Chapter Eight Sage
Chapter Eight
Sage
Juniper Sage Blacksburg. Juniper Sage Featherstone-Blacksburg.
I can’t decide what sounds best. I write it down a few times in my journal just to look at it. I write it in print, cursive, and I type it out on my phone. No matter how I look at it or spell it, it simply doesn’t get old.
I can’t lie. After Travis sent me away in my sexiest dress, post–almost killing me with his car, I thought we were done.
Maybe I’d been a little delusional and thought he was more into me than he was.
But then he came to the cabin to fuck me, and now I know the truth.
Travis is as in love with me as I am with him.
He just shows it a little differently.
I have to admit, he is kind of an oddball, but in a cute and special way.
Travis plays to the beat of his own drum, and that’s one of the things I love about him.
He is different, an enigma of sorts. He is guarded, and a bit of a recluse, I think, but I even like that about him.
He is like an onion I plan on peeling back layer by layer.
Seriously, it feels like magic. Like something in the air is thick with opportunity. Anything feels possible. I could fly right now if I wanted to. All because of Travis Blacksburg.
He left before we could talk about what happened, and I know I need to go see him.
I just don’t know how yet. I thought about making him more cookies.
Or maybe I could make him a nice home-cooked meal.
They say the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but that’s not entirely true.
The fastest way is through their cock, and Travis and I already have simmering sexual chemistry, so I have that base covered.
I just have to lock down the stomach now, and I’ll have a ring in no time.
While I may be lacking ingredients in Ryan’s bachelor pad of a cabin, I’m sure Travis has plenty at home. So, after a little primping in the mirror, I make my way over.
It’s a beautiful day, so I consider a picnic. Maybe Travis and I can go to the cliff overlooking the lake with a blanket, a bottle of wine, and some toasted Brie on a fancy baguette, and fall in love with each other. He seems like a man who would appreciate a nice wine-and-cheese pairing.
Note to self: Learn about wine and cheese.
I knock on his door, expecting him to answer all grumpy like he always does.
Now I know it’s nothing but a facade, and I’m slowly cracking that hard shell around him.
I wait for a minute, and when he doesn’t answer, I knock again.
Once more, I get no answer. I stand on my tiptoes to peek through the garage windows and notice his car is gone.
You know what? This is even better. Now I can surprise him when he gets home, the same way he surprised me.
Obviously the door is locked. Which means I need to sneak around the perimeter of his house and look for another entrance. I walk around, and all his windows are covered with blinds, so I have a hard time seeing through them. They’re all locked on top of that.
As I’m walking, I spot a privacy fence in his backyard, and I jump so I can see what’s over it. That’s when I spot the hot tub. How romantic!
Imagine Travis coming home after a long day out, wherever the fuck he is, walking through his house, all alone, just to spot me in his hot tub, completely naked. What a surprise.
I look around for something to help me climb when I spot a log that seems sturdy enough. I drag it toward the fence and carefully scale it, reaching for the top.
As I pull myself up, I feel the log fall from under my foot and roll away. I fight to get on top of the fence, thankful it’s at least a few inches wide to give me some stability.
I must look ridiculous, huffing and puffing while I struggle to swing my leg over. “And here we have the rarely graceful Love-Sickus influencera, awkwardly trying to navigate suburban terrain while deeply, stupidly in love,” I say, narrating my life as if it were a nature documentary.
When I’m finally straddling it, ready to hop over to the other side, I realize my mistake. The other side is way too far down to just hop off without hurting my ankle. After the fall yesterday, my legs are already a little sore.
The only option would be to turn back. Well, at least it would have been if the log hadn’t up and rolled away. I’m stuck.
I consider just jumping down the way I came since it’s a shorter fall, but I’m afraid. What if I break my ankle out here? Sure, that would mean Travis might be inclined to take care of me, but I’d be sitting out here on my own, for God only knows how long, waiting for him.
Thankfully, I don’t have to consider my options much longer, because I hear his car pulling up the driveway. I can’t see him yet, but I’m hoping I will soon enough. It doesn’t take long before he is opening the back door to his house and walking directly toward me.
“Funny story,” I call to him, hoping it will break some of the immediate tension.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Travis asks, standing below me with his arms crossed in front of him. “I have things to do. I had to leave what I was doing because I got a security alert about you snooping around my house.”
I can see the annoyance in his eyes, and I feel bad for a moment. “I just wanted to surprise you. After how you surprised me last night, I thought it was the least I could do.”
He shakes his head and lets out a reluctant sigh, dropping his arms to his sides. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about that. That’s not what I was there for.”
“Oh yeah? Then what were you there for?”
“I was there to strangle you,” Travis replies without a moment of hesitation.
“Kinky.” I laugh it off before realizing what I just said out loud. I don’t want him to think I think strangulation is sexy. Do I? “I meant k-kettle chips!” I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.
Smooth move, Sage.
He gives me a confused look, and I recover with a nervous giggle.
“I’m a very busy man, and I can’t have you constantly interrupting me. I need you to stop showing up like this and leave me alone.”
“You didn’t really seem to want to be alone last night.” I laugh as I wiggle on the fence, looking at the ground in front of him. “I could use a hand getting down, by the way.”
He huffs once again and looks over his shoulder at a shed with a tall metal ladder lying on the ground next to it. “Fine, I’ll get you the ladder if you promise to stop showing up out of nowhere and interrupting my life.”
I squint at him to try to see how serious he is. He might appear like he means what he’s saying, but the way he fucked me last night told me something else entirely. He doesn’t want to be left alone.
“Fine, I promise,” I say, knowing I have no intention of keeping my word.
Travis turns around, and I watch him as he walks away, admiring how good he looks in jeans.
He grabs the ladder without any struggle, which is impressive because that means he’s strong.
He presses it against the wall, and I grab the top of it to steady myself before swinging my leg over to the other side.
I feel my center of gravity being pulled as I swing my leg over and lose control. I fall off the fence and cry out.
Instead of collapsing to the ground, two strong arms wrap around me. My breath catches in my throat as I open my eyes to see Travis holding me in his arms, having caught me before I landed on the ground.
It feels like one of those romantic moments in every superhero movie where the hero catches the damsel in distress. What comes after those moments? A passionate kiss.
Logically, I grab Travis’s face and pull it toward mine, letting my lips swish against his. He holds me close to him for a moment, kissing me back as I hold on to him for dear life. My fingers cling to his shirt collar as if I could pull him into me.
Remnants of the pleasure I felt last night warm my core, and I want nothing more than for him to take me to his bed and make love to me. By the way he’s kissing me back, I think he wants the same thing.
His mouth envelops mine as if he can’t get enough, and it only stirs the desire growing in my chest. If I have it my way, every day for the rest of my life will be just like this.
But then Travis pulls away. I’m still in his arms, and he looks down, realizing that, and sets me on the ground. I move toward him again, hoping to kiss him once more, but he backs away.
“This isn’t on the schedule for today,” Travis says, shaking his head at me. His eye twitches as he takes a deep breath and wipes any trace of me from his lips.
He turns around to walk back into his house, and I instinctively follow. Now it’s my chance to cook the dinner I wanted and woo him properly. But instead of sitting down on the couch and taking a chance to get to know me better, he leads me directly to the front door.
“Every time you show up here, you keep getting hurt,” Travis says as I linger in the doorway, trying to think of any excuse to stay behind. “You should be careful. Next time you come around, you might get seriously injured—or worse.”
He nudges me over the threshold and closes the door, promptly locking it afterward.
His words linger in my mind, and I wonder what he means.
Travis is mysterious, and it’s clear to me he has nearly impenetrable walls up around him.
If he thinks he’s going to hurt me, he’s wrong.
I’m going to make sure I break down those walls and make a nest in his heart.
It’s only a matter of time before Travis Blacksburg is mine and I am his.