Stole My Heart

10. I've Got Her

"Sure, what's the passcode?"

"Um, I don't know. It spells Corbyn. C-O-R-B-Y-N," she says, completely red.

"Bubba, will you turn on the oven, pretty please?"

"Right away, your majesty," he replies teasingly.

"Oooh, who's Corbyn?" Bryson asks.

"None of your concern," she dips her finger into the side of the brownie bowl and touches his nose.

"Her celebrity crush," Carter outed her.

"Bubby," she stomped her food and pouted at him.

He put his finger on her lip and smoothed it out, "None of that," he said sternly.

She turned even more red and glared at him. He glared right back. The two had a stare down for a minute before he dipped his head down so he could whisper something in her ear. She shook her head.

I was leaning against the cabinet when she walked to the oven and bent down to put the brownies in. I suddenly became very interested in this brownie making thing.

The triplets go back to the porch as soon as she gets them in the oven. She is a very messy chef. Taylen puts me to work putting up things she can't reach and also changing songs. We have similar tastes in music, but she is way into boy bands. Carter just hovers protectively over his sister, like I would break her.

Once we get the kitchen back to her standards, which is pretty much perfect, she looks at me. "Wanna go on a ride?"

I shrug. Taylen walks over to the shoe box by the door and slips on a pair of white, sparkly sandals.

We walk out the back door. "We're going for a ride. Anyone want to join?"

The triplets nod. "Okay, y'all know how to drive a four-wheeler, right?"

"Yep."

"Good. Daddy, we are going for a ride. Can we take your four-wheeler too? I can't fit us all on mine."

"Go ahead. Put some gas in it before you go."

"Okay," she replies, "phone please." She holds her hand out.

Jason hands her his phone. She sets a thirty-minute timer.

"Get the brownies out when this goes off, please."

"Yes ma'am."

We follow behind her. She walks into the garage and gets the gas can and a funnel. We watch as she expertly puts gas into the four-wheelers. She didn't get it on her clothes or spill a drop of it. Carter takes it out of her hands and does his.

"Who is the best driver?" she asks.

"Me," the triplets all say at the same time.

She looks at me, "Petey, who is the best driver?"

"Mason."

I try not to linger on the fact that she called me a nickname.

"Ok, Mas, you're driving."

Wow, right after she calls me something other than my name, she turns around and calls my brother something too.

"Now who's riding with who? I can carry one and the other will ride with Carter."

"I'm riding with Mason," Bryson says quickly.
"I'll ride with Carter," Auston claims.
I guess I am with her. We all get on. I'm sitting with plenty of room in between us and hanging onto the bars on the back.
"Follow behind me. I drive fast, so keep up," Taylen says with a smirk. Yes, she smirked.

She kicks it in reverse and backs out of the driveway. As soon as she puts it in first, we take off. She wasn't kidding when she said she drives fast. We go up the driveway and turn right. Once we get on the real road, she kicks it up to fourth gear. Mason is learning that he is going to have to try and keep up. Carter and Auston followed behind Mason.

We continue to fly up the road. Taylen slows down a bit and then turns right into a driveway. She pulls in and stops.

"Wait here."

She goes inside and comes back out two minutes later. "We have a couple more riders joining."

We sit there for another few minutes talking when a tall, dark-haired girl comes out of the house. She is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Like Taylen usually is, she is wearing white converse.

"Guys this is Danielle. She goes by Dani but I call her Raye," she pauses, " Raye, this is Auston, Mason, Bryson, and Peter."

"Wait, can you actually tell them apart?" Dani asks.

"Yep."

"Wait really," Mason asks.

She nods and smiles. She gets back on the four-wheeler, and I straighten myself up. Dani gets on a red four-wheeler beside the porch. Taylen starts it, and we take off again. We pull into yet another driveway.

"Y'all c'mon," Taylen says.

Taylen just walks in without even knocking. "Knock, knock," she yells.

I do not understand this chick. She is going to yell knock knock but not actually knock. A woman probably in her fifties walks in.

"Hey, sis! Hey bub!"

"Hi, we just thought we would stop by and say hi," Taylen responds.

"Granny, this is Peter, the one I was telling you about, Mason, Bryson, and Auston," she says, pointing to us as she said our names.

"Hello ma'am," I say, sticking my hand out for her to shake.

She smiles and shakes my hand. "My name is Tori."

The triplets shake her hand.

"Okay, we're gonna go. I'll be by after church tomorrow if I don't see ya before then," Taylen says as she hugs Tori. Carter and Dani hug her as well.
"Okay, y'all be safe. Take care of my girls," Tori says as she meets all of our eyes.

As we walk out the door, Taylen puts her arms on my shoulders, "Ready?"

I nod, and she jumps on my back. I put my arms under her butt and carried her to the four-wheeler. I carefully set her down. Carter glared at me for a few seconds before Taylen mouthed, "quit".

"Thanks!" She smiles her adorable smile as I sat her down.

The four-wheelers are all started, and we back out. We turn left in the direction of her house. We drive past her house, and continue in that direction for about five minutes before we turn right onto another road.

We drive through a creek, and it splashes us. Most girls would have slowed and would be terrified of getting dirty. I decided to voice my thoughts.

"Most girls would have slowed down and tried to get away from that!"

"I'm not most girls if you haven't realized!"

I most definitely have realized that. We rode around until it was almost dark. We get back to her house and go inside.

Jason laughs at our expressions. We were all in awe. Usually, Taylen wears makeup and dresses nicely. Her hair always looks good, and here she is, still absolutely breathtaking, after driving a four-wheeler like a maniac for four hours.

"Food is ready, and Peach, your brownies are delicious," Jason says to her.

"Hey! We helped too," Auston says.

"I have known her since the day she was born. She did not let you touch the bowl. She probably had you handing her things from the high shelves," Taylen smiled guiltily.

"Still helped," Mason says, giving her a side hug.

We all get something to eat except Taylen. She claims that she is not hungry. Taylen drinks Coke while waiting for us to finish eating. After we are done, we go into Jason's bedroom. Taylen turns on a teen romance movie, making us laugh. She is so different. From skimpy outfits to yelling at her dad to making brownies to pouting at her brother and getting scolded for it, to driving like a maniac, now to watching a love movie. I would love to spend a day in her head.

Bryson and Mason stretch out across the top of the bed. I lay my head on Mason's leg. Auston sits in a white chair in the middle of the room. Taylen surprises me by laying her head on my stomach. Carter sits against the headboard, keeping a watchful eye on his little sister.

We watched the movie, To All the Boys I've Loved Before in silence. The main guy in the movie is Peter. It's a cute movie. After the first movie, we get up and get brownies. Taylen goes upstairs to change and take off her makeup. She comes back down with short Nike shorts on and a loose, black shirt with her hair down and no makeup on. She is still beautiful. Taylen turns on the second movie, and we watch it.

I notice about halfway through the movie, her eyes are about to close. I don't say anything, and I nervously put my hand in her hair. I continue to pet her hair until the movie is over.

Once it's over, the boys look at Taylen to see what she is going to turn on next. They notice our position and begin to quietly tease me.

Bryson takes the remote from beside her and looks through her recently watched. There is a mix of romance and mystery but no horror movies. Dad comes into the room with Jason.

He and Jason laugh when they see that Taylen is sleeping in my lap. She curled into a ball and looks very peaceful. Jason starts to shake her awake, but I stop him.

"Dad, stop. She'll be grumpy. I'll carry her up," Carter said in a slight panic.

"I got her," I say.

Jason stands up. I shift my legs so I can stand. I carefully stand up. I follow Jason up the stairs and into a bright blue room. Jason turns around and goes back downstairs. Her name is on the wall next to a mirror. Her bed frame is hot pink. I gently set her on the bed and cover her up.
She barely stirred and mumbled something incoherent. I ignored it as I went back downstairs. We said bye to Carter and Jason then got in our car and drove off.