The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,96
friends, too, until she and Sierra had broken away from the group and started hanging out alone.
“Caden. What are you doing here?” she asked, closing the door behind her. She hadn’t knocked. Sierra had texted her to say she could let herself in.
He was sitting stiffly on the couch. “Sierra sent me a message,” he said, his words clipped with anger. “Asked me to come.”
“And you did?” Taylor glanced at her friend for an explanation.
“This is probably the only place you two could have any privacy. You wouldn’t want to talk in front of the twins and everyone else—or at home, where your mother or grandmother could walk in.”
Sierra was always looking out for her. Taylor had never known anyone like her. She just understood and tried to help.
Relieved she had the chance to make things right with Caden, that she wouldn’t have to stew about it all day, she offered her friend a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said. “I’m going to take the bike to the store and leave you two alone.”
Sierra grabbed her wallet and went out through the garage, after which they heard the roar of her father’s motorcycle. As she drove away and the sound of the engine dimmed, Taylor wished she was on the back of that bike. But she had to clean up her mess. Caden was obviously still mad. He was glaring at the coffee table and jiggling his leg.
“Caden, I feel terrible about what I’ve done.”
He didn’t even look at her.
“I want you to know that I’m really sorry.”
His leg kept moving, something he did when he was anxious, impatient or angry. She knew which it was today.
“You knew how I felt about Oliver,” he said.
“I did,” she admitted. “I was... I was mad at you or I wouldn’t have done it.”
He scowled as he looked over. “Mad at me? For what?”
“For being okay. For still being able to function normally when I felt like I’d dropped into some alternate reality. It was hard watching you having fun and being normal when I couldn’t get back to the world I’d known.”
“Really? You’re going to use Dad as an excuse?”
She stiffened her spine. “It’s not an excuse. Maybe you’ve been able to continue on just fine since Dad left but, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been drowning over here.”
“So you went out and got yourself knocked up—by a dude I hate?”
She sank onto the closest chair. “I was just trying to feel something, Caden. I know that sounds lame, but it’s the truth.”
“You realize that every time I see my little niece or nephew I’ll think of Oliver.”
“I hope that isn’t the case. What he did to you with Miranda was a dick move, but what I did was even worse. I wish I could take it back—for both our sakes—but I can’t. All I can do is tell you how sorry I am.”
He set his jaw. “I’m going to kick his ass as soon as we get home.”
“Caden, no.” She scooted to the edge of her chair. “If this was his fault, I’d let you. But it was my fault. It never would’ve happened if I hadn’t gone to that party and...and gotten so messed up. I was out of it. He was out of it. And now my life is pretty much over—at least the life I had planned before.”
“You could get an abortion,” he suggested.
She hadn’t even let herself contemplate that option. She didn’t want to have to wrestle with such a big decision, one she might wind up regretting for the rest of her life. But maybe an abortion would be the best thing. “I’m thinking about it.”
“Will you tell Mom if you do?”
“Are you kidding? No. Not if I go that route.”
“When will you tell her you’re pregnant?”
“I was hoping to wait until after the summer was over. These last few weeks—they’re all I’ve got left of my life before it changes forever.”
“Shit, Tay. Why didn’t Oliver use protection?”
“He didn’t have any,” she said with a mirthless chuckle. “Most sixteen-year-old boys don’t walk around with condoms in their pocket. Do you?”
He blushed.
“See what I mean? He didn’t expect what happened.”
“Yeah, well, I’m going to kick his ass, anyway,” he said matter-of-factly. “I should’ve done it when he asked Miranda to prom.”
“What’s happening is bad enough. The last thing you need to do is get expelled from school or picked up by the cops. Think about Mom.”
“I wish you would’ve thought about Mom at that party,” he