Her Teen Dream (23 page)

"Yes," Taylor said. "There have been a few
times when I thought they might split up, but they managed to work
it out, I guess."

"So how long have you lived here?"

"Three years," she replied. "My mom got a job
transfer and my dad went along with it."

"You like it here?" Lex asked curiously.

Taylor could think of plenty of reasons to
say yes and some to say no. "Most of the time," she said,
compromising. "How about you...I mean, so far?"

Lex wanted to say he liked it better in San
Bernardino, but he preferred to keep an open mind. Especially where
she was concerned. "It's okay, I guess."

Taylor met his eyes. "I wrote you a couple of
times after you moved from San Jose, but I never heard back from
you."

Lex cocked a brow. That was news to him. "I
never got any letters from you." He thought about it. "We moved a
lot, so they probably got lost in the shuffle."

Taylor felt better hearing that, but she was
still a little peeved. "Why didn't you call or anything—to let me
know what was going on?"

Lex sighed. It was a perfectly legitimate
question for which he had no real answer. He shrugged. "I was ten
years old. Guess I just thought we'd never see each other again and
wasn't sure you wanted to hear from me."

"Well you were wrong," she told him honestly.
"I thought about you all that summer."

Lex wanted to kick himself for coming across
as heartless, even at such a young age. The reality was, had it
been up to him, they would never have left San Jose and the bond
between him and Taylor might never have been broken.

"Thought about you, too," he admitted.

Taylor had a feeling he was just trying to
make her feel better. "You don't have to say that."

"It's true." Lex gazed at her attractive
face. "We were good together."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a long time
ago."

He thought about their kisses. "It wasn't
that long."

Taylor wished in many respects they could go
back to those innocent days. But that wasn't possible. She had the
feeling there was more on his mind, just as there was on her mind.
And, like her, he probably preferred to keep it to himself.

"Well, I have to get to class," she said,
grabbing her books.

"Yeah, same here." He wished they shared more
than one class.

Taylor saw Blake approaching, causing her
heart to skip a beat. "Kimberly told me I could find you in here,"
he said sharply.

Kimberly Fisher was one of Taylor's friends,
who also happened to be dating Blake's friend and teammate, Dillon
McCrady.

"I came to get a book," Taylor lied, holding
up one she'd checked out earlier.

Blake looked past her at Lex. "What's he
doing here?"

Taylor didn't give Lex a chance to answer.
"This is Lex Haskell. Turns out we knew each other after all in
grade school."

"Hey," Lex said, deciding to make an attempt
to be friendly, though he got the distinct impression the guy had
no desire to be his friend.

Blake nodded. "So what do you want with my
girlfriend?"

"Nothing," Lex answered. "I was just renewing
an old acquaintance."

"Well now that you've renewed it, leave her
alone."

Lex looked at Taylor. "Is that what you
want?"

It wasn't necessarily what she wanted, but
Taylor didn't see the point in them trying to become friends again.
At least not in school.

"Yes, I think it's best," she said, eyeing
Blake.

"There, she said it," Blake voiced
triumphantly. "Hope you got the message loud and clear."

"What's your problem, man?" Lex felt the
unwarranted hostility as thick as ice.

"You are!" Blake spat, getting up in Lex's
face.

Lex didn't back down, feeling like the guy
was definitely invading his space and being aggressive. Normally,
he didn't back down to some jerk basically threatening him. In this
case, it probably wouldn't bode well for any chance he had of at
least becoming friends with Taylor if he got into a fight with her
boyfriend.

Taylor could see that Blake was looking for
trouble. Though bigger than Lex, she feared that he just might get
it. She didn't want to be responsible for either of them getting
hurt. Or herself.

So she grabbed Blake's muscular arm. "Let's
just go."

Blake shook her hand off him, but relented.
"Yeah, let's."

Lex stood there, watching them walk away. He
couldn't believe the Taylor he knew had gotten involved with such a
jerk. Or maybe he didn't really know her very well in spite of
their history.

# # #

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Devon Vaughn Archer is the bestselling author
of adult mainstream and romance fiction and young adult novels. His
teen novels include HIS TEEN DREAM and the upcoming novel, HER TEEN
DREAM: Junior Year. Devon lives in the Northwest, and loves to
travel around the country to meet fans at book signings and
readings. Keep up with or follow Devon on Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, Goodreads, MySpace, and www.devonvaughnarcher.com.

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