Chapter 41 Anna
Anna
Ijolt up in bed and almost fall off.
“Shit,” I whisper to Travis, whose brow is at his hairline.
“What is he doing here?” Travis asks.
“I don’t know.”
I glance at my phone on the nightstand and see that I have a bunch of missed calls and texts from Nick. I had it on “do not disturb” mode last night and forgot to take it off when I woke up.
I quickly read through the messages.
Madeline’s water broke! Baby St. George is on the way!
I’m gonna run to the store and grab some gifts for Madeline and the baby. Wanna come with?
It’s been a few hours, and I haven’t heard from you. You okay?
I’m gonna stop by your apartment to check on you.
“Crap,” I mutter and show my phone to Travis.
Guilt slams through me. While I was in the middle of a sex-fest with my brother’s best friend, he’s been trying to check up on me.
Nick knocks on the door again. I grab my clothes from the floor and throw them on, then run over to the front door.
“Anna, you okay?”
“I’m fine!” I holler.
“Jesus, way to give me a heart attack.” He chuckles. “I was gonna break down the door to see if you had passed out or something.”
I force a laugh. “I’m all good. Sorry, just give me one sec, okay?”
I run back to my bedroom and see Travis quickly pulling on his clothes.
I tug a hand through my hair. “He can’t see you here.”
“I know,” Travis says in a low voice.
My mind races to figure out a way to handle this.
“You have to hide.”
His brow furrows. “What?”
“You have to hide.” I step over to my walk-in closet and grab his arm to push him in there, but he doesn’t budge. It’s like trying to move a marble statue.
“Wait, are you letting Nick in?” he asks.
“Yes,” I hiss.
“Anna, you can’t let him come in.”
“I have to. He’ll know something’s up if I don’t refuse to allow him into my apartment.”
Travis’s brow furrows. “Okay, yeah, you’re right.”
He steps inside the closet.
“I’ll get him to leave, and then you can slip out,” I say.
He nods. I start to step away, but he grabs my arm and pulls me to him, then kisses me. I melt against him.
“I’m sorry about this,” I whisper against his mouth.
“Don’t be.”
“I hate sneaking around like this,” I say.
“Me too. But this isn’t how I want Nick to find out about us.”
“Same.”
I give him one more kiss, then close the closet door. Then I run back out into my living room and let Nick in.
“Hey. Sorry about that,” I say.
He steps inside and closes the door behind him. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just had kind of a rough night. I wasn’t feeling well. I think I ate something bad.”
“Oh, damn. Is that why you had your phone off?”
I nod and turn away while I pull my hair into a ponytail. I can’t look my brother in the eye while I lie to him.
“Yeah, but I’m feeling better now.” I turn back to him and smile. “Have you heard from Ryker? How’s Madeline doing?”
“He texted me an hour ago and said she was getting ready to push.”
“Oh, wow.” Excitement swoops through me.
“She’s probably in labor right now.”
“Let’s go get gifts for our baby niece.”
“I already got a bunch of stuff. When you didn’t answer my texts, I went without you.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry.”
“Nah, don’t apologize. You were sick.”
The guilt claws deeper into my gut. I clear my throat.
“Let’s go pick up stuff for Madeline then.
We can make her a food gift basket with all the stuff she couldn’t have when she was pregnant.
Like sushi and her favorite Italian sub.
And brie cheese. Remember how she said she was craving that the last time we saw her? ”
Nick grins. “That’s a great idea. You’re so smart.”
I tell him to give me a few minutes to get ready. I run to the bathroom, pee, brush my teeth, wash my face, then run back out to him.
I grab my bag and slip on my sneakers. “Let’s go.”
We head out of my apartment building to where his car is parked on the street. Nick glances down the block.
“That kind of looks like Travis’s car.” He nods at the compact SUV parked at the end of the block.
My eyes go wide, but I rein in my expression a moment later.
“Oh. Weird.” I hop into his passenger seat. “Hey, wanna stop by that burrito place? You’re hungry, right?”
“Yeah, actually. I could totally go for a breakfast burrito right about now. Or maybe their carne asada.”
“Get both. My treat for picking me up.”
Nick grins at me, then pulls into the street. When we drive by Travis’s car, I hold my breath. But Nick doesn’t even look at it. He’s too busy naming all his favorite menu items from the burrito place. I exhale quietly, relieved. Thank god my brother is easily distracted by food.
I send Travis a quick text.
Just drove off, you can leave now.
He texts back a thumbs up.
Me: Sorry again to kick you out.
Travis: It’s okay. Have fun with your family. Hope the delivery is as smooth as possible. Let me know if you guys need anything.
Me: Will do. Thanks :)
I try to focus on whatever Nick is talking about, but I keep thinking about Travis. How sweet and filthy he was this morning. How I want to spend a lot more mornings in bed with him.
You two just made things official last night. Don’t get too carried away. Especially since you two are still a secret.
I ask Nick how his summer conditioning is going, and he tells me about some new workout he’s doing with a trainer. I nod along.
“Hey, great job on the MCAT, by the way,” he says. “I know I said congrats in the group chat with Mom, Dad, Ryker, and Madeline when you texted us your score, but I should say it in person too.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty pumped.”
That guilty feeling gnaws at my gut. My brother is being so sweet right now…right after I just lied to his face about being sick to keep him from finding out about my secret relationship with his best friend…
I glance over at Nick, who’s focused on the road ahead, totally oblivious. How in the world are Travis and I going to tell him about us? He’s going to be so shocked. And angry.
Nick has always made it clear to his friends that I’m off limits. I never had a problem with that because I was never interested in dating his friends—especially not Travis.
But now everything’s changed. We’re different. All of us are. We’re not a bunch of middle school kids who get to make rules about who we can and can’t be with.
Maybe the best thing to do is just be honest with each other.
Not now, though. Today is about Madeline, Ryker, and their baby.
We stop at the burrito place and grab some food. I’m in the middle of sipping a horchata, watching Nick eat his weight in burritos, when we get a text from Ryker in our family group chat.
Baby girl is here! Eight pounds, five ounces!!
I grin at my phone screen. I’ve never seen my big brother use so many exclamation points in a text message before.
“Alright!” Nick says, grinning.
We all text congratulations. Ryker sends a photo of the baby a minute later. My heart melts at the sight of her chubby little face as she sleeps cradled in Madeline’s arms.
“Oh damn, look at that hair,” Nick says.
“It’s so red, just like Madeline’s hair.”
Ryker texts that we can come see the baby. We finish eating and head back to Nick’s car to get all the things we need for Madeline’s gift basket.
“You ready to meet our baby niece?” Nick asks.
“So ready.”