Running Away

chapter four: incest is fun for the whole family

Edited.

F O U R : INCEST IS FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.

- Taylor -

He was an ass.

My temper still flared after the door had slammed behind Derek. What right did he have to tease me about my appearance the moment he had met me? Fine, maybe it wasn't meant to be a joke, but it wasn't like I was going to take it any other way. Having never talked to anyone outside of my immediate family—except for Andrew and Devon, of course, but they barely counted as anything else—I wasn't sure how to interact with people, and the first person I interacted with other than those five people had called me beautiful.

That was a little unsettling.

Okay, so I was being unfair. He didn't know that this was my first time out of the house, and he had probably assumed that I was used to compliments and flirting. He deserved a little more than the rude snips I'd provided with him, but it was going to take me a little more than ten minutes to start opening up to someone.

Derek was, admittedly, not unattractive. His black hair was messy, but the kind of messy hair that guys on television had, and it was obvious that he spent an embarrassingly long time getting it like that. I hadn't figured out what color his eyes were, since I had been too preoccupied fuming about what I had interpreted as him insulting me. I thought they were either dark green or gray—or a mix of the two, but I had noticed how thick the lashes around them were. He was, in a word, gorgeous.

I chuckled when it occurred to me that I had chased him away. I didn't know how Devon would feel about me snapping at his best friend, but I had a strange idea that he wouldn't care.

Crossing to the window that overlooked the living room, I wrenched apart the curtains, pride swelling throughout me when I realized that I didn't have to hide anymore. The sky was fading into a rich shade of purple, and I watched, entranced, as the sun dipped behind the horizon, leaving curious hues of crimson and orange and navy blue behind it.

Acting on a whim, filled with something like determination, I unlatched the lock that kept the window shut, and pushed against the two rectangles that acted like doors. Cupping my palms around my mouth, I sang, "Hello, California! I'm Taylor O'Donnell, and damn it, you can see me!"

"Great," an annoyed voice responded sarcastically, and I squeezed my eyelids shut, scolding myself internally for being so stupid. "Now, shut up."

"Sorry," I muttered feebly, turning my head to lock gazes with the man from the building across from me. His was leaning on the windowsill, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. He grinned when I apologized.

"It's fine," he chuckled, raking the hand that wasn't retrieving the cigarette from between his chapped lips through his wavy brown hair. Although his voice was scratchy and oddly teacher-like, he didn't look a day over twenty-five. "Are you new to California, then?"

I nodded, dropping my elbows down on the plastic window frame. "I am. My name's Taylor."

He laughed again, revealing a set of surprisingly white teeth. "I got that part. I'm Jackson."

"Jackson," I echoed, surveying his long face. He wasn't exactly handsome—he was, at best, a step above average—but there was some sort of captivity to his features. In the end, I chalked it up to his heavily lashed eyes.

"Are you one of Devon's friends?" Jackson asked, a smirk playing at his lips that told me he meant more than what he was saying. And when he waggled his brows, I felt my stomach clench with embarrassment.