He seemed stunned at my confession, and then his features turned severe. “Fine. If he ends up holding you down in the backseat of his car, don’t come crying to me.”
My mouth popped open, offended and instantly furious. “Don’t worry, I won’t,” I said, shouldering passed him.
Travis grabbed my arm and sighed, peering at me over his shoulder. “I didn’t mean it, Pidge. If he hurts you—if he even makes you feel uncomfortable—you let me know.”
The anger subsided, and my shoulders fell. “I know you didn’t. But you have got to curb this over-protective big brother-thing you’ve got going on.”
Travis laughed once. “I’m not playing the big brother, Pigeon. Not even close.”
Parker rounded the corner and pushed his hands inside his pockets, offering his elbow to me. “All set?”
Travis clenched his jaw, and I stepped to the other side of Parker to distract him from Travis’ expression. “Yeah, let’s go.” I took Parker’s arm and walked with him a few steps before turning to say goodbye to Travis, but he was glowering at the back of Parker’s head. His eyes darted to me and then his features smoothed.
“Stop it,” I said through my teeth, following Parker through the remnants of the crowd to his car.
“I’m the silver one.” The headlights of his car blinked twice when he hit the keyless entry.
He opened the passenger side door, and I laughed. “You drive a Porsche?”
“She’s not just a Porsche. She’s a Porsche nine-one-one GT-three. There’s a difference.”
“Let me guess, it’s the love of your life?” I said, quoting Travis’ statement about his motorcycle.
“No, it’s a car. The love of my life will be a woman with my last name.”
I allowed a small smile, trying not to be overly affected by his sentiment. He held my hand to help me into the car, and when he slid behind the wheel, he leaned his head against his seat and smiled at me.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Tonight?” I asked.
“It’s morning. I want to ask you to dinner before someone else beats me to it.”
A grin extended across my face. “I don’t have any plans.”
“I’ll pick you up at six?”
“Okay,” I said, watching him slink his fingers between mine.
Parker took me straight to Travis’, keeping to the speed limit and my hand in his. He pulled behind the Harley, and like before, opened my door. Once we reached the landing, he leaned down to kiss my cheek.
“Get some rest. I’ll see you tonight,” he whispered in my ear.
“Bye,” I smiled, turning the knob. When I pushed, the door gave way and I surged forward.
Travis grabbed my arm before I fell. “Easy there, Grace.”
I turned to see Parker staring at us with an uncomfortable expression. He leaned over to peer into the apartment. “Any humiliated, stranded girls in there I need to give a ride?”
Travis glared at Parker. “Don’t start with me.”
Parker smiled and winked. “I’m always giving him a hard time. I don’t get to quite as often since he’s realized it’s easier if he can get them to drive their own cars.”
“I guess that does simplify things,” I said, teasing Travis.
“Not funny, Pidge.”
“Pidge?” Parker asked.
“It’s uh…short for Pigeon. It’s just a nickname, I don’t even know where he came up with it,” I said. It was the first time I’d felt awkward about the name Travis had bestowed on me the night we met.
“You’re going to have to fill me in when you find out. Sounds like a good story,” Parker smiled. “Night, Abby.”
“Don’t you mean good morning?” I said, watching him trot down the stairs.
“That too,” he called back with a sweet smile.
Travis slammed the door, and I had to jerk my head back before it caught me in the face. “What?” I snapped.