Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Travis
At the ranch a few days later, I watched Jada caligra-fy a Date-A-Wolf date card as I bounced my little niece on my shoulders.
Although I was still frustrated with how things had ended with Daphne in the cabin, I tried not to snap at my sister.
I didn’t want to be a grumpy-ass uncle in front of the girls.
But Jada had the nerve to tell me I was spending too much time with Daphne and that I should give the other women a chance.
So, I had to remind her I always made a point to talk to everyone at the various Date-A-Wolf mixers and cocktail parties, to which she said, “Yes, but the whole time, you can’t keep your eyes off of Daphne.
It’s like she’s a magnet, you’re a pile of iron shavings, and everyone else is an afterthought. ”
Okay, so this really irritated me. And not because she compared me to a pile of anything instead of something manlier like an iron anvil.
“It’s really very simple,” I told her as I trotted my niece around the room, trying my hardest not to use any swear words.
“I don’t have the same feelings about the rest of the women that I have for Daphne.
” Jada started to protest, but I stopped her.
“Last time I checked, I’m the Date-A-Wolf bachelor who gets to pick who I want to date. ”
Jada capped her pen and blew on the date card to dry the ink. “It’s because she’s not like the others, Travis. That’s literally my point.”
“Who are you dating, Uncle?” my niece asked, resting her chin on the top of my head. It surprised me she even knew what that was, but given all this Date-A-Wolf chatter, Jada must’ve explained it to her at some point. “Is she pretty?”
“Very.”
Daphne definitely wasn’t like the others, and despite this ridiculous contest, I had developed real feelings for her.
It had started well before the cabin, I just wasn’t ready to admit it then, but I liked who I was around her.
Calmer, less chaotic, more grounded. And I liked how she made me see my world in ways I’d never noticed before.
When she’d been in danger, it brought out a side of me I’d never felt, either.
The primal urge to protect her, fierce and unyielding, had surged through me—drowning out every pack instinct, every duty—as I raced to get her to safety that night.
In fact, I hadn’t even thought of them as my sole focus had been on her.
“You’re right,” I told my sister, setting my niece down who ran off the instant her feet touched the ground. “They’re dating Drake, the character, while she’s dating Travis, the man.”
Jada thought about that for a moment. “So, when Drake played by Travis leaves her after the ceremony and goes back to his life on the set of Secret Shadows, who’s going to pick up the pieces?”
I tried to tell her I’d never hurt Daphne, but she was having none of it.
“And don’t tell me she won’t remember any of this when she leaves. That’s cruel.” A pit formed in my gut at the thought of causing Daphne any pain, and my sister continued. “Do you have any idea how she and her fiancé broke up?”
I didn’t.
“He left her at the altar, Travis. She trusted a man, and he let her down in a very spectacular way. So, don’t you dare do that to her too.”