He held the door shut with his hand. “I’ll stop fighting the second I graduate. I won’t drink a single drop again. I’ll give you the happy ever after, Pigeon. If you just believe in me, I can do it.”
“I don’t want you to change.”
“Then tell me what to do. Tell me and I’ll do it,” he pleaded.
Any thoughts of being with Parker were long gone, and I knew it was because of my feelings for Travis. I thought about the different paths my life would take from that moment—trusting Travis with a leap of faith and risking the unknown, or pushing him away and knowing exactly where I would end up, which included a life without him—either decision terrified me.
“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked.
Travis pulled his brows together, confused. “Sure,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket, handing it to me.
I dialed, and then closed my eyes as it rang in my ear.
“Travis? What the hell? Do you know what time it is?” Parker answered. His voice was deep and raspy, and I instantly felt my heart vibrating in my chest. It hadn’t occurred to me that he would know I had called from Travis’s phone.
My next words somehow found their way to my trembling lips. “I’m sorry for calling you so early, but this couldn’t wait. I … can’t go to dinner with you on Wednesday.”
“It’s almost four in the morning, Abby. What’s going on?”
“I can’t see you at all, actually.”
“Abs …”
“I’m … pretty sure I’m in love with Travis,” I said, bracing for his reaction.
After a few moments of shocked silence, he hung up in my ear.
My eyes still focused on the pavement, I handed Travis his phone and then reluctantly peered up at his expression. A combination of confusion, shock, and adoration scrolled across his face.
“He hung up,” I grimaced.
He scanned my face with careful hope in his eyes. “You love me?”
“It’s the tattoos,” I shrugged.
A wide smile stretched across his face, making his dimple sink into his cheek. “Come home with me,” he said, enveloping me in his arms.
My eyebrows shot up. “You said all that to get me in bed? I must have made quite an impression.”
“The only thing I’m thinking about right now is holding you in my arms all night.”
“Let’s go,” I said.
Despite the excessive speed and the shortcuts, the ride to the apartment seemed endless. When we finally arrived, Travis carried me up the stairs. I giggled against his lips as he fumbled to unlock the door. When he set me on my feet and closed the door behind us, he let out a long, relieved sigh.
“It hasn’t seemed like home since you left,” he said, kissing my lips.
Toto scampered down the hall and wagged his tiny tail, pawing at my legs. I cooed at him as I lifted him off the floor.
Shepley’s bed squeaked, and then his feet stomped across the floor. His door flew open as he squinted from the light. “Fuck no, Trav, you’re not pulling this shit! You’re in love with Ab …”—his eyes focused and he recognized his mistake—“…by. Hey, Abby.”
“Hey, Shep,” I said, setting Toto on the floor.
Travis pulled me past his still-shocked cousin and kicked the door shut behind us, pulling me into his arms and kissing me without a second thought, as if we had done it a million times before. I pulled his shirt over his head, and he slipped my jacket off my shoulders. I stopped kissing him long enough to remove my sweater and tank top and then crashed into him again. We undressed each other, and within seconds he lowered me to his mattress. I reached above my head to pull open the drawer and plunged my hand inside, searching for anything that crackled.
“Shit,” he said, panting and frustrated. “I got rid of them.”
“What? All of them?” I breathed.