Taylor exhaled. “I know what you mean.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Or of the ball of disappointment that had firmly set up shop in my chest, and pulled my attention every time I thought about how fast my time was winding down with this team.
With this teammate.
Fuck. That was a heavy thought.
There wasn’t much conversation after that. We both scrolled our phones for a while. We shot the shit with some of the guys sitting around us. An hour or so into the drive, people started going quiet. Someone was snoring a couple of rows up. Someone else a few rows behind us. I eventually dropped off myself.
I awoke when the bus started decelerating. After years of catnaps on buses, I’d learned to snap awake as we were pulling into an airport or hotel, so I was instantly alert and ready to disembark.
We weren’t at the hotel, though—just a gas station somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Other guys started coming around, too, judging by the yawns and murmuring voices.
Beside me, Taylor was still sound asleep, arms folded loosely across his chest and his head resting against the window. I stole the chance to drink in the sight of him. He was cute anyway, but sleeping like this, all the tension from tonight was gone. Hopefully it wouldn’t catch up with him when he woke up, but for now, his features were relaxed and his breathing was slow and easy.
I was mesmerized by the sight of him. The fan of his long lashes on his cheeks. The shape of his full, perfect lips. The curls of blond hair alongside his face.
Yet again, I had a flash of regret that we hadn’t hooked up that night at the club. I knew it would’ve ended in disaster, and I’d have regretted it even more than walking away, but still. I wished I knew what it was like to be with Taylor.
Every time I looked at him, there were fewer nerves and more“I want to know what it’s like with him.”And there was a sense of urgency because we only had so much time. Sure, we could still keep in touch and maybe even hook up after I went back to Seattle—we’d be living less than an hour apart—but wewouldn’t see each other all the time. Would he forget he’d ever been interested in me? Find someone else who knew what he was doing in bed and wasn’t on the road constantly?
I didn’t want to rush into something with anyone, but with time ticking down, I couldn’t help this desire—this need—to find out if there really was a spark between us.
My chance to just gaze at him and fantasize ended when the bus stopped and Taylor’s eyelids fluttered. I looked away before he could catch me staring, and he sat up beside me and stretched.
“Please tell me I slept the whole way and we’re there,” he grumbled.
“Sorry,” I said with a laugh. “Rest stop.”
He was adorably grumpy as he muttered something and scowled.
I chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go stretch our legs.”
“Uh.” He tapped the window with his knuckle. “Do you see the white stuff on the ground? And falling from the sky?”
“Um. Yes?”
“That means it’s cold out there.”
“Very good, Wils.” I nodded slowly. “You’ve been learning your weather.”
He rolled his eyes and smacked my arm. “Fuck you.”
God, I wish.
Despite his grumbling, he did get off the bus with the rest of us. And he was right—it was fucking cold out. The pavement was slick, too, so we all had to pick our way across to the small all-night convenience store.
We all made it in and out with no incidents, though for some of the guys, it wasn’t for lack of trying.
“Boys, I swear to God,” Coach groused. “One of you breaks his neck, you’ll be bag skating in your body cast.”
The response to that had been laughter… and not even a little bit more caution from the guys who were trying to see who could slide the farthest on the glassy pavement.
I just laughed, shook my head, and continued onto the bus with a hot cup of coffee. Decaf, of course, since I still needed to sleep, but I wanted something warm.
Taylor had already reclaimed his seat, and he too was sipping coffee. He flashed me a quick smile as I sat down, but then his gaze darted away from mine.
I didn’t say anything. Neither did he. The whole time our teammates were settling back onto the bus and the bus was pulling back onto the highway, we drank in silence.
