by K. G. Reuss
I pulled my phone out as Mason called out to Alex and Ava, who were walking toward us down the sidewalk, and shot a text to Lexy.
Travis: Can we talk?
I stared at the screen, waiting for her answer, even if it was the middle finger emoji. Lexy always answered me. When she didn’t, my heart raced, panic setting in.
Maybe there was no coming back from this.
I needed a peace offering. A thought popped into my head, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I could fix this. Maybe. She wanted that ring which looked like her grandmother’s, and I had a pocketful of money. I knew the shop was closed, but tomorrow… tomorrow I’d go.
The thought of fixing this pacified me enough to make it through the rest of the night.
Twenty-Three
Lexy
I shut my phone off after getting the text from Travis and fell into a fitful sleep. When my alarm went off in the morning, I took a quick shower and pulled my hair into a high ponytail, knowing I couldn’t keep avoiding everyone since we had to fly back today.
So many worries and thoughts kept grappling for purchase in my mind. I couldn’t wrap my head around what I should do. I’d married Travis in a drunken stupor. And I’d given my virginity to him, which only gave him gloating rights—something I knew he’d use. Remembering I’d be seeing him soon nearly sent me into a panic attack.
“Babe! Come on! It’s omelet time!” Ava shouted, popping her head into my room.
I forced a smile on my face and grabbed my suitcases since we were heading to the airport right after breakfast.
“You missed out on so much fun last night!” Ava squealed as we made our way downstairs. “Alex sang karaoke! I have a video. You need to see it! He and Travis did a duet. Girl, did you know Travis can sing?”
She rambled a mile a minute while I tried to take my anxiety down a notch. When my feet hit the living room, Travis’s eyes locked on mine as he came in the front door, car keys in hand.
I quickly ducked my head.
“There she is!” Mason called out. “You missed a helluva good time last night, Lex!”
“I heard,” I answered with a stiff smile in place. From the corner of my eye, I could see Travis still staring at me. I braced myself, waiting for one of his snarky remarks. When he remained silent, I cleared my throat and spoke, “I’m going to go put my luggage in the car. I’ll, uh, be outside.”
Ava’s brow wrinkled in confusion as she gawked at me. The look quickly disappeared as she focused on Alex, who’d just sauntered in. He winked at her in the subtlest of ways, making me wonder what that was about. Not really having the mental energy to contemplate it, considering my own laundry list of issues, I went out to the SUV and tried to put my luggage away. There was a lot already in there. We definitely had more than what we came with.
“What the hell,” I grumbled, struggling to move one of Ava’s massive bags to squeeze mine in. Mine fell to the concrete, springing open and dumping a few loose articles of clothing out.
“Need help?” Travis’s smooth voice cut through.
Mortified, I tried to shove everything back in and slam the lid closed. I hopped to my feet and made another attempt at forcing my suitcase inside.
“No,” I answered, wincing as I bumped my elbow on the backside of the vehicle in my frustrations.
“Here,” Travis said, his hand brushing against mine as he took my suitcase from me. My heart thudded faster in my chest at the small touch. I watched as he shuffled things around for a moment before he slid my bag in with ease. He turned to me with a smile. “There.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled. I turned to leave, the butterflies in my stomach kicking up such a flurry that I thought I might throw up on his white shoes. But maybe barfing wouldn’t be so bad. It would gain me that distance I needed.
“Hey, Lexy, wait.” Travis reached out and grabbed my arm, halting my retreat. I blew out a breath and closed my eyes, composing myself before turning to him.
“What?”
His green eyes swept over me. “We need to talk—”
“We really don’t, Travis. Not right now. I need some time to process all of this, OK?”
He nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. But Lex—”
“Not now,” I hissed.
“But you forgot these,” he said, twirling a scrap of hot pink lace around his index finger.
I snatched them away and stuffed them in my pocket, humiliation heating my cheeks.
“Let’s get going. We’re burning daylight!” Alex announced, coming out of the house, Ava and Mason trailing behind him.
“And calories!” Ava chirped, grinning at Alex. “Lord knows these guys can’t handle not eating every other hour.”
“It’s football season, Ava. We need to maintain our sex appeal for all the ladies.” Mason waggled his brows at her as she snorted.
“Hey, Lex. What do you think? Am I still hot?” Mason smirked at Travis before looking back at me.
When I peeked at Travis, a scowl adorned his face. “You’re still a beautiful specimen of a man, Mason. Any woman would be lucky to have you.”
“And many have,” Alex chortled, sliding into the driver’s seat.
“Not as many as you, man.”
Alex flipped him off through the window, making Mason laugh louder.
“Hey, you big doofus! I’m riding shotgun!” Ava argued, trying to elbow her way past Mason to get into the passenger seat.
He tickled her, making her gasp and giggle—a shriek and Alex’s name falling from her lips.
“Lex, you can ride with me,” Travis called out, clearing his throat.
“Travis, I just told you I don’t want to talk—”
“I won’t pester you at all about it. Scout’s honor, Lex.” He held his hand up in a scout symbol, his eyes wide and innocent. “Maybe we can talk about the project a bit more. I have a few more ideas.”
He was being weird. I supposed I was too. I chewed the inside of my cheek for a moment, watching as Ava landed an elbow in Mason’s ribs, causing him to whoosh out a breath of laughter and double over.
“Sure. Fine.”
A look of relief swept over his face. I followed him out to the Nissan. He opened my door for me, surprising me.
I quirked my eyebrow at him, and he shrugged.
“She going with you?” Alex called out, backing out of the driveway.
“Yeah,” Travis replied. “See you guys there.”
Alex’s gaze swept from Travis to me inside the car, suspicion evident on his face. Travis and I never did things together. Guess a lot had changed over the last few days.
Things I didn’t think we could ever fix.
Twenty-Four
Travis
“How did you sleep?” I asked as I pulled the car onto the road. I felt entirely too big behind the steering wheel, my six-foot-four-inch frame leaning back in the seat which practically had to be pushed into the backseat to make room for my long legs.
“Not great,” Lexy muttered, staring out her window at the passing scenery.
“Want to talk about it?” I ventured, my voice soft.
She looked over at me, a frown on her lips. Lips I vaguely remembered being wrapped around my cock last night. I shifted in my seat, willing the twitch in my dick to chill.
“We agreed not to do this, Travis. If you keep pushing, I’ll jump out of this car.”
“You’d risk getting run over to get away from reality?” I muttered, grinding my teeth. “Nice, Hale.”
She shook her head and let out a sigh. We both sat in uncomfortable silence as we followed Alex. Mason’s head was bobbing in the backseat while Ava waved her hands around, no doubt telling a story.
“What are we going to do, Travis?” Lexy’s voice came out soft and shaky. She twisted her hands in her lap, her leg bouncing as she bit her bottom lip.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“Alex can’t know.”
I
nodded. “I agree.”
“No one can know. Ever.”
It was like a lead weight dropped into my guts. I didn’t know what that meant, as my chest ached. Tabling the thought, I recalled telling Mason, but he was a good guy. He wouldn’t say anything.
“So we’re just going to be married without anyone knowing?”
She shook her head, the red waves from her ponytail cascading over her shoulder. “We aren’t going to stay married.”
For the second time already today, I ground my teeth. Relief should’ve swept through me at her words. Instead, hurt and anger flowed, creating an ugly curtain of confusion within me.
“Why are you still wearing my ring then?” I managed to whisper.
She stilled in her seat for a moment before answering. “I-I don’t know.” Her eyes roved to my hands on the steering wheel, her mouth turned down into a deep frown. I’d taken my ring off last night before going out with everyone. “You’re right. It’s stupid. It’s fake. It’s…meaningless.”
Her words made me swallow down the fury that seemed to be clawing at my throat to get out, desperate to shout at her that it wasn’t meaningless. But to do so would make me seem like something I didn’t think I was. Or ever could be for her. Hell, she clearly wasn’t interested.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter as she pulled the ring off her finger.
“Here.” She held the thin silver band out to me.
I let out a controlled, even breath before answering her. “Keep it. Someday when I’m famous, you can sell our story to the tabloids and buy yourself what you really want. Maybe the ring will fetch a good price.”
“You’re such an asshole,” she hissed at me, closing her hand around the ring instead of throwing it at me. “I can’t believe I let you fuck me.”
A bitter laugh slipped past my lips. “Let me? Baby, you were begging for it. I did you a favor.”
I flinched as she flung her seatbelt off, the ring pinging off the window as she pitched it at me. I’d barely stopped the car as she tumbled out the door, all long, lean legs and red waves.
“At least we made it to breakfast,” I muttered, putting the car in park outside the Omelet Factory.
Lexy stalked across the parking lot, her hair whipping behind her. She looked like a storm marching across the concrete. I counted myself as fortunate she hadn’t unleashed all her fury on me for my asshole words.
I took a moment to find her ring on the floorboards before stuffing it into my pocket, anxiety clenching my guts. Only a couple of days into my marriage, and my wife was already throwing her ring at me. Classic fucking Travis, screwing up any form of a relationship with a woman I could have.
“What did you do now?” Alex asked as I got out of the car. Lexy had already stormed inside the restaurant. Mason gave me a knowing look. Ava didn’t hang around to find out, opting to run after Lexy.
“Pissed her off,” I mumbled, looking down at my feet. I’d been a complete prick. Seeing her pull my ring off had done something to me though. I knew it was a ridiculous feeling. One that had no place belonging inside me considering Lexy and I weren’t a good pairing. But damn. What I did remember of the evening, I’d replay in my head for the rest of my life. Her lips wrapped around my cock. Her blue eyes fixed on me as I broke down her walls and buried myself inside her tight, little body. Her fingernails digging in my back, branding me as hers. The way she arched her body as she crashed around me. My name on her lips.
I shook my head, needing to clear the images.
“Fix it,” Alex instructed, clapping me on the back as we made our way into the restaurant. “It’ll be a long flight back if she’s pissed.”
I nodded.
Fix it.
The enthusiasm I’d had earlier in the morning at the jewelry shop turned to dread. Maybe there really was no fixing it.
Twenty-Five
Lexy
I managed to pull myself together in the bathroom of the restaurant before going out to meet everyone. Travis was an asshole. But the bits I could remember of our night had shown me a different side. He’d been so sweet and perfect. Another of his miserable games. I knew the real Travis. That wasn’t him, but I’d fallen for it anyway.
And now I was his wife.
He didn’t even look at me as I approached the table everyone sat at, opting to stare down at his menu.
“Welcome to the party,” Mason greeted me, sliding over.
I slid in beside him in the large circular booth. I grunted and grabbed a menu.
“I’m Missy,” a young girl broke in, standing over us. “I’ll be your waitress this morning.”
I cast her a quick look to see she was about our age. She wore her blonde hair in a long braid over her shoulder. Her top button was undone, displaying her cleavage. I rolled my eyes as I peeked over to see how Travis reacted to her. She looked like his favorite type. To be fair, breathing seemed his type.
To my surprise, his gaze didn’t linger on her.
“I’ll have the breakfast bar,” he grunted. “Orange juice and a coffee to drink.”
“Same,” everyone else piped up.
She looked at me expectantly. Truth be told, I couldn’t afford much. I’d gone well over my budget with the Vegas weekend, despite not having done much. My shopping spree had been a bad idea. At least I hadn’t spent much of my winnings. I wanted to stash them away.
“I’ll, um, have a water.”
Alex lifted a brow at me and opened his mouth to say something, but Travis cut him off.
“She’ll have the breakfast bar too. Orange juice. Coffee.”
I opened my mouth to protest, not wanting to owe him a damn thing, but he kept talking.
“Put it all on one bill. I’m buying.”
Our waitress smiled and wrote everything down before pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and tapping her pencil on the pad of paper.
“Aren’t you Travis Owens, the quarterback for the Rayton Falcons?”
Usually when someone recognized Travis, he’d smile and gloat. This time, he cast her only a polite smile.
“I am.”
“I’m a huge fan,” she gushed. “My cousin went to Rayton. You guys are amazing. I heard you’re going to be a first-round pick for the draft.”
I swiveled my head from her to him, knowing damn well how good of a quarterback he was. I knew he was being scouted. I had no idea he was a probable first-round pick.
“And a Heisman hopeful. That has to be so exciting!”
He nodded, his smile not as big or bright as it usually was. “It definitely is. But, uh, these are my friends. Mason and Alex. Both are on the team. I couldn’t do it without the team.”
She tore her gaze from Travis to smile at the guys. Her interest wasn’t in them, though. Him. She wanted him.
“I’d love to talk football with you,” she continued, staring back at him again. “I could, uh, help you relax. I know it can get stressful.”
Anger boiled inside me.
Alex chuckled softly and glanced at Travis. Mason shifted beside me. Ava rolled her eyes.
My breath whooshed out of me at Travis’s next words.
“My wife offers me all the stress relief I need. Thank you for the offer, though.” His eyes fixed on me, and my cheeks heated. What the hell was he doing?
Missy finally glanced at me, a scowl on her face. “I didn’t realize you were married.”
“It’s a detail that can get missed,” Travis answered with his polite grin. “We do have a plane to catch though, so you’ll have to forgive me for rushing you along.”
“Right. Of course.” She fixed her smile on her face. “I’ll get your drinks. Help yourselves to the breakfast bar. We have fifteen different omelets as well as all the other breakfast fixins’. If you need anything, anything at all, I’ll just be a shout away.” She winked at Travis before turning and going, making sure to swing her hips.
The nerve of that girl! I silently fumed at her audacity as she departed.
>
“She wants your jock,” Mason commented with a chuckle. “Should get some. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?”
Travis’s gaze found mine, and my heart stumbled in my chest. His eyes were filled with an emotion I’d never seen on him before. It made me swallow hard.
“I guess so,” he murmured.
“Lexy, babe, you going to reclaim your spot on my chest?” Mason called out to me as he sat in his seat.
I hesitated for a moment and looked at Travis whose face remained stony. We hadn’t spoken since the car ride to get breakfast. Mason had ridden with him to the airport, leaving me to go with Alex and Ava.
“If you think you can handle it,” I shot back.
Mason grinned and patted the seat beside him.
I plopped down, my eyes leveled on Travis as he shook his head at me. I let out a squeak as he pushed past me and sat in the window seat, leaving me sandwiched between him and Mason.
“I like the window seat.” He smirked at my silent question.
“Lexy is terrified of it,” Mason called out over my head. “Practically crawled into my lap trying to get away from it last flight.”
“Shut up,” I hissed at him, embarrassed he told Travis one of my weaknesses. Travis’s eyebrows shot up as he surveyed me.
“Didn’t take you for an acrophobe.”
“Didn’t take you for a scholar,” I snapped back, not even knowing how the hell he would know the clinical term for the phobia.
“Well, sweetheart, you did take me for something,” he leaned in and whispered. “How did it go again? Do you take this man—”
“Travis,” I warned, frozen in my seat.
He reached out and traced his fingers along my hand, sending a thrill of goosebumps over my skin.
“Challenge, Lexicon.”
I bristled beneath his warm breath, my heart stumbling like a drunken fool. Despite my better judgement, despite everything within me screaming to just sock him in his pretty face, I swallowed hard and turned to him.
