“Why on earth would you want me to stay with you, anyway?” I asked.
Travis shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know. Everything’s better when you’re around.”
The warm and fuzzies I felt from his words quickly faded with the sight of the red, blotchy mess on his shirt. “Ew. You have blood all over you.”
Travis looked down with indifference, and then opened the door, gesturing for me to walk in. I breezed by Kara who studied on her bed, held captive by the text books that surrounded her.
“The boilers were fixed this morning,” she said.
“I heard,” I said, rifling through my closet.
“Hi,” Travis said to Kara.
Kara’s face twisted as she scanned Travis’ sweaty, bloody form.
“Travis, this is my roommate Kara Lin. Kara, Travis Maddox.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kara said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She glanced at my bulging bags. “Are you moving out?”
“Nope. Lost a bet.”
Travis burst into laughter, grabbing my bags. “Ready?”
“Yeah. How am I going to get all of this to your apartment? We’re on your bike.”
Travis smiled and pulled out his cell phone. He carried my luggage to the street, and minutes later, Shepley’s black, vintage Charger pulled up.
The passenger-side window rolled down, and America poked her head out. “Hey, Chickie!”
“Hey yourself. The boilers are working again at Morgan, are you still staying with Shep?”
She winked. “Yeah, I thought I’d stay tonight. I heard you lost a bet.”
Before I could speak, Travis shut the trunk and Shep sped off, with America squealing as she fell back into the car.
We walked to his Harley, and when I wrapped my arms around him, he rested his hand on mine.
“I’m glad you were there tonight, Pidge. I’ve never had so much fun at a fight in my life.”
I perched my chin on his shoulder and smiled. “That was because you were trying to win our bet.”
He angled his neck to face me. “Damn right I was.” There was no amusement in his eyes, he was serious, and he wanted me to see it.
My eyebrows shot up. “Is that why you were in such a bad mood today? Because you knew they’d fixed the boilers, and I would be leaving tonight?”
Travis didn’t answer; he only smiled as he started his motorcycle. The drive to the apartment was uncharacteristically slow. At every stoplight, Travis would either cover my hands with his, or he would rest his hand on my knee. The lines were blurring again, and I wondered how we would spend a month together and not ruin everything. The loose ends of our friendship were tangling in a way I never imagined.
When we arrived in the apartment parking lot, Shepley’s Charger sat in its usual spot.
I stood in front of the steps. “I always hate it when they’ve been home for awhile. I feel like we’re going to interrupt them.”
“Get used to it. This is your place for the next four weeks,” Travis smiled and turned his back to me. “Get on.”
“What?” I smiled.
“C’mon, I’ll carry you up.”
I giggled and hopped onto his back, interlacing my fingers on his chest as he ran up the stairs. America opened the door before we made it to the top and smiled.
“Look at you two. If I didn’t know better….”
“Knock it off, Mare,” Shepley said from the couch.
America smiled as if she’d said too much, and then opened the door wide so we could both fit through. Travis collapsed against the recliner. I squealed when he leaned against me.
“You’re awfully cheerful this evening, Trav. What gives?” America prompted.
I leaned over to see his face. I’d never seen him so pleased.
“I just won a shit load of money, Mare. Twice as much as I thought I would. What’s not to be happy about?”
America grinned. “No, it’s something else,” she said, watching Travis’ hand as he patted my thigh. She was right; he was different. There was an air of peace around him, almost as if some kind of new contentment had settled into his soul.