Out at Home

by JL Paul

  “Making sure you didn’t kill yourself from alcohol poisoning.” She pulled Taylor to a more comfortable sitting position and turned on the taps in the tub. “Get undressed and get your ass in the shower.”

  Taylor grumbled but slowly did as Tia asked. Her head pounded and her stomach churned but once the warm water hit her, she started to feel as though she’d live.

  She climbed out a few minutes later and wrapped a big fluffy towel around her body. She made her way into her bedroom where Tia had set out some clean underwear, a pair of shorts, and a bright yellow t-shirt. She slowly yanked her clothes on and followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen.

  Tia smiled at her. “Sit,” she ordered and pushed a plate with bland toast and two aspirin in front of her. “Eat that and take those.”

  Taylor did as ordered, sipping slowly at the coffee.

  “Ready to tell me why you went on a drinking binge? And why the hell you haven’t answered any of Brady’s calls?”

  Taylor winced at the mention of his name. She gently set her mug down on the table and rubbed at the dull ache still lingering in her forehead. “Not really.”

  “Taylor, something awful had to have happened for you to do this,” Tia insisted.

  “I can’t talk about it right now.” She bowed her head and spun her mug around on the table. “I hate to say that to you but I’m still trying to process it myself.”

  “When did you start drinking?”

  Taylor shrugged. “Yesterday afternoon some time.”

  “Did you eat anything?”

  Taylor shook her head.

  Tia sighed and glared at her friend. “You do realize that its past three on Friday afternoon, right?”

  Taylor winced again. “No. I sort of lost track of time.”

  “Brady’s called me three times since last night and when I talked to Uncle Luther this morning, he told me you’d gone home sick yesterday and he didn’t expect you back until Monday.” She eyed Taylor’s bent head. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” she mumbled. “I’ll deal with it.”

  Tia rose from her seat, her anger sending the chair crashing to the floor. Taylor covered her ears to protect her thudding head from the noise. Tia stormed out of the room only to return with Taylor’s cell phone. She stuck it under Taylor’s nose.

  “Call Brady. Let him know you’re okay.”

  “He’s playing right now.” She lifted her head to meet Tia’s eyes.

  Tia gave her a stern look. “Leave him a voice message.”

  Taylor got to her feet, nearly slamming her mug in the kitchen sink. “I don’t want to talk to him right now.”

  “Geez, Taylor! It’s just voice mail.”

  She glared at her friend. “Well then you leave him a message.”

  A knock on the door startled both women. Tia brushed past Taylor to answer it. A moment later Zoey breezed into the kitchen.

  “You look awful, girl,” she observed.

  “Brady sending in the reinforcements?” Taylor asked, her tone snide.

  “No,” Zoey answered slowly, flashing Tia a questioning look. “Tabby did.”

  “She ain’t talking,” Tia remarked as she leaned against the kitchen counter, crossing her ankles and her arms. “And she refuses to call Brady.”

  “Then I will,” Zoey stated, digging her phone out of her purse. She smirked at Taylor. “They are on a rain delay, after all.”

  Taylor’s jaw dropped as her eyes widened. “Please, Zoey. I can’t talk to him right now.”

  “Why?” Zoey asked, her eyes gentling.

  Taylor took a deep breath and sank back into her chair. “Call him and tell him I’m fine, if you must. But I’m not talking to him.” She sighed and waved a hand absently at Zoey. “Call him and get it over with. When you’re done, I’ll show you why.”

  Zoey nodded. She dialed Brady’s number and watched as Taylor nervously shook her leg under the table.

  “She’s fine, Brady. Just fine,” she said when he'd obviously answered. “No, she doesn’t want to talk right now.”

  Taylor caught Tia’s eye and quickly looked away.

  “I don’t know why, but she told me she’d talk to me after I called you.” She paused to listen to his side of the conversation, wincing once and pulling the phone slightly away.

  “Brady, listen,” Zoey snapped into the phone. “I’m just letting you know she’s okay. Whatever this is about, I’m sure she’ll tell you when she’s ready. Now, I gotta go.”

  She hung up before he could say more. She turned her expectant eyes on Taylor. “The boy’s a mess. What the hell is going on?”

  With a snort, Taylor got up, motioning for the others to follow. She located her laptop on the coffee table, flipped it open, and signed into her email. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening Jason’s message and spinning the computer toward the other girls. She sat back, watching their expressions turn from curious to horrified. They finished scrolling through the pictures and looked at her.

  “Oh my God,” Zoey exclaimed. “I’m going to kill him!”

  Tia sat quietly, lost in thought. “Hang on.” Both girls turned to look at her. “I bet anything Jason had something to do with this.”

  Taylor sighed. “He is the one who sent me the email.”

  “Yeah, but, remember what you told me? What he said to you that night in the Line Drive?”

  Taylor nodded. “I remember. And the little bastard was right. It took less than two weeks.”

  “What are you talking about?” Zoey asked. Taylor quickly filled her in on Jason’s theory.

  “These pictures have to be staged,” Tia concluded.

  Taylor shook her head. “No. You can’t stage that. And why would Brady stage them anyway?”

  “Maybe he was set up,” Tia suggested.

  Taylor scrolled back through the pictures and pointed out the one of Brady and Gretchen kissing. “That’s not fake. I wish to God it was, but it’s not.”

  Tia studied the picture intently before releasing a long breath. “Okay, so what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” Taylor said, overcome with helplessness.

  “Well, you’ve got to show him these pictures,” Zoey said. “Give him a chance to explain.”

  “No,” Taylor told her firmly. “I don’t. I don’t care to hear it.”

  Zoey let out an exasperated breath. “That’s not fair, Taylor.”

  “Do you think it’s fair that each time I start trusting him, he breaks my heart again?”

  “That’s just it, Taylor. He wouldn’t break your heart again. He loves you so much!”

  Taylor scoffed as she stood and started clearing dirty glasses from the coffee table. “He has a funny way of showing it.”

  “I think Zoey’s right,” Tia said softly from her corner on the sofa. Taylor paused, her eyes narrowed. “I mean, he needs to know why you won’t talk to him.”

  Taylor shook her head and took her dirty glasses to the kitchen.

  “At least let me send these pictures to Tabby,” Zoey called. “She can show them to him if you want.”

  Taylor returned to the living room and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why are you two so intent on defending him?”

  “We’re not,” Tia protested. “But he won’t stop bugging you until he knows why you’re mad.”

  “I’m more than mad. I’m through. I’m done with him,” she stated, her tone more firm than her heart.

  Zoey looked at Tia. “Then let me send the pictures.”

  Taylor shrugged. “Fine. I don’t really care what you do.”

  She stormed out of the living room and locked herself away in the bedroom.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Taylor fidgeted nervously on the couch. Her eyes darted back and forth between the door and the clock. Tabby had called nearly forty-five minutes ago and said they’d landed and were on their way home. Tabby wanted her to come over - she wanted to talk to her about the photos.
Alex, too.

  Taylor was still deciding whether or not to go.

  The team had played an early game in Green Bay and had flown home immediately after in order for them to rest up for the upcoming series with San Diego. Taylor knew she’d not be able to avoid them as tomorrow was a travel day for San Diego and the Racers had a day off.

  Standing, she started tidying up her already immaculate home. Her frantic brain was overloaded with questions. Should she go? Should she stay home and lock herself away again? Should she just call Brady? Confront him alone?

  She sighed and plopped back down on the couch. Zoey had forwarded the email to Tabby and Taylor figured Brady had to have seen it by now. He’d stopped calling her, at least. She had no idea if Jason was still with the team or if he’d crawled back under a rock, as Tia had so elegantly put it.

  The shrill ring of her cell startled her and she jumped out of her thoughts and grabbed the phone. It was Tabby again.

  “Taylor, you need to come over,” Tabby urged, forgoing any kind of polite greeting.

  Taylor sighed. “I know. I will.”

  “Good. You need to hear the whole story.”

  “Is….” Taylor swallowed nervously. “Is Brady there?”

  “Yeah. And he’s very upset. You need to talk to him. You can talk to him privately here if you want, don’t worry.”

  Taylor nodded. “Okay, I’ll be there in a few.”

  After the call, she dashed to her bedroom to change. She threw off the grungy shorts and t-shirt she’d been moping around in and put on her favorite pair of cropped pants with a white halter. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, she didn’t want Brady to see her looking such a mess.

  She washed her face and put her long hair back in a neat pony tail. She slipped on her flip flops, shoved her phone into her messenger bag, and headed out the door. She took a deep breath as she got in her car and started on her way to Tabby’s.

  ***

  The trembling in Taylor's hands increased when she pulled up to Tabby's house and saw all the cars parked in front.

  What was everyone doing there? Hadn't Tabby said that no one would be there but maybe Brady?

  No. No, she hadn't. But still - this was ridiculous. How was she supposed to face everyone after she'd been screwed over by Brady again?

  She parked behind Tia’s car, taking calm, relaxing breaths. Her first instinct was to run back home and hide - but something else inside of her told her to keep her head up and face these people. They probably wanted to explain somehow - stick up for Brady. They were his friends, after all, not hers.

  She'd let them have their say. Hell, she might even pay a bit of attention to whatever it was that they wanted to say. But she was not going down the Brady Nolan road again. She was done with him.

  Figuring that they were probably sitting on the deck, drinking beers and cooking burgers, she opened the gate and slipped through, figuring she might as well face it and get it over with. That’s what her father would tell her if he was there. She grabbed at the locket that was tucked neatly under her shirt to draw strength as she stepped onto the deck.

  “Hi,” she said weakly.

  All heads turned to look at her. Tabby rushed forward to hug her and she couldn't stop thinking that these people were Brady's friends.

  “How are you?” Tabby gushed as she wrapped an arm around Taylor's shoulder, leading her to a chair.

  Taylor shrugged as she took the seat Tabby had indicated. Inside she was trembling like crazy but on the outside she was managing to hang onto a cool façade.

  “I’m okay.”

  Her eyes roamed the deck, seeing who exactly was there to witness her latest humiliation. Zoey sat across from her; Alex sat on the rail with Mark, while Tia and Kyle huddled near Brady in the corner. She briefly caught his eye before ducking her head.

  “You want something to drink, Taylor?” Alex asked, getting to his feet.

  “Just water, please,” she answered.

  He dug a water bottle out of the cooler near his feet and walked it over to her.

  “Relax,” he whispered. “We just want to explain what happened.”

  She nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. She would not break down. Not here, not now.

  “Zoey forwarded that email to me,” Tabby started, taking a seat next to Taylor. “She also told me what Jason said to you before we left on the road trip.”

  Taylor just nodded numbly as studied the condensation on her water bottle. She hated how everyone present knew - and hated how they all thought they had to stick their noses in her business. Why couldn't they leave her alone to lick her wounds? Why couldn't they just let her tell Brady what a prick he was so she could be on her way?

  She couldn’t look at Brady even though she could feel his eyes burning into her skin.

  “Maybe they should talk this out alone,” Mark suggested.

  “No,” Brady said loudly, jumping to his feet. “I don’t care who hears this. It’s just a load of shit and you all know it anyway.”

  Taylor’s eyes widened at the tone of his voice but she bowed her head again. What happened to the courage she'd summoned before entering the backyard?

  Her hand instinctively reached for the locket.

  “Listen to me, Taylor,” Brady said as he stood over her. “You know I’d never do that to you. And you know what a jerk Jason is. He kept pushing Gretchen on me that night and I kept pushing her away. Yeah, she kissed me, but I didn’t return it. I shook her off me and told her to stop. I don’t want her. I only want you.”

  Anger surged through her veins and she stood to face him. “Really? Didn’t look like it from my point of view. And what about that last picture, huh? The one where you couldn’t wait to get her in that hotel room?”

  He barked out a sarcastic laugh. “She was drunk. I was helping her to her room. She was trying to get me to join her but I wouldn’t. I asked Jason to help me with her but he kept telling me to just give her what she wanted.”

  Kyle walked over to stand next to Brady. “It’s true, Taylor. Brady called me to help and when I got there, the door was wide open and I could see that she was all over him and wouldn’t let him go. Jason was laughing and egging her on. We finally unlatched her from Brady and left. By that time, Jason was nowhere around.”

  “What I don’t get,” Brady continued, shooting her a cold glare. “Is why you didn’t tell me what Jason said to you.”

  Taylor shrugged, steeling her spine. “Because I knew you’d laugh it off like you do everything he says. He is your best friend, after all.”

  Brady’s glare hardened. “He might have been at one time, but he’s not any longer. I see what he is: I’m not totally blind. Don’t you know you’re more important to me than he could ever be?”

  “I….” she stammered, not knowing what to say, her resolve quickly weakening.

  “Yeah, I know,” Brady said, the anger rising in his voice. “You still don’t trust me. I don’t think you ever will so what’s the point?”

  She bowed her head and swallowed back the tears trying to surface. She wished more than anything that she hadn't come. She wished that she would have just stayed home.

  “Forget it,” Brady muttered as he pushed past her and stomped out the gate.

  “Brady, man,” Kyle called as he chased after him. “Hang on.” He disappeared out of the gate behind Brady.

  Taylor dropped back to her seat, keeping her head down. Her mind frantically tried to process what had just happened.

  “Taylor,” Tabby said in a soft voice as she took her hand. “I think Brady has a point.”

  Taylor's head shot up as she looked Tabby in the eye. “No.”

  “Think about it,” Tabby continued. “He’s done just about everything he can to show you that he loves you and he was sorry for what happened but it doesn’t seem to be enough.”

  Taylor yanked her hand out of Tabby’s and stood. “I forgave him for all that high school crap. You mean to tell me that
if someone emailed you pictures like that of Alex, you wouldn’t question it?”

  “Of course I would,” Tabby agreed. “But I would’ve asked him about them.”

  “Taylor, he was extremely angry when Tabby showed him those pictures,” Alex added. “He told us that he’d never cheated before. He said he hated people like that. And he told us he’d especially never do that to you.”

  Nodding, Taylor bit her lip.

  “Honey,” Tia said from her corner. She got up and walked over to the rest of them crowding around Taylor. “You’ve had so much to deal with, I know. You lost your mother and then had to move to a new town and not only take care of a little brother, but your father also. I know I wasn’t there at that time, but I know what you went through.”

  Edging away from everyone, Taylor stood up to pace. “That has nothing to do with this situation.”

  “Maybe it does,” Tabby put in. “Maybe you’re so used to being the…I don’t know…victim, that you just automatically assume you’re going to be wronged again.”

  “I do not enjoy playing the victim,” Taylor said, appalled. She stopped her frantic pacing. “Do you all actually think I like feeling this way?”

  “That’s not what she’s saying, Taylor,” Zoey pleaded. “She just means maybe you jump to the worst conclusions because of everything that’s happened in your life.”

  “Taylor, they’re right,” Tia added.

  Taylor turned to Tia, jaw dropped. “You’re supposed to be my best friend and you’re siding with them?”

  “No one’s siding with anyone,” Tia said, approaching Taylor slowly. “But I’ve known you longer than they have and I know your history. And I think that because of your history, you decided he was guilty without even giving him a chance to explain.”

  Shaking her head, she dropped it and watched as her tears fell to the wood of the deck. “Why are you persecuting me? I’m not the one who had my picture taken with some tramp in a hotel room.”

  “No one’s persecuting you,” Tabby said.