Our Invisible String (Complete Version)

14 (Travis Version)

"Oh." All the confidence I had melted away, and I swallowed as I tried to act like I agreed with her.

"I mean you know things get out of hand." Taylor lowered her voice. "And I'd really like it if we could be friends without any awkwardness because of what it seemed like we almost did. I don't know about you, but I think we really got caught up in it and let's just forget about it."

"Caught up in what?" Someone's head poked over the seat in front of us and Taylor and I both jumped in surprise to see one of her students - Cassandra – grinning over at us.

"Nosy." Taylor shook her head. "Turn around and put your headphones back in or I'll give you detention." Cassandra huffed but flopped back into her seat, and Taylor shook her head fondly. I knew she loved her students, and I didn't know how she put up with them so easily.

Then Taylor looked up at me, and I nodded silently to say that I agreed with her. Well, I didn't, but what else could I say, especially on a bus full of kids. Taylor smiled and turned back towards the window, smiling to herself as she looked out at the road.

An hour later, we arrived at the resort. The students were split into two groups based on skiing ability, and they got a dorm room each for the group, with the girls down one end and the boys down the other. The other two teachers had the higher ability students, while Taylor and I had the lower ability students. Her and I would be sharing a cabin right next to the students dorm, a completely different building, but there was a door close enough that we could check up on them easily.

"Okay!" Taylor clapped her hands together, calling everyone's attention as they picked their bunks. "Today is not a ski day, you guys start that tomorrow. Unpack, do some exploring, but I want everyone back here at noon so we can run you through the schedule for the week." She looked around, making sure all of the students were listening. "If you need help, my phone number and Coach Kelce's phone number is on the sheet you should all have, so if you need anything, that's how you reach us if you can't find us in person. Try to get familiar with the resort; there's a map on the wall. Any questions?" One of the boys stuck his hand up. "Yes?" Taylor nodded.

"Will you and Coach Kelce be sleeping in the same room?" He asked cockily.

"Alright, back here at noon." Taylor reminded them, ignoring his question with a glance towards me as she turned away. "Thanks for the help." She mumbled as we left the dorm and walked down to the little cabin.

"Hey you had that sorted." I told her, and Taylor giggled as I unlocked the door with the key we'd picked up. Pushing the door open, I held it open for her and we walked through.

The cabin was small, not big at all. There was a fireplace on the right wall, a door to a bathroom in the far left corner, a huge rug covering the floor. And one double bed.

I blinked, frowning. What the hell was this? What god had it out for me, putting me so damn close to the woman who got me harder than anyone ever had before with nothing but a smile? Now I had to spend a week sleeping in the same damn bed as her. Great.

"Oh okay." Taylor huffed, putting her duffel bag and backpack on the end of the bed. Then she turned to look at me. "If you snore, I'll kick you." She told me seriously, with a cute little undertone of humour that, for some reason, turned me on.

"I don't." I mumbled, too caught up in the idea of sleeping next to her to join in the banter.

At noon, I told Taylor I'd do the briefing, and she agreed happily. Leaving her in the cabin, I went to give the kids the spiel. Every day we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the dining hall. They skied in the morning and half of the afternoon before having the rest of the afternoon off. Taylor and I would only need to supervise in the mornings, meals, and evenings, and in-between we could do whatever we wanted.

We were caught up in organizing and getting the hang of things for the afternoon, and after dinner we got all the kids back to the dorm. Taylor offered to supervise the evening since I'd done the briefing, so I left her to it and went back to the cabin.

"Jesus." I cursed when I walked in and shivered at the cold. I could have sworn I'd turned on the heater before we'd gone to dinner, but the cabin was freezing.

Crossing over to the heater, I fiddled with the knob for a moment before realizing that it was broken. Thinking, I turned to the fire and noticed a little cupboard in the right corner of the room, which when I opened it, discovered firewood. Well, whatever worked.

It didn't take me long to get a decent fire going, and soon the cabin was bathed in gentle, flickering light. Just as it got going properly, the door creaked open and I glanced up to Taylor coming in, her nose and cheeks red with cold. She smiled at me, shrugging out of her coat and hanging it up on a hook by the door.

"Heater's broken." I explained as she closed the door, rubbing her hands together.

"Oh well, the fire's nice." She sighed, coming over and kneeling down next to me, extending her hands towards the flames. I swallowed as Taylor let out a little sigh of happiness, rubbing her fingers together. She was breathtaking in the light from the fire; eyes dancing with flames, lips curved up in a smile, cheeks flushed, body small next to mine. I took in a breath, getting to my feet before I got caught up and tried to kiss her or something.

Mumbling that I was going to shower, I grabbed a change of clothes and vanished into the bathroom. Trying to counter the heat pounding through me with the heat of the shower, I turned it up high and slipped inside, leaning against the wall as the hot water pounded down against my chest.

Fuck, I couldn't go out there with a rock hard boner for the blonde that was just trying to warm herself up. What was it she'd said two weeks ago? Think of her while I took care of myself. Damn right I would.

And even though I knew it wasn't appropriate at all, I closed my eyes and pictured Taylor as she'd been in the shower, her head rolling back slightly as she gave that little moan she'd let out while slipping a hand into her bra. Smashing my lips together, I tried to stifle my sighs of her name as I fucked my hand to the sight of her bare skin. Fuck, if only I could have had her in that damn shower. But all I had was my imagination and my hand.

When I got out of the shower, Taylor smiled before moving in to have a shower of her own. I threw my clothes from earlier into my bag, trying not to think about a wet and naked Taylor just in the other room. Moving across the room, I put another piece of wood on the fire and then got into bed, hoping I would fall asleep before Taylor ot back.

No such luck. A few minutes later, Taylor came out of the bathroom dressed in an oversized shirt, the straps of a bra peeking out of the wide neckline. She didn't appear to be wearing any pants, but luckily I caught a glimpse of some shorts when she bent over to put something in her bag.

"Okay if I turn the light off?"

"Sure." I murmured, watching as she leaned over and flicked the light off before moving over to the bed. I was lying on my side, facing her as she got into bed facing me. My cheeks flushed and I was glad there was limited light, the only brightness from the fire.

Taylor looked at me, and god I wanted to reach out and touch her cheek, caress her hair, kiss those lips that shifted as she sighed. Why was I so attracted to this woman? She was so enchanting, and I didn't even know why. I wanted so much from her; I wanted to know her mind, how she felt, what made her smile and frown.

"Goodnight Travis." Taylor whispered.

"Night Taylor." I murmured back.

She turned over, the scent of her hair hitting me like a truck as she flicked it over her shoulder. Fuck; I almost groaned. Her hair smelled so sweet, like flowers, and I wished I could sink my fingers into it and tug her close. But instead I closed my eyes, trying to get the smell out of my head.

Obviously, I failed.