“You’re not going to say hi to Thomas?” I whispered.
He didn’t look at me when he spoke, watching his family hug and laugh. “I got one night with you. I’m not going to waste a second of it.”
“Hi, there, Abby. It’s good to see you again,” Thomas smiled.
Travis touched my knee with his hand and I looked down and then to Travis. Noticing my expression, Travis took his hand off my leg and interlocked his fingers in his lap.
“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?” Thomas asked.
“Shut up, Tommy,” Travis grumbled.
The mood in the room shifted, and I felt all eyes on me, waiting for an explanation. I smiled nervously and took Travis’s hand into both of mine.
“We’re just tired. We’ve been working all evening on the food,” I said, leaning my head against Travis’s shoulder.
He looked down at our hands and then squeezed, his eyebrows pulling in a bit.
“Speaking of tired, I’m exhausted,” I breathed. “I’m gonna head to bed, baby.” I looked to everyone else. “Good night, guys.”
“Night, sis,” Jim said.
Travis’s brothers all bade me goodnight, and I headed up the stairs.
“I’m gonna turn in, too,” I heard Travis say.
“I bet you are,” Trenton teased.
“Lucky bastard,” Tyler grumbled.
“Hey. We’re not going to talk about your sister like that,” Jim warned.
My stomach sank. The only real family I’d had in years was America’s parents, and although Mark and Pam had always looked out for me with true kindness, they were borrowed. The six unruly, foulmouthed, loveable men downstairs had welcomed me with open arms, and tomorrow I would tell them goodbye for the last time.
Travis caught the bedroom door before it closed and then froze. “Did you want me to wait in the hall while you dressed for bed?”
“I’m going to hop in the shower. I’ll just get dressed in the bathroom.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “All right. I’ll make a pallet, then.”
I nodded, making my way to the bathroom. I scrubbed myself raw in the dilapidated shower, focusing on the water stains and soap scum to fight the overwhelming dread I felt for both the night and the morning. When I returned to the bedroom, Travis dropped a pillow on the floor on his makeshift bed. He offered a weak smile before leaving me to take a turn in the shower.
I crawled into bed, pulling the covers to my chest, trying to ignore the blankets on the floor. When Travis returned, he stared at the pallet with the same sadness that I did, and then turned off the light, situating himself on his pillow.
It was quiet for a few minutes, and then I heard Travis heave a miserable sigh. “This is our last night together, isn’t it?”
I waited a moment, trying to think of the right thing to say. “I don’t wanna fight, Trav. Just go to sleep.”
Hearing him shift, I turned onto my side to look down at him, pressing my cheek into the pillow. He supported his head with his hand and stared into my eyes.
“I love you.”
I watched him for a moment. “You promised.”
“I promised this wasn’t a stunt to get back together. It wasn’t.” He reached up his hand to touch mine. “But if it meant being with you again, I can’t say I wouldn’t consider it.”
“I care about you. I don’t want you to hurt, but I should have followed my gut in the first place. It would’ve never worked.”
“You did love me, though, right?”