This Love Is Ours

Three

I made some minor changes to Taylor's character. She no longer is a senior in high school, instead she will have just graduated.

Taylor's POV

I had never believed in love at first sight. I'd never even had a crush before, not really. But the moment I saw him, something shifted inside me, like the world had been waiting for the perfect moment to pull us together.

He was much older, maybe fifteen or even twenty years, and he had this effortless charm that drew me in every time he spoke. He was downright handsome in the most obvious way.

I knew he could tell I had been staring, but hell he had been doing it too. It felt like there was some magnetic force pulling us together. The only thing that drew us apart was my dad coming over to invite Travis to dinner, and thank god he agreed because I couldn't imagine him leaving just yet.

As we sat down to eat around the table I didn't miss the way Travis subtly scooted his chair closer to mine, leaving little to no space between us. I was a little worried my parents might notice but they were far too enthralled in their own conversation to realize.

Every so often Travis would pop in on whatever my parents were talking about, trying to make polite conversation. But for the most part the two of us sat in silence, just focusing on eating our food. I kept glancing over at him, admiring the scruff of his beard and the way his eyes crinkled. Eventually, he noticed me looking at him and I blushed as he smirked back at me. I averted my gaze, forcing myself to keep my eyes on my nearly empty plate.

When I was sitting next to him, I felt my heart race in a way that made it hard to focus on anything but the sound of my own breath. I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt, my face already warm from being so close to him. He smiled at something my dad said, then glanced at me, his voice casual, like he wasn't even paying special attention. But I could feel it.

"You still in school?" he asked, tilting his head slightly as if it were just a natural question.

I shook my head, my throat feeling tight, though I forced myself to speak. "Just graduated this year," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I didn't want to give him too much, not when my mom was sitting just a few seats away, watching us in her careful, silent way.

"Ah, congratulations," he said smoothly, not missing a beat. "That must make you, what, nineteen?" His tone was easy, light, but I could feel the weight of the question. He wasn't asking for any reason other than to check. He wanted to know how young I was—If I was too young.

I swallowed, feeling the tension rise in my chest. "Eighteen," I corrected softly, "I won't be nineteen until December." I glanced down at my plate before looking back up at him. His eyes met mine, and for a moment, it felt like the air between us shifted. There was something unspoken, like we both knew the boundary but neither of us was ready to cross it.

"That's a big year," he replied, leaning back slightly in his chair, his eyes still on me. "Lots of changes." He made it sound like he was just making conversation, but there was something about the way he said it, a subtle undertone that felt like he was saying more. I felt my pulse quicken, hoping my parents wouldn't notice how I was blushing, how my hands trembled just a little when I reached for my cup. It wasn't really flirting—not out loud—but it was there, beneath the surface, just enough to make my skin tingle.

I nodded, unsure how to respond, ultimately deciding to just stay quiet and not answer.

"Are you thinking about college?" he asked, his voice still casual but his eyes focused on me, searching for more. He wasn't just asking about school. I could tell he was trying to gauge where I was in life, trying to place me on a timeline, a spectrum of maturity that would make this conversation safe—or dangerous.