Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Not feeling in danger and not being in danger are two very different things.
Travis’s stupid words keep ringing in my ears all throughout my shift, as I picked up some groceries earlier, and now again as I slice my chicken breasts to make chicken tikka masala for dinner. They aren’t stupid because they lack intelligence, but because deep down—and, fine, not so deep down—he’s right, and it bothers me to no end.
I’m the stupid one. Even if I didn’t know it was a sketchy area, I should’ve researched my surroundings more thoroughly. I’ve been so busy trying to build my life back up that I forgot maybe, just maybe, I deserve better than a mold-infested apartment in a dangerous part of town.
So when my phone rings as I get the rice ready and I spot Charlie’s name on my screen, I hold on to my last sliver of hope.
“Hello?” I put the phone on speaker and go back to finishing up my dinner.
“Greetings, my dearest friend. I bring news.”
I put some rice and chicken onto a plate. It smells so good, I could cry. “The good kind, I hope.”
There’s some shuffling in the background before he says, “Of course, Allie Cat. Worry not.”
“I’m listening.”
“My friend’s landlord still hasn’t found anyone to rent the apartment to, so I told him you were interested. I’ll text you the address so you can make a visit tomorrow morning. You’re free, right?”
“Yep.” I don’t have to be at The Lair until four. “Thank you so much, Char. You’re really saving me here.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for.”
He says it so easily, it takes me aback for a moment.
Friends. I have friends .
“Lola told me she chatted with you at the pub,” he says, a hint of a smile in his voice. “I knew she’d love you. She told me to ask you for your number because she wants to hang out with you sometime, if that’s okay.”
I hesitate. Years ago, I promised myself I wouldn’t stop until I got to the opposite side of the country to start a new life. Bannport isn’t the place I had pictured as my home, but it has become the place I want to be in. The community I want to remain part of.
Don’t I deserve to start anew like I said I would?
“Allie? You there?”
I expect the guilt to come when I say, “Sure,” but it never does.
“Cool. You guys will have fun. Not as much as you have with me, but still.”
The chuckle I was about to let out dies in my throat when the doorbell rings.
“Charlie, I have to hang up.” Someone is at my door, and suddenly I can’t feel my legs. Nobody ever comes here. “Tell Lola to text me. And thank you again for the apartment thing.”
If he says something else, I don’t hear it. My eyes zero in on the front door as my mind spirals with endless possibilities.
My parents have found me is the first thing I think of, but that’s impossible. I’ve covered my tracks well for the past six years. Unless… unless Mindy, the woman I thought had recognized me at The Lair, told them about me.
The doorbell rings again, and I curse under my breath. I think of not answering, but I know I won’t sleep a wink tonight if I don’t find out who is outside my apartment. With my pulse in my throat, I tiptoe toward the door and peek through the peephole.
Only to see the last person I expected to come over.
I pull the door open, my shoulders sagging with relief, and stare into the eyes of the man who both confuses me and makes my heart beat faster than anyone else ever has before.
Travis’s stoic expression doesn’t go away. “Can I come in?”
I don’t overthink it as I open the door wide enough for his massive body to pass through, then lock it behind me.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, boss man, but what are you doing here?”
His hand moves, and I notice the plastic bag he’s holding. “Got a lock for your door.”
The butterfly in my stomach breaks free from the cage I’d shoved it into, proceeding to flutter all over my body, out of control.
“Do you want me to install it?” he asks, his eyes scanning mine.
He got a lock for my apartment. He came all the way here to give it to me because he knows I’m scared.
The lump in my throat doesn’t let me speak. I can only nod.
“All right.” He gives me one last unreadable look before taking out some tools from his plastic bag and getting to it.
I hurry back to the kitchen like a scared cat, my frantic heart threatening to burst out of my rib cage. But I can’t help myself and peek at the front door, where Travis is indeed putting some kind of high-tech lock on my door. This is real life.
“Have you had dinner yet?” I ask him, suddenly not wanting him to leave as soon as that lock is in place.
He doesn’t look away from the lock as he asks, “Are you offering to feed me?”
My heart leaps. “What if I am?”
“Smells fucking good in here, so I’d say yes.”
His easiness makes me smile despite my nerves. “I’ll make a plate for you. Do you like chicken tikka masala?”
“I do.” This time, he glances at me over his shoulder. The softness in his eyes turns my legs to goo. “Thanks, Allie.”
Ten minutes later, there’s a new lock on my door and my boss is sitting next to me on the couch, eating my food. How did my night turn into this?
“This is good,” he tells me between bites.
My cheeks grow warm. “Really?”
He nods, wasting no time to eat another spoonful.
Satisfied with his reaction to my cooking, I sit back on the couch and try to finish my food without glancing at him every two seconds. We aren’t talking, and the TV isn’t on, but the silence between us isn’t awkward.
When he empties his plate and I offer him some more, he gets up and says, “Don’t move.”
I try not to smile when he comes back with another plateful, but I fail spectacularly.
“Guess what.” I wait until he turns to me with that stoic expression. “Charlie arranged an apartment tour for me tomorrow.”
I grab my phone and show him the pictures of the apartment Charlie sent me earlier. It’s a bit of a shoebox, but at least it’s within walking distance of work. Most importantly, it’s in a good area—I triple-checked. “What do you think?”
Travis takes his sweet time answering. “It’s all right.”
“That’s it? Come on, boss man. Give me something else.”
“It looks good. Who’s renting it?”
I check the text Charlie sent me with all the info. “A guy named Robert Marcelli.”
He hums, adding nothing else. I let him finish his second plate of chicken tikka masala in peace but don’t waste a second as soon as he’s done. “If you see something wrong with the place, I would like to know before I move there. I value your opinion.”
“This is your choice to make, Allie. I don’t want to boss you around.”
“You’re not. I asked.”
He lets out a deep sigh. “There’s nothing wrong with the apartment.” A pause. “But I know who’s renting it, and he’s not someone you want to do business with.”
I frown. “Charlie didn’t say anything.”
And he would have. I’m sure his friend would’ve complained about his landlord if he was that bad.
Travis slides me a look. “It’s not men he has issues with.”
Oh.
I swallow, my gaze dropping to the pictures on my screen. I knew it was too good to be true.
“Do you think he won’t rent it to me because I’m a woman?”
It’s ridiculous, not to mention pathetic. I can’t believe some people still have such horrible mindsets. Cavemen, all of them, and not the good kind. Not the kind who throw you over a shoulder and?—
Focus .
Right. Now is not the time.
“I could go with you.”
Poker face, poker face, poker face. I’m not about to show him how those words have just made me lose the tight grip I keep on my feelings for him.
“Where?” I ask, because of course I do. Of course I have to make sure he knows I’m dumb.
But Travis doesn’t react with an eye roll or a huff. “To see the apartment.”
I shift on the couch and leave my empty plate on the coffee table. “Maybe I should cancel the whole thing. If you say he’s a misogynistic asshole…”
There’s the huff. “You can’t stay here.”
Now is my turn to let out a deep breath, my eyes focusing on the mold starting to eat at one of the ceiling corners in the living room. “I know, and I don’t want to. I want to move out, but not if my landlord is going to be some creepy guy who will raise my rent or give me a hard time because I have boobs.”
“No one’s gonna mess with you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’ll break his goddamn legs if he so much as thinks about it.”
I might have grown up with all sorts of privileges—a four-story home, yearly vacations to exotic places, quality food, access to prime healthcare, and the best schools, among other luxuries—but safety has never been one of them. My parents knew no boundaries. They sacrificed our privacy, my privacy, for money and attention, and now…
Now there’s a weird feeling inside my chest, something Travis’s protectiveness has lit up.
I scan his face for a moment. “Would you really do that?”
Maybe I should be cautious. When an ex-Navy SEAL threatens to break someone’s legs, he probably knows how to do it. But Travis would never hurt me, and I could never be scared of him.
“In a heartbeat.”
This is the same man who said he didn’t befriend his co-workers not that long ago, and I shouldn’t forget that. He just doesn’t want to see me in danger—any good, reasonable person would feel the same.
I give him a genuine smile. “Thank you for offering to come with me, but I don’t want to be a bother.”
His chest goes in and out, and he relaxes against the cushions of my too-small couch. “If you were a bother, I wouldn’t be here.”
He has a point, but I’m still going to be a pain about this.
“You don’t have to come with me.” I don’t want him to feel pity or think I can’t handle my own stuff. “I’ve been living on my own for years. I know how to deal with difficult people.”
I’m definitely not looking forward to trying to reason with a misogynistic ass, but at this point, I would do anything to get out of this place. Almost anything .
One of those massive hands moves to his head. He massages the short hairs at the back of his skull before letting out a long, tired breath. “I’m not saying you can’t take care of yourself, but I want to be there. Consider me backup.”
In the past, I would have given anything to have someone care for me like this. Then I grew a thick skin and nerves of steel and convinced myself I didn’t need anyone to survive, not even Jada. Because, realistically, I was alone.
But I don’t have to be alone anymore. At least, tomorrow morning I won’t.
My head and my heart need a break from being on edge all the time. When Travis is around, it’s like both can sign off for the day, as I let him take the reins. Unlike everywhere else I’ve worked in the past six years, at The Lair I don’t feel watched or in danger. I don’t feel the need to be on the lookout all the time.
Travis cares. He might not be the best at showing it, but he can’t deny it.
I give him a sincere smile. “Thanks, Travis. The tour is tomorrow at ten. Does that work for you?”
His eyes are on me as he nods.
“Do you want to stay a while?” The question is out before I can stop myself. “I mean, if you have somewhere else to be?—”
“I can stay,” he says. “If you want me to.”
Maybe it should freak me out that my boss is in my apartment right now, eating dinner with me. But it doesn’t, not in the slightest, and I’m not ready to unpack why his presence calms me down to the point where I’m not worried about any break-ins anymore.
I’m going to see an apartment tomorrow, and I have a good feeling about it. This might be one of my last nights living in this part of town, and I refuse to focus on the dangers that might be lurking outside.
Travis is here.
“Of course you can stay.”
We don’t speak again as I turn on the TV and put on a movie. It’s a romantic comedy, but if Travis hates it, he doesn’t comment on it. I pay attention for about ten minutes before my eyes start getting too heavy to keep them open.
The last thing I feel before darkness takes over is the weight of something soft and warm being draped over me.