I scowl. “I’d rather eat a rat.”
“Well, then suck it up, buttercup. Two weeks of manly bliss.” He winks and returns to his game.
I groan at the truth of his words and drop the subject.
My clothes finally finish up just after eleven p.m. The crack of thunder and sound of the sudden downpour turn my attention to the window, making me sigh at the horrible luck.
“Great.”
“You can crash on the couch if you’d like,” Drew calls over to me from the kitchen. “I’m about to head in.”
“Already?”
“Yeah…I haven’t started packing.”
“For what?”
“For Mia’s.”
“Wait, what?” I whirl around to face him at the mention of his girlfriend, who attends college a couple of hours away. “You’re leaving?” It was the first I’d heard about it.
“Yeah, didn’t I tell you?” I shake my head furiously. “Using up a couple of weeks of my vacation while she’s on her spring break.”
My eyes widen in anger. “What? I’m going to be alone with Travis the entire time?”
“Yeah. I swore I told you.”
“Does my face look like you told me?” I ask, loud and annoyed.
He shrugs. “Sorry. Thought I did.”
This isn’t happening. This cannot be happening.
“So, I’m going to be stuck here alone with Travis?” I clarify.
“I guess. Maybe his dates can help keep you company,” he taunts. I grab a pillow from the couch and throw it at him from across the room.
“Not funny!”
He easily dodges it, pushing it away before it hits him. “I find myself pretty amusing.”
I groan and collapse on the couch with an exaggerated thud.
“If it helps, you can sleep in my bed. I’ll even put on clean sheets for you.” I hear the sarcasm in his voice.
“Gee, thanks. How accommodating,” I retort dryly.
“Anything for my baby sis!” he calls out before walking to his room. “Night!”
I grab the blanket off the floor and cover up, burning with rage knowing the next two weeks, I’m stuck in the same house as Travis King—#1 asshole and heartbreaker.
The rain slams against the roof and windows of the house, and I toss and turn for what feels like eternity. Finally, I fall asleep, although it’s restless.
The alarm on my phone goes off, and though it’s been hours, it feels like only minutes have passed. For a moment, I have to remember where I am. I blindly reach for my phone and open my eyes, only to see Travis standing close to the TV, shirtless with pajama pants sitting haphazardly on his hips. He’s not what I want to see first thing this morning. He quietly watches the news, turning his head to glare at me until I click the button to turn off one of the most annoying buzzing sounds in the world. I groan and roll over on my side, hoping he’ll go away, but when has he ever done anything I’ve wanted? Never. Last night I hoped I’d be able to grab my laundry and sneak home before class, not having to see him again until this weekend, but lady luck is obviously not on my side and neither is Mother Nature. Stupid rain.
“Did you have sweet dreams about me, princess?” he asks, confidence dripping in his tone.
His words anger me, maybe a little more than they should, but he shouldn’t say shit like that to me, especially in the morning before I’ve had any coffee. “That’d be a nightmare.”
He laughs, showing his perfectly straight teeth, and I linger on his plump bottom lip a little too long, which makes me even madder. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice. My nostrils flare, and I throw the blankets from my body and stand. My hands find my hips, and before I’m able to give him a earful, Drew walks into the living room and interrupts me.
“Please don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”
Travis looks over at him, and he loses his grip on reality for just a second. “Where are you going?” Travis glances at me, and his smile fades as he looks back at Drew.
“Mia’s, remember?”
“That’s this weekend?” I hear the same shocked tone in his voice that I had last night.
The smile that fills my face is devious and to know this may have ruined whatever sexcapades he had planned makes me happy. Just me and Travis alone for two weeks—this can’t be good.
“I guess you won’t be able to fuck on the couch like you planned,” I say, walking to my basket of clothes and picking them up.
He shoots me a daring look and then scoffs. “I’ll make sure to look you in the eye when I do,” he says, leering.
“Oh God. So that’s what throwing up in your own mouth tastes like. Wouldn’t have known until just now.” I give my brother a smile, and my face goes serious when I look back at Travis. He crosses his arms over his chest, and I know this means war.
I have a feeling the next two weeks will be pure hell with a devil named Travis supervising.
Chapter 3
Travis
I’m a man of routine. I like structure and schedules. Every morning as I blend my protein shake, I watch the news and catch up on current events before heading to the gym before work.
I watch Viola sleeping peacefully on the couch, and it stops me in my tracks. Once her phone alarm goes off, all peace is gone. But it’s not hard to notice that when her lips aren't pulled tight in her normal pout and her eyes aren't shooting daggers at me, she actually looks sweet. Almost like when we first met as kids.
I was so ticked when my parents told me we were moving from Arizona to California, even if it was because my dad found a better paying job. I didn’t talk to them for a week, but at twelve years old, I didn’t have much power over the situation. Leaving my friends and the only home I’d ever known didn’t settle well with me. That first night we were officially moved into our new home, I saw a couple of kids around my age playing across the street. Still avoiding my parents, I hid up in my bedroom and watched from the window. The boy looked around my age and the girl probably a couple of years younger, but something about the two of them made me walk out my bedroom door, down the stairs, out the front door, and walk across the street toward them. The girl immediately stopped giggling, and they both stared at me.
Eventually, I told them my name, and they immediately accepted me into their lives. Viola was only ten, but she seemed mature for her age. Drew seemed to be bothered that she was always following us around, but I didn’t have a little sister, so I thought it was cute. Drew not so much.
For the next couple of years, Drew and I were teammates in basketball and football. His parents let me carpool with them, Viola always tagging along to our practices and games, and she was pretty cool most of the time. I grew to enjoy her company, and a part of me became protective of her. Anytime Drew told her to get lost, I’d stand up for her and tell her she could stay. I knew she didn’t have many friends at school, and I had started thinking of her as one of my closest friends. Drew didn’t want her hanging around us, but I didn’t mind. In fact, the two of us often hung out, and those were the moments I longed for most. But then one summer our relationship changed, and it’s never been the same.