<b>Chapter Seven</b>
<i>for a moment
your eyes open
and you know
all the things i ever wanted you to
know</i>
Somehow
Taegan managed to put off her talk with Michael for another two days. She spent one day sleeping, and the second
day she avoided Adriana completely by waking up early and going to MGM by
herself. Granted, it wasn’t as fun as it
would have been if she’d gone with Adriana, but she knew Adriana would bug her
about talking to Michael. She
would. She just wasn’t ready yet.
But the
longer she put it off the less time she had.
She and Adriana would be leaving in a few days. And who knew what would happen then.
She
finally decided to get it over with. The
worst that could happen was he could tell her he never wanted to see her again
and she wouldn’t talk to him for the rest of the time she was there.
The
problem was that just the thought of that made her so upset she nearly burst
into tears.
Taegan sat
nervously in the Grand Floridian Café that morning, with only two left of her
stay, waiting for Michael to show up.
She felt bad making him come halfway across Disney World, but he’d
agreed. When she’d spoken to him, she
thought he’d sounded anxious to talk with her.
She couldn’t imagine why.
She stood
up when she saw him come in. He was
staring at his sneakers. “Hi,” she said
when he approached her. They hugged
awkwardly and sat in an awkward silence punctuated by even more awkward small
talk until they’d ordered and been served their breakfasts. Taegan cut a piece of pancake and speared
it. She took a deep breath and
spoke. “Thank you for coming.”
“No
problem.”
“I want to
apologize.”
He looked
up. “What for?”
“For everything. The other
night, especially. I was forceful
and I’m sorry that I pushed you into something you didn’t want to do. I was jealous of Addy and Aaron and I just
wanted to feel like I belonged.”
“I thought
you didn’t remember that night?”
“I
did. Not all of it. Just what happened between us. I’m sorry, Michael. I know you probably wish I didn’t remember
what happened when I showed up at your hotel, but I do. I know you probably just want to forget it
ever happened, forget about me, and move on.
The thing is...it meant a great deal to me. Some of what I said that night was the
ramblings of a drunk woman, but some of it was true.”
“Taegan.”
“Look, the
thing is, I really like you. And I’ve
liked you since we met at the
“Taegan.”
“But I
can’t pretend it didn’t happen because it really meant something to me, you
know? Like, even though I was completely
trashed, I remembered that. Because it
wasn’t something I did just because I was drunk, you know? Ok, yes, I did do it because I was drunk, and
I wouldn’t have done it were I sober, but I...
Shit.”
“Taegan.”
“Hang on, I have to think of where I was going with that.”
“Taegan.” She finally looked up. Michael was watching her with a small smile
on his face. “It’s ok.”
“It’s ok?”
she repeated.
“Yes.” Michael looked down at his plate and ate a
bit of his waffle. When he spoke, it was
more to his plate than to her. “If I’d
really wanted to stop you I could have.
I <i>would</i> have.”
She could
only stare at him. He looked up a second
later and smiled when he saw the look on her face. A squeaky “What?” was all she could manage.
“Yeah. Um. I felt like I had to be the good guy, do the
right thing, you know. You were
completely trashed, but Jesus, Taegan. I
don’t want you to hate me or think I’m a slime ball or anything, but you are a
very attractive woman.”
She
blushed. Neither of them said anything
for a few minutes. They ate in silence,
stealing glances at each other when they were sure the other wasn’t
looking. Taegan felt a small smile creep
onto her face. She looked up at him and
found him watching her. Embarrassed, she
looked away, but she could still feel Michael staring at her. “What?” she asked, feeling uncomfortable and
self-conscious under his gaze.
“I was
just thinking. I know what you
meant. When you were
rambling.”
“I
wasn’t... Ok, fine, I was.”
He smiled. “What you said about not doing it because you
were drunk. I knew where you were
going. Because I would
have said the same thing.”
“That you
really did do it because you were drunk?”
“Well,
that, and that I wouldn’t regret it. And
I would have remembered it. Because I’d been wanting to touch you for a week.”
“Why
didn’t you?”
“I thought
it would be too fast. It was too fast
for me, so I figured it must be for you.
But that was why I let you come in and I didn’t stop you at any time I
could have. Because I wanted it as much
as you seemed to. Taegan...” He paused.
“You’re not... pregnant, are you?”
His expression turned into one of concern and worry. She knew it wasn’t just for her, but for him
as well.
“No. Not pregnant.
Nothing else, either. I was–”
“I know,”
he said. “You may have been drunk, but I
wasn’t. But how are you not
pregnant? I didn’t use anything.”
“I’m on
the pill. It’s
ok, we’re ok. We can just forget about
it and move on if that’s what you want.”
They’d finished their meal, and Taegan picked up the tab. “It’s the least I can do,” she said. They left the restaurant and went outside to
walk around a little bit. Both were
getting antsy and restless.
“That’s
not what I want,” Michael said after an awkward silence.
“What?”
she asked, confused.
“I don’t
want to forget about it. Here, sit
down,” he said. They sat down on a
ledge, and he took a deep breath. “Look,
Taegan, here’s the bottom line. I like
you. A lot. And while I kind of wish you hadn’t been
drunk, I don’t regret what happened. I
hope you don’t regret it, either, but that’s your call.”
Taegan
looked at him. This was completely
different from what she thought he would say.
“Really?”
“Really. And frankly – very frankly – if I’m being
perfectly honest–” he looked around and stopped talking when a couple of little
kids walked by “–I’d rather like to have sex with you again.”
Taegan’s
jaw dropped. “You- You <i>do</i>?”
Michael
nodded.
Taegan
stood up and took a couple of steps. She
turned around and pointed at him. “Am I
in the Twilight Zone?” she asked.
He
chuckled. “No, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
“Because
ten minutes ago, I thought you were going to hate me and tell me to bugger off
and leave you the hell alone. And now
you’re telling me basically the exact opposite?” She sat down again.
“Taegan, I
really like you. And I know that what I
said sounded bad, but I’d like to do other things with you besides just having
sex all day.”
Taegan
grinned. “I think you could have been
the reason for the
“I was
<i>fifteen</i>!” he
exclaimed. Taegan waggled her eyebrows
at him and he laughed. “We’re ok?” he
asked.
“Yes,
we’re ok.” She reached up and kissed him
on the cheek. Then she pulled back and
looked at her hands. “Um. I realized something the other day. In the Animal Kingdom. And it was part of the reason I came on to
you the other night.” She glanced at him
and saw the look on his face. “Ok, fine,
it’s the reason I seduced you while I was completely drunk.” Michael laughed, and then got serious.
“What is
it?”
“Well, I
don’t know if this is too fast, or too weird for you to hear, but um... I think
I love you,” she said quietly. She
looked at her feet, which she was kicking against the side of the wall on which
they were sitting. Michael put a finger
under her chin and titled her face up to meet his.
“Me too,”
he said before he kissed her.
They had
to pull away after a second for fear of going too far too fast. And outside. “Do you want to come upstairs?” Taegan asked.
Michael
nodded and kissed her nose. Gripping his
hand, Taegan led him to her hotel room and went to put the key in the lock.
She jumped
backwards and dropped the key on the floor when she heard a moan from inside.
“Good
Lord! They’re like a couple of bunnies!”
she said.
“We can
always go back to my place,” he said.
She looked
up at him and grinned. “That’s a pretty
good idea.” He leaned down and kissed
her smiling face and they headed off down the hall to the entrance of the hotel,
unable to keep their hands off each other.