America took his face in her hands and smiled. “You’re an arrogant ass, but I still love you.”
Shepley kissed her over and over as though he hadn’t seen her in months, and I smiled at a job well done. Travis stood in the doorway, grinning as I made my way into the apartment.
“And they lived happily ever after,” Travis said, shutting the door behind me.
I collapsed on the couch, and he sat next to me, pulling my legs onto his lap.
“What do you wanna do today, Pidge?”
“Sleep. Or rest … or sleep.”
“Can I give you your present first?”
I pushed his shoulder. “Shut up. You got me a present?”
His mouth curved into a nervous smile. “It’s not a diamond bracelet, but I thought you’d like it.”
“I’ll love it, sight unseen.”
He lifted my legs off of his lap and then disappeared into Shepley’s bedroom. I raised an eyebrow when I heard him murmuring, and then he emerged with a box. He sat it on the floor at my feet, crouching behind it.
“Hurry, I want you to be surprised,” he smiled.
“Hurry?” I asked, lifting the lid.
My mouth fell open when a pair of big, dark eyes looked up at me.
“A puppy?” I shrieked, reaching into the box. I lifted the dark, wiry-haired baby to my face, and it covered my mouth in warm, wet kisses.
Travis beamed, triumphant. “You like him?”
“Him? I love him! You got me a puppy!”
“It’s a cairn terrier. I had to drive three hours to pick him up Thursday after class.”
“So when you said you were going with Shepley to take his car to the shop …”
“We went to get your present,” he nodded.
“He’s wiggly!” I laughed.
“Every girl from Kansas needs a Toto,” Travis said, helping me hang on to the tiny fuzz ball in my lap.
“He does look like Toto! That’s what I’m going to call him,” I said, wrinkling my nose at the squirmy pup.
“You can keep him here. I’ll take care of him for you when you’re back at Morgan,” his mouth pulled up into a half smile, “and it’s my security that you’ll visit when your month is up.”
I pressed my lips together. “I would have come back anyway, Trav.”
“I’d do anything for that smile that’s on your face right now.”
“I think you need a nap, Toto. Yes, you do,” I cooed to the puppy.
Travis nodded, pulled me onto his lap, and then stood up. “Come on, then.”
He carried me into his bedroom, pulled back the covers, and then lowered me to the mattress. Crawling over me, he reached over to pull the curtains closed and then fell onto his pillow.
“Thanks for staying with me last night,” I said, stroking Toto’s soft fur. “You didn’t have to sleep on the bathroom floor.”
“Last night was one of the best nights of my life.”
I turned to see his expression. When I saw that he was serious, I shot him a dubious look. “Sleeping in between the toilet and the tub on a cold, hard tile floor with a vomiting idiot was one of your best nights? That’s sad, Trav.”
“No, sitting up with you when you’re sick and you falling asleep in my lap was one of my best nights. It wasn’t comfortable, I didn’t sleep worth a shit, but I brought in your nineteenth birthday with you, and you’re actually pretty sweet when you’re drunk.”
“I’m sure between the heaving and purging I was very charming.”
He pulled me close, patting Toto, who was snuggled up to my neck. “You’re the only woman I know that still looks incredible with your head in the toilet. That’s saying something.”
“Thanks, Trav. I won’t make you babysit me again.”
He leaned against his pillow. “Whatever. No one can hold your hair back like I can.”
I giggled and closed my eyes, letting myself sink into the darkness.
· · ·
“Get up, Abby!” America yelled, shaking me.
Toto licked my cheek. “I’m up! I’m up!”
“We have class in half an hour!”
I jumped from the bed. “I’ve been asleep for … fourteen hours? What the hell?”
“Just get in the shower! If you’re not ready in ten minutes, I’m leaving your ass here!”
“I don’t have time to take a shower!” I said, changing out of the clothes I fell asleep in.
Travis propped his head on his hand and chuckled. “You girls are ridiculous. It’s not the end of the world if you’re late for one class.”
“It is if you’re America. She doesn’t miss and she hates being late,” I said, pulling a shirt over my head and stepping into my jeans.
“Let Mare go ahead. I’ll take you.”
I hopped on one foot and then the other, pulling my boots on. “My bag is in her car, Trav.”
“Whatever,” he shrugged, “just don’t hurt yourself getting to class.” He lifted Toto, cradling him with one arm like a tiny football, taking him down the hall.
America rushed me out the door and into the car. “I can’t believe he got you that puppy,” she said, looking behind her as she backed out from the parking spot.
Travis stood in the morning sun in his boxers and bare feet, clutching his arms around him from the cold. He watched Toto sniff a small patch of grass, coaxing him like a proud father.
“I’ve never had a dog before,” I said. “This should be interesting.”
America glanced at Travis before shoving the Honda into gear. “Look at him,” she said, shaking her head. “Travis Maddox: Mr. Mom.”
“Toto is adorable. Even you will be putty in his paws.”
“You can’t take it back to the dorm with you, you know. I don’t think Travis thought this out.”
“Travis said he’d keep him at the apartment.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Of course he will. Travis thinks ahead, I’ll give him that,” she said, shaking her head as she slammed on the gas.
I puffed, sliding into my seat with one minute to spare. Once the adrenaline absorbed into my system, the heaviness from my postbirthday coma settled over my body. America elbowed me when class was dismissed, and I followed her to the cafeteria.
Shepley met us at the door, and I noticed right away that something was wrong.
“Mare,” Shepley said, grabbing her arm.
Travis jogged to where we stood and grabbed his hips, puffing until he caught his breath.
“Is there a mob of angry women chasing you?” I teased.
He shook his head. “I was trying to catch you … before you … went in,” he breathed.
“What’s going on?” America asked Shepley.
“There’s a rumor,” Shepley began. “Everyone’s saying that Travis took Abby home and … the details are different, but it’s pretty bad.”
“What? Are you serious?” I cried.
America rolled her eyes. “Who cares, Abby? People have been speculating about you and Trav for weeks. It’s not the first time someone has accused you two of sleeping together.”
Travis and Shepley traded glances.
“What?” I said. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Shepley winced. “They’re saying you slept with Parker at Brazil’s, and then you let Travis … take you home, if you know what I mean.”
My mouth fell open. “Great! So I’m the school slut now?”
Travis’s eyes darkened and his jaws tensed. “This is my fault. If it was anyone else, they wouldn’t be saying that about you.” He walked into the cafeteria, his hands in fists at his sides.
America and Shepley followed behind him. “Let’s just hope no one is stupid enough to say anything to him,” America said.
“Or her,” Shepley added.
Travis sat a few seats across and down from me, brooding over his Reuben. I waited for him to look at me, wanting to offer a comforting smile. Travis had a reputation, but I let Parker take me into the hall.
&n
bsp; Shepley elbowed me while I stared at his cousin. “He just feels bad. He’s probably trying to deflect the rumor.”
“You don’t have to sit down there, Trav. Come on, come sit,” I said, patting the empty surface in front of me.
“I heard you had quite a birthday, Abby,” Chris Jenks said, throwing a piece of lettuce on Travis’s plate.
“Don’t start with her, Jenks,” Travis warned, glowering.
Chris smiled, pushing up his round, pink cheeks. “I heard Parker is furious. He said he came by your apartment yesterday, and you and Travis were still in bed.”
“They were taking a nap, Chris,” America sneered.
My eyes darted to Travis. “Parker came by?”
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I was gonna tell you.”
“When?” I snapped.
America leaned into my ear. “Parker heard the rumor, and came by to confront you. I tried to stop him, but he walked down the hall and … totally got the wrong idea.”
I planted my elbows on the table, covering my face with my hands. “This just keeps getting better.”
“So you guys really didn’t do the deed?” Chris asked. “Damn, that sucks. Here I thought Abby was right for you after all, Trav.”
“You better stop now, Chris,” Shepley warned.
“If you didn’t sleep with her, mind if I take a shot?” Chris said, chuckling to his teammates.
My face burned with the initial embarrassment, but then America screamed in my ear, reacting to Travis jumping from his seat. He reached over the table and grabbed Chris by the throat with one hand and a fistful of T-shirt in the other. The linebacker slid across the table, and dozens of chairs grated across the floor as people stood to watch. Travis punched him repeatedly in the face, his elbow spiking high in the air before he landed each blow. The only thing Chris could do was to cover his face with his hands.
No one touched Travis. He was out of control, and his reputation left every one afraid to get in his way. The football players ducked and winced as they watched their teammate being assaulted without mercy on the tile floor.
“Travis!” I screamed, running around the table.
In midpunch, Travis withheld his fist, and then released Chris’s shirt, letting him fall to the floor. He was panting when he turned to look at me; I’d never seen him look so frightening. I swallowed and took a step back as he shouldered past me.
I took a step to follow him, but America grabbed my arm. Shepley kissed her quickly and then followed his cousin out the door.
“Jesus,” America whispered.
We turned to watch Chris’s teammates pick him off the floor, and I cringed at his red and puffy face. Blood trickled from his nose, and Brazil handed him a napkin from the table.
“That crazy son–of-a-bitch!” Chris groaned, sitting on the chair and holding his hand to his face. He looked at me. “I’m sorry, Abby. I was just kidding.”
I had no words to reply. I couldn’t explain what had just happened any more than he could.
“She didn’t sleep with either of them,” America said.
“You never know when to shut up, Jenks,” Brazil said, disgusted.
America pulled on my arm. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
She didn’t waste time tugging me to her car. When she put the gear in drive, I grabbed her wrist. “Wait! Where are we going?”
“We’re going to Shep’s. I don’t want him to be alone with Travis. Did you see him? Dude’s gone off the deep end!”
“Well, I don’t want to be around him, either!”
America stared at me in disbelief. “There’s obviously something going on with him. Don’t you want to know what it is?”
“My sense of self-preservation is outweighing my curiosity at this point, Mare.”
“The only thing that stopped him was your voice, Abby. He’ll listen to you. You need to talk to him.”
I sighed and released her wrist, falling against the back of my seat. “All right. Let’s go.”
We pulled into the parking lot, and America slowed to a stop between Shepley’s Charger and Travis’s Harley. She walked to the stairs, putting her hands on her hips with a touch of her own dramatic flair.
“C’mon, Abby!” America called, motioning for me to follow.
Hesitant, I finally followed, stopping when I saw Shepley hurry down the stairs to speak quietly in America’s ear. He looked at me, shook his head, and then whispered to her once again.
“What?” I asked.
“Shep doesn’t … ,” she fidgeted, “Shep doesn’t think it’s a good idea that we go in. Travis is still pretty mad.”
“You mean he doesn’t think I should go in,” I said. America shrugged sheepishly and then looked to Shepley.
Shepley touched my shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Abby. He just doesn’t … he doesn’t want to see you right now.”
“If I didn’t do anything wrong, then why doesn’t he want to see me?”
“I’m not sure; he won’t talk to me about it. I think he’s embarrassed that he lost his temper in front of you.”
“He lost his temper in front of the entire cafeteria! What do I have to do with it?”
“More than you think,” Shepley said, dodging my eyes.
I watched them for a moment, and then pushed past them, running up the stairs. I burst through the doors to find an empty living room. The door to Travis’s room was closed, so I knocked.
“Travis? It’s me, open up.”
“Walk away, Pidge,” he called from the other side of the door.
I peeked in to see him sitting on the edge of his bed, facing the window. Toto pawed at his back, unhappy about being ignored.
“What is going on with you, Trav?” I asked. He didn’t answer, so I stood beside him, crossing my arms. His jaw tensed, but he no longer wore the frightening expression he had in the cafeteria. He seemed sad. The deep, hopeless kind.
“You’re not going to talk to me about this?”
I waited, but he remained quiet. I turned for the door and he finally sighed. “You know the other day when Brazil mouthed off to me and you rushed to my defense? Well … that’s what happened. I just got a little carried away.”
“You were angry before Chris said anything,” I said, returning to sit beside him on the bed.
He continued to stare out the window. “I meant what I said before. You need to walk away, Pidge. God knows I can’t walk away from you.”
I touched his arm. “You don’t want me to leave.”
Travis’s jaws tensed again, and then he took me under his arm. He paused for a moment and then kissed my forehead, pressing his cheek against my temple. “It doesn’t matter how hard I try. You’re going to hate me when it’s all said and done.”
I wrapped my arms around him. “We have to be friends. I won’t take no for an answer,” I quoted.
His eyebrows pulled in, and then he cradled me to him with both arms, still staring out the window. “I watch you sleeping a lot. You always look so peaceful. I don’t have that kind of quiet. I have all this anger and rage boiling inside of me—except when I watch you sleep.
“That’s what I was doing when Parker walked in,” he continued. “I was awake, and he walked in and just stood there with this shocked look on his face. I knew what he thought, but I didn’t set him straight. I didn’t explain because I wanted him to think something happened. Now the whole school thinks you were with us both in the same night.”
Toto nuzzled his way onto my lap, and I rubbed his ears. Travis reached over to pet him once and then rested his hand on mine. “I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “If he believes the gossip, it’s his own fault.”
“It’s hard to think anything else when he sees us in bed together.”
“He knows I’m staying with you. I was fully clothed, for Christ’s sake.”
Travis sighed. “He was probably too pissed to notice. I know you like him, Pidge. I should have explained. I owe you t
hat much.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You’re not mad?” he asked, surprised.
“Is that what you’re so upset about? You thought I’d be mad at you when you told me the truth?”
“You should be. If someone single-handedly sunk my reputation, I’d be a little pissed.”
“You don’t care about reputations. What happened to the Travis that doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks?” I teased, nudging him.
“That was before I saw the look on your face when you heard what everyone’s saying. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“You would never do anything to hurt me.”
“I’d rather cut off my arm,” he sighed.
He relaxed his cheek against my hair. I didn’t have a reply, and Travis seemed to have said everything he needed to, so we sat in silence. Once in a while, Travis would squeeze me tighter to his side. I gripped his shirt, not knowing how else to make him feel better other than to just let him hold me.
When the sun began to set, I heard a faint knock at the door. “Abby?” America’s voice sounded small on the other side of the wood.
“Come in, Mare,” Travis answered.
America walked in with Shepley, and she smiled at the site of us tangled in each other’s arms. “We were going to grab a bite to eat. You two feel like making a Pei Wei run?”
“Ugh … Asian again, Mare? Really?” Travis asked.
I smiled. He sounded like himself again.
America noticed as well. “Yes, really. You guys coming or not?”
“I’m starving,” I said.
“Of course you are, you didn’t get to eat lunch,” he said, frowning. He stood up, bringing me with him. “Come on. Let’s get you some food.”
He kept his arm around me and didn’t let go until we were in the booth of Pei Wei.
As soon as Travis left for the bathroom, America leaned in. “So? What did he say?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged.
She raised an eyebrow. “You were in his room for two hours. He didn’t say anything?”
“He usually doesn’t when he’s that mad,” Shepley said.
“He had to have said something,” America prodded.
“He said he got a little carried away taking up for me, and that he didn’t tell Parker the truth when he walked in. That’s it,” I said, straightening the salt and pepper.