The Tangles of My Heart

I was about to kiss Taylor, but the next thing I knew, the entire left side of my face stung and felt like it was on fire. “Did you really have to slap me?!” I demanded, grimacing as my eyes watered in pain.

“Don’t do that again,” Taylor muttered, shoving past me and getting out of the house.

She obviously expected me to follow, so I did, albeit reluctantly. Her house was so cute and homey. I wonder how long she’s lived here.

“I am in pain,” I huffed as I got into the passenger seat of her car.

Taylor silently started her engine, not once looking over at me. She even started driving before I got a chance to buckle up.

“You started smoking again?” I asked accusingly, wrinkling my nose at the acrid odor emerging from the very fabric of her car. Not to mention there was a lighter and a pack of cigarettes in her cup holder. “That’s really fucking bad for you, you know.”

Taylor said nothing to me at all, so I took the quiet car ride as an opportunity to – well – check her out. Damn it to hell, she was prettier than I remember. She was wearing a two piece under some jean shorts and a tank top and slipped on some shades as we left her subdivision. She had such a lovely tan, and now her dark brown hair had hints of red in it. She was leaner than I remember and it looked like she worked out a lot. But I just now noticed that she had a wrist brace on her left wrist.

“What’s wrong with your hand?” I asked at a stoplight I recognized. I didn’t have much time with her left. Why did I waste it in silence?

Taylor glanced at her wrist momentarily. “Chronic carpal tunnel,” she said right as she pulled up to the front of the hotel we were staying in. “Take care of yourself, Jack,” I heard her say softly as she unlocked her car, waiting for me to get out.

But I didn’t budge. “Taylor, talk to me. Tell me why you lied to me about Warren.” She swallowed hard as her grip tightened on her steering wheel. “Why did you feel the need to lie to me in the first place?”

“Would you just…” Taylor trailed off, rolling her eyes when she looked out my window.

I frowned and followed her gaze, but the minute I did, I wanted to slump down so I wasn’t visible. Holly was running out to the car, Zack on her heels. She opened my door, too. “Jack, sweetie! I was so worried about you! Where were you last night? What happened to you? Oh my god, you look like a lobster!” Holly went on and on, trying to touch me, but I pushed her away. She looked so hurt, but that didn’t even faze me.

“The sunburn hurts,” I explained, slowly getting out of Taylor’s car.

But Holly didn’t fucking hear me, because the minute I was standing outside of Taylor’s car, she hugged me and babbled on about how much she missed me.

Zack scooted around us to talk to Taylor. I craned my neck to look back at her, and saw that she was…crying. That silent cry that she was always so good at – face expressionless as salt water slowly trailed down her cheeks. I knew she still felt something for me!

I peeled Holly’s arms off me and turned around, but Taylor was already driving off. “Who was that, sweetie? Gosh, I forgot to thank her for bringing you back safe and sound!”

Zack shoved his hands deep inside his pockets as he began to walk back into the hotel. “Zack, wait up!” I called, my face distorted in pain as I ran to catch up to him. “What did she say to you? Zack, what the fuck did she say?”

“She wouldn’t talk to me. She was too busy crying,” Zack snapped, shrugging me off and walking to the elevators by himself.

I threw my head back and sighed loudly. I was tired of moving. Moving hurt. My sunburned skin was stretched so tight over my scrawny body. “Jack?” Holly said my name uncertainly, right behind me.

“Good to see you, Holls,” I muttered, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her temple. Holly’s face absolutely lit up. When I thought about it, I never felt anything when it came to Holly. I didn’t even feel guilty when I cheated on her or made her cry. What a fucking douche bag I am.

Taylor…Taylor was a different story. Seeing her again made me feel everything I ever felt for her all over again. I was trying really hard not to, though. I wanted an explanation from her first.

“Who was that girl?”

“A friend of Zack’s that gave me a ride. No need for you to worry.”

“Ok, well…do you wanna go grab a bite to eat or something? Everyone left, except for Zack and me. He said you were coming, so I wanted to wait for you, and…yeah…”

What...Zack said I was coming? So then...He's been talking to Taylor, hasn't he? I'd have to figure out what was going on between them later.

“Aw, thanks for waiting for me, Holls. But, actually, I’m not feeling so great… can we just order room service? I don’t wanna fucking move.”

Holly laughed and nodded, taking my hand and walking slowly with me to the elevator. She ordered room service while I took a shower. Even the water hitting my skin hurt, but I needed to wash off that slimy shit that Taylor rubbed all over me. After my agonizing shower, I gingerly got dressed and flopped onto the bed with a sigh.

“Holls?”

“Yeah, sweetie?”

“Could you do me a favor and run to, like, a grocery store or something and pick up a shitload of…lidocaine?” I asked, hoping I pronounced that right. “It’d really help my sunburn not hurt so much.”

“Oh, of course! I’ll be back as soon as I can, Jack,” Holly assured me before running off.

The second she was gone I sat up and grabbed my Macbook, plugging in the flashdrive I swiped from Taylor’s house. When I opened it up, there were a lot of PDFs and official looking documents. There were also some scans of blueprints, which made me grin. They were dated very recently, too. Perfect.

She had to come and see me again if she ever wanted this back.