“Please, Viola,” he says sarcastically, pressing a hand to his chest. “I prefer the term athletic scent.”
I snort. “You can prefer it all you want, but your room reeks like old man dick.”
He laughs and wraps his arms around me. “I knew I missed you.”
“Of course, you did.” I smile. “I missed you, too.”
“Sorry to come home early and ruin your sleeping arrangements,” he says, shuffling his things around. I freeze, wondering if he’s talking about Travis.
“My sleeping arrangements?” I ask. Does he know I snuck back into his room last night?
“Yeah, I mean, sleeping here. I can dig up my old air mattress out of the basement if you want. Sleeps better than that damn couch,” he says, rubbing a kink out of his neck.
“Oh,” I remark. “Whatever, I’ll be fine.”
I bite my lip to keep the grin off my face. Hell, if only he knew.
No. He can never know.
“So, did things smooth out between you two? Last I heard, Travis was pissed you stayed out all night and brought home some random guy from the bar?”
I face him and scowl. “Don’t get all big brother on me. I’m allowed to go out, you know.”
“Perhaps,” he says, his shoulders rising and falling. “But to me, you’re still my nine-year-old little sister who peed in the Millers’ pool.”
I gasp, laughing and lunging toward him. “You’re such an ass!”
He laughs and shifts his body just in time so only our shoulders collide. “What about you? You’re the one who peed on an electric fence!”
His head falls back as he lets out a roar of laughter. “Shit, I forgot about that.” His hand instinctively covers his crotch. “That fucking hurt.”
As I gather my stuff, I grab my phone off the nightstand and see an unread message from Travis. I tell Drew I’m going to get into the shower and walk out before he sees the guilt written all over my face.
Once I’m in the bathroom, I lock the door behind me and swipe the screen on my phone.
Travis: I couldn’t fall back asleep without you next to me. I’m so fucking tired. But it was so damn worth it.
My face flushes, and I know I’m blushing like an idiot.
Viola: Sorry, Casanova. If it makes you feel any better, looks like I’m out on the air mattress from now on.
It takes less than a few seconds for his response to come through.
Travis: He’s making you sleep on the air mattress? What the hell! You can take my bed. I’ll take the couch.
Viola: No, that’ll look suspicious! We can’t act any different than we normally do, or he’ll know something’s up.
Travis: Oh, so now you’re the one embarrassed by me?
Okay, I deserved that.
Viola: No, actually. I was super tired this morning. I didn’t mean to overreact.
Travis: Wait a minute. Did hell just freeze over?
Viola: What?!
Travis: Did you just admit to overreacting to a situation? Viola, is this really you?
I bite my lip and chuckle. A sense of contentment floods over me. Travis knows me inside and out. He knows all my quirks, my habits, my body language. He’s taking over my heart again, and the thought of that scares me.
Viola: Yes, it’s me, you idiot!
Travis: Okay, that sounds more like you.
Viola: Ha-Ha. I’m getting in the shower now.
Travis: Don’t forget your vibrator this time.
I laugh and set my phone back down. Damn him.
He really has shown me a different side of him, but that doesn’t mean I trust him. In fact, the whole thing with Alyssa still doesn’t sit well with me.
Once I’m showered and dressed, I meet Drew out in the living room. He’s pacing, and I know something’s on his mind.
“You all right?” I ask, softly, knowing it’s probably a stupid question to ask. “I mean, considering…”
“You mean, considering my girlfriend threw all my shit out, tossed me out in the middle of the night, and now won’t answer my texts or calls?”
I pinch my lips together, holding back what I really want to say. “Yeah, that.”
He shrugs, his face tense. The stubble over his jaw lets me know he hasn’t shaved in a couple of days. Things must not have been getting better like he said. I see the wrinkles forming in his forehead and the black circles under his eyes. He hasn’t slept.
“Want to go get some breakfast?” I ask, changing the subject. He looks like he needs a distraction. Hell, I could use a distraction, too.
“Sure, let’s go, little sis.”
After we pick up my car from Good Times, we end up at IHOP where we both order the big breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, ham, hash browns, toast, and of course, a little fruit bowl. Our table looks like two people who haven’t eaten in a week.
In fact, it’s probably more than I have eaten all week.
But food is comforting, and we both indulge. He doesn’t bring up Mia, so I find a way to slip her into the conversation.
“I suppose we’re going to be making different plans this weekend?” Not my smoothest way of asking about it, but whatever. I’m pumped up with carbs.
Basically, I need to figure out how I’m going to spend the rest of spring break in a house with my brother and the guy I’ve been hate-fucking all week without my brother finding out.
Or without my heart being shattered in the process.
“Probably,” he mumbles, shuffling his food around with his fork. He’s been stuffing his face since the moment the food arrived, and now, he looks like he’s in a coma.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask softly. “I’ll just listen if you want.”
“Not really.” He shoves another mouthful of pancakes in his mouth.
“Come on, Drew. Maybe I can help. Give you some insight or something.”
“Insight to what? Why girls are moody for no reason? Why they go from hot to cold in five seconds? Or how they can go from I love you to You’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to me? Have any insight for that?” He ends the question with a sarcastic remark. Obviously, bringing up Mia was a bad idea.
“Okay, sorry, never mind,” I draw out slowly, only partly sorry for bringing it up. Perhaps this means he’ll be too distracted to notice anything going on between Travis and me. Knowing I have to act like nothing has changed makes me anxious for when the three of us are all together.
“Sorry, I just don’t know why she won’t at least message me back. I think it may be over this time.”
This isn’t the first time Drew and Mia have fought like this. They’ve even broken up once before but only for a day or two. I don’t remember ever seeing him this down before. Mia is a bit high maintenance, and if she didn’t make him so happy when things are good between the two of them, I’d be really annoyed at him for always going back to her. However, this time I just might shake some sense into him.