Double Crossed(Jardougall)

4. Ride

I wake up with a hollow ache in the pit of my stomach. I’m not sure when it made a home there, but for as long as I can remember it’s been sleeping inside of me. There are times when I don’t feel it at all; those are always the best days. But most of the time I can feel it grow bigger and bigger, swallowing more and more of me.

One day I’ll disappear.

But that day is not today. So for now I slip off the hood of my car and lean back far enough to hear the joints in my back pop. I groan, walking inside on stiff legs. When I get inside Tay is scrambling around the house, moving quickly and piling things in her arms.

“Tay?” I question when she runs past me.

“I have to take a shower!” she yells, skidding to a stop when she gets to the doorway, turning to look at me, “Come shower with me.” I nod and follow her out of the room. We both strip quickly when we enter the bathroom, rushing to get under the warm water. Tay has her back to me, the water sprays on her chest. I smile and lean forward and kiss where her neck meets her shoulder. She leans her head the other way, giving me more room to kiss her. She sighs leaning back against me.

“No funny business,” She says, turning around to face me and pulling me under the water, “I almost forgot I was in a rush.”

“But I’d be an amazing distraction,” I say, smirking at her. She smiles and sticks her tongue out at me.

“Shut up,” she laughs, grabbing the shampoo bottle and handing it to me, “Shampoo me.”

“You just use me for my bathing skills,” I say, lathering the gel into her hair.

“Why do you think I asked you to move in with me?” She says, moving under the water so I can wash it out.

“And here I thought you were in love with me. Should I give the ring back?” I ask, leaning down to grab a bottle of conditioner.

“Nah think of it as payment for all the years of shampooing you’re going to have to do,” she says, squirming as I pull my fingers through her hair.

“Glad to hear you’re planning on keeping me around,” I say. The white cream begins to to wash out, making her hair softer.

“Eh, just the rest of my life or so,” She says. When she’s done she steps out of the shower, leaving me to quickly wash my own hair. By the time I get out she’s already dressed and ready to go. I have the towel wrapped around my torso, my hair dripping and sticking to my face. When Tay sees me she rushes over, gripping my face hard and kissing me quickly.

“I’ll see you tonight okay?” She says, leaning back to smile at me. I raise an eyebrow.

“Where are you going?” I ask, fingers playing with the top of her skirt. She moves a little closer to me, rubbing her thumb along my cheekbone.

“I have a second interview with Angela,” She says. As much as I hate to say it, I can feel the muscles in my stomach tighten. I shouldn’t feel like this, Tay had just met her. And it’s not like she would ever do anything like that. Ever. It still upsets me though.

But this isn’t about me. This about Tay and the fact that she’s about to get her dream job. I won’t let anything ruin that, not even me. So I smile at her, forcing the corners of my lips to lift.

“That’s great!” I say. “Do you think you’re going to get it?”

“Well...I don’t want to jinx it but...” she trails off, pulling back to look at me, “I think I have a pretty good shot at getting it.”

“I’m positive you’ll get it,” I whisper kissing her on the cheek before turning her around in my arms and pushing her out the door. “But not if you’re late!”