Pursuit of Happiness | Taz Skylar [1]

060. bad friend

Taz was sprawled across Zoe's couch when she trudged into her apartment, his laptop balanced across his thighs. Palkia had been curled up between Taz's feet, but she perked up when Zoe came through the door, jumping off the couch and barking excitedly as she ran over to Zoe.

"Hey," Taz greeted, shutting his laptop and setting it on the coffee table in front of the couch. His head peeked over the back of the couch as he smiled at her, looking over just in time to see her toss her keys onto the counter and bend down to ruffle Palkia's ears. "How's Bree?"

Zoe said nothing at first, taking the time to shrug out of her jacket and kick off her shoes she made her way to join him on the couch. Taz started to sit up to make room for her, but Zoe was there before he could move, swinging a leg over his hip so that she could lie her body down over his. Taz immediately relaxed underneath the weight of Zoe's body, reaching down to hook his hands behind her knees so that he could adjust her body until she was settled more comfortably against him. Sighing softly, Zoe rested her cheek against Taz's chest and dragged her hand up his side until her fingers found the silver chain he wore around his neck.

"Bree's pregnant," Zoe said finally, feeling Taz curl one arm around her back so that he could slip his hand underneath the back of her shirt.

Surprise flickered across Taz's eyes, but then he tilted his head down to peer at her, even though she couldn't see him do it. "Why do you sound upset?"

"She took three pregnancy tests, but she still wants to get a blood test done to be sure before she tells Jay. She asked me if I could go with her to the hospital, but I – I can't. I just can't." The guilt had left Zoe briefly once she'd left Jay and Bree's, but it returned then, the image of Bree's disappointed expression flashing through her mind's eye. "Am I being a bad friend?"

Taz was shaking his head before Zoe had even finished asking the question. "No. You're looking after yourself first. That doesn't make you a bad friend."

"I just feel bad," Zoe sighed, feeling Taz rub his thumb back and forth across the patch of skin just above the waistband of her jeans. "Bree's always been there whenever I've needed her. I just want to be able to be there for her, too, but I can't even do that."

Taz turned his head to rest his lips against Zoe's forehead so that when he talked, his lips brushed her skin. "You'll have other chances to be there for her. Just not this time."

Zoe closed her eyes and nodded her head slowly, her heart heavy in her chest. "I just . . . I wish I wasn't like this. I wish I was strong enough that I could just . . . do it."

Taz reached down to adjust Zoe's body again, pulling her up until she was hovering over him, her hands pressed against the armrest on either side of his head to keep herself up and her knees resting against the couch on either side of his hips. Once she was where he wanted her, Taz brought his hands up to cup her face, his palms smoothing across her cheeks tenderly.

"You're making sure that you're okay before you try helping anyone else," Taz said, his blue eyes tender as he looked up at her, her brown hair falling around her face like a waterfall, tickling the backs of his hands. As he grazed his thumb back and forth across her cheekbone, he added, "There's strength in that, too."

Taz saw the change in Zoe's eyes when his words struck the chord that he'd been looking for, watching in real time as that self-loathing that he'd been hearing in her voice was dislodged. It softened the hazel colour of her eyes, smoothing out the lines that her guilt had etched into her face across the day.

"I love you," Zoe whispered.

Taz opened his mouth to respond, but then Zoe was leaning down and putting her lips over his, swallowing his words in her kiss. Taz's hands left Zoe's cheeks as he kissed her, one hand brushing her hair back from her face while the other reached down to grip her waist, pulling her closer until every curve in Zoe's body was pressed against every dip in Taz's own body, as if she was made to be there.

"I want to tell Jay about us," Taz blurted when Zoe's mouth left his, opening his eyes to look up at her. Surprise parted Zoe's lips and she sat up, resting back on her heels. Taz followed her, shifting her so that he could sit up, still keeping her in his lap. "I love you and it's about time I started acting like it."

Zoe leaned closer, the tip of her nose knocking against Taz's as her chest swelled with her love for him, the same way it did whenever he said things like that. "You don't have to prove anything to me."

"I know," Taz replied, settling his hands into the curve of her waist. "But I want to take you somewhere and I can't do that if I don't tell him. He'll probably figure it out on his own once he realizes that I've taken you out of the country and that will piss him off more than anything else."

Interest danced in Zoe's eyes, so much so that Taz wasn't entirely sure that she heard him about Jay. "Where are you taking me?"

Taz smiled up at her, kissing the corner of her mouth. "It's a surprise."

"I can't pack if I don't know what I'm packing for," Zoe pointed out.

For a moment, Taz attempted to poke holes in that logic, trying to find anything that would let him keep his plans from her until they got there. When Zoe's logic held up against any possible excuses that Taz could think of, he took one of her hands from where it had settled on his stomach and pressed his palm to hers, his fingers curling around the back of her hand.

"I never got to take you Tenerife," Taz said, bringing Zoe's hand up to his lips so that he could kiss the rose tattooed across the back of it. "I want to take you before we get too close to the wedding and we don't have any time anymore."

Zoe was smiling when Taz looked up at her, one of those rare ones that reached all the way to her eyes. She didn't say anything, but she leaned in and kissed him again with so much pressure that it felt as if she was going to leave bruises on Taz's lips. Nevertheless, he was kissing her back, tugging her so close that when he breathed, he could feel her breathing with him.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Taz laughed when Zoe's mouth left his, her lips dancing across his jaw and down the side of his neck. Zoe's only answer was to nod against the side of Taz's neck, feeling her smile against his skin.