“Mhhm.” She raises a brow.
“Taylor, stop,” I warn her.
“I’m just saying.”
“I know what you’re saying, and it’s not true.” I roll my eyes.
“Mhhmm. Sure, sure.”
“Enough of this. Can we just go, please?”
“Fiiiiine,” she sighs, getting up. “Let’s go party!”
Chuckling, I follow her out of the room.
We spend the next two hours helping set up, moving anything we don’t want broken, and making sure doors to bedrooms are locked.
Travis wasn’t exaggerating. The amount of times I’ve found someone fucking on my bed is disturbing. I’m normally too drunk to care in the moment, though.
I gravitate toward the backyard and settle by the fire pit with Taylor. We snuggle up together, drinking and talking with our friends.
Honestly, it’s a pretty chill night compared to the normal parties we have.
That is, until I see Bennett and Aria come out back. He’s giving her a piggyback ride, a big smile on his face. He puts her down by the ping pong table.
Aria goes over to Tyler and kisses him while Bennett talks to Roland.
“You okay?” Taylor asks. Shit. She must have felt me tense up.
I have eyes, I saw the way Bennett was checking Roland out today at practice. I’ve seen how Roland checks Bennett out every time they’re in the same damn room, too.
That’s probably why Liam went over to say something to Bennett. Not because he wants to get back together with him, but because he didn’t like that one of his teammates has the hots for his ex.
“I’m fine,” I murmur, holding her closer. “How about you?”
“Distract me?” She pouts up at me.
Here's the thing. Taylor is my girlfriend. To everyone else but us. We’re in a lavender relationship of sorts.
I like guys, but my dad is a raging homophobe. To keep him off my back, and you know, not beat me to death for liking dick, I started dating Taylor.
She really is my rock, my person, my soulmate.
At first, I was worried I’d be keeping her from finding someone she could be happy with. She insisted she was fine, and if she ever found someone she liked, we could revisit our arrangement.
Years went by, and I got comfortable. I was content with the way things were.
That was until I found out why Taylor was so okay with being in a fake relationship. I found her making out with someone behind the equipment shed the first year we started at SVU.
And thatsomeonewas a girl.
I was hurt, not because she cheated on me, because our relationship wasn’t real. It was because she didn’t come to me. Of all people, I would have understood.
Like me, Taylor’s family isn’t accepting of same sex relationships. While my dad is just a piece of shit loser, her parents are very religious.
She opened up, apologized, and we moved on with new rules in place.
We’re allowed to see other people if we want to. She’s seen a few girls on and off in secret. Me, however? I have yet to find a guy worth taking that risk.
