“But Reggie Andrews is.”
“Date Rape Reggie? Yeah, no.”
“Why do you insist on calling him that?”
“I didn’t give him that name. He earned it when he was at A and M.”
“Earned it?’
“Yeah, the rumor was that no matter how cute you thought he was, a girl would be smart to keep away from Reggie. So many of the girls he dated would wake up with no memory of what happened. And more than once, he tried to force himself on girls. There have been rumors forever. And I’m sure he’s got that same reputation at the Petroleum Club.”
“You were being serious before?”
“That’s not something I would joke about. Maybe you can get one of your spies to check it out.”
She says nothing to that. Of course, she doesn’t. The only thing about this conversation that makes me feel good is that she apparently didn’t know the full extent of Reggie’s issues. At least she wasn’t willfully sending me off to marry a monster.
“So, if there isn’t anything else?” I say rising from the seat.
“I think you should move back in here.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You are not safe at your house. Not by a long shot. Here there is a massive amount of security.”
“That might be true, but it’s a false sense of security.”
“You will be safe.”
There is a thread of something I can’t define in her voice. It almost sounds like worry. But that can’t be true. Not with Estella. She fears absolutely nothing.
“The problem is the stalker won’t go away. People like that rarely just stop, unless they end up dead or in the hospital somewhere. Otherwise, he’ll wait me out. I can’t spend the rest of my life hiding in this monstrosity of a house. Besides, the LOLs are on high alert. They will make sure that I am safe. You know nothing gets past them.”
She levels a measured look at me. “How many of them know you’re fooling around with Travis?”
“I have no idea because I don’t care.”
I honestly don’t. People have speculated for years. I’ve heard the rumors. At least, now the gossip matches our relationship.
“You might not like Reggie because of his personality—”
“And the fact that he’s a scum sucking rapist.”
“But what do you know of Travis Fillmore’s intentions?”
That stops me in my tracks, and I narrow my eyes as I look at her. “You won’t be able to hang anything on Travis. For all his faults, his honesty is something I have no issue with. We don’t lie to each other.”
“Are you sure of that?” There is a lilt to her tone that tells me she has something on one of us, but that is impossible. Travis is a lot of things, but he wouldn’t lie to me, not about this. Especially right now with the issue of a stalker.
“What the actual fuck do you mean?”
Yeah, I used the “f” word to irritate her. Unfortunately, the only reaction I see is the flaring of her eyes.
“Do you think that he, all of a sudden, developed feelings for you after all these years?’
I will not tell her of our talk, of admitting that we both had crushes on each other for years. Instead, I use one of her tactics and ignore the question.
“Well, this has been fun, as usual. Happy birthday, I gave your birthday money to the animal shelter.”
I turn to leave once more and I get as far as to have my hand on the doorknob, but she stops me.
“You don’t think he would seduce you to get you back on the show?”
Irritation and fear ride hand and hand on a crazy cart. Yes, I worry about that. My grandmother would know it too. She knows all the things I worry about, number one is that people would use me. It was a common thing I experienced as a child, and even as an adult to some extent. That’s why my friendship with Syd is so special. She has never asked me for one thing, besides what normal friends ask for. Before I met her and Travis, I always had friends who wanted to be seen with me, have me buy them things, or gain access to my family.
Estella understands this and wouldn’t hesitate to use it against me. But I can’t let her see that it bothers me. If that happens, she will twist the knife in and let me bleed until she gets what she wants.
I turn to face her, and I wait. She has something to tell me, I can tell by the way she is sitting there staring at me, daring me to ask. I do not. I’m too old for these stupid games.
“He’s made it very clear to people at At Home that he intends to get you back. And once he does, what do you think he will do? He’ll drop you, leave you all alone.”
“Kind of hard to do, since ya know, we would be doing our shows together.”
She tsks at me, but I fight the doubt that is now winding its way through me. It was there all along, but now it is blossoming into an ugly stinky flower. I fight the urge to let it overwhelm me. I know Travis isn’t doing that, but my insecurities are deep rooted.
“You think he won’t go back to his bed hopping? You think men stop doing that just because they get the love of a good woman?”
“Good woman? Are you referring to me, because you normally have different adjectives for me?”
She opens her mouth, and I realize that this isn’t going to get us anywhere. She will just make me doubt my relationship with Travis—if you can call it that yet—and I don’t need someone else to sabotage my happiness. I do that quite well by myself, thank you.
“I said I was done. Have a nice night with our family.”
I don’t give her a chance to respond. It’s cowardly, but I need to get completely out of here. Away from my family and their poison. As I scan the crowd, I can’t see Travis. It’s odd because he’s so big and tall, he’s easy to find in a room. Then, I see him coming out of the music room—aka the torture room by Jon and me—and I frown. Worry has my stomach clenching, wondering what he was doing in there. When I see my cousin Jon following him, my nerves settle.
Inwardly, I cuss at myself. Seriously, one conversation has me worried about Travis? Really? He has yet to bring up the show. And why would he steal away with any other woman but me at this party?
He scans the room just as I did and when his gaze lands on me, I expect him to smile. He doesn’t. Instead, he starts off in my direction. I do the same, thinking to cut the time in half that we need to be here. Jon is right behind him with a frown on his face.
I ignore him when Travis and I meet in the middle of the room. People mill around us, but we don’t pay them any attention. My heart is in my throat, and my entire body is lighting up with happiness. How could I have wondered about him, about his intentions? He slips his arm around my waist and pulls me closer.
“Are you all right?” he whispers in my ear.
I nod.
“You sure?”
I pull back and look at him.
“You look unsettled.”
“Estella has that effect on people.”
His mouth quirks and just like that, any second thoughts and doubts I had dissolve. He was worried about me and that warms my heart.
“Really, Nancy? You weren’t going to tell me?” Jon breaks into our happy moment. I frown at my cousin.
“Get bent. I can date Travis if I want to.”