The Bet (The Bet 1)

Her lips parted.

And suddenly a smile was the last thing on his mind. Crap, he needed to stop doing this to them. Slowly he backed off and grabbed her hand. “Follow me.”

With reluctance, Kacey trudged behind him, but he knew her better sometimes than she knew herself, a thought that often scared him, and again he was back to stalker status.

He cleared his throat when they reached their destination.

Kacey slowly approached the small glass container then looked up at him with confusion.

“Just watch,” he said, then looked around to make sure nobody was looking and gently tapped the glass.

Kacey cursed, a small child began to cry, and a mom gave them a dirty glare. All in all, it was the perfect surprise.

“You son of a—”

“Kace,” he interrupted. “Tell me you’re not smiling.”

She burst out laughing. “You creepy, weird man! Why the hell would you take me to the tarantula exhibit!”

“Because you hate spiders.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “How is that supposed to cheer me up?”

“It’s working.” He pulled her into a hug, purely instinctual, but she hugged him back. “Isn’t it?”

“Yes, you idiot. It’s working only because I’m too shocked and upset to do anything but laugh.”

“Ah, and she gets to the bottom of it.”

“Huh?”

Travis released her and looked back at the spider. “Sometimes, when life gets hard, and people make you angry or even when you’re scared, the best response is laughter. Laugh in the face of fear, in the face of what scares you the most. It’s the only way to get you through the things that bring you to tears.”

Kacey was silent and then said, “You’ve been drinking Grandma Nadine’s Kool-aid, haven’t you?”

“I do love grape,” he joked.

Kacey looked back at the spider and made a face. “Thanks. Oddly enough, this did work. I’m more worried about that stupid spider breaking out of its container than my horrible morning. By the way, when was I institutionalized?

“Oh, that was after the pregnancy.”

“Which was before?

“The cheating,” he confirmed.

“That explains it. I’m such a hussy.”

Travis nodded. “So, ready to go look for the asses?”

“You didn’t tell me Jake was here!” She slapped him playfully.

“Oh, there’s a whole cage of them. Just follow me!”

Travis took her hand and led her to the monkeys. The minute they stopped in front of the exhibit, one of them began pooping by the tree, another scratched its butt, and the other began licking a body part that shouldn’t be mentioned.

Travis sighed. “It’s like watching little Jakey grow up all over again.” He put a hand over his heart and sighed longingly.

Kacey covered her mouth in laughter. “Poor guy.”