The Bet

by Rachel Van Dyken

  He wasn’t sure how long he stared at the ceiling fan, but it was a while before he managed to jump in the shower and get ready for the day.

  Travis bounded down the hall. The house was eerily quiet. He silently hoped Kacey hadn’t somehow run off, leaving him alone in the house.

  He knocked on her door.

  No answer.

  He knocked again then pushed it open.

  Her bags were still in the room but she wasn’t there. Her perfume, however, danced off the walls, filling his nose with her scent. Great, now he’d be uncomfortable for the entire search.

  “Kacey?” he called as he went down the stairs. He went into the living room, the kitchen… Where was she?

  The door to the patio was open. He went outside and called for her again.

  “I’m in here!” she answered, then waved from the tree house.

  Of course she was. If he would have been thinking rationally, he would have realized that the first place to look should have been the tree house.

  Whenever she’d had a bad day at school she would rush over to their house, drop her backpack onto the kitchen counter, snatch a cookie from the jar, and climb up into the tree house.

  Sometimes it was hours before she’d emerge.

  But when she did, Kacey was always happier, as if the day at school no longer mattered.

  He sighed and climbed slowly up the ladder until he pulled himself up into the tree house.

  Kacey was sitting in the corner, her arms wrapped around her knees.

  “Sorry.” She bit down on her lip and sighed. “I just needed to think, so I came out here.”

  “Yeah well, that makes two of us. I don’t suppose you snatched cookies from the kitchen too?”

  She reached to her side and pulled out a baggie with three chocolate chip cookies. “Of course.”

  He took one from the bag and smiled. “Kace.”

  She looked up.

  “I had a really good speech for you. I mean, it was fantastic — something that would bring you to tears…”

  “No doubt,” she agreed, taking a bite of her cookie.

  “But sitting here, looking at you, all I really want to do is kiss you and make the sadness go away. I know what happened earlier was awkward, but I hope your feelings weren’t hurt. What Jake said was…”

  Kacey laughed. “What Jake said was exactly what I would expect. I know he doesn’t want to get married, and we both know I’m not insane enough to want to marry him either.”

  Travis exhaled in relief.

  “But…” Kacey shook her head.

  He didn’t like the sound of her voice.

  “…But, I don’t know. It hurts all over again for some reason. Isn’t that silly?”

  He knew he probably wasn’t going to get another opportunity, so he asked, “What happened between you two?”

  Her face froze, and her breathing threatened to stop. “He, um…” She nervously pushed away hair from her face and bit her lip. “We… had…” A tear ran down her cheek.

  Alarmed, Travis grasped her wrists and pulled her into his lap, rocking her back and forth. “What? Tell me.” He rubbed her arms with his hands.

  “We slept together.”

  His heart stopped. Anger and frustration as well as jealousy jerked through his body with such force he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go shoot his brother or blame himself, even though it wasn’t his fault. Still he felt responsible for Kacey. He always had.

  “In college?” He was thankful he was able to ask without screaming.

  She nodded in his arms. “It was horrible.”

  Thank God.

  “We were still so young, and it was a stupid mistake, and we both felt so bad and stupid. It was so confusing! The next morning all I wanted to do was call my best friend, but he wasn’t my best friend anymore. I didn’t know what he was, and then that next day was when your parents called to tell me that Mom and Dad had had an accident. I couldn’t tell anyone. I felt so ashamed.” She began to softly cry in his arms, as he kissed her hair and rocked her.

  ****

  Kacey wasn’t sure why she was spilling her deepest secrets to Travis, but it seemed time to let everything out into the open. She was tired of keeping it inside, tired of trying to be strong when really she felt so scared and weak most of the time.

  “I tried calling him, but he wouldn’t answer his phone. Finally someone picked up. It was a girl.”

  Travis cursed under his breath.

  “Nothing was the same. He hugged me and said he was sorry about my parents, and that was it. We never talked about it. We never fixed what we broke, so we just slowly grew apart as if we hadn’t caused this giant divide in what had been a lifelong friendship. He was the only tie I had to your family, so when he pushed me away, I felt… I felt like an orphan.”

  She began to sob harder into his chest. He whispered encouragement into her ear. “I would have died that year without Grandma.”

  “What do you mean without Grandma?”

  Kacey smiled despite her tears. “Remember that summer she said she was touring the United States?”

  He chuckled. “Oh yes, I received a postcard every other week.”

  “Well, those postcards were bought at a bookstore, and Grandma spent the entire summer with me.”

  “What?”

  “Yup.” Kacey wiped more tears away and smiled. “She saved me, said she’d always be there for me and take care of me. That’s why it was so weird when she stopped writing last month, and then Jake came in with this huge story about how she was sick and dying and… well, I had to come even if it meant I was manipulating everyone to do so.”

  “I understand.” Travis used his thumb to wipe an escaped tear from her cheek. Kacey’s breath hitched. Her eyes glanced at his lips then back up to his gaze.

  “Kace…” His lips descended slowly, even though his body was going a hundred miles an hour. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  “Okay.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Kacey knew she shouldn’t feel nervous; it wasn’t as if they hadn’t kissed before, but now that everything was out there, she felt even more vulnerable.

  What if he rejected her too?

  Dang, she hadn’t realized how insecure she was until this very moment in Travis’s arms.

  His lips touched hers.

  It wasn’t even really a kiss.

  He pulled back. His eyes hooded with desire.

  “I can’t.”

  “What?” Her heart froze in her chest. “You can’t kiss me?”

  “No.” He shook his head and laughed. “It wouldn’t be right to kiss you in the tree house.”

  Kacey stiffened. “Why?”

  “I saw you and Jake have your first kiss in this tree house.”

  “We were ten.”

  “It still counts.”

  “I cried afterwards!” Kacey pushed against his chest, but his arms held her braced against him.

  “I don’t want you to cry this time,” he murmured in her hair, and then kissed her neck. His lips were warm and soft as he took her skin between them, gently sucking. “Let’s go.”

  He pulled away, leaving Kacey completely shaken.

  He expected her to walk in her condition? She’d just shared her innermost secrets with the man, he’d kissed her, and now she’s supposed to climb down a ladder without falling on her head?

  She slowly crawled to the hole where the ladder hung and nearly fell out of the tree house completely when she lost her footing.

  “Sure you aren’t drunk?” Travis laughed.

  Kacey glared and continued climbing down. Once she reached the last rung, her leg slipped through the hole in the loose rope ladder, and she toppled to the ground, her leg still caught.

  Embracing the moment, she laid her head against the grass and closed her eyes, lacing her hands behind her head.

  “Comfortable?” Travis hovered over her.

  “Immensely. I did that on purpose, by the w
ay.”

  “It was so graceful it had to have been on purpose.” He winked and held out his hand. She reached up and pulled him down on top of her, not that it took much effort.

  Travis leaned over her, straddling her. “We’re out of the tree house now.”

  “Yes, yes we are.” Kacey’s voice was shaking.

  “So I guess I can kiss you now.”

  “You guess?”

  “I want to kiss you now.”

  “That’s better,” she murmured as his lips descended toward hers.

  It felt strange that such a simple kiss could make her entire body tremble with need. But his kisses did that to a girl. His tongue reached out and parted her lips as he opened his mouth to her. Muscled arms wrapped around her body, pulling her off the ground enough for her to arch into his embrace. Kacey pulled at his neck, wanting to bring him down to the ground. Heck, she wanted to roll around with the guy if he’d let her. Moaning, he pushed her to the ground and pulled her shirt out of her jeans, his hands just barely touching the ground.

  “Damn,” he murmured.

  “Huh?” Kacey said breathlessly.

  “Grass, damn grass!”

  “What?” Kacey wasn’t sure she was catching on. Why was he cursing the grass? And why did he stop kissing her?

  Travis’s lips formed a smile as he pulled back. “I’m allergic to grass.”

  Kacey lifted up onto her elbows and grinned. “Pretty sure everyone’s allergic to grass.”

  Travis shook his head and looked away, a slight blush staining his cheeks. “No, not like this. We need to get some Benadryl.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I wish I was.” He showed her his forearms, and sure enough they were beginning to welt.

  “You’re going to let me drug you with Benadryl?”

  “Kacey, I swear if you tell anyone I willingly allowed you to drug me—”

  “Your secret’s safe with me.” Kacey crossed her heart. Knowing the whole time she was lying.

  “You are such a little liar.” Travis cursed and began scratching his arms. “I can’t believe the one time I get you all to myself, and I get an allergic reaction.”

  “At least you didn’t stutter,” Kacey offered.

  “Wow, that was so incredibly helpful. I feel like such a man.” His scratching continued until finally he yelped and pulled off his shirt.

  Kacey covered her mouth with her hands to keep from laughing out loud. His entire upper body was turning puffy. Poor guy. “Let’s go get you some drugs.”

  He rolled his eyes and held out his hand to pull her to her feet. “So much for being romantic.”

  “Who says Benadryl isn’t romantic?” Kacey asked once they were walking back to the house.

  “Who says it is?” Travis countered.

  “Watch, you’ll see.”

  “Not sure I want to see, but alright.”

  ****

  The itching was getting worse. Travis was about ready to play the part of a small child and rub himself in calamine lotion. Anything to get rid of the itching and red welts.

  He’d never felt more unattractive.

  Kacey made him take a quick shower, which at first he was more than excited about, but then he discovered she meant alone.

  Well, as alone as a person could be when one’s skin decides to become a puffy monster. It was as if he was turning into two very swollen people.

  When he was finished, he sat dejectedly on the downstairs couch and waited. Kacey came rushing in with some sort of concoction, no doubt meant to torture men.

  “What is that smell?” He pulled away, but she slapped him across the shoulder.

  “Sit still.”

  Kacey gave him a glass of water with a pink pill, then began meticulously rubbing the gross-smelling paste onto his body.

  “You’re trying to get even with me, aren’t you?” The foul-smelling paste began to burn on his arms. Good God, she would be the death of him.

  “It will make everything numb,” she explained, massaging it into his arms, which felt quite nice until the word numb began to penetrate his senses.

  “No!” Travis pushed at Kacey. “I don’t want to be numb! If I’m numb it means I can’t…”

  Kacey arched her eyebrow. “Can’t?”

  Crap, he wasn’t getting out of this one. “Um, feel. I can’t feel… things.”

  “What’s so important that you need to feel?”

  He slapped her hand away and reached in, running his hand behind her neck. “If you have to ask, then you don’t deserve to know.”

  Kacey laughed and kissed his nose.

  Like a mother would do to a small child.

  Forget the numbing cream. Now he was losing his masculinity.

  “Chin up.” Kacey ran her tongue along his lower lip and sighed into his mouth. “It’s not like I’m rubbing any of this stuff on your man parts.”

  “Man parts?” he sputtered.

  She nodded and laughed. “Now, sit still while I give you a rub down.”

  That was more like it.

  And then she dipped her hand into the bowl and grabbed more paste.

  Ah, again with the torture.

  “How long do I have to keep this on?”

  “An hour.”

  “An hour?” Travis mumbled a curse. “And what am I supposed to do for an entire hour. It’s not like I can move my arms or anything. I’ll get this crap everywhere.”

  “You…” She put the bowl down and wiped her hands on the towel. “…you don’t have to do a thing.”

  Smiling, he leaned back, feeling quite smug that he was going to get rewarded for such good behavior. Travis yawned and shook his head. Damn, he was tired.

  Kacey bit her lip and began kissing across his stomach.

  He yawned again and closed his eyes.

  Her tongue made tiny circles on his skin, blazing a hot trail all the way up to his chest. He tried to lean down, to catch her tongue in his mouth, to pleasure her the way she was pleasuring him.

  She pulled back and shook her head, her nails digging into his back as she pulled him closer, careful not to get any of the paste on her.

  Her hands skimmed up his neck and dug into his hair. She tugged at his lower lip and whispered, “I’ve always wanted to have you to myself.”

  “To torture me?” he said hoarsely.

  “Absolutely. After all, you tortured me when I was little, so it’s only fair to have a little retaliation.” She licked his ear. He nearly fell off the couch. He was having a damn hard time keeping his hands from moving to any part of her body. He felt like he was going to explode. The only good thing was that he knew no numbing cream had gotten on the lower region of his body.

  That, he knew with absolute certainty.

  Though, if she kept kissing him like that, he was going to be begging for something to keep him from embarrassing himself.

  “Kace.” His mouth found hers. He parted her lips and twirled his tongue in her mouth, tasting every part of her, taking his time and feeling the hot sensation of her mouth on his.

  Feeling more at ease, he leaned back, allowing her to straddle him. He kept his arms firmly at his sides.

  Her kisses relaxed him somehow, made him feel comfortable and…

  “Crap.”

  “Pardon?” Kacey’s head popped up giving him a glorious view down her shirt.

  “The Benadryl.” Oh God, was he slurring? No, no, this was not happening, not when things were going so great.

  “What about it?” Kacey went back to work, kissing down his stomach.

  “Itsh making me shleepy.” Travis began to see double. Kacey suddenly grew two heads, and his arms felt so heavy he was sure they had detached from his body.

  “Kacshy?” Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a minute, no longer, he would get rejuvenated and…

  ****

  “Travis?” Kacey shook him, and he moaned and let out a snore.

  Too much Benadryl.

  “And th
is is what happens when people don’t build up a tolerance!” she said to herself. She shrugged and picked up the bowl and towel. As she walked into the kitchen she heard another snore and couldn’t help but giggle. Poor guy.

  Returning to the living room, she placed a cup of coffee on the table and sat next to him on the couch. He looked so peaceful.

  He looked perfect.

  Kacey sighed.

  Was it too good to be true? Why did the fact that there seemed to be no roadblocks in the way scare her more than when he seemed unreachable?

  At least when they’d hated each other she hadn’t needed to worry about her heart. But now it seemed that he had won her over without even trying. It was the way he cheered her up and spent time with her. Even going as far as rescuing her from the reunion. In fact, she bit her lip, Travis had always been there. In the background.

  She sighed and looked at the blank TV, her eyes narrowed as she took in the DVDs on the side.

  Family Memories 2002.

  Quietly, she tiptoed over to the DVD player and threw in the disc. She didn’t have anything else to do, so she might as well travel down memory lane. It figured that Bets would have all of the memories on DVD now. Those poor boys didn’t stand a chance.

  She carefully sat back down and pressed Play.

  N-Sync began playing in the background, and then Jake and Travis appeared on screen. And they were dancing.

  Not just any dance. No, because that wouldn’t be even close to as funny as what she was currently watching.

  Travis had on a curly blonde wig. And he was playing lead singer.

  Jake was in the background shaking his butt.

  But the best part? They were both old enough to know better and still deathly serious about their little music video.

  As the song came to a close, Grandma Nadine made an appearance in a leopard leotard and began playing air guitar.

  Kacey snorted and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.

  The only thing she could think of was how she was going to get a copy of this and sneak it to the press. Jake would kill her.

  And it would be totally worth it.

  The movie skipped to Christmas 2007.

  She remembered that Christmas. It was two years before her parents’ deaths. She shifted on the couch, tucking her feet underneath her and watched the perfect little Christmas take place.