Chapter 14
TRAVIS
Despite her enchanting qualities, Rachel was not a witch. Of this, Travis was pretty certain. But the speed with which she removed her mouth from his was truly stunning.
Rachel had tasted like the sunshine promise he’d been sure she’d just made. Mouths opened, tongues met, his arms went to her back, wrapping around her so they were a tight unit.
His erection had really been hoping to get in the game, especially when she shifted so she really was sitting in his lap with her legs straddling him.
Dane fucked it all up.
Travis counted to four in his head. Then, careful not to shift all his weight onto Rachel, he moved from her.
She immediately sat up and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Dane.” Travis shoved his hands through his hair. “We’re a little busy.”
“I see that,” Dane said, standing inside the threshold, and moving his gaze between Travis and Rachel. “You two are really going to do this, huh?”
Rachel opened her mouth to speak. “I—”
“Because you know Mom and Dad are going to disown you if you fuck with her.” Dane addressed Travis as he spread his stance wider.
Travis glared daggers at his brother. Dane had been his favorite right until that moment. “I’m not going to fuck with her.”
“He’s not,” Rachel said. “We were just doing a little experiment. Turns out, it worked.” She laughed, but it came out as an awkwardly stifled giggle.
Travis struggled to process anything further because most of the blood in his body was residing below the waistband of his pajama bottoms.
“Can you at least start locking the door?” Dane asked, resigned. “It’ll prevent an unsuspecting someone—mostly me—from finding something I shouldn’t.”
“What are you even doing here?” Travis asked, eyes narrowed.
Dane’s eyebrows rose at the tone. “Lights were on. I was checking in on Rach.”
“Please don’t tell your mom,” Rachel said quickly, standing to pace between the sofa and one of the armchairs. Travis adjusted himself so he wouldn’t be pitching a trouser tent, and stood, moving toward Rachel. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and, thankfully, she let him take her weight.
Pressing a kiss against the crown of her head came naturally.
Flying solo had nothing on what he’d just had with Rachel. What she was giving him even now.
“Please don’t tell them,” Rachel said, softer this time. The soft seemed to get Dane’s attention.
He took in the scene—Travis and Rachel, the puppies sleeping on the rug, the work Rachel had strewn all over the coffee table by the sofa, the half-eaten bag of milk chocolate Dove candies Travis hadn’t noticed before.
“Fucking hell,” was all Dane said as he, once again, pressed the lock on the door. Then he turned and addressed Travis. “You need to be more careful.” Dane pulled the door shut behind him.
“He didn’t agree,” Rachel said, panicked.
“He’s worried.” Travis squeezed her shoulders before turning her to face him. “I’ve always done this thing when someone tells me I can’t have somethin’, I want it. So he’s worried. Rightfully so.”
“Your parents just told you that you can’t have me, so you want me?” The vulnerability in her gaze hit him hard, like an overhead punch to the cranium. “That’s what I thought.”
Of course that’s what she’d thought. That’s what everyone thought.
He hadn’t exactly given them a reason not to.
“No,” he assured, keeping his tone gentle like he would if he were talking to the pups or the boys. “This is different.
I’m not sure what it is exactly, but the chemistry at the lake and on the sofa…I want to explore that. See where it takes us.”
“So it’s the other thing,” she said under her breath. What the hell was the other thing?
“I’m not usually a see-where-it-takes-us kind of person.” Rachel started to extract herself from his arms. “This is all new to me.”
He let her move away, because deep inside he understood she needed the space to think.
“But you considered trying it,” he said, again, keeping his tone low and soft. “And you did try it.”
She brushed a strand of hair from her face. “I can’t take that kind of risk long-term. Kissing you on the sofa is one thing…what happened after is something totally different.”
“It’s me, Rach—I won’t let this hurt you.”
But he was Travis, so she was certain that’s why it would hurt her.
“That’s not how it works, Travis.” She hugged herself. “We both know that’s not how it works.”
He shoved his hands in his hair. “Fine, agreed, we can’t prevent each other from falling.”
She nodded.
“But we can promise to soften the landing,” he said, hoping she’d agree.
“I would love to do the things I want to do just to see what happens. Within reason, you know? Not skydiving or anything like that, but other things.” She didn’t have to point at him for him to know what she meant.
“Then take the risk, Rach.”
“Who’s going to make sure Gavin doesn’t re-home the puppies if my parachute doesn’t inflate?” she asked. “I can’t jump, because there are too many things I need to ensure are taken care of.”
“You’re not responsible for the entire world.” He started toward her, but she stepped back, so he paused.
“There’s no plan B for me,” she said as though she truly thought it were true. “If something happens to me, everything in my boys’ world collapses.”
“But what do you want to do?” he asked.
The answer to that was, apparently, simple. “You,” she said.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” she asked.
“Yes, okay.” He stepped toward her. “You need to try somethin’ new without risk. I’m willing to give that to you.”
“How?” She didn’t seem convinced at all that this was possible, but people underestimated him all the time.
Usually, he didn’t give them a reason not to, but with Rachel he wouldn’t fuck it up.
“I’m going to make you some promises,” he said.
She didn’t move back when he stepped toward her this time.
“I’m going to promise you that no one needs to know about us. I’m going to promise you that I’ll respect whatever you decide when it comes to us. I’m going to promise to have your back, even if we decide things aren’t working out.”
“And if you decide you don’t want me? After we move forward?”
“Then I’ll promise that I’ll still be there to help you out with whatever you need.”
“What if I really piss you off?”
The lump in his throat seemed thicker. “Then I won’t do it for you, I’ll do it for your boys.”
“What do you want in return?” she asked, cautiously. “A shot at seeing what happens.” He trailed the edge of his index finger along her cheekbone. “That’s all I’m asking.”
Rachel opened her mouth and closed it, open and close—like a trout that wanted to jump back into the water but also wanted to see what else the world had to offer on land.
“Okay,” she said, finally.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
The door handle rattled. “Mom?” Brady called from the other side of the oak. “It’s locked.”
Rachel pulled away from Travis. “Hang on, sweetie.”
“Can you lie down with me?” Brady called. “I can’t sleep.”
“Be right there.” Rachel seemed to be doing an inventory of her clothing—which was, unfortunately, in order, given he hadn’t had a chance to remove any of it.
The door handle rattled again. Travis made a mental note to thank Dane for his intrusion earlier. Better Dane than Brady.
After adjusting her shirt, Rachel leaned forward and gently, so very gently, pressed a light kiss to Travis’s lips. “We can continue this conversation tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” he said against her mouth.
She smiled, bit at her bottom lip, and nodded, their noses brushing with the small movement.
“One second.” She turned to head toward the door. Travis watched her walk away.
He didn’t move for a long while after she’d left the room, distracting Brady and heading down the hallway toward his bedroom.
Travis swallowed and glanced at the dogs, then to the new linens he needed to swap onto his bed, and then to the blank space where Rachel had been earlier on the sofa.
The memory of her mouth against his had his insides pooling into melted sunshine.
Pure Rachel.
He closed his eyes, and he smiled.