WADE* Connor called and let me know what had gone down at the office. I was enraged at the fact that Aaron had hurt my baby girl. Taylor always has and will forever be mine. It's been so hard to stay away from her over the years, and it's been torture working with her over the last seven years. That's the main reason why I rarely work at the office. Unless I have paperwork to catch up on, I usually take my work home with me. Blaze doesn't care just as long as it gets done. I've tried my hardest to fuck Taylor out of my system through the years, but nothing works. No woman has ever matched up to Taylor. Connor and I should have said fuck it and stayed her friend anyway, but we let her go. Now she's in a fucked up relationship where she is being abused, and I want to put my hand through a wall. Preferably Aaron's face if I knew where the fucker was. "I'm here to check in on Taylor Mason; she was brought in about thirty minutes ago or so," I asked the cute nurse behind the desk. "Are you family because two women already went with her, and I can't allow anyone else to go to her room unless they are family. One of the other two would also need to leave," She said as she twirled her hair around her finger, bit her bottom lip, and trailed her gaze up and down my body. "No, she's an employee. She got hurt at work, and I'm here to pay her bill and to check on her," I said as I pulled out my wallet. "You will need to wait until her visit goes through insurance and receive a bill and come back," "Can I see Taylor, or can you give me any information on how she is doing?" "Only family members are allowed information about patients, sorry, but if you give me your name and go wait in the waiting room, I can come to get you when she has been released," Fuck me, all I wanted to do was see Taylor; I just wanted to know if she was alright. I lied about her getting hurt at work so that maybe I would have some wiggle room on seeing her. I could sense this woman wasn't going to back down. I handed her my business card and told her to have Taylors bill mailed to the office, and we flirted for a little bit until I heard Taylor's voice behind me. I turned around and saw her talking to Vega and Lyra, but she looked at me with disappointment edged on her face. Of course, she would come out when I was flirting with yet another random chick. 'I want you and only you, but I can't have you, so I have to take what I can get, baby girl, sorry,' I thought to myself as I walked up to the three of them. "Why are you here?" Taylor said annoyance written all over her face. "I came by to check on you and make sure you were alright. Connor called me to let me know you had been hurt," I said as I glanced back and forth between Taylor, Vega, and Lyra. You would think that Taylor was Lyra and Vega's older sister or something by the similarities of Taylor's appearance with Vega and Lyra. On the exception that Taylor is only about 5'2 in height and weighs maybe a hundred pounds, those two are 5'7 and weigh what one twenty-five. "Why the hell do you care? You have never cared before? I'm fine. I had to get some stitches. I've got to get back to work. See you around," Taylor walked off dismissively, and Vega and Lyra shrugged their shoulders and took off after her. "Taylor wait," I said as I caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Taylor flinched, turned, and took a swing at me. "What was that for?" Taylor missed hitting me only by a mere inch. What had I ever done to her? "You and Connor need to leave me alone. I dont know what game you two are playing, but I'm engaged, I'm happy, and I dont need either one of you. I haven't needed either of you since eighth grade. You both ditched me, you were my only friends, and you both acted like you didn't even know me when I got to High School up to now," Taylor barked and turned to leave again. "Taylor, that was seventeen years ago, and Connor and I only did that because your dad asked us to leave you alone; that's a discussion for another time. But Connor and I have always cared for you," "Well, you guys have had a funny way of showing it by staying away from me like I've got the plague. Leave me alone, Wade, you and Connor both," Taylor screamed and ran out the door. Vega and Lyra both scowled at me and took off after Taylor. I looked around, and several people had taken in the scene. "What" I yelled, went to my bike, put my helmet on, and went for a long ride down a winding country road where I could let loose of some of the rage going on inside of me. It was either that or put a sledgehammer through some drywall, and I didn't want to add getting fired on my list of shit that's happened today. Connor thought me going to check up on her would be a good idea since he had already passed her off, but now I see Taylor hates our guts. I have no idea what either of us is supposed to do to change that, but we need to figure something out quick before that asshole hits her again or seriously injures her somehow. Taylor needs to know that we are here and won't let anything bad happen to her. I dont know if I can just be friends with Taylor, though, but I know I have to try and stay away from her in the process. Blaze would have my ass otherwise, and I live my job. Taylor is forbidden territory, which honestly makes me want her even more. I miss Taylor, though, I always have. *** "So, were you able to talk to Taylor at all?" Connor asked as he walked into the living room where I was staring into space, drinking a beer. "Sort of, but it didn't go too well. She took a swing at me and caused a scene in front of a whole room of people. She's extremely pushed off at the both of us," I said as I took a swig from my beer. "We can't touch her, but we can be her friends. We need to find a way; she needs us," Connor said as he walked over to the refrigerator to grab himself a beer. "Well, according to her, she doesn't and wants us to leave her alone," I said as I grabbed the remote and turned the television on. I was growing tired of this conversation. "It's time we all sit down and have a chat. We all need to put the past behind us and move on," Connor said as he sat in his chair. "And how do you think we'll have a chance to do that, huh, Mr. Optimistic. Let's talk more about it later. I need to unwind and think about something else for a while," ***TAYLOR*** "You had to get stitches; I didn't notice that it looked that bad this morning when I saw it?" Aaron asked as he examined my eye. When he touched me, I flinched—a natural reaction for someone getting touched by someone who had raped her. I couldn't help it, man; why is Aaron home? I wish he would just leave. Aaron stepped back from me and shook his head. "Did I do that?" "No, I fell into the wall," I said, and Aaron grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. By instinct, I threw my hands up to protect my face. "I did do that, didn't I. You have been acting strange since this morning. What did I do, Taylor? Don't lie to me; you know how much I hate lies," Aaron said as he tried to hug me, but I pushed him away. "Ok. You want to know what you did. You ripped my clothes off, called me an ugly whore, tripped me, and I fell into the wall, and then you raped me in the ass. Is that the truth you wanted to hear? Can you just leave me alone? You promised you wouldn't drink anymore; I'm surprised you didn't get alcohol poisoning," I screamed at Aaron, and he blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, Taylor, I was drunk; I dont remember anything. But I asked you not to go out, and you did anyway. It pissed me off, so I got some booze. Maybe if you'll do what I ask from now on, this sort of thing won't happen again," Aaron said, and he grabbed his keys and left. What happened last night was all my fault. Aaron has been under so much pressure here lately. I shouldn't have provided him. We can get past this; it won't happen again. I know Aaron, and I can be happy.