Dylan and Taylor (Soul Mates 101 Series) (2 page)

Dylan turns on the radio to a rock channel and turns it up. I’m surprised. I pegged him as a country music only fan because of how he dresses and due to his strong country accent, not to mention the fact that Cody is his best friend. He’s about as country as it gets. I realize I’m majorly stereotyping, so I snicker and look out the side window.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“What?”

“Do you find something funny? Is the rock music burning your country ears?”

I let out a loud laugh. “Hardly, I figured you were the one who only listens to country music.”

My father is Vincent Page, the lead guitarist for the famous 80’s band, Strip it Off. They’re still putting out hits today, and my dad is considered one of the most famous guitarists of all time.

I’d say for sure I have Dylan beat when it comes to what we know about rock music. He has the radio up too loud for me to sleep. I’m tired, so I let out a loud sigh and lean my head against the window.

“What now?” he asks.

“Nothing.”

“It’s something, so just spit it out.”

I don’t know why he can’t say things in a nicer tone.

“Can you turn that down a little? I want to rest.”

“Sure, and I ain’t buyin’ that you like rock music.”

“Trust me, I’m pretty fond of that genre of music.” I find my phone and send Hannah a text message.

Me:
Have you told any of the guys who my father is?

Hannah responds quickly:
No, but you need to!

Me:
I’ll tell them when I’m ready.

Hannah:
You need to tell them on this trip. It’s a big part of who you are! Actually, now that I think about it, Dylan would absolutely freak if he knew. Aww, he would love you even more.

Me:
Real funny, Hannah Banana. It’s obvious he can’t stand me.

I throw my phone back into my bag. I thought Dylan was messing with me because of my dad, but now I see he’s being genuine about his music interests.

“I grew up listening to rock music. It’s pretty much all my parents have ever listened to,” I say.

“My parents prefer country, but I’m definitely more of a rock fan.”

I look over at him. “Who do you listen to?”

“Mainly the old stuff, but I’ve grown to like a lot of the new rock that isn’t really mainstream. They play it a lot on satellite radio. Hey, we have that in this vehicle.” He excitedly starts looking for a channel.

“Well, when you find it, would you please not turn it up too loud?”

“Sure, sunshine. I wouldn’t want you to lose your beauty sleep.”

“God, this is going to be the longest trip of my life. It’ll probably feel longer than flying to Europe,” I say, groaning.

“I’m sorry that I’m so repulsive.” He sounds pissed.

“You’re not. Can we please just drop it? I promised Hannah I’d get along with you, so could you at least try to make it easier for me?”

“Of course, here we go with the ‘I’m better than you, and I’m the one having to tolerate your shit’.”

“You’re so fucking exhausting sometimes, Dylan. I’m going to sleep!”

“You’re welcome, sunshine.”

I let out another groan before making my head as comfortable as possible against the window. I swear I’m telling him off the next time he calls me that.

***

Dylan’s voice wakes me. His hand is wrapped around my upper arm, and he’s stroking it with his thumb. It feels good, and now I’m embarrassed, so I sit up quickly. “What are you doing?”

He lets go of my arm. “Sorry, I said your name, but I couldn’t get you to wake up without touching you. I guess you’re not a light sleeper.”

“Why are we stopped?” I notice we’re parked outside a restaurant.

“You’ve been sleeping awhile. I need to use the restroom, and I cringed thinking of you going into a rest stop bathroom. I’m going to try not to stop again, so you should probably go, too. I’d prefer it if you don’t stay out here by yourself, anyway.”

“Oh, OK.” It’s nice that he’s looking out for me. He’s so different when he’s not being obnoxious. I can’t understand the different layers of his personality. I think about Brett protecting Hannah and wonder if all her guy friends are that way.

Dylan barely has the volume up on the radio when we get back on the interstate. “You can turn the volume up. I didn’t mean for you to turn it down that much.”

He reaches over and barely adjusts the knob. Am I that scary? I realize the song playing is from the band Halestorm. I’ve seen them in concert and love their female vocalist. There are some bands I desperately want my dad to play guitar with, and this is one of them.

“I really like Halestorm. Lzzy Hale is a cool chick. I think she’ll eventually be viewed as one of the best female vocalists of all time,” I say.

Dylan snaps his head in my direction. He looks very surprised by my comment. “I agree. I saw them in concert at a real hole in the wall before they were well known.”

“I did, too,” I say excitedly, a little too excitedly. “I think Maria Brink from In This Moment is great, too. Her songs are um … what’s a good word to describe them? Um, sensual.”

“Damn, Taylor, I know their songs. Is there a side to you that you’re not sharing?” He glances over and winks.

I feel my face flush and turn my head toward the window. Why does he have to be so sexy? I have to change the subject. “So is it true you professed your love for Hannah while she was with Brett?”

“Did I make you uncomfortable, so you have to turn the tables?”

Shit, he’s making my palms sweat. “Um, just answer my question.”

“First off, I’m guessing Jasmine or Morgan gave you this information. Second, I never professed my love for her. I’m not currently, nor have I ever been in love with Hannah. I told Brett I liked her, and although I’ve never been in love, I’m certain I didn’t love her.”

“How do you know if you have nothing to compare it to?”

“I know because I started having feelings for someone else soon after that. If I loved her, I can’t imagine I would’ve got over it that quickly. She feels like a sister now. That’s how I know, sunshine.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Why can’t you be nice for longer than five minutes? I thought we were having a nice conversation.”

“See, I can’t tell if you were being sarcastic with that last sentence.”

“Who burned you, Taylor? You obviously don’t expect a male to be nice to you.”

I’m curious if he still likes this other girl he mentioned, and I don’t want to be curious. I don’t want to care about him. Unable to share with him the hurt the male species has caused me, I lay my head against the window again. It’s dark outside, and it’s beginning to snow hard.

A Storm is Brewing

Dylan

My phone rings, and I see it’s Brett.

“Hey, man.”

“How far away are you?”

“I’m guessing we have a little over an hour still.”

“You’re going to shit when you see this place.”

“Nice huh?”

“It’s huge. How’s it going? Are you ready to throw her from the car yet?”

I move my phone to my ear that’s closest to the door, so Taylor can’t hear him. “Let me just say that since I can’t touch Hannah, you need to tickle the shit out of her. I’m going to need a beer when I get there. Actually, make that plural.”

Brett chuckles. “I’m loving every minute of this.”

“Shut up, asshole. I’m hanging up.”

“See ya, dude.”

I’m looking forward to getting to the cabin and out of this vehicle. Hannah told me eight bedrooms make up most of it, all with private baths equipped with jetted tubs and showers. Two hot tubs set on the back deck, which stretches across the whole length of the cabin.

There’s supposed to be an enormous great room with vaulted ceilings, and a huge kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. I’m dying to see the game room that’s supposed to be very similar to the one in Hannah’s home. She said there are two pool tables, a flat screen television and old style arcade games.

“So, what’s your major?” Taylor asks.

I’m really not in the mood for more of her shit. We get into an argument every time we talk, so I don’t know why she’s bothering. “Electrical engineering.”

“You’re smart then.” She sounds surprised.

I hang my head and shake it. Do all the girls just think I’m stupid?

“What’s wrong?”

“You sound surprised, which is the same reaction I got from the rest of your girlfriends.”

“I’m sorry. Of course I know you’re smart. Don’t take this wrong, but the way you goof around all the time overshadows your intelligence a bit.”

I laugh. She’s probably right since I joke around a lot.

“I guess I can see how that’s possible. Thanks for clearing that up.”

“Was that sarcasm?” she asks.

Has she been living under a rock? “No, Taylor,” I say exhaustingly. “I see you missed sarcasm 101 while you were away. Where was it again you were at your freshman year, New York?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to elaborate on that?”

“I studied photography there. My major at Vandy is film studies.”

“That’s cool.”

“I just need to get a degree, but I’ll probably always do photography. I guess I have plenty of time to figure it out.”

“I can’t say my major is my ideal choice, but my dad’s an electrician, so I’m trying to take it a step further with this degree. He’ll be proud, anyway.”

“What would be your first choice?” She seems genuinely curious, and I’m shocked she’s carrying on a normal conversation with me. One that’s more than five words. “I wouldn’t mention this, but Brett told the girls, so I’m sure they’ll blab about it. I would’ve went to school for music.”

“Oh shit, were you in the school band?”

“Hell no I wasn’t in band!”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, I just couldn’t see you doing it.” She’s laughing at me.

“Now you’re just hitting below the belt.” I start laughing with her. It is kinda funny to imagine. This is the first time we’ve ever joked around together. I like it.

“If you weren’t in band, then what do you want to do with a music degree?”

“I play electric guitar.”

Taylor chokes and starts coughing loudly. I’m guessing on the gum she’s chewing.

“Are you OK?” I glance over to her a few times.

“Umm ... yeah, I’m good now.”

“I’m kind of ate up with it, actually. I’d play all day if I could.”

“That’s awesome, Dylan. I love guitar. Why are you becoming an engineer then?” She coughs again.

“It would really upset my dad if I didn’t, and honestly, I don’t know if I play good enough to do it professionally. I occasionally fill in for a guitarist in a bar band; otherwise, I just play at home.”

I start struggling to see out the window from the snow blowing. I didn’t even think to check the weather, and Brett didn’t mention them having any trouble. “Taylor, could you check the weather on your phone? We’re just past Knoxville.” I try to concentrate on the road while she looks at the radar.

“It looks like a lot of snow is over us. It’s covering a large radius.”

“Dammit, call Hannah and find out if this cabin is up a hill, and ask how much snow there is already. We may have to stop for the night.”

“No, we need to keep driving. We only have an hour, so I just want to get there.”

“I want to get there just as much as you do, but I also have no interest in being stranded in the car all night.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

Like she’s an expert on driving in the snow. She has a damn chauffer. “Call and ask. Then we can decide.” I’m losing my patience. I’m sick of being in the car after working all day, and now I’m worried about the weather. Also, Taylor’s getting under my skin, and not just in a bad way.

“Hannah, how’s the weather there?”

Taylor talks back and forth with her for a minute.

“OK, I’ll call back later,” Taylor says with a sigh before she hangs up.

I look over at her. “What’s going on?”

“She said they have a ton of snow, it looks bad out by the road, and they don’t know if we can make it or not. She also said they’re ten miles off the main road, but I don’t want to stop, Dylan. I think we can make it.”

This chick has definitely lived under a rock if she doesn’t realize what can go wrong in a snow storm. “No, you want to make it. There’s a huge difference. The weather could get bad enough to where it won’t matter what kind of vehicle we’re driving.”

“Please, Dylan. I don’t want to stay in a hotel. I want to be with our friends and sleep in a nice bed.”

“If we get stuck in the snow, we freeze.”

“Please can we try?” She looks at me pleadingly.

Dammit, she’s gorgeous. Now she’s giving me that pitiful yet alluring look with those expressive brown eyes, and it’s really turning me on. I want Taylor in a bad way, so I need to get out of arm’s reach from her since she’s never going to give me the time of day. We probably couldn’t get along no matter how hard we tried. “Fine, we’ll keep going, but this is on you. I think we should stop.”

“I’m going to text Hannah and tell her.”

About a minute later, I hear her giggling, so I glance over and see that she’s texting. I love seeing her smile, and it’s a rare occurrence. “You’re even prettier when you smile, Taylor.” I glance her way again and see that she’s blushing.

“Thanks. Um, it sounds like we’re going to walk into a cabin full of drunk people.”

“I’m gettin’ tired. I don’t think I could catch up with them tonight,” I say. It’s ridiculous how slow I have to drive, but we finally make it into town and find the road we have to turn on.

The weather continues to worsen the closer we get, and I can hardly see out the windows. There’s a steep hill as soon as I turn onto the road the cabin is on. “Dammit, I knew it.”

“We can make it.”

“I’m just going to tell you this once. If you say that again, I swear I’m getting out and making you drive.”

“Bullshit. You wouldn’t let me drive.”

“Can you just stop talking? I need to concentrate.” I’m able to gain some traction after I start up the hill, but I can barely see anything in front of me due to the heavy, wet snow coming down. The road becomes steeper and winding the further we creep along, and after four miles, the tires start to spin.