Beautiful Sacrifice Chapter 13: Their First Kiss

So sorry this post is late! I got my posting weeks mixed up. I couldn’t just leave you all wondering what would happen to Falyn and whichever Maddox bro we’re reading about right now, though, so here you go!

Beautiful Sacrifice Chapter 13:

Falyn is having a really tough week while waiting for checks notes Taylor’s re-arrival (recall, Taylor has gone back to Eakins for five minutes, and he will be travelling back to Falyn in order to fly with her…to Eakins yet again. It’s a failsafe plan!)

A terrible hangover, Don’s funeral, and the countdown to Eakins made the week one of the worst I’d had in a while. Taylor’s intermittent texts were always a welcome highlight and helped me pass the time until the night before our flight, but the time in between was agony.

I love how Don’s funeral ranks after the hangover but before the countdown to Eakins. If only we’d given a shit about Customer #5 Don.

Taylor hasn’t mentioned Falyn’s drunken phone call from last chapter, which is probably for the best. We don’t need to talk about that again.

On the night before the big flight, Taylor turns up early! He was supposed to pick her up to go to the airport the next morning, but what McGuire realised was that in Beautiful Disaster/Walking Disaster, what really worked for the story was some platonic-not-platonic bed-sharing! And I mean, who doesn’t love the bed-sharing trope, but like…the book isn’t even trying anymore.

“Do you… want some sheets for the couch?” I asked.

“I have a choice? Then you take the couch.”

I smacked him on the arm and then shifted nervously. “It’s got that, um”— I pointed, my finger making small circles—“ that broken bar thing. It’s a bitch to sleep on.”

He raised an eyebrow, three lines deepening across his forehead. “I remember. So, I guess this means we’re having a slumber party.” He began walking toward my bedroom.

“Taylor?”

“Seriously, Ivy League, just tell me where to go. I’m fucking tired, and we’ve got a long day tomorrow.”

In Falyn’s defence, she did just tell you to take the couch, and Taylor refused and invited himself into her bed.

They agree to share the bed without any funny business. True to their word, the “funniest” thing that happens is Falyn watching Taylor undress and telling us how sexy and tattooed he is. If you were still somehow in any doubt that you were in a Maddox Bro novel, then put your mind at ease now.

The tattoos on his arms extended over the hard slopes of his pec muscles, displaying thick black tribal art, flames, and a skull, all amazingly detailed with beautiful shading.

Wow! Check out those tattoo details! That shading is so sexy!

They have an emotional heart to heart:

“I wish I could have gone with you to Don’s funeral. I know it sucked.”

“It was awful,” I whispered. “I haven’t cried that hard in a long time…”

I’ll…bet! I mean that connection with Don was so intense and meaningful clearly.

“…I can’t imagine how his family must have felt.”

“You were family, too. You were the highlight of his day. You seem to be that for a lot of people.”

Okay that is a fucking stretch. Actually, that’s a lot of fucking stretches. She’s family too! She’s the highlight of a lot of people’s days! FOOTAGE MOST DECIDEDLY NOT FOUND!

Trent confesses that after their trip to Eakins, he doesn’t want to just be friends anymore. I’m not sure why this has to happen after the trip to Eakins, but sure, okay. Falyn tells us how comfortable she feels falling asleep next to Taylor.

The next day they fly to Eakins, secrets still between them. Well, at least on Falyn’s side. Taylor–on a flight full of people–recaps the Travis fire to us.

“My little brother Travis is in deep shit,” he spoke close to my ear, whispering as softly as he could while still being heard over the noise of the plane. “He was involved in a fire a few months ago.”

[…]

“The fights were held in the basements of campus buildings where a lot of kids would be crammed underground. Adam set up a spring break fight. It was the last fight of the year. Travis was set to make a shit-ton of money. Something happened. A fire broke out. A lot of kids didn’t make it out. Adam was arrested. I think Travis is being investigated.”

“Why?” I asked, dubious.

“I have reason to believe they sent someone here to get information from me, but I can’t confirm— at least, not yet. I know they think Travis had something to do with it.”

TREX?! I think it was this Trex fellow. Boy, I hope he comes back into the plot. Now, if Trex had died? I would have felt the loss.

But who cares about who is investigating Travis or why! It’s time for Taylor to invite Falyn to Trabby’s vow renewal ceremony! And for the first REAL Taylor/Falyn kiss! They kiss and Falyn tells us it’s soooo much better than her whoops-kiss with Tyler.

A chime came over the PA system, bringing me back to reality, and Taylor pulled away, breathing hard.

“Sorry,” he said, glancing at the people sitting across from us.

The two men seated across the aisle were shamelessly staring.

These poor men are actually the Airline Passengers Without In-Flight Entertainment because you know how domestic flights are! They had no choice but to become instantly invested in the love lives of our intrepid heroes.