Forbidden Kiss (Carson Cove Scandals 1)
“Mom!” My head snapped back in surprise.
“I should get to work.” She looked at her watch. “Have a good day. Please make sure your sister gets out the door on time.”
“Will do, I love you, Mom.” I sipped my coffee and smiled.
“Love you too.” She made a quick dash for the door.
I hated lying to my mother but telling her the truth about Bryant seemed more devastating than a little white lie. I definitely didn’t want to compare notes about our love life and hear about Dave or Steve, or whoever she was dating. I assumed it wasn’t that serious since she hadn’t introduced him to us yet. I did miss the closeness we used to have before my father left—just like I missed the connection I used to have with my little sister. My world revolved around art—and my mother’s love of it faded after the divorce—my sister never cared about it to begin with. I felt guilty trying to talk about the stuff I was studying in school—I didn’t even mention the art show to my mother. I knew that would make her think about my father, and all of the family vacations we used to plan around art exhibits.
“Good morning.” Anna walked into the kitchen and immediately started making a bowl of cereal. “Mom is already gone?”
r /> “Yeah, she just left.” I sipped my coffee and nodded.
“Cool.” She sat down across from me. “Why are you up so early? You usually don’t make it downstairs before we leave.”
“I just woke up a little earlier this morning.” I shrugged.
“That’s probably because you weren’t sneaking in the house after midnight.” She grinned and winked at me.
“Yeah, but it sounds like I might not be the only one…” I narrowed my eyes.
“I’ve only missed curfew a couple of times.” She looked down, and I saw her blush—I hadn’t seen her blush in years.
She definitely has a boyfriend—or someone that she’s spending time with.
“Well, if you want to talk about it…” I let my words trail off as soon as I realized I was about to give her the same speech I avoided having with my mother.
“Nope.” Anna shook her head back and forth. “Okay, I need to go to school.”
“You haven’t even finished your cereal.” I raised an eyebrow.
“No time—see you tonight.” She grabbed her books and waved as she walked to the door.
All three of us are dating someone right now, and nobody wants to talk about it—maybe Mom does, but Anna and I aren’t really up for that discussion…
* * *
Later that day
“Hey, Taylor!” One of my friends at school, Melanie, waved at me as I was walking to my next class.
“Hey there, Mel.” I acknowledged her and smiled as she approached. “It feels like I haven’t seen you in weeks…”
“That does tend to happen when you switch majors.” She laughed under her breath.
“How are things going in the Business Management world?” I raised an eyebrow.
“A little more promising than they were in the Art world.” She shrugged. “I already have a couple of job offers—Alcott Inc. is hiring.”
“Oh wow, I’ve heard good things about them.” I nodded.
Being an art major doesn’t exactly bring the job offers to you—maybe I should start looking so that I don’t spend months trying to find something after graduation.
“We should hang out and catch up. It’s been a while…” She shifted as a couple of students came walking by at a hurried pace. “Are you doing anything after school?”
“Just working on my assignments.” I nodded. “Like every other day.”
“Want to go stare at cute guys with me?” She batted her eyelashes.