You Irritate Me // Joe Camel (Chapter 13)

There were few times in her life when Kinsey could have said that she was at a loss for words, but as she threw open the door to their place and stomped inside, her stilettos pounding into the hardwood floors, she couldn’t think of a single word to say to express her thoughts. So, she did the best she could and simply decided to scream angrily at the top of her lungs. It rang throughout the entryway and as the sound settled, she heard movement in the kitchen and made her way there, storming through the hallway like a woman possessed.

“Kinsey?” Isaac called out, sounding incredibly worried as he stepped in her path. He didn’t concern her at the moment, however, so she brushed past him and continued inside where she found Taylor and Zac eating dinner.

“What’s the matter?” Zac asked hesitantly, not at all liking the seething look and intense glare that was present on his best friend’s face.

“I’m going to kill you,” Kinsey practically growled, her eyes boring into the side of Taylor’s head as he sat there eating his spaghetti and ignoring her angry entrance.

“What?” he asked, finally looking at her and not seeming the least bit surprised by her state of fury.

“What’s going on?” Isaac asked, stepping up beside Kinsey and looking back and forth between their faces. Kinsey looked like she was planning to rip off Taylor’s appendages one by one and Taylor was smiling amusedly like someone provoking a declawed kitten just to see how cute it would look when angry.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” she asked angrily.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he stated and turned back to his plate only to find that Kinsey had stepped forward quickly and shoved his plate across the table out of his reach.

“The flowers, you jackass. I’m talking about the flowers.” He continued to play dumb and reached for his plate again only to have Kinsey smack his hand.

“Care to fill us in?” Isaac asked.

“Tyler sent me flowers today and had them sent here, but he got a phone call around two from the florist saying that some blonde guy at the address he’d given them had told them that no one named Kinsey Jackson lived here,” Kinsey said, the volume of her voice raising with each word she spoke.

“Why did you do that?” Isaac asked Taylor.

“They were orchids,” Taylor said as if that response cleared everything up for everyone.

“So?!” Kinsey spat.

“You’re allergic to orchids,” Taylor stated, “I did you a favor.”

“They were a gift!”

“Some gift, too,” Taylor said, “That was some big and expensive arrangement of flowers. Must have been one hell of a blowjob to earn you that.” Kinsey lunged at him, but Zac stepped forward and caught her by the elbows to pull her back before she could do something she would later regret.

“You had no right to send them away!” she said, shrugging Zac off and crossing her arms over her chest.

“It was supposed to be a joke. So lighten up,” Taylor rolled his eyes and successfully pulled his plate back in front of him.

“It wasn’t funny!”

“What do you want me to say? What do you want from me other than to sit here so you can yell at me for awhile?” Taylor asked, now abandoning his plate by choice and standing to face her.

“Oh gee, I don’t know. Maybe a simple fucking apology would be nice!”

“I think we both know that’s never going to happen,” he stated, crossing his arms to match hers. They just stood there glaring at each other for several seconds before Isaac stepped up to them.

“Are you two going to kill each other?” he asked.

“I haven’t ruled it out,” Kinsey said through gritted teeth.

“Well, if you do, don’t get any blood on anything. We’re going to a movie,” he said, sighing and nudging Zac who looked just as irritated as he did. They grabbed their coats from the rack by the door and went out talking about how ridiculous it was both that Taylor had done that and also how they thought that Kinsey was overreacting quite a bit. Without saying a word to each other, they had seemed to agree that getting away from Taylor and Kinsey was the best option to maintain their sanity. Ever since Taylor and Kinsey had started arguing on a regular basis, they had always solved their problems by fighting until they were red in the face or in the case of lesser arguments, when someone had intervened. Since it was clear that an intervention was not a viable solution in this case, they simply decided to keep their plan to go see a movie and leave the fighting duo to their own devices.

“Now that they’re gone we can get to the real point,” Kinsey said.

“Which is?” Taylor asked.

“Why are you being such a jealous freak? You are not my boyfriend, Taylor Hanson!”

“I’m very well aware of that. And thank god. I couldn’t afford to date you if every time we had sex I had to buy you a ridiculously huge arrangement of flowers.”

“He didn’t buy me flowers because we had sex!”

“Then why did he? Hm?” Taylor asked, “Didn’t you say that he had sent you flowers yesterday? Flowers two days in a row? A little excessive if you ask me.”

“Well I didn’t ask you, so just keep your opinions to yourself and stop avoiding my question,” she shouted, “Why are you acting so jealous?”

“I’m not!” Kinsey took a step forward and started counting off his infractions on her fingers.

“Let’s see. First you tried to psych me out before my first date with him by telling me that he was going to think it was weird that I lived with three guys. Then, you acted like a complete dillhole the whole time he was here to pick me up. You were sitting up waiting for me to get back from my first date and gave me a bunch of shit because he hadn’t kissed me goodnight. Then, you told me that my dress was slutty before my second date with Tyler and now this with the flowers?”

“You sure have given this a lot of thought,” he countered, “Why the hell do you even care what I think about you and Tyler?”

“I don’t!” she said, and she felt the words she couldn’t say bubbling up behind her lips. There was no way that she could spill the true source of her anger to him no matter how much he cornered her or how angry he made her, “And stop avoiding my question!”

“Fine. I’m not jealous. I just don’t understand why you’re getting all up in arms about a guy you hardly know and have only been on two dates with. You’ve never been that kind of girl and I don’t know why you’re choosing now to start acting like one.”

“I might really like this guy,” she said.

“You either like him or you don’t. You’ve had two dates and you’ve slept with him. You would know by now if there was potential for staying power or not and instead of just laughing off what I did today and going down to the flower shop with Tyler to pick them up you’re sitting here screaming at me when we both know that’s not the real issue.” His ability to read her was really obnoxious and she felt her eyes clouding over as he moved in closer to the truth.

“It’s the only issue. And, I’m sick of you treating me like shit just because it entertains you, Taylor.”

“If it’s the only issue then why do you look like you’re about to cry? Why not just throw something at me or storm out of the room or something?”

“I’m not going to cry,” she said, but her quavering voice betrayed her and she felt a tear slip from the corner of her eye. Angrily, she swiped it from her face and turned her emotional center back to rage.

“Bullshit,” he taunted, “Now are you going to tell me what the problem is or are we going to stand here and do this for a while longer?”

“FINE!” she yelled, “You want to know what’s wrong with me?”

“I think I’ve already made that pretty clear,” he said, stepping forward and leaving them less than half a foot away from each other as she wound up to deliver the big blow. She knew that she shouldn’t have been preparing to say the words that were forming in her brain, but she also knew that she couldn’t hold them in any longer. Part of her secret she had been holding in for so long she had almost spilled it countless times and now she finally let it come out.

“You are what’s wrong with me, Taylor. You,” she started, “After Tyler got the phone call from the florist today, he came into my office and closed my door and told me the story, ending in a near damned tirade about how he didn’t understand why I was stringing him along when there was obviously something going on between you and I and how he’d been able to tell from the first time he saw the two of us in the same room. He broke it off, Taylor, before we even barely had a chance to start and it is all your god damned fault!”

“Kinsey, I-” he started, looking genuinely upset by what she was saying, but Kinsey cut him off. Now that the flow had started, she had to keep going until her conscience was completely cleared.

“No! You’re going to stand there and listen until I’m done!” she ordered and he backed down immediately, “The worst part of all this is how this isn’t the first time this has happened. Every single guy I’ve ever really liked has broken up with me because of you! It didn’t matter how much I begged or pleaded or reassured them over and over that there was nothing going on between us. None of them have ever believed me.”

“You… you said that had only happened one time and it was because of your friendship with us. With… all of us, not me,” he said, practically stammering.

“I lied!” she cried out, “Of course I lied! I was so fucking embarrassed and confused that I lied! Until very recently, I had never held a single emotion for you other than irritation or friendly caring and these men thought that there was something going on even though all we ever did was bicker. Do you have any idea what that has been like for me? How hard I’ve tried to suppress those thoughts whenever I went out with a new guy? The few who made it past a date or two all broke it off because of my stupid fucked up and annoying non-relationship with you!”

“What am I supposed to do with this information, Kinsey? How could I have possibly done anything about it when you never told me!”

“Just stay away from me!” she yelled before turning to walk away, but Taylor grabbed hold of her wrist just as she was about to walk out the door. Kinsey glared at him and tried to rip her hand from his grasp, but he held her firmly there in the doorway. “Let go of me!”

“No,” he said simply, now taking a step forward and using the weight of his own body to press her against the wall.

“I hate you,” she lied as sternly as she could, trying to ignore the heat developing between her legs at the feeling of his body against hers.

“No, you don’t,” he replied, “And for the record, all of those guys were idiots and any guy who isn’t secure enough in himself to be confident that he was the one for you and not some friend that you fought with regularly doesn’t deserve you anyway. You need more of a man than that and anyone who knows you at all knows that.”

“I thought I told you to keep your opinions to yourself,” she retorted, but her defenses were waning. She was tired of fighting with Taylor. It was exhausting the way he always kept her on her toes.

“Tyler wasn’t good enough for you. I knew that from the first moment I saw him and that was why I was being a jerk.” Kinsey could tell from looking at him that it wasn’t the whole truth, but she was too emotionally drained to pull the answer out of him. But, she did know that at least the first part of his statement was true. If Tyler had really been the right guy for her, he wouldn’t have run away after a little prank. He wasn’t good enough for her and she knew that now.

“I still think you were being a jerk because you were jealous,” she told him, now completely unable to ignore the intoxicating scent of him and the warmth his body was radiating into hers.

“Jealous of what?” he asked incredulously. She shrugged and tested him by attempting to move away. He countered immediately and brought the wrist he still held into the wall above her head with just the right amount of force to keep her held there. Kinsey sucked in a breath at the sensation, finding herself disturbingly turned on by the action.

“You really didn’t have anything to be jealous of,” she said, the words in her mind losing all meaning as she felt him start to stiffen against her lower stomach, “You’re much better… and bigger.”

“Shut up,” he said, obviously feeling uncomfortable at her compliment.

“I would never give fuel to your already massive ego unless I meant it,” she said. She had no idea why she had just told Taylor that, even though it was definitely the truth. Never in their lives had they gone out of their way to boost each other up, but for some reason, she wanted Taylor to have that knowledge. Kinsey had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the growing erection in his jeans and her intense desire to get her hands on it, but she just stared up at him, breathing heavy and waiting for his response.

“Apparently not the only thing that’s massive,” he smirked. She scoffed at his cocky response and tried to push him off her again only to find herself moving backward and slamming into the wall again, “Would you stop trying to get away?”

“Would you stop shoving me around like a caveman?” He just smiled and used his free hand to unbutton and unzip her black slacks, letting them fall down her legs and settle around her ankles. Kinsey finally jerked her hand free of his grasp and frantically tore at his pants until she’d gotten them down enough to release his straining erection from their confines. She stepped out of her shoes and pants and wrapped her arms around his neck as he effortlessly lifted her legs around his waist and filled her almost immediately.

“Are you done being mad at me?” he managed.

“Never,” she moaned. He chuckled lightly and maintained his pace while Kinsey clung on to him.

After they’d finished, they redressed themselves as quickly as they could and went back into the kitchen. Not saying a word to each other, Taylor ate the rest of his now cold spaghetti and Kinsey absently threw a frozen Lean Cuisine in the microwave, her brain too busy and her legs too shaky to cook anything more complex.

“Kinsey-” he started as she took her meal from the microwave.

“Don’t. Please don’t, Taylor,” she sighed before snatching a fork from the drying rack in the sink and heading for the living room. After setting her meal on the coffee table, she sat down on the edge of the couch and started to cry. She had started the day happy after a second successful date with Tyler. Though she had been a little worried about sleeping with him too soon and a bit bothered by the fact that it hadn’t been as good as the sex she had with Taylor, she had still been in a good mood. Then came Tyler’s unseemly accusation which had also put a plethora of terrible thoughts in her mind. If it was so obvious to a near stranger that there was some kind of connection between herself and Taylor, did his brothers know? While most of her wanted to say no because, as she had just blabbed to Taylor, the same thing had happened several times before in her life with different guys and she could not understand why so many people seemed to think that arguing surely meant that there was something else going on under the surface.

But after she’d spent the rest of her work day chewing over those thoughts, she’d been absolutely, furiously angry with Taylor. So how had that all lead up to her having sex with him in the freaking kitchen? The day had been too strange, too emotionally charged, and all she wanted to do was eat her dinner and go to sleep despite the fact that it wasn’t even seven at night yet.

Kinsey decided that her dinner had cooled enough and practically inhaled it before sitting back and waiting for Zac and Isaac to return to their movie. There was no way that Taylor would be coming in to check on her after all that. She heard him pause outside the room for a moment before retreating down into the studio. She didn’t know or care why he was going to do down there. As long as he and all of the confusion that surrounded him was far away, she was happy.

After the ending of her potential relationship with Tyler and the continuing madness that was her fuck buddy status with Taylor, Kinsey was more than thrilled to throw herself headfirst into preparing their place for Brenna’s arrival. The studio had once again been set up with an air mattress and the entire place was spotless by the time Friday night rolled around. They all went out to JFK to pick her up and when she came out to meet them, they were all dumb-struck by what they saw. The always innocent looking Brenna that Kinsey and the guys had seen just a few months prior was gone. What came towards them was a grown-up looking woman with highlighted hair, high heels, and a short and cleavage-showing gray sweater dress.

“Kinsey!” Brenna squealed, proving to them all that it was in fact her.

“Holy shit! Who are you and what have you done with my baby sister?” Kinsey blurted, pulling back from Brenna’s embrace to look at her again. Brenna rolled her eyes, “You’re wearing make up!”

“I’m a girl,” Brenna sighed, “I’m allowed to do that.”

“You’re wearing heels!”

“Again…” Brenna started, putting her hands on her hips.

“I’m sorry! I’m just not used to seeing you look so grown up,” Kinsey said with a smile.

“Had to happen some time. I just happen to live with girls this year who have helped me out a bit.”

“I’ll say,” Kinsey laughed.

“You look great, Brenna,” Isaac said with a smile, stepping in and giving Brenna a hug.

“Thanks Isaac,” she smiled before giving Taylor a hug as well. She walked over to Zac and stopped in front of him. “Hi, Zac.”

“Hi,” he said, obviously a little uncomfortably, before accepting a lingering hug from her. Kinsey rolled her eyes at his discomfort and led the way to the baggage claim once all of the pleasantries had been exchanged.

“When did your sister get cleavage?” Taylor asked her as Zac and Isaac went off with Brenna to retrieve the two enormous suitcases she’d brought along for her three day trip.

“I should castrate you for even noticing. You know that, right?” she retorted.

“Oh, but castrating me would ruin out nightly activities and I know you wouldn’t want that,” he added quickly and softly before they came back up. Kinsey wanted to reply so badly and he could tell, but she was forced to keep her mouth shut at least for a little while longer. They got a taxi van and made their way slowly back to their place through the Friday evening rush hour traffic. Kinsey nagged at Brenna for most of the drive about the terrible timing of her flight and Brenna made sure to repeatedly remind her that she hadn’t been the one to plan the flight in the first place, nor her return flight which left at the exact same time on Monday evening.

Once they had Brenna inside and settled in her makeshift room, they struck out to find a place to eat dinner.

“Well, what sounds good to you, Brenna?” Isaac asked as they walked. There were several different good restaurants within walking distance of their place and since it was Brenna’s first time in New York, they wanted her to have the choice of where they ate.

“I don’t care. I’m up for anything,” she said, unable to stop herself from looking up at the tall buildings all around her.

“She’s an SLR camera and a fanny pack away from being the world’s most obvious tourist,” Taylor mumbled around the cigarette perched between his lips. Kinsey rolled her eyes and tore the object from his mouth.

“Hey Joe Camel, try removing the cancer stick from your mouth before you try to talk,” she scolded. He just glared at her and took his cigarette, taking a long drag before blowing the smoke right in her face.

“Like you’ve never smoked,” he scoffed. She knew he was right so she just ignored him and trotted to catch up with her sister and Isaac. Brenna finally decided on a Thai restaurant where they gorged themselves before heading back to their place. They decided that since it was her first night and she’d spent a bunch of time traveling, that they would just hang out at home and drink since she couldn’t do that out in the bars anyway. Brenna already had the next two days completely planned out in a highlighted itinerary that Kinsey wanted to crumple in her fist and throw right at Brenna, but didn’t. She knew how excited Brenna was to see the city and Kinsey had to admit to herself that many things on Brenna’s list were things she’d been wanting to see but hadn’t yet anyway.

They all settled around the kitchen table with drinks and a deck of cards set to play Circle of Death. By the time Zac had dominated them all in the fifth waterfall of the night, Brenna was officially drunk, something Kinsey had never seen before.

“God it’s hot in here,” Brenna complained, tugging at the already low top of her dress, completely oblivious to the fact that she was showing off half her breasts by doing so. Taylor started chuckling to himself until everyone but Brenna looked over at him.

“What?” Kinsey asked.

“Must run in the family,” he laughed. Kinsey just smacked his arm.

“What’s he talking about?” Brenna asked, her face flushed as she leaned forward on her elbows, further increasing the prominence of her chest as she did so. Kinsey noticed Zac staring rather obviously at her sister’s boobs and immediately chucked a beer bottle cap right at his face. He snapped out of it and tried to play innocent but Kinsey just glared at him.

“No!” she scolded.

“I didn’t do anything!” Zac exclaimed.

“Just watch it,” Kinsey told him before sipping her beer again. It was then she noticed that Taylor, the Thumbmaster since his last turn, had his thumb resting discreetly on the edge of the table. She immediately followed suit as did Zac and Isaac and it took a good two minutes before Brenna finally noticed.

“Loser,” Kinsey snickered as she watched Brenna drain the last of her UV Blue and lemonade from her glass.

“Who needs a refill?” Brenna asked cheerily, and after she had everyone’s orders, she went over to the fridge and bent over to get the beers off the bottom shelf.

“She’s so drunk she’s clueless,” Taylor whispered to Kinsey but Kinsey just shook her head.

“I’m not so sure about that,” she told him, nodding in Zac’s direction. He was staring at Brenna again, prompting Kinsey to throw another bottle cap at him, this one hitting him in the middle of his forehead.

“What?!” he demanded.

“I’m not warning you again,” she said. He just rolled his eyes.

“We’re onto you,” Taylor told him, flicking one of his own caps in his little brother’s direction.

Three hours later, they all made their way to bed and after much convincing, Kinsey got Taylor to go into his own room and not hers. Even though Brenna was staying in the studio and she had drank enough to make her thoroughly wasted and therefore likely to pass out the second her head hit the pillow, Kinsey had learned her lesson after Tif saw her leaving Taylor’s room and she wasn’t taking any chances.

However, twenty or so minutes later, her door opened and Taylor came in, shutting off her lights even though she was still up and checking her e-mail.

“My you are persistent,” she laughed as he closed her laptop and pulled off his shirt. He didn’t say a word and simply took her hand and lead her to the bed where Kinsey forgot to be worried about anything at all.

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