Chapter Twenty-Seven
-Mr University-Adult-
I woke up alone in Taylor's bed the next morning, but was still completely smothered by his presence through the simple fact of being in his childhood room and the way his cologne and natural smell was infused in the bedding. I closed my eyes and buried myself into the sheets and could practically taste him, he felt so close to me.
As I hauled myself from the bed and readied myself for a shower I thought about how different this weekend had been from what I had expected. Taylor was really defensive when it came to his brother and father, but I could understand his point of view in not wanting to be pushed into their way of getting things done, when he already knew it wasn't for him. I applauded his courage to stand up for himself and not be bullied into a job where he would be miserable while doing it and knew it too.
His sister was everything Taylor said she was, but seemed to have grown an allegiance with Taylor to face their brother and sister-in-law. Juliet was a bitch, spoiled and demanding, but used the arrogance that came from that way of thinking to demand things be done for her. Not just superficial things, but to help others too. I could imagine her walking up to her father and demanding he find a way to have people finance her dance troop, simply because she knew he would make it happen. Why would he ever say no to her? She was Juliet. An ego wasn't always a bad thing to have, looking at her.
Taylor's father was where she got that ego from. He was a self-assured, wildly successful business man and lived on his throne looking down his nose at his minions. Kudos to him for it, his house and family. A business-minded son working under his wing to continue his legacy while building his own throne for the security of his wife and now, child. A head strong daughter committed to making a difference in the community by running her own show. Whether the show was dance or traditional business, it didn't matter. Juliet had seen a gap in the market and had filled it, showing a strong drive for hard work and making things happen. His other son working on a double degree proved he had obviously given all of his children his work ethic. A strong drive to push through barriers and move mountains to obtain what they wanted, but with all that said, I also saw a glimmer of something else in there, particularly when he spoke of and to his wife. He built his throne to make sure his wife and family was secure and protected, which was to be admired.
It was easy to see why he wanted his wife secure and protected. She was sweet, loving and shamelessly adored all who came into her life. She was obviously the calming, grounding, humble side to his arrogant, aggressive, ego-driven personality. They were yin and yang and made it work amazingly. Having not wanted to stick around, I hadn't had the chance to really talk to Simon, but Judith had left her mark on both Taylor and Juliet, balancing out their egos with compassion that made them a force to be reckoned with. The whole family was fascinating to watch, really. I was disappointed we weren't staying for longer.
I showered and was dressing when Taylor burst into the room.
"Buttercup," He exclaimed, coming towards me with a grin. "Forget the pants. You have no need for them for the next hour for what I have planned." I glared at him, only slightly amused as I pulled my shirt on.
"Where have you been?" I asked, taking in his loose shorts, t-shirt and dishevelled, yet still sexy hair.
"Running. Get the blood pumping and all that," He grinned, pulling me towards him and wrapping his arms around my waist. I squirmed in his hold as he held me against his sweaty body.
"I just took a shower and you're all gross Taylor," I laughed, still trying to pull away from him. His bottom lip popped out into a pout as he gave me puppy dog eyes.
"You took a shower without me?" He asked, looking wounded.
"I did. Funnily enough, I don't seem to get as clean when I shower with you," I laughed, rolling my eyes at him. He went from kicked dog to smirking ass in a world record time.
"That's 'cause I know how to get you all hot and dirty," he winked at me.
"You sure do, but right now you're all hot and dirty. Go cool down and get clean and I may think about touching you then. No promises, though," I teased him and he raised a sweaty eyebrow at me indignantly.
"Who says I want you to touch me?" He asked defensively.
"That rod of steel in your pants, that's hurting my thigh right now," I laughed and he glared at me.
"Occupational hazard of running, don't take it personally," He glared at me and I scoffed.
"Okay, Tay Tay," I cooed while patting his cheek softly, yet condescendingly. I finally shoved him away from me as his hold loosened and I left him there glaring at me, with a small smirk hidden underneath that grumpy face.
Judith was scooting around the kitchen as I entered and she sent me a warm smile as I sat at the kitchen bench.
"Good morning, darling," she greeted me. "How did you sleep?"
"Good, thank you," I replied. "Mousey came in this morning and kept my feet warm."
"She loves Taylor's bed. She always has," Judith laughed. "Now what would you like for breakfast?"
"Oh, I'll just wait for Taylor. He's just showering now," I told her. She scooted over to the cupboard in her chair and pulled out a box of Fruit Loops.
"No doubt he went for a run this morning specifically so he could have these," she said, putting the box on the bench. "Since he started school he has always had fruit loops for breakfast. They're full of sugar and not much else, but I figured he was always buzzing around on the go and ate healthily for the rest of the day, so it wasn't so harmful for him."
"So, he's always been this intense?" I laughed and Judith nodded.
"Luckily I had gotten the majority of Taylor's childhood sports taxi-ing out of the way when I had to stop driving. He played every sport he could get his hands on and still ran circles around us all after he was finished."
"Sounds exhausting," I laughed and Judith nodded at me in assurance.
"You don't know the half of it," She laughed with me. "But, he then was old enough to get himself around and wouldn't let me trouble myself to get him places so he would disappear at 6am on a Saturday and Sunday and appear again in a different uniform he left the house in and deliriously high on endorphins after dark."
"Does he ever just chill?" I asked and she chuckled to herself.
"Yes, when he hits his wall he's out for a solid twelve hours," She replied and I laughed with her.
"I'm in the room, so you can stop gossiping," Taylor announced.
"But I haven't even begun the naked at Aunty Sarah's wedding stories yet," Judith pouted and then smirked at her son as he stopped and glared at her.
"Don't even try it, old woman," He spoke formally.
"Oh pssh," Judith waved a hand at Taylor. "You don't scare me, Mr. University-Adult. I put you over my knee as a littlen, I'll find a way to do it now if you keep sassing me." I had a sneaking suspicion Taylor liked the back-and-forth between himself and his mother as he continued into the room and dropped a kiss on his mother's cheek as he passed her and swooped up the Fruit Loops box from the bench.
"Fruit Loops, hell yes!" He exclaimed, ripping open the packaging and depositing a handful of the small colourful rings in his mouth as he grabbed a bowls from the cupboard and milk from the fridge. Giving me an excited grin he proceeded to make us both breakfast. He pushed a giant bowl at me when he was done and I gave him an incredulous look.
"I can't eat all this," I murmured, shaking my head and Taylor only laughed.
"Harden up, Walters," he commanded. "Fruit Loops are the cereal of the gods."
"The god's that do cardio before breakfast and aren't afraid of diabetes," I replied, rolling my eyes. "I can't eat all this."
"Find a way," He mumbled through a spoonful of coloured loops. I rolled my eyes and picked up a spoon. I was going to be sick by the end of this.
"When are you leaving?" Judith asked and Taylor shrugged.
"Later," He replied verbally with all the grace of a pack mule.
"God, you're charming," I told him, sarcastically as he grinned through a murky grey mouthful of mush.
"I got it from my mum," He replied after swallowing.
"Hey," Judith stepped in quickly. "You get your charm from your grand-mother, she's got three left feet and a donkey's hoof."
"Mum," Taylor gave her a wry look. "Don't pass this all off on Grandma. We all saw you dancing at Poppies eightieth birthday after a glass of wine." Judith's face dropped to indignant look.
"You saw nothing," She replied quickly. "I have no idea what you're talking about," She told him as she made a bee line for the door.
"Yes, you do, old lady!" He called out to her as she disappeared.
"Nope!" She called back to him.
"We had no idea it would affect her so bad when everything started to happen. She had one glass and was up doing the chicken dance and a lindy hop, whatever that is. It was so terrible, we all forgot we had video recording capabilities on our phones and missed our chance," Taylor told me as he finished his bowl.
"Lucky Judith, the guy that owns the milk bar back home whipped his camera out when my dad got hammered and got up to sing Elvis at the town's annual karaoke festival. They use it as the opening introduction every year as a 'what-not-to-do' guide," I told Taylor and he stared at me for a moment.
"Karaoke festival?" He asked slowly.
"It's a small, slow town I'm from," I nodded in a 'trust-me-I-know' way.
"When is it?"
"Start of next month," I replied and he grinned.
"We're going," He told me with excited eyes and I shook my head.
"I am, but you're not," I laughed.
"But, why?" He whined and I rolled my eyes.
"Because you're an embarrassment," I replied as I pushed my cereal around.
"I'll sing Taylor Swift," He promised in a sing-song voice as he pouted and I laughed.
"You'll do that whether we're at karaoke or not," I replied in my own sing-song voice. His face dropped to the same indignant look his mother had given him five minutes ago and it made me laugh again. "I'm glad you dragged me here," I murmured, changing the subject. He studied me for a moment before a soft smile pulled at his mouth.
"Oh yeah?" he asked and I nodded.
"Your mum is really nice and your sister is hilarious," I admitted and the smile, turned to a grin.
"I think they like you too," he replied as he lent his elbow on the bench and rested his head in his hand, leaning closer to me. I looked over his face as we sat inches apart and now was able to tell which side of his family he got each feature from and smiled at him. "What?" He asked and I shook my head. "Going to finish your fruit loops?" He asked and I glanced down the half full bowl before looking back at him and shaking my head.
"Nope," I murmured and he grinned.
"Good," He whispered, leaning further into me to press his lips to mine. I sucked on his bottom lip as he nibbled my top lip and I giggled under my breath at the feeling.
"Urgh, baby sister entering room. Stop eating each other's faces please," Juliet announced her presence in the room. "I will throw up if you don't stop," She warned. I pulled back from Taylor to watch her move through the room with a hand over her eyes and the other arm outstretched in front of her to stop her from running into anything. "I can't really afford to lose more weight." I glanced at Taylor who was rolling his eyes and laughed at them both.
"Oh, and like you didn't lose your virginity at twelve," Taylor scoffed and Jules peeked out from behind her hand and dropped her hand and glared at Taylor when she saw it was safe to look.
"I was thirteen and a half and we were in love," she told him primly with her hands on her hips.
"You mean he loved sticking it somewhere and you loved that he gave you presents for the privilege," Taylor laughed and Juliet shrugged modestly.
"As long as we both loved something," Juliet replied wryly. "He gave me my first Louis Vuitton."
"and your first pregnancy scare," Taylor muttered.
"Oh, go stick it where the sun don't shine," Juliet bit back. "How many girls have come to you claiming you're about to be a father?"
"Four, and all of them were wrong. Don't be a fool, wrap your tool, Jule," Taylor chided her while showing off his rhyming finesse and she laughed dryly.
"You're so hilarious," She muttered as she grabbed eggs from the fridge.
"I wish I wasn't an only child," I sighed, talking to no one in particular.
"No, you don't," Both Juliet and Taylor replied at the same time.