One Of The Guys

Chapter 9

********Taylor POV**********

The guys really surprised me this morning. Jake must've been embarrassed. I was too. He opened my door, in nothing but damn boxers.

"Soooo. Today's your birthday and you can't spend it upset. I know that Mike would not want that. At all. What do you wanna do?" Jake asks, pulling away from the hug.

"Ummm. I have no idea." I say.

"I do." Jake replies. I look at him expectantly. "Let's go to the gym and shoot. Then we can lift weights. And when we're done, I have a surprise birthday present. He says.

"That sounds awesome." I reply, smiling. I go upstairs and put on my basketball shoes. Then I grab my duffle bag. I run back down.

"Ready?" He asks. I nod. Within 15 minutes, we're at the gym. We shoot around and play 1 on 1 for about an hour. Then we go into the weight room and lift for another hour.

This is awesome. There's no better way I'd rather spend my birthday.

"I'm gonna take a shower." I say, walking towards the girls locker room.

"Same." He says, nodding.

When I walk out of the locker room, Jake is waiting for me.

"Where to now?" I ask.

"It's a secret." He says. I glance at my watch. We have about an hour and a half before we have to meet the guys. He puts his arm around me as we're walking out.

"Hi Jake." Cassidy chirps as she's coming into the school. She sees his arm around me, then glares at me.

"Hey." Jake says, glancing at me.

"So. Are you free any night this week?" She asks.

"No." Jake says right away. I smile at him.

"Oh." Cassidy says, turning red.

"Listen, don't be offended that I don't like you in any way. At all. Almost every single girl has asked me out. I say no every time. And I'm saying no to you cause you're no different." Jake says. Then we turn and walk away, leaving Cassidy staring at us. We get into Jake's truck and he drives for about 20 minutes. Throughout the entire drive, he makes me keep my eyes closed even when he made a quick stop.

"We're here." He announces. I take a sharp breath when I realize where we are. We're at the graveyard that Mike is buried at and that stop? Yeah, that was Jake picking up the flowers that he ordered.

"We haven't visited him in a while. And we need to." He explains. I hate going because it reminds me of everything that I'm trying to forget. But I get out and take the flowers. I find Mike's grave. I spend some time talking to him and Jake talks too. It's nice spending my birthday with the two people who matter the most to me.

And I only cry once. When we get in the truck after visiting him, I start crying again.

"Thank you, Jake. I needed that." I say.

"Me too, Tay. Me too." He says. Then we set off for Parkview.

The guys start clapping and cheering when I walk into Parkview. I bow. They all yell happy birthday as I sit down. And Jake goes to follow me, but once again, Garrett is in his seat.

"Sorry. I'll move." Garrett says hurriedly. Then he goes and sits by Zach and Noah. Jake then sits down next to me, his arm sliding around my chair.

We order a bunch of pizza. Garrett pays, surprisingly. Then everyone on the team gets ice cream, on the house. We're laughing and joking when Cassidy and her cheerleaders walk in. Jake tightens his grip on my shoulders.

"Hey guys." Cassidy says, flipping her hair. No one responds.

"Jake, I see you've moved on." She says.

"Uh. 1)I never said yes when you asked me out. 2) We're just friends!!!!" Jake says, tensing. Cassidy turns red when all the guys laugh at her. Then she stalks out, all her 'friends' following her. We laugh and joke for a while, then everyone leaves.

"Are you staying at my house again?" I ask Jake, once we're in his truck.

"Duh. It's your birthday. And I don't really want to go home." He says.

"Where's your mom? She's usually home for your birthday." He asks. I start to panic.

"Uh." I say.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I don't think she's coming back." I say quietly.