% CHAPTER 22 %

Taylor beat Luca every time. And I beat her a couple. She was actually really good.

"Bye guys," Luca yells and shuts the door.

I sigh. It's just me and Taylor again. What to do...

"We should go to the beach," Taylor says suddenly.

I look at her in shock. "The beach is three hours away. If we went, we'd have to sleep there."

She shrugs. "I'm okay with skipping another day." Then she turns to me quickly and winces. "Oh sorry you have a life too. I'm probably holding you up."

I smile gently. "It's okay. It's only two days in a year. We'll go okay?"

She nods before it gets silent for a moment again. "What are we going to do?" She asks after that silence. "It's not even Spring yet."

I shrug. "We'll figure it out."

We sit in silence even longer. "So let's get ready then," she says and then she's off.

I hear her door close upstairs before walking up to my room. After changing and putting a shirt on, I head downstairs and grab the sun lotion. The UV rays are still there, no matter how little.

Taylor is downstairs, dressed in something other than her pajamas. She's holding a bag in her hand.

"So what hotel are we staying at?" She asks.

"What?"

"What hotel are we staying at?"

I look down at the floor. "I haven't thought of that yet, but something away from the beach. I'm pretty sure the rooms are more expensive the closer to the water we are."

She nods. "Yeah. Could you make it with two beds please? I don't feel comfortable..." Taylor trails off.

"I get it Tay." I smile gently, to both myself and to her. I finally get to call her Tay. I've always wondered what it felt like, giving a nickname to her. It's pretty nice.

We go outside and get in the car, throwing our bags in the back. Then the drive begins.

About an hour and a half later, Taylor is sound asleep in her seat. Her feet are curled up in the cushions and her hair whips around in the breeze.

I stop the car and get a blanket out of the back before covering her up tight and snug. I get back in the car and push on.

Thirty minutes later, Taylor wakes up. I decide then is a good time to stop at a gas station.

I park the car at a 7/11 and get out. While filling up the gas, I open Taylor's door.

"Come on. Let's go inside."

Taylor follows slowly behind, still a little tired, but waking up fast. I grab a couple of snacks at the counter and pay for the gas.

"Doritos!" Taylor exclaims right when I'm about to pay for the food. "Can I get some please?" She asks, pleading with her beautiful blue eyes. I never could resist her eyes.

"Sure."

She grabs the blue Doritos bag and sets it on the counter. The clerk rings it up.

"Four eighty five," the woman says. I pull out a five and we swap the cash. "Fifteen cents is your change. Here is your receipt."

We get back in the car and Taylor starts munching on her chips. "Want one?" She asks.

I nod and she hands me a chip. I've always liked the Nacho Cheese kind as a kid, but the Cool Ranch actually feels good because it tastes refreshing.

Finally, we arrive at the beach. It's four o'clock. We still have some time on our hands.

Walking along the shore has always been very calming to me. I grab Taylor's hand and drag her along.

"Come on Tay! Let's go."

Her expression turns playful and she laughs. It's a care free laugh, one so beautiful and unforgettable, its now forever in my mind. It sounds like soft bells clinking together, creating a harmonious tune. I smile back at her.

We run around on the beach, feeling the cool water on our feet, but we never dare to go in.

"Let's race!" Taylor squeals.

She takes off her pants and shirt, revealing her bathing suit. It's an orange and white bikini. I can only look for a second though because she'd bust my head open if she caught me. I take off my shirt and together we run across the sand, laughing and playing around with each other.

We run around until Taylor lands with a splat in the shallow water. She bursts out in a fit of giggles and pulls me down next to her.

"Aw now my trunks are soaked!" I still laugh.

"My bottoms are soaked!" She exclaims.

I give her a stern look. "Now now dear you didn't need to tell me that way. If you have more than one bottom-"

"Lame!" She yells out. I stick my tongue out at her. She just rolls her eyes. "You're silly."

"I am."

She smiles gently and throws water at me. I throw some back.

"Hey hey! No need to attack me!" She gets up slowly. "But now since you're wet..."

She quickly picks up some damp sand and hits the center of my chest. It rolls down the front of my chest slowly. I wipe it off and look back at her. It's like her eyes are frozen on my abs. Did she just now realize I had abs? Because if she did, that is some bull. I have worked very hard to maintain those. She shouldn't be noticing just now!

I smirk anyways. "Like what you see?"

Taylor's face doesn't even turn red when she looks back at my face. "Oh please. I've seen better."

My mouth almost pops open, but I grit my teeth together. She did not just say she's seen better... She couldn't have said that.

Just then an idea pops in my head. "Oh really?" I ask.

And that's when I run towards her and tackle her on the shore before she can even so much as blink.

The pulses tingle throughout my skin as I feel her body under mine. Her hair gets wet immediately. I can feel her laughing underneath me. I start laughing too and get off a little so she can breathe. Bad idea.

Sand is smacked on my face. I scowl while Taylor laughs her head off.

"Oh my god I wish I had a camera!" She comments at my face. I drop my body on her. She tries pushing me off. "Gosh so heavy!"

"What you feel is all muscle babe."

Taylor scrunches up her face in disgust. "Ew."

We then start laughing, but it dies soon, when we figure out that we're still on each other. I've never felt the pulses this strong before and we're not even kissing. I want to just kiss her, but I can't.

I stare deep into Taylor's eyes, instantly getting lost in them. They're so blue right now. I run my fingers through Taylor's damp hair, smoothing it down away from her face. She blinks and then focuses on something other than my eyes.

I stand and hold out a hand to help her, but she scrambles up without me.

"I think we should be finding a hotel by now. It's probably past six."

We go to the car. It's 6:37. I grab a towel from the back and throw it to her.

"For the seats," I tell her. Then I grab my own towel.

We drive for a little before finding a motel not too close to the beach.

"How much are two bedroom rooms here?" Taylor asks at the counter.

"A hundred seventy eight per night."

I nod. "That sounds about right," I say and hand her my credit card. By the end of the month I'll be able to pay that off.

After she gives us each a room key, we go back outside and grab our things. We then walk back inside and make our way to room 203.

The hotel room is very dark. Even when the lights are turned on, it still looks dim. Taylor turns on all the lamps after she sets down her things. She then falls on her bed, depleted of all energy.

I watch her for a minute before asking, "Aren't you going to change into your pajamas?"

She lifts her head up for two seconds before slowly getting off of the bed and searching through her bag. She then goes to the bathroom. While she's doing that, I just change out there. I'll take a shower tomorrow.

Taylor comes out with a toothbrush in her mouth. She takes it out temporarily to say, "Go brush your teeth."

I get my toothbrush out along with some toothpaste and head to the bathroom. Once we're both done with that, we crawl into our separate beds.

We are both silent, but know we're both awake. Taylor sighs and turns her back away from me. Soon I can hear faint snoring. I smile to myself.

I think about the time on the beach. I had almost kissed her then. I really was thinking of kissing her.

It's then I realize we can't be doing this. We can't let things like this happen. Even if I want to, I can't just dump this Amanda girl right away. Besides, I can kiss Taylor anytime on the set. I could just mess up real quick and then I can kiss her again. That's not cheating because it's in the contract. Besides, Taylor just went through something horrible in her life. She pr badly wants to take a breather from all of that.

At school I can kiss Amanda all I want. It sounds horrible, but that's how a guy's mind works. I can't just leave Amanda out because I like Taylor. Great now I think I like her again. M day is spiraling from being one of the best, to being one of the worst.

I roll around in bed before getting comfortable and finally being able to rest.