I ignore the ex-girlfriend comment, but Courtney perks up at the mention of it.
“Travis may be a lot of things, but he’d never betray me like that,” he states with certainty.
“Bro code,” Courtney adds, and I glare at her without Drew noticing.
“There are just certain people you don’t fool around with, and he’d never do something like that behind my back.”
Certain people like an ex-girlfriend or little sister…?
A dagger shoots right into my chest as I hear Drew talking about the strong friendship and bond he has with Travis.
Courtney flashes me a look, and I know we’re both thinking it. If we weren’t all sitting together, Courtney would be swooning over Drew a lot harder. He’s clueless as to how he affects girls, especially Courtney. Even though she was with Toby, and Drew’s been on and off with Mia, she’s always had a little thing for him. And she takes every opportunity to remind me.
Even before Toby and she were on the path to breakup city, Courtney had crushed hard on him. Shortly after we first met, she came with me to his house and nearly walked into a beam the first time she saw him.
“Are you all right?” he asked her, genuinely concerned.
She blinked a few times, and Drew took a step toward her.
“Fine,” she finally said. “Just wasn’t looking where I was going.”
He nodded and flashed one of his infamous charming smiles. Drew doesn’t have to do much to get a girl’s attention with his dark, shaggy hair and tattoos lining his arms and chest. He’s built like a rock and was the reason guys wouldn’t come to the house back in high school. He looked terrifying, but I knew he had a soft side, too.
“Stop looking at my brother like you want to rip off his clothes!” I groaned once Drew was out of hearing distance. My friends swooning over him was something I had gotten used to in high school, and somehow, it continued to happen in college.
Her eyes remained locked on him as he walked down the hall to his bedroom. “I want to do a lot more than that…” Her lips tilted up. “And those handcuffs—”
“All right, I get it,” I said, cutting her off. “You want to go all Fifty Shades on his ass.”
She chuckled. “Hot cop fantasy.” She shrugged unapologetically.
I smile, remembering the moment. She’d been completely devoted to Toby and would never act on anything outside of their relationship, but now that there was no relationship, I hope she’d finally allow herself to go out and have some fun. She needs to meet people and see what life is like without a relationship status determining her every move. With Drew being available, it might take her mind off the dirty breakup.
“Are you the friends of Mia Montgomery?” A doctor walks up to us, and we all look up.
“Yes,” Drew says, standing. Courtney and I both stand next to him.
“She’s pretty drowsy from the pain medication we gave her, but you can see her one at a time for a few minutes.”
“What about the driver, Travis King?” I ask before he can walk away.
“He’s on some pretty heavy painkillers as well, but a few minutes should be okay.”
“Just enough time for you to put a pillow over his head,” Drew teases. The doctor gives a disapproving look but doesn’t comment.
“That’s pretty harsh,” I say, following him.
He chuckles. “Sorry, I didn’t know you two became best friends since I left.”
Courtney snorts behind me, and I turn around, flashing her a glare.
“Um, definitely not. Doesn’t mean I’d want him dead.”
“All right, go check on him while I check on Mia.”
“Okay.”
“Mia Montgomery is in 707, and Travis King is in 713, just down that hall.” The doctor directs us. We both thank him. “Just a few minutes,” he reminds us.
Courtney walks with me to Travis’s room but doesn’t follow me inside.
“I’ll wait out here so you two can be alone.”
I purse my lips and exhale. “Okay.”
I knock softly on the door before slowly opening it. I’m not sure what to expect, but I just need to visually confirm that he’s okay.
“Travis?” I walk quietly up to his bed, taking in his closed eyes and the bandage over his forehead. “Can you hear me?” I take his hand, feeling his warmth against mine, and wait for a response.
He has an IV in his other hand, his left knee is propped up on pillows under the sheets, and his face is bruised and swollen. I’ve never seen him like this before, and for the first time, he looks vulnerable. My chest aches, seeing his body lying almost lifeless, his chest slowly rising and falling, and I can’t help but want to kiss every bruised part of him.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, I keep his hand in mine and hope he can hear what I’m about to say.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, but it’s V.” I choke down tears and laughter. “I can’t believe I just called myself that.”
I wait, hoping he’ll respond and join in on our inside joke, but he doesn’t flinch. I watch his chest move up and down as the sounds of the machines fill the room.
“You look pretty awful, but the doctor says you should be back to your normal self in no time. Truthfully, seeing you like this is tearing me apart.”
I swallow and catch my breath, and then I begin to ramble. “I don’t know why you and Mia were together, and I honestly don’t think I want to know. I’m going to try to trust you, Travis. It’ll be hard because of our past, but I’m going to try to be more like Drew. It doesn’t faze him at all that you were with Mia, and it reminded me that although you’re an asshole most of the time, you wouldn’t do anything like that to Drew. Apparently, there’s some sort of bro code.” I shake my head at the thought.
“To be honest, I hope you wouldn’t do that to me either, but I don’t know where we stand and what we’re doing. When you get out of here, and you’re not hooked to machines like Darth Vader, we’re going to have to talk—like a real talk—about us. I need to know that we’re on the same page and where we should go from here. I want to trust you, Travis, and I’m going to try really hard. Please don’t make me regret wearing my heart on my sleeve.”
I sit next to him for a few more minutes, watching him sleep. Realizing I’ve been in his room way too long, I squeeze his hand, wishing he’d squeeze it back, but he never does. I stand and lean over him, careful not to touch or put weight on his chest and press my lips to his.
“Bye, Travis,” I whisper.
I walk toward the door, wiping my face as tears begin falling down my cheeks. I can’t stand to see him so vulnerable and broken; it’s tearing me apart. Before I can open the door, a nurse walks in and immediately studies my face.
“Oh, it’s okay, sweetie.” She flashes me a genuine smile. “Mr. King will have a full recovery in a few weeks. He’s pretty drugged up on painkillers right now, but I’ll let him know you were here.”
All I can do is nod and reach for the door.
I really hope this isn’t game over.
Chapter 3