Fine, she thought. Here goes nothing.
“Remember when you told me to be careful? Well, I wasn’t careful enough it turns out. You were right. The roads were so slick and then out of thin air, a dog appeared.”
“Dog?” he echoed, feeling his blood chill.
Hellhound.
“I know its nuts. I lost control of the car trying not to hit it. When I finally stopped the thing jumped on my car, and I swear it was going to break the windshield.”
Christ. It was like his worst fears coming to life.
She hasn’t even spent a week with him and already he had put her in harm. The guilt he felt was monumental and he knew he was going to have to do whatever it took to keep her from getting hurt, including not seeing her again. Just thinking it stole the air from his lungs, and his chest felt like it was caving in. How was he going to keep his distance?
Tomorrow.
Tonight she needed him, and he needed her.
“But you are not hurt? It didn’t harm you?” he asked, fear clouding his voice. It took everything inside him not to rush to her house and see for himself.
“No, I’m fine. I just can’t seem to stop seeing it replay in my head,” she reluctantly admitted.
“Well, that is a problem. Let’s get your mind off it. I’m sure we can think of something.” There was a seductive quality to his voice, deep and smooth. “Tell me about your favorite place you’ve lived.”
She smiled into the phone expecting something more explicit. This was what she had been searching for when she thought of Travis. He didn’t judge, he didn’t make her feel batshit crazy and already she was more relaxed.
“Spring Valley is by far the best,” she replied, lying on her back smiling.
“Why is that?” he asked, surprised that this small town was her answer. She must have been to places far more exciting than here.
“Because it is where I met you.” She could picture him grinning brilliantly, feeling pretty dang good about himself.
Damn. She was making this impossibly hard. How was he supposed to keep his distance when she was making him want more? His heart swelled. “I could say the same about you. This sleepy town was a bore until you showed up.”
Oooh slick. He had all the right answers. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
Travis propped on his elbow. If she only knew the things he had done. He wasn’t proud. Somehow she made he want to be better. “None of those girls mattered.”
Could she help it if her heart melted? She wasn’t made of glass. “You just know all the right things to say.”
“Only to you,” he whispered. He could hear the sleepiness in her voice.
She lost track of time as they talked about nothing really. Yawning, Emma knew she was on the verge of dozing off with the sound of his voice following her. There couldn’t be a more perfect slumber as far as she was concerned. This was probably the closest she was going to get to sleeping with Travis while living under her parent’s roof.
Utterly depressing.
He listened to her even breathing, knowing that she had fallen asleep. Closing his eyes, he let the sound lull over him. Each passing hour his heart cracked more and more. He wasn’t sure he had the strength to stay away. But could he keep her safe?
Chapter 7
What a SOB. She never thought she would be saying that about Travis. But he had deliberately ignored her. Before school she saw him rush through the parking lot, and then during study hall he hadn’t looked her way once. She could see the tension in his body as he sat staring at the podium. The vein in his neck throbbed under her stare willing him to acknowledge her.
But what hurt the most was after class.
She had grown accustom to him walking her to gym. Today he scrambled from his seat before she even had a chance to gather her belongings. He had been the first one through the door, which was quite a feat since they both sat in the middle of the auditorium.
Sinking dismally back into the plush seat, she watched his blurring figure round the corner of the door. Their eyes connected for just a nanosecond, and her heart battered in her chest.
What the hell had happened?
Last night she had fallen asleep with the phone pressed to her ear. It had left a nice ring around her face when she looked in the mirror this morning, but it brought a smile to her face. Apparently, Travis didn’t experience the same effects. Maybe she had snored too loud or mumbled in her sleep.
Numbly walking down the halls to the girl’s locker room Emma wished she was the kind of girl that skipped classes. More than anything she wanted to be elsewhere, licking her wounded pride and heartache.
The whistle blow loud and long in the gymnasium as Ms. Jenssen called for attention.
Ugh. This was insane.