Chapter 25
TRAVIS
“Hey.” I lift a hand to wave hello to Hannah and her sister. They’re both staring at me wide-eyed. The heat of the house is a welcome comfort. The temperature really dropped after the snow stopped and the tow truck took forever.
I smile at Wren. She looks a lot like Hannah, but with darker hair and a rounder face. She’s grinning at me like she’s heard stories and can’t wait to grill me. I’d expect nothing less from what I’ve heard about her.
When neither Hannah nor I speak, Wren takes control.
“You must be the husband,” she says.
“Sorry.” Hannah blinks a few times like she’s coming out of a daze. “Wren, meet Travis. Travis, this is my sister Wren.”
“Nice to finally meet you,” I say to Wren. Then to Hannah. “Your Jeep’s out front.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was an easy fix, and they were able to get it done before they left for the night.”
Hannah’s gaze narrows slightly as if she knows I’m simplifying the scenario. He didn’t say it was an easy fix but when I told him I’d pay double if he could turn it around quickly, he had it up on the jack within minutes.
I look to the TV to avoid her stare. “What are you watching?”
“Hannah’s favorite movie,” Wren says. “Has she made you watch it yet?”
“No.”
“I only make you watch it,” Hannah says to her, stretching out one leg and nudging her sister with her foot.
“She cries at the end every single time,” Wren tells me with a conspiratorial smile.
I already like her, not that I had any doubts.
“At Tinkerbell?” I ask, finally recognizing the little green fairy on the screen.
Hannah shakes her head. “The beast saves the day and then sleeps for a thousand… you know what, never mind. You just have to watch it.”
“Yeah. I might have to do that sometime.” Probably tonight in bed when I can’t sleep because I’m replaying that kiss over and over. I start for the kitchen. “I’m just going to heat up some food and head upstairs so you two can catch up.”
“You don’t want to watch it with us?” Wren asks.
I pause and look to Hannah for some indication if that’s a real offer or just her sister being polite. Except when I look at her, all I can think about is the feel of her lips on mine and the taste of her mixed with the cold air, and that sort of scrambles my brain.
“Uh…” I pull my gaze from Hannah back to Wren. It’s easier to think that way. “You sure you want me to crash your party?”
“Absolutely. I have so many questions for you.” Wren sits straighter, hugging her knees. “Hannah hasn’t told me anything about you and you are my brother-in-law now.”
“I’ve told you things,” Hannah admonishes with a small laugh.
Wren keeps looking at me as she shakes her head. “Barely anything.”
I find myself smiling back at the youngest Walsh sister. My sister-in-law. What a trip. I never thought I’d have a sister, but I kind of love it. “What do you want to know?”
It turns out, what Wren wants to know is everything. Once I sit down and she starts firing questions at me, she doesn’t stop. And I love it.
We’ve covered where I grew up, how I got into hockey, where I’ve lived, favorite movies, kinds of music I like, and even my go-to coffee order.
She has this kind of frenetic energy that’s so bubbly and free.
I know what they’ve been through and how Hannah has protected her, and I think I get it now.
Why Hannah has fought so hard for them and what doing that has allowed for her sister.
It’s a gift in the way all family relationships should be, letting people be themselves and loving them enough that they never question that they should be any other way.
When the movie ends, none of us notices.
“Oh man, Hannah didn’t even cry,” Wren points out with a chuckle. “Should we restart it or watch Twilight?”
“Your choice,” Hannah says.
Wren looks to me.
“Twilight as in the sparkly vampire dude?” I ask.
She nods. “We binge the series every year over the holiday break.”
“I only saw the last one,” I admit. “It was on TV, and I got sucked in, but I never went back.”
“Oh my gosh. You have to see them all to really get it. The production of the first is a little cringe but it’ll make you appreciate the others so much more. Plus, you get to see Jacob’s glow-up.”
Hannah’s smiling at her sister as Wren navigates the TV to rent the first movie and presses play.
“Pillow?” Wren asks as she wriggles back into the couch cushion to get comfortable. They’ve pulled the blankets and pillows from Hannah’s bed downstairs, and they’re all snuggled up on opposite ends with me between them.
“Uh…yeah. Give me one of those.” I hold up a hand.
She tosses it at me, and I place it behind my head.
The edge of Hannah’s blanket lands in my lap.
I glance over at her and she’s aiming a smile at me that I can’t quite decipher.
But I’ll take any excuse to be close to her.
I scooch so that we can share the blanket and her smile widens.
Happy, that’s what it is. She’s happy. That soul deep, wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in this moment kind of happy. That makes two of us.
For as much as I was tired of dating before I met Hannah, I missed hanging out and connecting, doing all the intimate couple-y stuff.
“Oh my gosh, you’re so cold,” she says as my arm brushes hers.
“Someone had my jacket, and I had to stand out in the snow.” I stick out my bottom lip like I’m pouting, but then she looks at my mouth and I’m back in that moment, framing her face with my hands and kissing her.
Her jaw drops in shock and maybe guilt, but then I grin, and she swats at me playfully.
“You didn’t have to be such a gentleman. I had pants and a jacket in the back of my Jeep.”
“I know. I considered wearing them, but you’re so small I figured they wouldn’t cover much of me.”
Her stare drops to my lips again like maybe she’s thinking about that kiss still too.
“Share some of your heat with me.” I inch even closer, and then she does too with a timid sort of smile.
“You two are adorable,” Wren says.
Hannah and I both look at her. I half expect Hannah to pull away, but instead she cozies up closer to me and fires back at her sister, “Of course we are.”
The movie starts and we’re all quiet for less than a minute before Wren and Hannah start commentating.
“The makeup is awful,” I add. “There’s no way people in Forks didn’t know something was up with these dudes. They’re green.”
Hannah’s so close I can feel her laughter. “On the first film the director used a blue filter to give the movie an eerie feel.”
“The other movies aren’t like that,” Wren adds.
“Oh, right.” Now that she’s mentioned it, I can see the way everything has that blue-ish tint. “Look at you with your Twilight trivia.”
“We played it at her fifteenth birthday.”
“Twilight trivia?” I ask, feeling my lips pull into another wide smile as I picture a young Hannah obsessed with all things sparkly vampires.
Hannah looks around me to Wren. “Some things are sacred.”
Wren just laughs. So do I. So does Hannah.
“You’re one to talk,” Hannah says to her sister. “What about the Hunger Games party you made us throw for you.”
Wren beams and talks to me, like she’s filling me in on a secret. “We put all the food and drinks in the middle of the backyard like a cornucopia and everyone had Nerf guns so if you wanted anything to eat you had to run through a blaze of bullets. It was epic.”
“And she made me dress up like Elizabeth Banks’ character in this wild makeup and hair.”
“It was great. God, we should do that again. Maybe I’ll come back in March. Travis could be Caesar or President Snow.” Wren’s eyes light up at the prospect.
I think for them, I just might. “I love a good villain.”
Wren’s still smiling at me as she asks, “When’s your birthday?”
“October twenty-sixth,” I say without any thought but as soon as the words are out of my mouth I go still. Shiiiit. I force a smile and sneak a glance at Hannah. I guess it was too much to ask the universe that she not remember another important thing that happened on that date.
She clearly does. Wren thankfully chatters on, tossing out potential party ideas for me and asking if I ever had a Halloween-themed party since my birthday is so close to it.
“No.” I look quickly away from Hannah to her sister. “I had a lot of hockey-themed parties.”
She snorts. “Figures.” Then something catches her attention on the screen. “Oh, I love this part.”
Wren falls quiet and I turn back to Hannah. She’s still looking at me with so many questions on her face, but she doesn’t ask, and I take that as a cue she doesn’t want to discuss it in front of Wren.
I try to go back to watching the movie, but I can feel how tense Hannah is next to me and I hate it. Finally, I drop a hand to her thigh under the blanket. Her leg jumps but then slowly relaxes. I do my best to pour an apology and promise to explain later into my touch with a light squeeze.
She shifts closer as if in agreement and we watch the movie cuddled up together.
We make it halfway through the second movie before Wren falls asleep. Hannah’s eyes are heavy too. I really don’t want to move but I know if I do, they’ll both sleep better on the couch.
With more willpower than excitement, I slowly pull away.
“Where are you going?” Hannah asks quietly, voice deeper than usual.
“To bed. You need anything?”
She looks at Wren and then shakes her head.
My stare is holding on her mouth again. Dammit.
I swallow thickly and stand. “Night.”
I don’t let myself linger or look back as I head upstairs to my room. I’m pulling my shirt over my head when footsteps sound behind me.
“We got married on your birthday,” Hannah says, a hint of a question in the words.
I turn to her slowly and offer an apologetic smile.
I knew this was coming eventually so I nod. “That’s why I was in Vegas.”
“How could you have not told me that?”
“It didn’t come up.”
She does not like that answer. She crosses her arms over her chest and tucks her chin so she’s glaring up at me.