Travis
I had been hit with a wave of inspiration after my night with Becky. That night, spent with her in my arms, in my bed, had felt so…intimate. So right.
I’d spent the last few days as a recluse, waiting Thursday while I worked on some new lyrics I had rolling around in my head. I was also dodging the persistent phone calls from my manager, demanding to know when I’d be back in Nashville. I’d already told him six times that I’d be back in five weeks, but Tom was still hoping I’d change my answer. He wanted to get a start on the new record, only there wasn’t anything to start.
I had nothing worth sharing. Yet, anyway.
The song that I’d been working on seemed too personal, too emotional, and I wasn’t ready to share it. My public image was beers and trucks, not love ballads. But, singing with Everly Daniels at the wedding had me convinced a ballad wasn’t such a bad idea, that maybe it was time to take my music in a new direction. I could think of no better time to do it than when I went on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in September.
By Wednesday, I knew I needed to get out of the house, so I met the guys for half priced ribs and a couple of beers at O’Riley’s. The regular group consisted of Gordon, Tommy, Grady, and Brock. Sometimes, Steve would randomly show up. Sometimes, Braden would show up, if he didn’t have anything better to do, only he’d drink a coke in place of beer.
Steve, Braden, and Brock were absent this week. Brock was still on his honeymoon, Braden only really came when Brock was there, and nobody knew what Steve did when he wasn’t hanging out with us. On this particular night, it was just Gordon, Grady, Tommy, and me.
“You know what I don’t get?” Gordon said, pausing to take a sip of his beer. He sat across the table from me at O’Riley’s.
“What?” Tommy demanded, irritated at the long pause.
“I think its bullshit that you live in that bad ass mansion on a sick lake and you never throw parties there,” Gordon said, his tone accusatory and his focus zeroed in on my face.
“My mom’s there,” I shrugged. “I don’t want to put her out.”
“We wouldn’t be! Mama Channing can sling some beers with us,” Tommy grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. The your mom is hot jokes would never stop coming, and I couldn’t even get mad at them for it. Gordon and Tommy had lost their mom when they were kids, so any your mom revenge jokes would be cruel. They knew it and used it to their full advantage, of course.
“It’s not just her. Last time I let you douchebags talk me into throwing a party, some dumbass put the address on Myspace and an extra three hundred guests show up. We had paparazzi swarming the gates for months afterwards,” I reminded them pointedly.
“Okay,” Tommy said, raising his finger to stop me right there. “That was years ago,” he argued, rolling his eyes. He’d been the one to stupidly put up the address on his public Myspace.
“It’s true, Tommy has learned the error of his ways,” Gordon nodded, smirking.
“I couldn’t come home for months,” I laughed. “I had to hire twenty-four hour ground security to make sure people would leave my mom alone.”
“Why does it matter?” Grady asked, coming to my rescue.
“It doesn’t, not really. I was just thinking that we should have a final hurrah party,” Gordon shrugged, taking another swig of his beer. “Before you leave for Nashville again and Tessa and Brock leave for Toronto. Get everyone together one final time.” His words seemed ominous, like we’d never all be together again.
I pursed my lips and mulled it over: Gordon made a fair point. It would be cool to throw a party, and my cottage was a pretty good location for it. Private, remote. Enough space to host everyone comfortably.
“I’ll have to run it by my mom and see what she says.”
“Oh man, it sounds so ridiculous when you say that—like you’re still living in your mom’s trailer and she’s still ironing your shirts on the kitchen table,” Tommy laughed.
“Yeah, except it’s his place and he pays people to iron his shirts,” Gordon ribbed, joining in on the laughter.
“Don’t be dicks,” Grady scolded. “She lives there, it’s her home too.”
“We know,” Tommy rolled his eyes.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I promised.
Grady downed the rest of his beer and stood up. “I’ll catch you guys later, let me know what’s happening with the party.”
“Where are you off to?” Gordon asked, bemused. Grady didn’t usually tap out that early.
“Paige’s,” he grinned. Tommy pretended to crack a whip, making the accompanying sound and all.
“Is it really that bad to be whipped?” I voiced. “What’s the harm in making your girl happy?”
“No harm in that,” Gordon nodded with agreement and glanced at me with mild suspicion.
Tommy wrinkled his nose. “There’s a difference between making your girl happy and having to hand in your man card because you left guy’s night early to watch Gilmore Girls with her,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
“Fuck off,” Grady laughed, flipping him the bird. “And for your information, we’re watching Game of Thrones.”
“Still, you’re bailing out early for Netflix and Chill.”
“Ignore my little brother, Grady,” Gordon said, putting Tommy in a headlock. “He doesn’t ever get to the chill part of Netflix before his date runs for the nearest exit, so he wouldn’t understand how awesome it is. Chill means sex, Tommy, and a man has needs. If Grady’s gotta dip out to get his wick wet, that’s fine in my books.”
“Gee, thanks, Gordon,” Grady frowned as he shook his head. “Maybe I just prefer her company to yours.” Tossing a couple of bills down on the table, he cast one more unamused scowl in our direction before leaving.
When he’d gone, Tommy wandered over to the only pool table in the bar that was littered with beautiful girls. Gordon and I watched while he tried to pick up a few of them, being his regular goofball self. The girls giggled under his attention, but none of them acted interested in the pool lessons he was offering.
“I hope he’s not asking them to rub his cue again. I told him that was a terrible pick up line and to never use it again, but he’s not that bright,” Gordon remarked. I laughed, shaking my head.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to check it. I hadn’t seen Becky since the day after the wedding, but we’d been texting nonstop.
She didn’t want to risk anybody seeing us before we told Brock, and Braden was in a foul mood after Elle returned to Barrie so she had no one to watch Aiden. I’d offered up a solution in my mom, but Becky had venomously refused it. She said she didn’t know my mom well enough to ask that of her, and she felt weird about it.
I understood, but in the same breath…my feelings for her weren’t temporary.
The message wasn’t from her—it was from one of my producers. I ignored it, shoving it back into my pocket without reading it. I couldn’t get my mind off of Becky, and the last thing I could think about in that moment was work. My knee bounced up and down, my aggravation rising. I had half a mind to just show up on her doorstep, just to see her and be with her for a few hours, but I knew that’d go over about as well as bathing a cat.
“Why the long face, pretty boy?” Gordon mock-pouted, still razzing me.
“No reason,” I straightened.
“See, I’m not buying that,” Gordon said decisively. “You’ve been acting weird all summer.”
“How the hell have I been acting weird?”
Gordon pinned me with a considering stare. “That’s a long list bud. Let’s see…there was the whole twin thing, you showed zero interest in either one of those girls and they were so willing. Then there’s the wedding—you didn’t bring a date, which is so not like you. I was so sure you’d bring two dates that I bet Grady. I lost fifty bucks.”
“Fake tits are overrated, no matter how willing they are. And I didn’t bring a date to the wedding because I didn’t know anybody who wouldn’t accidentally slip the details to the paparazzi,” I answered.
“That’s never stopped you before.”
“This was my best friend’s wedding,” I reminded him through narrowed eyes. “I wouldn’t chance ruining his big day.”
Gordon hummed, clearly not believing me. “Whatever you say.”
We were silent for a few moments, watching while Tommy struck out with one girl and moved on to try his luck with the next.
“What pissed you off the most about Brock and Tessa being together?” I asked, the question spilling from me before I could think it through. “Was it just that he broke the code?” In high school, Brock and Gordon had enforced a bro code specifically regarding their sisters; they were completely off limits.
“Is this about Becky?” he asked, glancing back at me, a slight smile on his lips.
“What? No.”
“Travis, there aren’t any more sisters in the group. It’s either about Becky, or it’s about Tessa. And if it’s about Tessa—“
“It’s not about Tessa, for fucks sakes Gordon,” I grumbled, pissed that he’d cornered me into being more honest than I’d intended on being, and pissed that I’d walked straight into it.
Gordon laughed richly. “I knew that all along. I saw you guys leaving the reception together.”
“Fuck off,” I growled.
“I did,” Gordon smirked, looking extremely pleased with himself. “Annaka and I slipped out to…relieve some tension, if you know what I mean, and we saw you guys climbing into the Escalade.”
“Seriously?” I deadpanned.
“Seriously. If the Escalade’s a rocking, don’t come a knockin’,” Gordon joked.
“Can you stop fucking around and answer the question?” I asked, my aggravation rising. “What pissed you off the most about it?”
“I didn’t know his intentions,” Gordon answered simply. He leaned back in the booth, resting his arm along the back of it. “I mean, we all went years without seeing him or talking to him, and suddenly he was back in town and sneaking around with my sister? It was shady.”
“Well we didn’t exactly have his back when it all went down,” I reminded him. “At least, not as much as we should have.” I had tried calling Brock a hundred times after I heard about the arrest, but he hadn’t returned a single one of those calls. Nobody else had known the details, either…just that Brock was doing jail time for aggravated assault.
Turns out he had every reason to beat the ever living crap out of Becky’s ex after he put her in the hospital.
Thinking about it made me grip my beer a little tighter. I’d never heard the whole story, and never from Becky—but what I did know made my blood boil with rage, and it made me feel ashamed too. Ashamed that I hadn’t reached out to her, ashamed that I’d given up so easily on Brock.
“I know,” Gordon nodded with agreement, pursing his lips. He wore the same regret I did.
“So if Brock had told you that he was interested in Tessa, you would have been cool with that?”
“I probably would have punched him in the fucking teeth,” he shrugged, grinning. “But, then I would have been fine with it. I am fine with it. I see how he looks at her, how he treats her. He loves her with everything he has, and I know he’ll take care of her.”
I exhaled, rubbing at my jaw. “Basically, no matter what I do, he’s going to rearrange my face.”
“I didn’t say that. Brock’s not me, and Becky isn’t six years younger than us. I saw Tessa as a little girl still, and it freaked me out that my friends didn’t.” Gordon paused, shivering as if that thought disgusted him.
“In Brock’s defense, it was his first time coming home in years, and I was struck by how stunning she is. Honestly, I didn’t even realize I was talking to your sister until she told me. She looks and acts older than she is,” I commented.
Gordon scowled at me. “Shut up, Travis, or I’ll rearrange your face myself.” I laughed in response, glad I’d managed to get under his skin a little. He’d pissed me off first, and that was kind of how our friendship worked.
“What the fuck are you chicks talking about?” Tommy demanded, flopping down in the booth.
“Strike out so soon?” I grinned, laughing when he shot me the finger.
We shot the shit for a while longer, mostly talking about Gordon’s renovation company and Tommy’s inability to hold down a job. It wasn’t long until we called it a night.
I had just put the keys in the ignition of my truck when my phone rang. Fishing it out of my pocket, I couldn’t slide my finger over ‘answer’ quick enough when her name and picture flashed across the screen of my phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me,” she said hesitantly. “So…I actually managed to find a sitter for Aiden tomorrow evening. Katie offered to have him over for a sleepover. So, if you still wanted to—“
“Fuck yeah I still want to,” I interrupted. She laughed, the sound like music to my ears. “I can pick you up at seven.”
“I’d rather meet you somewhere, if you don’t mind,” she said. I could hear the uncertainty in her voice.
“My place?” I suggested.
“What about your mom?”
“It’ll just be you and me,” I answered, the plan already forming in my mind. I knew that she would have no problem giving us privacy for the night. “Meet me at my place at seven. I’ll text you the address.”
Just as I expected, my mom had no qualms with making herself scarce for the night. She jumped on my suggestion to go see a movie.
When she left the house, I started cooking dinner. I knew Becky didn’t want to chance anybody seeing us and outing us before we had the chance to tell her brother, so I figured a romantic night in would do the trick.
I didn’t want to make it too complicated, so I made baked honey mustard chicken with a touch of lemon, scalloped potatoes and green beans. Becky pulled up with ten minutes left on the timer, and I watched her through the window while she seemed to give herself a pep talk before exiting her car.
Her nervousness made me smile. I was glad I wasn’t the only one whose nerves were in overdrive. This would be the first official date the two of us had ever had with each other. Skinny dipping in lakes or meeting up in hotel rooms for an afternoon delight aside, I mean. Those couldn’t be classified as dates.
I met her at the door, throwing it open before she had a chance to knock.
“You look stunning,” I told her, my eyes eating her up. She was wearing a floral print dress with a low neckline that made all the blood in my body travel south. She hadn’t even set foot inside yet, and my need to have her was overwhelming.
But tonight wasn’t about sex. It couldn’t be, I already knew we connected on that level and I wanted her to know that I saw her as more than walking sex.
“Thank you,” she blushed prettily, stepping inside the foyer and looking around.
“Do you want a tour? We were a little preoccupied the last time you were here,” I pointed out, taking her hand. She nodded, and I led her around the main level. Just as we were walking back into the kitchen, the timer went off.
“It smells amazing,” Becky remarked, watching while I removed the tray from the oven and put it on the stove top.
“I hope it tastes amazing too,” I winked, throwing the oven mitts down on the counter before I put my hand on the small of her back. I led her out the sliding doors to the patio, where we’d be eating. Candles illuminated the table for two, and wine chilled in a bucket. I pulled a chair out for her, holding it while she sat. “Wine?”
“Sure, just a little though,” she replied, her fingers toying with the layered material of her dress.
“I’ll be right back,” I said after I’d filled both our glasses. When I returned with two plates, Becky was staring out at the lake.
“You’ve got a beautiful view,” she commented, smiling at me when I set her plate down.
“I agree,” I responded, my eyes still on her when I sat down. I didn’t think I could pull my eyes away from her if my life depended on it. “You’re beautiful, Becs.”
Her cheeks flushed and she smiled with just the corner of her lips. “Thanks.”
After dinner, we went for a walk so I could show her the grounds. The stone pathway that led to the dock was lit up with little solar lights, and the dock itself had twinkle lights weaved around the posts, reflecting off the lake and illumining the wooden dock in a soft glow. I may have taken a page out of Elle’s book, hell-bent on making this a night to remember for the both of us.
“Wow, it’s breathtaking,” she murmured, looking out at the moon over the lake. Becky closed her eyes at the sound of the loons calling to one another, smiling like it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.
“It really is,” I agreed. “I do love it out here. It’s one of my favourite places to be.”
“In all the world?”
“In all the world,” I answered honestly.
She let out a contented sigh, slipping off her shoes before she sat down on the end of the dock. She dipped her toe in to test the temperature before submerging both feet.
I pulled off my shoes and socks and rolled my jeans before joining her. The water was refreshingly cool.
“I’ve got to ask,” she said, glancing at me with a subtle smile on her lips. “Who taught you how to cook like that?”
“My mom,” I answered honestly. “She believes everyone should know how to cook a decent meal.”
“She’s not going to like me very much, then,” she cracked a small smile. “I can cook basic meals, but I botch almost all breakfast foods—save for cereal—and I can’t bake at all. Aiden practically cries whenever I try.”
“If I can be taught, you can be taught,” I laughed.
We sat in silence for a little bit, both of us finding our footing with one another. It should have felt odd going from knowing exactly what we were, to figuring out how to be something different—but this felt right.
“Tell me more about little Travis,” she asked, lips kicking up in another hesitant smile. I could tell she was still a little uncomfortable in this date like setting, but she seemed to be enjoying herself.
“I hope you’re referring to me as a kid,” I joked, arching a brow at her. She laughed, her smile growing and her blue eyes sparkling.
“Obviously I’m not asking about your dick,” she shot back. I laughed, unable to resist kissing the tip of her nose. “I remember that one talent show you did…but when did you start singing?”
“My mom says I’ve been singing longer than I’ve been talking. We had this old record player, and stacks of old country records. We didn’t have TV, so we sang a lot,” I answered with a reminiscing smile. I shrugged. “What about you? When did you decide you wanted to become a nurse?”
“After Aiden was born,” she answered, her jaw tensing a little as she gazed out at the moon over the lake. “I met this incredible nurse on Aiden’s first day in NICU. She changed my life.”
“I think you did that all on your own,” I murmured, hoping she’d continue.
She turned her head to meet my eyes, offering me a small smile. “I wanted to be like her, to help women going through such a scary, devastating time find their footing. I wanted to help babies that needed the extra tender touch, the fragile ones—like Aiden. I’m still working my way up, obviously…but that’s the end goal.”
I brought my hand up to cup her face. “You amaze me,” I told her softly. I kissed her then, my lips brushing against hers reverently. It completely blew my mind, all that she’d been through and all that she strived for despite of it.
Becky was silent strength and determination, and a whole lot of heart. To pursue the career she had after enduring the past she’d had was unfathomable.
I ended the kiss sooner than I would have liked. I was trying to be a gentleman, but my cock strained against my jeans, protesting the loss of her lips on mine.
My desire to have her warred with my desire to know everything about her.
“How do you become an NICU nurse?” I asked, running my hand along the side of her ribs. She yawned sleepily as her flesh broke out in goose bumps.
“Time and experience. I’ve been an ER nurse for almost a year. I have to prove my worth first. Plus, I’d have to move. The hospital here isn’t equipped to handle NICU babies. They all get transferred to Toronto or Barrie,” she answered.
“So you’d leave one day?”
“I don’t know about that,” she admitted. “I want to say that yes, I would leave here, but I’ve always lived here…and I don’t know how I feel about selling the house. I know there are a lot of bad memories there…but there are a lot of good ones, too. Aiden took his first steps in that house. His growth is measured on the same trim around the same doorway that my mother tracked my brothers and I. And after…Richie, it became my refuge, where I rebuilt our lives.”
I held her a little closer to me and kissed her forehead. “There’s no rush,” I said. “There’s no expiry date on dreams.”
We talked about our hopes and dreams for a while longer, and I admitted that I was thinking about changing direction with my music. “I think your fans would love it,” she assured me when I confessed my reluctance to shake things up.
“I’m worried my fans will hate it and I’ll become irrelevant,” I admitted. “I know money isn’t everything, but growing up without any makes me appreciate it more.”
“Your garage full of flashy cars suggests otherwise,” Becky pointed out with a playful grin.
I chuckled self-deprecatingly and splashed water at her bare legs with my foot. “Smart ass. I save triple what I spend, and if I needed to, I could sell all of those cars and this house and still live comfortably.”
It should have been weird, sitting there revealing the hidden bits and pieces of ourselves to one another, but it was as natural as breathing. Every little morsel she offered, I ate up, and I laid it all bare for her. Anything she wanted to know, I answered.
Around eleven, when she was yawning more than she was talking, I stood up and offered my hand to her, helping her stand. Her arms went around the back of my neck as she gazed up at me.
“I had a lot of fun tonight, Travis,” she said, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
“When can I see you again?” I asked, feeling very much like my heart was caught in my throat.
She thought about it for a few minutes. “Brock and Tessa get home late on Sunday night. She’s got to work at the clinic on Monday, but I’ll invite them over for dinner so I can tell them about us.” She looked a little nervous, but determined.
“Did you want to tell them together, or…”
She bit her lip and brought her right shoulder up in half a shrug. “I haven’t decided yet. I really don’t know what would be better.”
“Well you let me know,” I told her. “I’ll do it however you want.”