment, or it was a trick. The timing was terrible. Jay found himself wondering if Taylor Lynn was genuinely interested in him. He pondered if he could give up his burgeoning relationship with Claire. Part of him knew that any relationship with Taylor Lynn would be toxic, and the other part was still thinking about her lips.
“So, what?” Jay asked. “Now that I’m seeing Claire, you’re jealous? Taylor Lynn, why now?”
Taylor Lynn applied pressure to his fingers, signaling she didn’t want him to let go. He didn’t shy away, but the act of holding her eyes was becoming difficult. Tears started to fall from her eyes.
“I–I’ve been a fool, sorry. So sorry,” Taylor Lynn said, trying to pull her hand away as she hopped down from the car. “I’ll leave you alone.”
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The tension caught as she pulled away since Jay hadn’t released her hand. She turned back to him, red hair falling in her eyes. Her purple dress twirled with sudden movements. For a moment, he was struck by an overwhelming urge to ask her to dance—which he suppressed.
“Why?” Jay gently asked the same question again. The most important question. “Please. I don’t want to beg, but I’m not convinced I’m above it right now, either.”
Taylor Lynn was thoughtful, but she didn’t pull away any harder. She tensed as she waited, held his hand, and turned back to meet his eyes. He had no idea what she was looking for there, but it wasn’t getting any easier. At that moment, Jay would do anything to stop her from walking away from him. He needed an answer.
“I don’t know,” she said. But the words didn’t stop there. They fell like a cascading waterfall. “I thought you might want it. You used to be interested in me, and I guess I realized how important our connection is to me. I’m sorry it took you being distracted and not paying attention to me for me to notice. I love how you’ve stepped up for your sister, and I was hoping you’d give me a chance to prove we can make this work.”
It sounded like Taylor Lynn was asking Jay out, but he knew that was too good to be the reality. There was a boyfriend who had broken up with her somewhere in the past couple of days. She was using him as a rebound. That could make sense. This, however, didn’t make sense.
“You’re asking to have a relationship with me?” Jay asked in a flat voice.
Taylor Lynn bit her lip, chewing on it as she answered. She didn’t respond, so he shot her the well-go-on look.
“I guess I am,” she finally answered. “I know I’m asking a lot, but I want you to break things off with Claire. Please pick me instead of her. Let’s try having a relationship; we can be there for each other as we work to help your sister.”
“No,” Jay responded, surprising even himself. For whatever reason, now that the option was there, he didn’t want it. Something about the idea felt wrong.
He’d waited years for the opportunity to ask. All those years, he waited for her to say something. She never did. The opportunity in front of him was exactly what he wanted. With the opportunity to wish on a star, he would have chosen that. Until the moment he could.
Jay was surprised at himself, but Taylor Lynn was absolutely astonished. She dropped his hand in surprise, which he hadn’t even remembered he was still holding. Her voice was borderline exasperated. “No? You’ve had a crush on me for forever and a half. I’m asking you out, and you... don’t want to?”
“Yes,” Jay said. Her face registered deep confusion. “I mean, no. Yes, the answer is no. I’m saying I don’t want to be with you; I want to see how things work out with Claire. It’s unfair for you to barge in just because I like someone else.”
“Oh,” Taylor Lynn replied blankly. She turned away from him and got in her car like one of the walking dead. While she moved, Jay hopped off the back of her car so she could drive.
Taylor Lynn’s car pulled away as she rolled down the windows. Somehow watching her red hair blowing in the wind hurt him deeply.