"She's leaving." She glared at me. "But I'll still be here, Travis."
"I love her." The confession left my mouth without warning and warmth spread through my chest. It was bittersweet because, although it felt good to say the words, the wrong person got to hear it.
"That's ridiculous," she scoffed and laughed humorlessly. "You've known her for, like, two weeks."
"And what does that tell you, Kendra? I've known you for how many years? Yet, I feel nothing for you. I've been with Angel for two weeks and I'm in love with her. I love her," I said vehemently before continuing. "And how much does it suck that you're the first person to know? The first time I've ever been in love and you're the first person I tell … It. Fucking. Sucks."
Kendra's face was stricken and tears glistened in her eyes. I couldn't even feel bad about it. Not after what she did to Angel.
"Are you going to ruin this for her, too?" I demanded. "Are you going to run and tell her?"
"No," she whispered, her voice wobbly.
"Good. Stay the fuck away."
She called after me as I was leaving. "I'll be waiting for you after she breaks your heart."
I thought about letting her have the last word-it was the only thing she would ever get from me.
But fuck that.
I turned on my heel and went back over to where she was standing until our faces were inches apart. "No. Not now. Not ever. Not under any circumstances. This is a small town, Kendra. Psycho doesn't look very good on you. Got it?"
I didn't wait for her to respond before walking away. Short and sweet. Well, not really sweet, but clear as day.
After leaving Buck's I made a quick trip to the next town over. I had to get Angel's birthday present and I had the perfect gift in mind.
ANGEL
I wasn't used to waking up alone anymore, so I was briefly disappointed when I felt the cold, empty sheets next to me.
Burying my face in Travis's T-shirt, I breathed in his scent. I'd started wearing his clothes at night. My particular favorite was an old high school baseball tee. The light blue fabric was worn and super soft from years of use.
Without bothering to put on pants (because the shirt was basically a nightgown), I sleepily puttered out to the kitchen, following the smell of bacon and a hint of cinnamon.
Mmm bacon.
Travis was standing at the stove, wielding a spatula in one hand and a fork in the other. He was shirtless and his track pants rode dangerously low on his hips, showing off the low back dimples I liked so much. My mouth watered and I wasn't sure if it was from the smell of breakfast or the view.
"What's going on?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes and attempted to smooth out my bedhead.
He turned around and shot me a grin, complete with the other set of dimples I couldn't get enough of.
"Happy birthday, baby." He came over to place a kiss on my lips. "I was planning to bring you breakfast in bed."
"This works just fine." I smiled as I plucked a perfectly cooked piece of bacon off the plate on the counter. "Mmm. You made it extra crispy, too."
"Just how you like it. The waffles are almost done."
I sat at the table while Travis served up the best waffles I'd ever had. While it was clearly a waffle, it tasted like a cinnamon roll. Instead of syrup, icing was drizzled on top, collecting in the square pattern made by the waffle iron.
"How did you do this? This is amazing," I mumbled around a huge bite.
"It's actually really easy. It's premade cinnamon rolls that come in a can. I just flatten them out and put them in the waffle iron."
"Where did you learn that?" I said between bites.
I shoveled another fork-full into my mouth. Unbelievable. Travis had successfully made a hybrid of my two favorite breakfast foods.
"Pinterest."
A surprised laugh burst from my mouth, along with several particles of food. I grimaced and felt my face heat from embarrassment as I covered my mouth with a hand.
Travis just laughed and handed me a napkin.
"Well, you nailed it," I said after making sure I didn't have any food in my mouth. "It's just … The sexy trucker browsing Pinterest is kind of hilarious to me."
"Sexy truckers like Pinterest, too. But don't tell anyone. It's kind of a secret," he teased.
I just made an incoherent sound of agreement and kept eating. After I finished every bite, I had to resist the urge to lick the plate.
Just as I took my dishes over to the sink, Travis walked by. "You'd better go get ready," he said by my ear before lightly swatting my butt. "Got big plans today."
"What big plans?"
"Well, first we have to drop the trailer off in Bloomington for the Colorado trip. Then I thought we could go to the zoo, since we'll already be close to there."
"I love the zoo." My heart melted a little.
"I know." He grinned. "So, do you want your present now or later?"
"There's more? Um, now of course." I gave him my best ‘you should know the answer to that' tone.
Travis grabbed a small gray plastic bag off the counter and handed it to me. I reached inside and picked up a sleek black cell phone. Complete with a touch screen, it was fancy. Probably not top of the line, but way better than the one I used to have.
"You got me a phone?" I asked with disbelief. It was an expensive gift. Honestly, I expected a key chain or something.
I swiped my finger across the screen to unlock it and burst into a fit of laughter. The background picture was of Travis, cocky grin and dimples in place while he gave a ‘thumbs-up' sign.
He shrugged. "Figured you'd need it. Plus, I like the idea of being able to get ahold of you. You know, for when you're running off to train stations and stuff," he joked.
I raised an eyebrow and gave him a pointed look.
"Too soon?" he asked cheekily.
I poked his chest playfully before rising up to give him a kiss. "Thank you for the gift. Really, it's way more than you should have spent."
"It's practical. I'm a practical guy." He smiled then his face got serious and his hand came up to toy with a wild strand of my hair. "But mostly, I want to be able to talk to you when you're in California, so it would mean a lot to me if you keep it."
We rarely mentioned my upcoming departure. It was as if we'd come to some unspoken agreement not to talk about it.
Glancing up to his face, I held his stare for a few seconds-not because I needed to think it over-but because I wanted to soak up the way he looked right now. Every now and then, I saw a side to Travis that he tried to hide. It wasn't insecurity-he was one of the most self-assured people I'd ever met.
It was vulnerability. And every time I got a glimpse of it, I felt like I was seeing into his heart, into the deepest part of him.
"I'll keep it," I promised.
TRAVIS
I hadn't been to this zoo-or any zoo, for that matter-in over ten years. When I'd come here as a kid it seemed so big. Huge. Epic.
But now that I was seeing it from adult eyes, it seemed so small and I suddenly felt silly for bringing Angel here. That is, until I saw her face.
Her face held an expression of awe as she walked towards the wallaby exhibit. My eyes followed the innocent, yet seductive sway of her hips as her dress swished around her thighs.
"Look!" She pointed to the gate. "It says we can go inside."
I swung our laced hands between us as we walked and Angel chattered on about how cute the wallabies were-most of which were hiding behind the logs and bushes.
She got out her phone to snap some pictures and after she was done, I took it from her hands to turn it around on us. I wanted a selfie with my girl.
When we came to the otters, Angel did some sort of spastic happy dance, which was really fucking cute, then practically fell over the wall of the habitat trying to get a closer look.
Because her dress-the white dress that drove me crazy-was already short, it rode up way too high for my liking while we were in public. I came up behind her to make sure no one got a peek at what was mine.
Unfortunately, it meant she was bent over in front of me and I felt my cock stiffen immediately. By now, I should've been used to getting hard at awkward times. Being around her did that to me.
But no amount of being used to it was going to change the fact that public boners were awkward, not to mention inappropriate.
When she finally stood up, I encased her body with my arms and linked my hands around her stomach. We stood that way for several minutes, Angel watching the otters, and me holding her while I rested my chin on top of her head.