Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake #3) (2 page)

W
aking up next to Taylor in the morning blew my mind each and every day. I’d thought I would have gotten used to it by now, but nope. Still knocked me out every time I opened my eyes in the morning with her body all over mine. Like we couldn’t exist without each other.

That was how it felt. Like I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t function without her. I’d always thought people who were in love might just be exaggerating, or making it out to be more than it was, but now I knew. This was real and she was everything.

Her eyes would blink and then a slow smile would work its way across her face and I felt like my heart was going to punch its way out of my chest.

“Hey, Missy Girl.” She pretended she hated the nickname, but I knew she loved it, which was why I kept using it.

“Hi,” she said, slowly untangling her limbs from mine. After sleeping (actual sleep, not sex) with her, I never wanted to go back to being alone. Being without her was just… wrong.

When I slept with Taylor in my bed, the nightmares didn’t come. Well, sometimes they did, but when they started to get bad, there were gentle hands to brush my tears away and sweet lips to make me forget.

“Are you okay?” she said, her eyebrows drawing together in concern. Her speech was slurred a little by her retainer. I loved getting to see her like this. All rumpled and sleepy and mine.

“Yes. Just thinking.”

“That could be dangerous,” she said and I rolled my eyes at her as she crawled over me and stood up. I still slept naked and sometimes she did too, but this morning she wore a loose tank top and a tiny pair of shorts that made her ass look fantastic. I adored everything about her, but there were certain features that I adored more than others. Her ass was one.

I reached out and pinched one cheek as she yelped and then slapped my hand away.

“None of that, Mr. Zaccadelli. I have to get to class and so do you.” Normally I was the first one up and ready to go and she was the one I had to drag out of bed, but we’d gotten to sleep a little late today since we’d been smart with our schedules. It was my senior year and I was ready to be done with my undergrad, get my student teaching out of the way and finish my master’s in music so I could teach. If everything worked out, Taylor and I would graduate at the same time.

“Let’s skip, Miss Caldwell,” I said, knowing she was going to turn me down. Just as she was about to reject my idea, Darah called up the stairs that breakfast was ready. Even though we all left at different times, there was always someone up first to whip up some pancakes and bacon for whomever wasn’t rushed enough to sit down and eat.

“Come on, Fiancée,” Taylor said, holding her hands out to me. I took them and got up. Her eyes went immediately down my chest and focused on what I had going on south of the border.

“You put that away,” she said, poking me in the chest with one finger.

“Make me,” I said, crossing my arms and licking my lips. She was still staring at me down there and it was only making me harder and want her even more. If that was possible. Just as I was about to throw her back on the bed and ravish her, a fist slammed on our door.

“Get your clothes on and get your horny asses downstairs,” Mase boomed. Taylor and I both rolled our eyes in unison. He was just grumpy because he’d had a fight with Darah last night and she was freezing him out. I had no doubt he would get his head out of his ass, show up outside one of her classes with flowers and a contrite expression and they’d be good by the time we sat down to dinner tonight. They were just like us.

Even though the food was going to be cold by the time we made it downstairs, we took a shower together (which ended in both of us getting off in record time). By the time we made it down to the first floor, Jos, Dusty, Mase and Paul were out the door and it was only Renee and Darah left, rushing around and muttering to themselves.

I loaded up a plate for Taylor, sans bacon, and then one for myself before sitting down and patting my lap.

“Ugh, you two are disgusting sometimes,” Renee said. Taylor stuck her hand out, as if she was going to shake Renee’s.

“Hi, Pot, my name is Kettle, nice to meet you.” Renee just glared, which made her look like an angry Disney princess. Taylor laughed and Renee gave her the middle finger as she was running out the door. Darah was right behind her a few minutes later, quickly wrapping her dark hair up into a bun and waving goodbye.

“Whoa,” Taylor said.

“What?” I asked, tapping my fingers on her thigh. My little quirks never seemed to bother her.

“The house is quiet.” I listened and it was. Our house was almost never quiet. It was eerie.

“This feels wrong,” I said and she laughed.

“Seriously. Someone should be yelling or playing music too loud. Or Skyrim or the guitar or something. We have loud friends,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

“We do indeed.” I pushed some of her brown hair out of her face. She was wearing it down and straight today and I just wanted to wrap my fingers around it and pull her mouth to mine for a kiss.

“Shit,” she said, looking down at her phone. “We have to go.” I grumbled as she got off my lap, rinsed our dishes and then threw them in the dishwasher. We bickered about whose car we would take as we headed out the door and she won because mine was on the fritz and I had been dragging my heels getting it fixed. I just had the feeling they were going to tell me it was a lost cause, and that would suck. I’d bought that car with my own money that I’d
earned
. It was one of the only things I owned that felt like it was truly mine, and not bought with my father’s blood-soaked oil executive money that I’d inherited.

As we made the short drive to campus Taylor and I also argued about what song we’d listen to. She won that one as well.

“Maybe I’ll give you a blow job later,” she said, patting my cheek as I pouted at her. She laughed at my growl and change in expression. The things this girl could do to me.

I kissed her goodbye and squeezed her ass so she wouldn’t forget me for the rest of the day.

“You’re trouble,” she said as I let go.

“But I’m
your
kind of trouble.” She turned and I listened to her laugh echo as she walked into the building.

S
ince upper level classes were small, I generally saw the same thirty or so people in every one. Even though I was going to be a music teacher, I still had to take classes on teaching math, science, English and social studies. It probably wasn’t a bad idea, since if I couldn’t find a job teaching music, I could fall back on something else. I gravitated toward English or social studies since I loved reading. More so now that I was with Taylor. She was always finding new books and lending them to me. Or, as she would say, I was always stealing them. Psh, semantics.

“Hey,” I said to Summer as I dropped into the seat next to hers before Teaching Reading and Language Arts. “Nice hair.” Last week it had been a startling shade of turquoise, but today it was a vibrant purple. She looked up and blew her bangs out of her face.

“I had to bleach the shit out of my scalp, but it was totally worth it.” She grinned at me and I shook my head. Between the hair, her eyebrow piercing and the tattoos up and down her arms, she didn’t exactly look like the traditional teacher, but I didn’t think she cared. I wasn’t one to talk, with all my tattoos.

“It looks great,” I said and she opened one of her glitter-covered notebooks. There was nothing quiet about Summer, from her look to her inability to filter any of her thoughts. She reminded me a little of Taylor, which was how we’d become friends and study buddies. Plus, neither of us really had the traditional “teacher look” which made us stick out.

Class started and my focus turned toward the professor, but, like always, part of my mind was thinking about a certain brunette with a smart mouth who was currently sitting in her own class. Hopefully thinking about me. Sometimes I sent her little sexy texts during the day to make sure she was.

Taylor’s and my schedules didn’t match up for lunch, so I hung out with Summer. Mase stopped by to grab a sandwich and stuff it in his face before waving and heading off to his next business class.

“There is a lot of good DNA in your family,” Summer said as he left. “I mean, if I was even a
little
bit bisexual…” I laughed as her eyes slid from Mase to a tall blonde wearing high-heeled boots that walked in the opposite direction.

“Sorry,” I said, chuckling a little as she glared at me.

“Whatever.” She glowered down into her bowl of soup.

“Hey, you’re going to find someone. You should hang out with my crew. Love can be contagious sometimes.” It was true that everyone who lived at Yellowfield House had managed to find someone who was their match. Renee was always looking for a new “project” to work on. Right now it was Jos’ friend Hannah. Brett, the guy she liked, was obviously interested, but Hannah didn’t seem to want to give him a chance, no matter how hard he tried. I knew
all
about that. I’d never worked so hard at anything when I was trying to get Taylor.

“Hanging out with a bunch of people who are all coupled up? No, thank you.” She picked up her tray and went to toss it. Summer’s personality was intense, in both a good and a bad way. Still, I didn’t think she’d have any problems snagging the right girl. There was just something about her that made you want to be around her.

After my classes got done for the day, I headed to the library to squeeze in a few hours of work. Granted, I didn’t
have
to work, but I refused to be one of those guys who lived off their trust fund and spent their days sleeping and their nights getting wasted. I wanted to show Taylor that if worse came to worse, I could support myself, and her, if I had to.

When I walked into the kitchen that night I caught Darah and Mase in the process of making up. He had her up on the counter, standing between her legs as he kissed the shit out of her. I cleared my throat and he pulled back. Darah went red as hell, but Mase just lifted an eyebrow.

“Dinner in a few,” he said, brushing his fingers through Darah’s dark hair. She hid her face in his shoulder and he chuckled.

“Got it,” I said, giving them a little salute before heading to the living room. What I found stopped my heart.

Taylor was on the floor, holding my guitar and picking out a few chords. She’d learned a few basic songs and I couldn’t be prouder. She started to play a basic chord progression and added her husky voice. I recognized the song immediately. “Fix You” by Coldplay.