It made me think of Max.
He would love this place.
There was a little corner of cheap toys. Dinosaurs that were miscolored. Action figures that would break two minutes into using them. Plastic handcuffs that made me grin and blush as I looked back to see Travis at the counter talking to the old man behind it.
I used the bathroom and stopped at the little knick-knack stand and saw a rack of keychains. I used my finger to find the M and the first name I saw was Max.
I looked for Travis and Willow, but they weren’t there.
I spotted a random collection of hats. They were trucker style hats with the mesh back, almost cardboard-like front, with a piece of thick string along the bill of the hat. It was a goofy-looking hat with a picture of a road on it.
With that and the keychain in hand, I walked to the counter.
Travis had done a good job of loading up on all the good junk food.
The old man behind the counter eyed both of us.
“He’s paying for this too,” I said as I put the hat and keychain on the counter.
“Really?” Travis asked.
“For Max,” I said.
“Using the kid to get to my heart?”
“I didn’t realize you had a heart.”
The old man behind the counter gave the total and I nudged Travis.
“I know,” he said as he dug cash out of his pocket. “Keep the change.”
Travis scooped up the junk food and I took my hat and keychain.
We got back into the SUV and Travis dumped the food on me.
“Thanks for that,” I said as I pushed the bags of chips and pretzels to the floor.
“No problem. Glad Max got a keychain and a hat. He’ll like them, I’m sure.”
“The hat isn’t for Max.”
“Oh? So, I bought you a hat?”
“You bought yourself a hat,” I said and hurried to slap the hat on his head. “You look good in it.”
“Well, howdy partner,” Travis said and tipped the bill of the hat.
“Seriously? Are you a cowboy now?”
“I don’t know,” he said. He took the hat off his head. “You really pissed away my money on this?”
“And a keychain for Max,” I reminded him.
“The keychain I don’t mind.”
“Well, don’t say I never did anything nice for you.”
“With my money,” he said.
“Who paid for the hotel room?” I asked. I raised an eyebrow. “The last second hotel room. The one where I had to book and pay whatever they wanted me to pay because you decided to pound half a dozen draft beers…”
“Fine,” Travis said.
He turned the hat around and stuck it back on his head.
I instantly frowned.
The hat was supposed to be a joke. It was supposed to be a goofy thing for him. But of course Travis would put the hat on backwards and look fucking instantly hot while wearing it that way.
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
His hair was greasy and messy, sticking out from the hat. Nothing about him was clean-cut and put together. And that’s what made me fall in love with him all those years ago.
And as for now…
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Travis put the SUV into drive and pulled out of the gas station parking lot.
I couldn’t stop looking at him.
Yeah, he looked super sexy in the joke of a hat I made him buy.
But something else started to bother me.
He already warned me that he wasn’t going to come back to town. Which was fine. And he warned me not to fall in love with him.
That wasn’t the thing that bothered me though.
What bothered me…
What if I didn’t want to leave him?
22
Laughing in the Corner
TRAVIS
I had a small problem, which actually wasn’t really a problem at all.
I couldn’t stop kissing Willow.
It was the urge that would randomly go through me at the worst possible times. There was just something about stealing a kiss from her that felt right. Watching the look on her face when I pulled away from the kiss. The red hue of her cheeks. The way her lips stayed in a kissing position, telling me she wanted more. I did my best to keep it to one kiss at a time, so I didn’t push the boundaries too far. But who was I kidding? My mind flashed with the images of us in bed together every fifteen seconds. The night that should have been our goodbye, but I was quick to pull her close and tell her to come with me on this trip.
We were on some back road with about twenty minutes left of daylight.
Out of nowhere there was this single big tree. Standing in the middle of nothing. The second I saw it, I had a hunch that Willow was going to say something about it. Sure enough, ten seconds later she pointed to the tree and asked if we could stop so she could take a picture. Anytime I dared to put up an argument over something I didn’t want to do, she would tell me that Max would love to see the pictures. Damn me for having a soft spot in my heart for a kid that wasn’t mine. For a kid that wasn’t hers. She FaceTimed Max right after his nap. I listened to the conversation with a smile on my face. It made me realize that Willow was meant for a different life than the one she was living. She was the one who wanted the kid. The house. The bills. The responsibility of that kind of life. She didn’t need to say it, I saw it in her eyes when she talked to Max.
So, I pulled over and watched her jump out of the SUV and run toward the tree. She made me smile. She made my chest feel like it was fluttering. And everywhere else in my body I was laced with temptation. But I knew what temptation would lead to. Both of us getting our hearts smacked around.
“Look at this,” Willow said as she touched the tree. “I wonder what kind of tree it is.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I didn’t bring my tree book with me.”
“Ha. So funny, Travis.”
“Will you stand still so I can take a picture?” I asked. “I’m getting hungry.”
My stomach growled. Between the fast food and the cheap snacks, my stomach hadn’t been full since breakfast.
“I’m hungry too,” Willow said.
“Good,” I said. “We agree. Now…” I lifted my phone and quickly took a picture. “There. We’re done.”
I turned and felt her coming toward me.
I stopped, and she crashed into me.
“What?” I asked.
“Let me see the picture.”
I turned and showed her my phone.
“Come on, Travis. That’s blurry. You did that on purpose. Jerk.”
“Go and stand still then. I mean, shit, you looked ready to hump the tree or something.”
“Wow. You flip a switch when you’re hungry, huh?”
“Yeah, I do. I’ve been driving for hours. We’re lost. I’m hungry. I’m tired. And you want to eye hump a tree.”
“It’s cool, Travis. Sorry for trying to have fun out here.”
“What’s so cool about it?”
“Coming from the guy who used to look at stars, right?” she asked.
“Fine. I like the stars. You like lonely trees. I get it.”
“It’s just… look at it. How did it get here? I mean, this one tree. One seed. And then it just… it’s crazy to think about.”
I watched her marvel at the tree.
It did nothing for me, but I appreciated the way she got excited over it.
“I get it,” I said. “Now smile with your tree.”
Willow leaned against the tree and smiled.
See, she had two kinds of smiles. She had a fake kind of smile that she threw out there when she was just trying to appease whoever was talking to her. But then there was this smile. Her natural smile. Her beautiful smile.
I held my phone up and zoomed in on her and just stared for a few seconds longer than I really should have. I couldn’t help
it. I liked her. I liked everything about her.
Gritting my teeth, I took the picture. I took a handful of them, figuring at least one would be good enough.
I walked to the tree and held my phone out.
“Look,” I said. “The perfect picture.”
“Eh, not too bad,” Willow said. “You could use practice.”
She looked up at me and smiled.
That’s when I lost it again.
I swiped on my phone to go back to the camera and came forward at her. I pinned her back against the tree and kissed her. That first stolen kiss, the one where I usually stopped.
This time, I went for a second kiss.
Then a third.
Then Willow reached up and touched my face, pulling me in for more.
Shit.
I couldn’t stop kissing her.
My mouth hungry, craving the taste of her lips. My tongue flirting with her tongue, always winning the battle she tried to keep up with.
I lifted my arm and turned my phone in my hand. I pressed the side button to take a picture.
I pulled away from Willow and loved the way her lips were red, puffy, and guilty.
In the back of my throat, I growled.
Right behind her, off in the horizon, the sun was starting to set. The splash of colors lit up the sky and I felt like I was standing in the middle of a cliché.
I broke my stare from her because if I kept that shit up, something more was going to happen.
Or maybe it already had, and I was too late.
I looked at my phone and saw the picture I took.
It was a perfect shot of our kiss. A wild, deep, passionate kiss.
“There,” I said. “Tell me I suck at taking pictures…”
I showed Willow the phone and her eyes lit up. Her cheeks turned red.
I put my phone back into my pocket and walked away.
I started to calculate how far I was from my apartment. The whole road trip thing was a bad idea.
It was me who was fucking up.
I was starting to fall in love with Willow.
It was a laid-back bar that had cold beer, room temperature whiskey, and the best fries I had ever tasted. I sat with Willow at a high top table near the front window with a buzzing red neon light glowing to the outside world.
There was a small stage at the far end with a handwritten sign that read OPEN MIC NIGHT. It caught my attention and got my fingertips tingling. I hadn’t done anything musically in far too long. It wasn’t like me to stay away from the drums as long as I had. Or even guitar. I had been slugging my guitar with me since I left my apartment and only played it once at Sam’s house for about ten minutes.
I was itching for something.
Truthfully, it was Willow.
But I needed to distract myself. I needed to get my head together before things went too far. Leave it to me to go on a road trip to clear my head and end up making things worse.
“You okay?” Willow said.
“Huh? Yeah. Why?”
“You’re quiet.”
“You want me to get drunk and yell at everyone again?”
“No,” she said. “Not tonight. Maybe it’ll be my turn for that.”
With that, Willow reached for my whiskey glass and threw the shot back like it was water. Her face twisted for a second and her eyes watered like someone had socked her in the nose.
But it was as sexy as hell to see her take a shot like that.
“So, I should stop drinking while I’m ahead,” I said.
“Nope,” Willow said. “We’re staying next door tonight.”
“What?”
“There’s a little B&B next door. I got us a room there.”
I laughed. “Wow. You really are the responsible one, aren’t you? I would have been fine sleeping in the back of the SUV.”
“Not enough room for both of us,” she said.
I reached and touched her cheek with my thumb. “We don’t need much room, bunny.”
She gave me a half smile and surprisingly didn’t blush.
Another step toward trouble.
I walked to the bar to get us another round of drinks. I had to get away from her for a second and take a breath.
Two beers. Two shots of whiskey. A lonely yet loud walk back to the table.
The entire time, Willow stared me down.
Something was burning deeply in those beautiful eyes of hers. And I wasn’t going to push at her any more than I already had.
“Cheers,” I said and slid the shot glass toward her.
She lifted it and gave a nod.
She shocked me again as she threw the second shot back as fast as the first. Her face made the same expression, which was expected. It took time to appreciate the burning hell of good whiskey.
When she put the empty glass down, she exhaled hard. “That’s going to haunt me.”
“Yeah it is,” I said. “You’re, uh, throwing them back easily there. I’m trying to figure out if you’re enjoying yourself or if that tree really got the best of your heart.”
“Shut up,” Willow said. “Travis, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Talking to Max today… I mean, he and Wren are in my apartment. She’s behind on her bills again. She and I got into this huge argument before I left because Brendan told her you hit him.”
“I didn’t hit him,” I said. “The door did. He was lucky I didn’t hit him.”
“Either way, it was my fault for talking about her personal life to you.”
“Which you’re doing again.”
“The difference is you’ll never see Wren, Max, or Brendan again.”
My heart pulled a little.
Never see Max again, huh? Never see your messed-up sister either?
But that was right. That’s what I told Willow. That was my plan.
“Right,” I said. “I’ll never see them again.”
Why did that bother me so much?
“I’m just confused. Again.”
“You’re always confused, Willow,” I said. “Just speak your mind. Your heart. Tell me what you’re thinking. Stop hiding. If this is just us on a road trip, then we leave it all here. We’ll never come back to this bar again. This town. This road. So fuck it. Spill it.”
Willow nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. You know, Wren made some points that hit home for me. She’ll forever love Brendan and give him a million chances to fuck up.”
“And you think it’ll be your job to save her and Max from his fuck ups.”
“What choice do I have?”
I smiled. “Let her survive on her own.”
“Travis…”
“That kid isn’t going to go hungry. We both know that. And if your mother wants to bail her ass out then that’s on her. Not you. Why stop your life for someone else? I know, I know, it’s your sister. I know you want to ask me what I would do. And I know you know that would piss me the fuck off. Because I would do the same thing if Julie was still around.”
The words spilled onto the table.
… if Julie was still around…
I didn’t like saying her name. I didn’t like even thinking about her or all that what could have been bullshit.
“You’re right,” Willow said. “I just want her to be happy. Find a job. Find a guy. Live life.”
“Willow, why don’t you try that on yourself first?” I asked.
“Meaning what?”
“Seriously? Why don’t you go and find happiness? Find a job… apparently you haven’t worked in a while.”
“I saved my money. I have money. I’m okay.”
I showed my hands. “I’m not judging you. I’m just speaking the truth. And why don’t you find a guy?”
“Who? Sam?”
Jealousy pushed at my heart. There was going to be a world where I would be alone, and Willow would live in the same town at Sam. That world had been in existence for a long time now, but it was only a
matter of time before that spark hit and exploded into something else.
“I don’t know who,” I said. “That’s your problem.”
“My problem. Right. Thanks for the advice.”
“There is no advice here, Willow. There’s just living. So, find a way to be happy.”
I realized I was sort of snapping at her. Her face showed it. I felt the words spitting almost like venom.
I turned my head for a second to breathe.
That’s when Willow hit me… not with her hand. Which I would have rather her done.
“Go and play something.”
“What?” I asked, snapping my gaze forward.
“Go and play,” she said. “You said it yourself. We’ll never be back here. Right? This is our road trip. So, go and play.”
“And who exactly am I playing for?” I asked. “You? Me?”
“Who cares?” Willow asked. “Are you afraid?”
“You’re messing with me, Willow.”
“So, what if I am? Apparently, I don’t look in the mirror. So, I’m ugly. I have no job. I have nobody to love.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
“Nothing. Go up on that stage and play a song. I dare you.”
I laughed. “You’re daring me now?”
“Yeah.”
I stood up. “No, bunny, I don’t do dares.”
“So, you’re chickening out?”
“Nope,” I said. I walked toward her and put my hand flat to the table and leaned down. My lips were an inch from hers. I could smell the whiskey on her breath. It made my body rage and between my legs was already getting hard. “I’ll play a fucking song in honor of this road trip of ours. And you don’t need a fucking mirror to know you’re beautiful. Just look into my eyes, Willow, and see me looking right back at you.”
I gave her a quick kiss.
She didn’t even have a chance to kiss me back before I was walking toward the door.
To have a smoke and get my guitar.
What You Don't Know (True Hearts Book 6) Page 21
