“I’m a big boy, I’ll be fine after a cold shower.” I smirk at her, and I see the tension fade away.
“That’s what you said last time. Like four years ago.”
“I know. Look at me, sweetheart.” I pause, waiting. “I meant it then, and I mean it now. Sure, I’d love nothing more than to be buried deep inside you right now, but I know you’re not ready for that.”
Shrugging, I sit back down on the couch. I’m so uncomfortable right now, and nothing is helping this hard on go away. We eat pizza and barely watch the movie. The silence is killing me.
“Come with me to my parent’s house Sunday.” That’ll do it. Mission get rid of your hard on accomplished.
“What?”
“Yeah. It’s Brandon’s last family dinner for who knows how long. He starts his new job next week, so I’m sure he’ll be too busy for the first few months.”
“Do they… know about me?”
“No. Well, my parents don’t. Brandon knows there’s a girl. I never told him about you.”
Her face falls, and I immediately explain. “Not because I’m ashamed of you or anything. It’s just… after Tammy, they thought I was going to lose it. Which I did, I guess. If I told them about you, they’d be all over me, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with us, if anything. So, I guess I kept you my secret.”
“I don’t know. That’s a lot for me, to meet your family.”
“I understand that, sweetheart. And I know you still have more to tell me, but you have to start living again. Come with me, please.” I’m begging, and I don’t fucking care. I want her to take this step with me.
“Okay. But can we not give them the details of how we met. Say we knew each other through Pierce?”
“Sure.” Plus, if I told my parents, they’d be all over me for information. Once they found about her only being seventeen when we met, they’d kick my ass. “I want to give you a heads up that my dad’s in a wheelchair.”
Her hands fly to her mouth to cover her gasp. “Oh no, what happened?”
“He is, rather, he was a cop. He got shot in the shoulder and the impact threw him down the stairs. He damaged some of the nerves in his spine.”
“That’s terrible.”
“It happened when I was fourteen. It’s not a big deal anymore; it’s part of who he is. I don't want you to be uncomfortable.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” She yawns and quickly turns her head to cover her face with her hair.
“You’re tired, sweetheart. I should go.”
She hesitates for a moment. “Okay.” She stands and I follow her to the door. “Ya know, I was coming for you.”
“What? When?”
“When I ran into you in the hallway. After I left the bar, I came here, but I couldn’t walk away again.” Her confession rocks my world.
“That’s good. You know what you said earlier, in the parking lot. I want that. I want to owe you explanations. I want to be something to you.”
Closing the distance between us, she reaches up and grabs my face. Her thumb rubs along the stubble on my chin. I watch her eyes as they follow her finger for a minute before roaming up my face to connect with mine.
“You are, Travis. You’re everything to me. Always have been, and I’m hoping when I tell you everything, that you’ll still want to be with me.”
I’m blown away by her honesty, and mimic her by cradling her face in my hands.
“Nothing could change the way I feel about you, okay? Nothing.”
Chapter 15
Charlotte
“OPEN YOUR DOOR. I know you’re in there!” I pound on Meara’s door and almost fall in when she opens it.
“What the hell is your problem? It’s so early.” She rubs her eyes and yawns.
“It’s not early, it’s almost noon. I need help. Like bad.”
She must sense the desperation in my voice because her head snaps up and her tired eyes are quickly replace with concerned ones.
“Why? What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Travis is taking me to meet his parents tomorrow,” I say nervously.
She looks at me with wide eyes before she starts laughing hysterically.
“Stop laughing, it’s not funny. What am I going to wear? How am I going to avoid questions about how we met?” She’s still laughing, so I hit her with my purse. She rubs her arm and stops, shooting evil eyes at me.
“Seriously, Meara. I’m freaking out!”
“Okay, geeze, don’t get your panties in a wad. Everything will be fine, I promise. Give me like twenty minutes to take a shower, okay?”
She doesn’t wait for an answer before she walks away. A few minutes later, I hear the water turn on. I wander around her apartment and stop to look at the collection of pictures she has on her wall. Some of them are family, me included. Most of them are of her and her boyfriend, Liam. They’ve been together since they were kids, and seeing the pictures of them as teenagers together is so cute. It’s too bad that they don't see each other much since he’s been touring with his band.
“Okay, now sit your ass down and talk to me.” She’s dressed in ripped skinny jeans and a black concert tee so faded you can barely see the logo. Her shoes are high-heeled spiky black boots. She thinks she’s too short at five-foot-four, so you won’t ever find her in anything less than three-inch heels.
I follow her to the kitchen and plop down on a stool. Aside from Dr. Reynolds, she’s the only one who knows everything. I tell her Travis wants to take me to meet his parents, and how nervous I am.
“You need a damn Xanax. Calm yourself, child.”
“No, I can’t calm down! This is huge for me, for us. Meeting his parents means that we’re actually something. And I still haven’t told him everything. What if he decides—”
She swats my flailing hands. “I said calm down. You worry too much, sheesh. Eat this, we’ll go shopping to get you an outfit, then we’ll go to the pub and have a drink to settle your ass down.”
“Okay. Okay.” I can barely swallow the bagel Meara made for me because the knot in my stomach is so large, it feels lodged in my throat.
“I can’t eat right now, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Hey.” I look at her and scrunch my eyebrows at her serious expression. “Everything will be okay. You know that, right? Look at what you’ve already been through. This’ll be a cakewalk.”
* * *
“Hell, no. You want them to think I’m a hooker?” I ask incredulously. She picked out a skirt, but it really looks like a tube top, and a V-neck shirt. The ‘v’ goes almost to my belly button. “Why did I think this would be a good idea?” I mumble under my breath.
“I heard that. Let me go find something a little less slutty. I’m only messing with you.” She turns on her heels and heads back into the store as I walk back to the dressing room.
I don't want his parents to think I’m a slut. I also don't want to look like an old lady. Are jeans not dressy enough? Is a skirt too fancy? A million thoughts are running through my head when a pile of clothes flies over the top of the door.