“Everyone is watching us.”
He pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingers. “They’ll get over it. It’s just the initial shock. Remember when we first started hanging out? Their curiosity died down after a while and they got used to seeing us together. C’mon,” he said, pulling me through the door.
One of the reasons I had chosen Eastern U was its modest population, but the exaggerated interest in scandal that came with it was at times exhausting. It was a running joke; everyone was aware of how ridiculous the rumor mill was, and yet they all shamelessly participated in it.
We sat down in our usual spots with our food. America smiled at me with a knowing expression. She chatted as if everything was normal, but the football players at the other end of the table were staring at me like I was on fire.
Travis tapped my apple with his fork. “You gonna eat that, Pidge?”
“No, you can have it, baby.”
Heat consumed my ears when America’s head jerked to look at me.
“It just came out,” I said, shaking my head. I peeked up at Travis, whose expression was a mixture of amusement and adoration.
We had exchanged the term a few times that morning, and it hadn’t occurred to me that it was new to everyone else until it tumbled from my mouth.
“You two have just reached the level of annoyingly cute,” America grinned.
Shepley tapped my shoulder. “You staying over tonight?” he asked, his words garbled amid the bread in his mouth. “I promise I won’t come out of my room cussing at you.”
“You were defending my honor, Shep. You’re forgiven,” I said.
Travis took a bite of the apple and chewed, looking happy as I’d ever seen him. The peace in his eyes had returned, and even as the dozens of people watched our every move, everything felt … right.
I thought of all the times I had insisted being with Travis was the wrong decision and how much time I had wasted fighting my feelings for him. Looking across the table at his soft brown eyes and the dimple dancing in his cheek as he chewed, I couldn’t remember what I was so worried about.
“He looks awful happy. Did you finally give it up, Abby?” Chris said, elbowing his teammates.
“You’re not very smart, are ya, Jenks?” Shepley said, frowning.
The blood instantly rose to my cheeks, and I looked to Travis who had murder in his eyes. My embarrassment took a back seat to Travis’s anger, and I shook my head dismissively. “Just ignore him.”
After another tense moment, his shoulders relaxed a bit, and he nodded once, taking a deep breath. After a few seconds, he winked at me.
I reached my hand across the table, sliding my fingers into his. “You meant what you said last night, didn’t you?”
He began to speak, but Chris’s laughter filled the cafeteria. “Holy God! Travis Maddox is whipped?”
“Did you mean it when you said you didn’t want me to change?” he asked, squeezing my hand.
I looked down at Chris laughing to his teammates and then turned to Travis. “Absolutely. Teach that asshole some manners.”
A mischievous grin spread across his face, and he walked down to the end of the table where Chris sat. Silence spread across the room, and Chris swa
llowed back his laughter.
“Hey, I was just givin’ you a hard time, Travis,” he said, looking up at him.
“Apologize to Pidge,” Travis said, glowering down at him.
Chris looked down at me with a nervous grin. “I … I was just kidding, Abby. I’m sorry.”
I glared at him as he looked up to Travis for approval. When Travis walked away, Chris snickered and then whispered something to Brazil. My heart began to pound when I saw Travis stop in his tracks and ball his hands into fists at his side.
Brazil shook his head and huffed in an exasperated sigh. “Just remember when you wake up, Chris … that you bring it on yourself.”
Travis lifted Finch’s tray off the table and swung it into Chris’s face, knocking him off his chair. Chris tried to scramble under the table, but Travis pulled him out by his legs and then began to whale on him.