Travis
After two straight weeks of regularly posing for the figure-drawing classes, the novelty had worn off. I felt agitated as I was forced to sit motionless for yet another hour of strangers staring at me. My jittery attitude also had something to do with the text message I'd gotten the night before.
Wren and Carter were coming home.
It was just a brief stopover in between destinations, but they were planning to be back that night. Wren had texted to ask if I'd pick them up from the airport.
I couldn't be sure, but I had a feeling the impromptu return had something to do with Wren's curiosity about Veronica. I'd mentioned casually that it seemed like things were headed in a good direction for us. Ever since the barbecue blow up, Ronnie, Stella, and I had been spending every spare moment together. Wren had badgered me for details. She was the nosiest friend I'd ever had.
Somehow, I'd gotten it in my head that it was a good idea to rip the band-aid off. So, I'd invited Ronnie to ride with me to the airport. My hope had been that doing that would let us get all the weirdness of introductions out of the way. I was starting to have my doubts, though.
What if Ronnie and Wren didn't get along? Wren had a tendency to get along with everyone—but Ronnie, not so much. I could only hope that Wren's whimsical personality would win Ronnie over. Fingers crossed.
"Okay, I think that's good for today."
Relieved, I reached for my robe and dressed quickly. The money for posing hadn't been bad, and I'd been able to indulge in some gifts and activities for Stella. I still wouldn't say I'd necessarily miss the job when summer was over.
In the closet, I put my clothes back on before checking my phone. I had one message from Wren confirming their arrival time, and one from Ronnie asking if I wanted to get dinner before our drive to the airport. I sent a text to Wren to let her know I'd be there before selecting Ronnie's name from my contacts list. I held the ringing phone up to my ear as I left the storage closet.
"Hello?"
"Hey. Dinner sounds good to me. Do you want to take Stella with us? I think we'd have enough time to drop her back off with Gabby before we go to the airport."
"Actually." Ronnie cleared her throat nervously. "I was thinking it might be nice if we went just the two of us. Gabby said she wouldn't mind feeding Stella dinner for me."
I was so surprised by the suggestion that I stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. Several of the art students were forced to go around me as they left class.
"Really?" I double-checked, half expecting her to say it was just a cruel joke.
"We don't have to if you don't want to." Her tone had gone doubtful.
"No, I want to. I really want to. I can pick you up in about an hour."
"Perfect. See you then."
"See you then," I agreed. "Bye, Ronnie."
"Bye, Travis."
I stayed in that one spot staring at my phone for several seconds after the line had gone dead. She'd genuinely shocked me.
"Hey!" I heard Laurel's voice call from behind me. Within seconds, she was by my side.
"Hey. Can I just say again how sorry I am about that whole barbecue situation?"
She jokingly punched my arm, though I barely felt the contact. "You keep apologizing every time you see me. It's seriously okay. In fact, I actually sort of had a fun time talking to Gabby. She told me all about her work. It was pretty interesting stuff."
"Yeah? What does Gabby do, anyway? Obviously, she works from home. She keeps Stella for Ronnie all the time."
"Veronica hasn't told you?" Laurel seemed genuinely surprised. I just shrugged. "Gabby writes romance novels. Like, really filthy ones."
"Gabby writes romance novels?" Saying the words felt all too weird. It was hard to picture buttoned up Gabby writing about people getting down and dirty together. If I'd learned anything from getting to know Laurel—it was that people could really surprise you.
"Yeah. She uses a pen name so people don't really know it's her, but her books are super well-known. And it's all very business-like, too. She does all the marketing herself and makes these detailed release plans."
"It sounds like you're more turned on by the organization than the content of the books," I teased.
"Shut up!" she shrieked in return. She laughed though, so I knew I hadn't offended her.
"Anyway, I better get going. Wren's coming home for the weekend and asked if I'd pick her up tonight. Ronnie and I are going to dinner beforehand."
"Going to dinner or going to dinner?" she asked suggestively.
I started walking away as I cryptically answered, "Time will tell."
Those words were still bouncing around in my mind when I showed up nearly an hour later at Ronnie's front door. Vinnie's car was noticeably missing from the driveway. I knew from talking to Ronnie that her brother had been making himself scarce since his blow-up. I could tell it was getting on her nerves. She was determined to wait him out. Vinnie had always had a soft spot for Ronnie, so I figured it would only be a matter of time before he caved.
Ronnie yanked open the door looking flushed. "Hi."
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah." She tilted her head back and laughed. "Gabby thought it would be a good idea to let Stella try finger-painting."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes." Ronnie swung the door open wider. The entryway and staircase were covered in purple handprints.
"Where is Stella?"
"Napping, now."
"Are you serious?"
"Yep. It seems her attack on the house was just exhausting. Gabby's cleaning the green footprints off the kitchen floor right now."
"Should we stay and help?"
Ronnie shook her head as she stepped outside, letting the front door fall closed behind her. "I actually did offer, but Gabby's already called a cleaning company to come help. She had someone on speed dial. Turns out there's such a thing as emergency cleaning services."
My heart rate increased as we walked towards the car. I'd gotten used to having the same conversation every time we went anywhere. I offered to drive and then Ronnie would insist that she drove instead. Ronnie didn't say anything. She moved straight towards the passenger seat of my car, turning to look at me expectantly when we stopped next to the door together.
She was letting me drive.
"Veronica."
"Travis." My name sounded breathless coming off of her lips.
My lips crashed down on hers. She didn't hesitate at all before melting against me. It was risky, kissing Ronnie right in front of her brother's house when he could show up at any moment. I couldn't help myself. I tangled my fingers into the silky strands of her dark hair.
She leaned back into the car, and I leaned further into her. The pressure between our bodies was delicious. Kissing her felt like coming home. It had been so long that I'd nearly forgotten what it was like to feel so connected to another person. I hadn't realized what I was missing until she'd come back into my life. I never wanted her to disappear on me again.
Panting, she pulled back from me. "We should probably get to dinner."
Disappointment flooded me. It was the second time she'd pulled away from a kiss. Silently, I pulled the car door open for her. Her eyes flickered in my direction, but she ducked to get into the car without a word.
The night was off to a great start.
I went around and started the car. I'd barely made it out of the driveway when Ronnie's hand crept over and weaved around mine, lacing our fingers together. I shot her a curious glance before focusing back on the road. I wouldn't dare risk even a minor wreck after Ronnie had put her faith in me.
"I didn't pull away because I didn't want to kiss you. I pulled away because I was worried if I didn't that we'd never actually make it to dinner."
"We should talk about things, Ronnie." I squeezed her palm.
"I know." She sighed. "And we will. But for tonight, let's have a nice dinner and pick up your friends. We've waited this long, what's another day?"
I remembered what John had said about being patient. With Ronnie's hand safely encased in mine, I went along for the ride. Ronnie would listen to what I had to say when she was ready.