Chapter 11
Travis
I knew staying late would mean I had to face Janice head on.
I have been avoiding her, especially since Violet came back, but there is no escaping those lingering eyes now that we’re the only two people left in the office. I know I need to talk to her about what happened, but I also know she holds onto things and I can’t seem to get her to let go.
Still, I try to sneak out past reception without her saying anything.
“I’m heading out,” I say casually, keeping my feet moving. “See you tomorrow.”
“Seriously, Travis?” she mutters.
Fuck.
I knew I wasn’t getting away that easily.
I turn to face her. “What is it?”
“You could at least pretend you’re not completely ignoring me,” she shakes her head, and I do hate that I hurt her, but I also never made her any promises.
“I’m not ignoring you.”
“Oh, bullshit. Come on, I’m not that stupid. You could at least talk to me.”
My jaw tightens, but I exhale. “Look, what happened between us wasn’t going to lead anywhere. I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea.”
“You sat there and told me just how much she destroyed you.”
“I know what I said.” I cut her off and hold up a hand. “But she wasn’t back and things were different.”
She gets up, moving around so she is standing in front of me. “You unleashed a lot of shit on me, Travis. You kissed me. You told me just how much she fucking destroyed you.”
“And that wasn’t fair. I’m not saying it was. But Violet’s back and I love her. I’m not going to fuck this up again.”
She laughs, and it’s bitter. “Seriously? She broke you. We all saw it. And you’re just going to let her do it again?”
I’m trying to keep my frustration at bay, but it’s really fucking hard when she is in my face like this. “It wasn’t that simple.”
Another laugh, a sad shake of her head. “So, if she hadn’t come back? What then?”
I clench my fists by my side. “I honestly don’t know. I can’t tell you where it would have led because she did come back. That’s what happened. I can’t rewrite that.”
“You don’t deserve me.”
She turns, snatching her bag off the reception desk and leaving.
I let out the breath I didn’t even know I was holding.
Well, thank fuck that’s over.
Violet
I am falling asleep on the nest of clean laundry I have been trying to make myself fold, when the door creaks.
No knock. Just the tall, dark shadow of Travis in my doorway, already shirtless, jeans slung low on his hips.
He crosses the room and drops onto the mattress, still wearing his work boots.
His hand crawls behind my head, palm warm, thumb at my jaw.
He doesn’t say anything, just tugs my face toward his and kisses me, kisses me until I’m drunk on it, then bites down on my bottom lip a little. “I missed you,” he says, finally. The words are throaty and raw and he sounds exhausted.
“I missed you, too,” I whisper.
“I need to taste you, baby. I’ve been thinking about it all fucking day and if I don’t, I’m going to go crazy.”
My eyes widen, but he kisses me again before I can say anything.
He tastes like the beer he must have had before coming up here, and he’s still buzzing from work, the way he always does on late nights, and the heat coming off him is a warning before he hoists me onto his lap like I weigh nothing at all.
He doesn’t wait for me to untangle, just slides his big hand up my shirt, pushes the cotton over my breasts and finds them with both hands at once, like he simply can’t decide.
I try to say something funny, but the only noise that leaves my mouth is some husky groan, and he drowns it out by pulling my nipple between his teeth.
His tongue is expert, never lazy, never just going through the motions.
If anything, Travis seems to have made it a personal vendetta to prove, nightly, that no one will ever touch me again and come close to this.
He gets my shirt over my head and throws it somewhere into the dark and when he brings his lips to the valley between my collarbone, he growls.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about how sweet your skin is all fucking day.
” He slips a hand behind my neck, takes my braid and tugs backward until I’m arched against his chest. I am only wearing a pair of panties beneath the shirt, and he has them removed in seconds.
He flips us, pins me to the mattress with his forearms on either side of my face, then kisses a line down my stomach to below my hipbones where I am already aching.
He makes a noise in the back of his throat, and then he licks the inside of my thigh, so slow, so hungry, that my toes curl against the sheet.
I reach for his head, trying to push him lower, but he chuckles against my flesh. “Easy, baby, I’m taking my time.”
He lives up to that promise, tongue and teeth and fingers, bringing me right to the edge, letting me dangle there.
He has always been a methodical bastard, but tonight he is relentless and I am already trying not to scream because we haven’t even truly started yet.
This is just his warm-up, as he likes to call it, but to me, it’s pure torture. In the best way, of course.
He finishes me with his mouth, still holding my hips down, and when I come so hard I almost black out, he pushes himself up over me and grins. “Think you just woke up half the neighborhood. Let’s see if we can wake up the other half...”
He shoves his jeans off, then he is on me, his body hot and hard. “Look at me,” he says, and fuck it turns me on when he is bossy.
I do, meeting that incredible gaze as he pushes in slow, filling me all at once.
I gasp—he’s thick, hard, and so deep I feel the shock all the way up my chest. He shudders a little, kisses me again, and I can feel the need radiating off him.
The world narrows to the point where our bodies meet, this endless, grinding friction.
He sets a rhythm, slow at first, driving all the way in and then pulling back until I want to scream.
His hands brace around my head, one thumb tracing my cheek, the other threading into my hair and tugging slightly.
I arch into him, desperate to feel more.
Every angle of him is solid and rough and hot, his arms caging me in, his hips grinding with the kind of focus that is so intense it takes my breath away.
He fucks like there is nothing else in the world, no one else, just this, just us.
When he shifts, my legs slide apart even more, and he takes it as a sign, lifts them up until my knees are higher and he is slamming in harder, so deep I feel every ridge and pulse.
“There you go,” he says, his voice a raspy mess. “Just like that, baby. Let me feel you.”
He doesn’t let up, not losing the rhythm even when I start shaking, my legs numb, my hands clawing at his shoulders.
He holds me tight. He fucks me through one orgasm into another, lets me ride out the aftershocks on his cock, then pulls out just enough, circles my clit with his finger and strokes while he keeps moving inside me.
His own release comes with a growl that is so low, and so guttural, it makes my skin tingle.
He keeps going through it, fucking every drop into me until the shivers become unbearable and he finally collapses, sweat-soaked, on top of me.
For a long time, we just breathe together.
His chest is hot against mine, heartbeat hammering, and he keeps his arms around me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go.
“You’re my everything,” he whispers, not for my sake, but like it’s the truth that will keep him tethered to the world.
And I believe him.
I do.
I pull the covers over us—fuck the laundry—and fall asleep with Travis tracing circles on my back, every nerve ending electric, every inch of me his.
I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on my bedroom door.
I check the clock—it’s already almost nine.
Travis is dead to the world beside me, hair a mess, chest on display, looking like a fucking rockstar even when he sleeps.
I sit up, pull the sheet around me, and go open the door, expecting to see Chief, because he is the only one I can think of who would just walk into Travis’s house.
It’s not Chief.
It’s my mom.
She is standing in the doorway, wearing this sundress that makes her eyes pop, and she has a smile on her lips that is so pure, I forget just how much I have missed her.
“Mom?” I gasp.
She doesn’t say anything, she just throws her arms around me, squeezing so hard the sheet slips and I have to clutch it closed with one hand. I can smell her perfume—something orange-blossom, and so comforting my heart explodes.
“My girl,” she says, pulling back with a huge smile, “you look incredible. I wanted to surprise you.” She pulls back and gives me a good, hard look. “You’re beautiful. Even more than last time.” Her eyes flick over my shoulder to the bed. “Oh. Well, hey Travis.”
Travis props himself up on one arm, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, and grins.
His voice is roughed up in the best way.
“Hey Mandy,” he says. It turns out seeing my mom in his bedroom doesn’t faze him at all.
He stands up—thankfully he put pants on during the night—and walks to her like this is perfectly normal.
He and my mom do this full-body hug, like they always do.
She has always loved him, even when he was at his worst. I suppose I get it from her.
She laughs—the real laugh, the one that makes the beautiful tiny lines on her face crinkle. “Travis, you look fantastic.”
“Thanks, Mandy, you too,” he says, and it’s so sincere I want to scream.
She turns to me, tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, and says, “I hope you don’t mind me sneaking in. Chief gave me the key.”
I smile, huge. “Are you serious? It’s the best day ever.”
Travis goes into host mode, and says, “Let me make you some coffee, Mandy.”
My heart feels so happy.
We follow him down the staircase to the kitchen.
I don’t let go of her hand, so happy to see her.
Travis makes us sit, while he prepares the coffee and makes it exactly how she likes it.
He remembers it, even after all this time.
I didn’t think I could love this man more, turns out I’m wrong.
We both just watch as he starts making breakfast, humming to himself.
“So, when did this happen?” she smiles at me, before sipping her coffee.
“Recently. Things just...I don’t know, felt right again.”
She beams. “You look happy.”
“I am happy. Nervous, but happy.”
“You and Travis always had something, honey. I’m sure it is meant to be. The very fact that it has all gone down the way it has, tells me the universe has plans for the two of you.”
I laugh. “Well, as long as the universe is kinder with its plans this time.”
Travis puts a plate of eggs in front of her, grinning. “I remember you like them fluffy.”
She laughs. “You have a good memory. Thank you. This looks delicious. So, what are you two planning for the day?”
I look at Travis. “Nothing planned. Maybe the lake? The farmer’s market. But we could just hang out with you, too.”
My mom waves a hand. “Don’t change your plans for me. I just wanted to check in. I’ve got a few errands to run in town. We should do dinner tonight, though.”
“We’re in,” Travis answers for me, and I laugh.
“Well then,” she grins. “I guess it’s a plan.”
When she finishes up her breakfast, she leaves and I spin, hugging Travis. “It feels like everything is just going perfect, you know?”
He squeezes me. “Yeah, I know.”
Finally.
After breakfast, I tell Travis I just want to go to Chief’s house to ask a question about my car.
He winks at me, before dropping his pants and backing into the shower, telling me he’ll meet me there soon.
Horrible man. I leave laughing. When I arrive, the house is quiet.
Jasmine isn’t here, but the front door is open.
Stepping in, I walk up the stairs, expecting to see Chief in his office.
I open the door and hear voices, not loud but hushed. They are coming from his room.
Great, he has a woman here.
Not bothered at all, I walk over and fling the door open.
I pause, eyes wide and mouth agape as I take in the scene before me.
My mom is coming out of Chief’s bathroom. She’s in a towel, hair wet, skin flushed.
I blink, then shriek. “Mom!”
She freezes, towel clutched at her chest. I swear to God, she even makes a little squeaking sound.
Before I can say another word, Chief follows her out, shirtless, pulling up his sweats. His tattooed arm glistens with water.
“Oh my GOD,” I yell. I slap my hands over my face. “Mom, this is not the kind of errands I thought you were going to run...”
My mom’s voice stammers as she tries to come up with a response. “We were just—”
“Nope,” I cry. “Don’t even finish that sentence. I’m leaving. I am actually leaving the state. I am never coming back. You will need to sign my adoption papers.”
I drop my hands and see Chief is grinning. He’s grinning, the absolute dick. “Mischief, it’s not what it looks like.”
“It looks like you slept with my mom!”
His grin gets bigger. “Then it is what it looks like.”
“God dammit. No.”
“I’m sorry, honey,” Mom tries one more time. “I wasn’t planning on it. I came here to visit and...”
“Oh, you don’t need to finish that. I know exactly what happened after.”
Chief chuckles.
“This is not funny,” I say, eyes swinging to him. “You two are all dark, gloomy lovers that ended years ago. We can’t be doing this now.”
“We’re not getting any younger,” Chief points out. “Might as well do what makes us happy.”
“God. I can’t. I’m leaving so I can wash my eyes.”
I turn and rush out to their laughter.
Kill me. Kill me now.