“Need some help?”
“It’s Calculus. I think I’ve got it handled.”
“I can just hang out for moral support” he smiled, digging his hand into his pocket. The solid muscles in his arm tensed with the movement, and the thought of them flexing as he thrust himself inside me replayed with vivid detail in my head.
“Er…what?” I asked, disoriented from the sudden erotic thought that had flashed in my mind.
“Are we supposed to pretend the other night never happened?”
“No, why?” I feigned confusion and he sighed, frustrated with my behavior.
“I don’t know…because I took your virginity?” He leaned toward me, saying the words in a hushed voice.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve deflowered a virgin, Trav.”
Just as I had feared, my casual demeanor made him angry. “As a matter of fact, it was.”
“C’mon…I said I didn’t want any weirdness between us.”
Travis took one last drag of his cigarette and flicked it to the ground. “Well, if I’ve learned anything in the last few days, it’s that you don’t always get what you want.”
“Hey, Abs,” Parker said, kissing my cheek.
Travis glowered at Parker with a murderous expression.
“I’ll pick you up around six?” Parker said.
I nodded. “Six.”
“See you in a bit,” he said, continuing to class. I watched him walk away, afraid to endure the consequences of the last ten seconds.
“You’re going out with him tonight?” Travis seethed. His jaw was clenched, and I could see it working under his skin.
“I told you he was going to ask me out after I got back to Morgan. He called me yesterday.”
“Things have changed a little bit since that conversation, don’t you think?”
“Why?”
He walked away from me, and I swallowed, trying to keep the tears at bay. Travis stopped and came back, leaning into my face. “That’s why you said I wouldn’t miss you after today! You knew I’d find out about you and Parker, and you thought I’d just…what? Get over you? Do you not trust me, or am I just not good enough? Tell me, damn it! Tell me what the fuck I did to you to make you do this!”
I stood my ground, staring straight into his eyes. “You didn’t do anything to me. Since when is sex so life or death to you?”
“Since it was with you!”
I glanced around, seeing that we were making a scene. People were walking by slowly, staring and whispering to each other. I felt my ears burn, and it spread across my face, making my eyes water.
He closed his eyes, trying to compose himself before he spoke again. “Is that it? You don’t think it meant anything to me?”
“You are Travis Maddox.”
He shook his head, disgusted. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were shoving my past in my face.”
“I don’t think four weeks ago constitutes the past.” His face contorted and I laughed. “I’m kidding! Travis, it’s fine. I’m fine, you’re fine. There’s no need to make a big deal of it.”
All emotion disappeared from his face and he took a deep breath through his nose. “I know what you’re trying to do.” His eyes unfocused for a moment, lost in thought. “I’ll just have to prove it to you, then.” His eyes narrowed as he looked into my eyes, determined as he was before one of his fights. “If you think I’m just going to go back to fucking around, you’re wrong. I don’t want anyone else. You wanna be friends? Fine, we’re friends. But you and I both know that what happened wasn’t just sex.”
He stormed past me and I closed my eyes, exhaling the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. Travis glanced back at me, and then continued to his next class. An escaping tear fell down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. The curious stares of my classmates targeted my back as I plodded to class.
Parker was on the second row, and I slid into the desk next to him.