“Yeah, I’m good. Well, good as I can be. I’ll feel better once I get a shower.”
He stood up. “You took my crazy title last night, just so you know. I don’t know where that came from, but I don’t want you to do it again.”
“It’s pretty much what I grew up around, Trav. Not a big deal.”
He took my chin in his hands and wiped the remaining smeared mascara from under my eyes with his thumbs. “It was a big deal to me.”
“Fine, I won’t do it again. Happy?”
“Yes. But, I have something to tell you, if you promise not to freak out.”
“Oh, God, what did I do?”
“Nothing, but you need to call America.”
“Where is she?”
“At Morgan. She got into it with Shep last night.”
I rushed through my shower and yanked on the clothes Travis had set on the sink. When I emerged from the bathroom, Shepley and Travis were sitting in the living room.
“What did you do to her?” I demanded.
Shepley’s face fell. “She’s really pissed at me.”
“What happened?”
“I was mad that she encouraged you to drink so much. I thought we were going to end up taking you to the hospital. One thing led to another, and the next thing I know, we’re screaming at each other. We were both drunk, Abby. I said some things I can’t take back,” he shook his head, looking to the floor.
“Like what?” I said, angry.
“I called her a few names I’m not proud of and then told her to leave.”
“You let her leave here drunk? Are you some kind of idiot?” I said, grabbing at my purse.
“Easy, Pidge. He feels bad enough,” Travis said.
I fished my cell phone out of my purse, dialing America’s number.
“Hello?” she answered. She sounded awful.
“I just heard,” I sighed. “Are you okay?” I walke down the hall for privacy, glancing back once to shoot a dirty look at Shepley.
“I’m fine. He’s an asshole.” Her words were abrupt, but I could hear the hurt in her voice. America had mastered the art of hiding her emotions, and she could have hidden it from anyone but me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t go with you.”
“You were out of it, Abby,” she said dismissively.
“Why don’t you come get me? We can talk about it.”
She breathed into the phone. “I don’t know. I don’t really feel like seeing him.”
“I’ll tell him to stay inside, then.”
There was a long pause, and then I heard her keys clink in the background. “All right. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I walked into the living room, pulling my purse over my shoulder. They watched me open the door to wait for America, and Shepley scooted forward on the couch.
“She’s coming here?”
“She doesn’t want to see you, Shep. I told her you’d stay inside.”
He sighed, and fell against the cushion. “She hates me.”
“I’ll talk to her. You better get one amazing apology together, though.”
Ten minutes later, a car horn beeped twice outside, and I closed the door behind me. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Shepley rushed past me to America’s red Honda, and hunched over to see her through the window. I stopped in my tracks, watching America snub him as she looked straight ahead. She rolled down her window, and Shepley seemed to be explaining, and then they began to argue. I went inside to give them their privacy.
“Pigeon?” Travis said, trotting down the stairs.
“It doesn’t look good.”
“Let them figure it out. Come inside,” he said, intertwining his fingers in mine to lead me up the stairs.
“Was it that bad?” I asked.
He nodded. “It was pretty bad. They’re just getting out of the honeymoon stage, though. They’ll work it out.”
“For someone that’s never had a girlfriend, you seem to know about relationships.”
“I have four brothers and a lot of friends,” he said, grinning to himself.
Shepley stomped into the apartment and slammed the door behind him. “She’s fucking impossible!”
I kissed Travis on the cheek. “That’s my cue.”