by Autumn Brown
I don’t know why Zane wanted to stay the night tonight, but I owed him big time for setting me up with Taylor. Not that he gave her to me, but he agreed to break our pact that we wouldn’t date girls that the other was interested in. I didn’t know when I’d ask her out, but I wanted to do it soon before she gave up on me.
“So, how’s it going with Taylor?” Zane asked me as he drove down the road.
We were driving to Arlington to check out the volcano. Zane swore it was the coolest thing I’d ever see. I wished we were driving to Taylor’s house instead.
“Pretty good, I think. Why? Have you heard something?” I asked, suddenly worried. She’d tell Zane if there was something wrong. They were friends after all. Well, they were practically best friends.
“A little paranoid there. Aren’t you?” he asked me, making fun of me.
“Maybe.” I admitted. “I’ve never had someone like Taylor interested in me before. I’m sure I’m going to screw it up somehow.”
“You won’t screw it up. Unless you don’t ask her out soon. You may want to step it up a little, dude.”
“You’re sure she’s going to say yes?” I asked him to be sure. I’d never asked a girl out before and this was almost paralyzing for me. “What if she says no?”
“She’s asking me why you haven’t asked yet, dude. Ask!” Zane raised his voice to get his point across.
“She is?” I asked him, laughing. She was too cute. “You know I’m about to really fall for this girl.”
“I know.” Zane said.
“This isn’t going to bother you?” I asked him. Damn I wanted him to be okay with me dating Taylor. I don’t know what I’d do if he wasn’t though. I’d come so far with her already, I don’t think I could turn back if I wanted to now. And, I really didn’t want to.
“I’ve watched her go through a few other guys, dude. One more isn’t going to put me over the edge.”
“I’m sorry.” I said. I don’t know why she didn’t like Zane as a boyfriend. Mary sure seemed to like him. Hell, all the girls at school seemed to like him. He’d been kind of a loner until I came along. I don’t know why we hit it off so well. I was glad that we did though. I needed a friend. I was tired of being a loner myself.
“I’ll live.” Zane said, then he let out a wolf whistle. “Speaking of the devil herself.”
A bullet bike came toward us in the oncoming lane and passed us. They were driving pretty fast. I didn’t see who it was. The riders were both wearing helmets.
“What are you talking about?” I asked him. I looked around for a car on the road.
“Your girlfriend is just about the sexiest thing alive when she rides, dude.” He said to me. “Don’t hit me for saying that.”
“Rides?” I asked him. I turned all the way around in my seat to see if I could see the bike that had just passed. It was turning around in the middle of the road and coming back our way. “That was her?”
“Her and Sandy, I think.” He said. “We’ll see in a minute.”
Zane pulled off the road and stopped his car. We stepped out of the car. I was really hoping it was Taylor. They drove up on the bike and killed it. She put the kickstand down. She and Sandy both stepped off and pulled off their helmets. Damn she was sexy. Leather pants and a tank top. Sandy was wearing the same thing. She looked pretty good too, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Taylor. She actually rode a bike. I was having a little trouble digesting that fact.
“Hey you two!” Taylor called to us. She hugged Zane, then Sandy hugged Zane. No one hugged me. I wondered how close I had to be to her before she hugged me too.
I smiled at her. “You look like you know what you’re doing on that bike.”
“Well, thanks.” she said sarcastically but playfully.
I shouldn’t have said it that way. “I meant you look really good riding.” I corrected myself to her. I didn’t want her to get upset with me.
“Oh she knows it. That’s why she rides it.” Zane said, teasing her, then slugging her in the stomach playfully.
He was touching her too much for my taste, but I didn’t feel like I had a right to say anything about it yet. Maybe after I asked her out, I could say something to Zane.
“Where did you learn to ride like that?” I asked her.
She pointed to Sandy immediately. “My idol. She still kicks my butt.”
“Wow!” I said. I was impressed.
“Hey we’re going to the volcano. Do you two want to come? You could follow us.” Zane suggested.
Say yes. Please say yes. I wanted to spend more time with her.
“Sure. But we need to run back to Hassayampa and fill up. We’re running on reserve now. Sandy and I don’t want to push this thing again.”
I laughed at her.
“We’ve pushed this bike several times.” Sandy said, laughing at them. “It’s got a smaller thank than our other one. We keep forgetting to gas up.”
“And, there’s no water around to dip our shirts into this time.” Taylor said.
“Damn, wish I would have had some binoculars that day.” Zane said teasing her, almost flirting with her.
She slugged him in the stomach.
“It wasn’t pretty.” Sandy said, laughing again. “We were sweating so much that day.”
“We can get some Cokes and chips and eat at the top.” Zane suggested. “Can I ride it to Hassayampa?”
“Sure, if I can drive your slow ass car.” She came back at him. She handed him her helmet.
Sandy looked confused for a minute, then walked behind Taylor. She decided that she was going to ride in the backseat of Zane’s car instead of on the back of the bike.
Taylor drove Zane’s car to the store. “Do you ride?” she asked me.
“I used to have a Kawasaki.” I told her. “We sold it before we moved out here. My uncle said we weren’t going to have room in the garage for it.”
She made a funny face that I didn’t completely understand. “You can ride mine if you want.” She offered.
“Will you ride on the back?” I asked her. I’d love that, her arms around me.
“So you want me to ride bitch?” she asked laughing.
“That’s usually my spot. I’m usually her bitch. But sometimes she’s mine.” Sandy called from the back seat, laughing.
These two girls were a riot. They were always cracking jokes. Lunch every day last week was a laugh a minute. We pulled into the store parking lot and stepped out. Zane was already gassing up her bike for her. We went inside to pay for it. Sandy handed me her helmet, and Zane handed Taylor’s helmet back to her. This was going to be fun. I’d never ridden with a girl behind me before. Several guys, but never a girl.
I drove her bike all the way to the volcano. I loved the feel of her bike, but I loved the feel of her arms wrapped around me even more. I had to control myself. When we arrived, we all drank some water and made the trek up the volcano. It was a rocky terrain that we had to maneuver carefully.
There were several girly screams, even one from Zane which caused us all to laugh. We had so much fun. It was almost like a double date. I’d never been on a date before, so I couldn’t be sure. I was having more fun than I’d ever had in my life almost. When we arrived at the top, we looked at the hieroglyphics on the rocks up there. They were really cool. The view from the top was pretty amazing. Zane shared his binoculars with all of us. Zane and Taylor told me the stories of the Indians who had lived here a long time ago. It was really interesting.
We ate our chips and drank our Cokes, then headed back down. It was a lot easier going down, so there were a lot more jokes. Sandy and Taylor were hilarious when they got together. They had such a history together. They’d been best friends for a few years. Zane had quite the history with Taylor, too. They’d been friends since the second grade. They’d grown up together and knew each other really well. I was almost jealous of him. But she did decide that she wanted to date me.
I tried so hard to make a move and ask her
out, but I never got the nerve. Well, we weren’t ever exactly alone either. I didn’t want to ask her out in front of Zane or Sandy. I’d wait. I wanted to be alone with her in case I screwed it up royally.
The more I got to know Taylor, the more I liked her. I liked being included among her friends. She seemed to like being around people a lot. Maybe that was because she was from such a big family. She was really comfortable around crowds. She was my complete opposite in that area. I’d rather be alone most of the time.
Taylor and Sandy rode the motorcycle home after we’d climbed the volcano. Sandy drove this time. She insisted that it was her turn. Damn she was really good too. One good thing about Sandy driving was that I could see Taylor’s ass as they drove in front of us.
“Damn.” I said, shaking my head, not taking my eyes off of Taylor’s ass.
“You said that right.” Zane said with too much enthusiasm, then shut up really quickly. “Sorry.”
I laughed at him. “You’re right. She’s sexy as hell.”
“Did you ask her out yet?” he asked me.
“No.” I told him. I was embarrassed to admit it. “It’s hard to do when you’re surrounded by people.”
Zane laughed at me. “Do you want me to ask her out for you?”
I shook my head. “I’ll do it myself.”
At the house, we swam for a couple of hours. Zane loved to swim at the house. Our pool was bigger than theirs and had a better diving board. He would swim all day long if his parents would let him.
“We should have invited Taylor and Sandy over to swim.” Zane said as he dove off the board for probably the fortieth time.
When he came up from the water, I smacked him in the face with one of the foam noodles. “Why? Do they wear bikinis?”
“Oh yah! They fill out bikinis.” He said, as he dove for a noodle of his own. He jumped out of the pool to grab another pool toy. “It took Taylor forever to finally fill out, but it was worth the wait.”
“Late bloomer, huh?” Todd asked as he walked out. He surprised us.
I laughed at Zane. He’d just been busted. He had my aunt and uncle convinced that he was a choir boy. It was going to be fun to watch him squirm his way out of this one.
“We were talking about her college applications. It took her forever for her to finally fill those out.” Zane lied.
Todd laughed at him. He was onto him. “I was young once. She seemed like a nice girl. Spencer said you two were friends.”
“We’ve been friends for over ten years, since I moved to Arizona, and she moved from Gila Bend. We started school on almost the same day. We were both new, so we kind of bonded.”
“She’s a nice girl?” Janel asked Zane.
“Too nice.” Zane said quickly.
“Has she ever had a boyfriend?” Janel asked him.
“Ever had a boyfriend?” Zane asked with disbelief. “She’s had several boyfriends over the years.”
“So she gets around?” Todd asked Zane. “Spencer I don’t think we want you seeing this girl. We don’t want you dating anyone who is loose.”
“Loose?” Zane asked. “No way. You’re getting the wrong idea here. Taylor is the opposite of loose.”
“You said she had several boyfriends.” Janel argued with him.
“Yes, but she doesn’t sleep with them. She’s on the virgin list.”
“So why so many boyfriends? Don’t guys spread the word nowadays about who will and who won’t?” Todd asked.
“Yes, but they keep trying, thinking she’ll make an exception. She’s just about the hottest girl in school.”
“Are we still talking about the girl who milks cows?” Janel asked. She didn’t believe it. She asked the question as if she thought Zane and I were crazy.
“You haven’t met her yet. She’s really pretty, with a perfect body.” Zane defended her.
“They’ve only seen her after she milked cows.” I said quickly.
“We’ve met her.” Todd asked. “She was cute. She just needed to comb her hair, maybe put on some makeup.”
Zane laughed at them. “Let me show you my prom picture.” He stepped out of the pool and picked up his pants from a chair. He pulled out his wallet from his pocket.
I stepped out of the pool, too. I wanted to see the picture. “I thought you went to the prom last year with Mary.”
“I did. This was the year before. My girlfriend had just dumped me the day before prom. Taylor bought a dress that day and went with me, to cheer me up.”
He pulled out the picture of him and Taylor. She was wearing a sexy black dress with shiny things all over it. Her long hair was hanging in the front, but straight. Taylor was gorgeous, a little flatter chested, but still gorgeous.
“This is her?” Todd asked. “She doesn’t look anything like the girl Spencer brought home last Saturday.”
“She can go from the barn to beauty queen in thirty minutes. She was the prettiest girl at the prom.”
“Looks like she cheered you up, judging from the smile on your face.” Todd said to Zane.
“She’s my best friend. I’ve never had a better friend than her. She’s the kind of girl that you can count on no matter what.”
“So, what if she and Spencer hook up and then it goes south? Will you two still be friends?” Todd asked.
“Sure. I think so. Taylor never holds a grudge. She’s still friends with all of her ex-boyfriends, even Jim is still friends with her.”
“Who’s Jim?” I asked quickly. I didn’t know a Jim.
“James Hilton. He’s a junior this year. They dated off and on for like a year. They’d go out for a month, then he’d dump her or she’d dump him, then they’d get back together.”
“The James that all the girls swoon over every time he walks by?” I asked. I was getting a little worried now.
“That’s the one. They’re still good friends. If I had to put money on her going all the way with anyone, it would have been Jim. They were really close. They still are in a way.”
“But you don’t think they’ll get back together?” I asked. Please say no. I’d hate that.
“No. They finally decided to call it quits for good. Jim moved on to girls that would put out. Taylor keeps dating other guys that keep dumping her. Now, she’ll date Spencer until he dumps her for not putting out, then we’ll all be friends again.”
I couldn’t believe Zane said that in front of my aunt and uncle. “I’m not going to dump her for that.” I defended myself. I didn’t want my aunt and uncle thinking I was some kind of a horn dog with no respect for girls whatsoever.
“It’ll be interesting to see how long you two will last then.” Zane said thinking about things.
So, maybe I could date Taylor for a lot longer than most of the guys she’d dated before. I hoped so. If she’d go out with me, I was damn sure not going to dump her for not putting out. I suddenly wanted to call her up and ask her out. I didn’t though. I didn’t want to do it while Zane was around.
Taylor POV.
At the game Friday night, I saw Janel and Todd walk into the game and walk up the bleachers to find a good seat. That was so cool that they came to the games. Mom and Dad never came to the games. I made my way over to them as they passed in the front row on their way up.
“Hi Todd. Hi Janel.” I yelled up to them from the track that circled the football field.
They looked at me and smiled, then they turned away, then they turned toward me really quickly again. They’d just now recognized me. “Hi, Taylor!” they said in unison. They came to the fence and leaned over to talk for a minute.
“We didn’t recognize you.” Janel said, laughing.
“I knew I shouldn’t have come in after working in the barn all day.” I told them laughing. I was so embarrassed that I looked so bad when I’d met them that they didn’t even recognize me today.
“You look really cute all dressed up in your uniform.” Janel said, patting me on the arm as if she was trying to convince me of her since
rity.
“You mean when I wash all of the cow poop out of my hair and take a shower?” I teased her.
She laughed at me
“We’ll know which one you are tonight.” Todd said. “We’ll be watching your flips.”
I heard my name being called from the field. It was Sally. “I’ve got to go. See you later.” I said to them and turned to walk away.
“Our nephew is dating the prettiest girl in school. I was hoping she was the one.” I heard Janel say with excitement and pride.
I stopped in my tracks so I could hear more. Yah, I know eavesdropping is sneaky, but who wouldn’t have done it in this case?
