Page 7 of Forbid Me
I notice that Travis doesn’t have anything in his hands. “I’ll go get you a drink. What’s your poison?” I ask him.
“You already know the answer to that one,” he says, but then adds, “I’ll go get it and be right back.”
“No, let me, please. After what you did for me today, it’s the least I can do,” I tell him with a small smile, and then I brush past him, moving along the booths to the bar at the end.
I’m not waiting too long to order his bottle of beer, and I grab a couple of drinks for me and Suzie too, although Suzie probably won’t need too many more or she’ll be on her arse.
I carry all three bottles back, being careful not to bump into any of the patrons dancing at the side of their booths.
“Here you go,” I say when I reach our table, handing Suzie her bottle and then Travis his. He thanks me and takes a swig, his eyes holding on to mine for a beat longer than necessary, and I have to look away so he can’t see the blush covering my cheeks.
The club is packed, the music ramping up as partygoers get more and more pissed, letting loose on a Friday night, ready to go into the weekend with a raging hangover to do it all over again tomorrow night—well, most of them, anyway. Suzie disappears onto the dance floor, leaving me and Travis alone, him standing just behind me, making me very aware of how close he is. I shouldn’t be feeling anything towards him other than friendship, but it’s so hard to stop it when his chest is now brushing against my back.
I down the rest of my drink, turning to be met by his hard chest, my eyes level with his pecs because of my pint-sized height.
“Wanna dance?” he asks me, his voice travelling over me like silk.
“Sure,” I squeak—yes, it actually sounds like a fucking squeak. God’s sake, get it together, you’ve danced with him before.
He takes my empty bottle off of me and places it on the table behind, along with his empty bottle, too. He asks the guys next to us to keep our table for us—luckily we know them from college and they oblige.
Travis follows me onto the dance floor, where the crowd are bumping and grinding to the R ‘n’ B beat. I feel awkward, but then I push it away, reminding myself this is a new start. A new me—and maybe part of the old me coming back, too.
I move my hips in time to the beat, close my eyes and allow the music to take over. And then I feel his hands on my hips, resting gently as he moves in sync with me. My eyes pop open to see him grinning down at me, before he bends and puts his lips to my ear, saying, “Just like old times when we used to hit up the youth club, huh?” And I laugh at him, his easy manner relaxing me instantly. There is no need to feel awkward around Travis—he’s never done anything but accept who I am, and with that thought in mind, I truly let go.
Travis is smiling down at me as we dance, and then we’re doing stupid moves we used to make up when we were younger—well, I used to make them up and make Travis do them with me. I don’t know how long we’re dancing for, but when we get back to the booth, I flop down, Travis sitting next to me.
“Are you okay after what happened today?” I ask him, broaching the subject neither of us have mentioned yet. He turns his head to me, his blue eyes full of… if I thought it was possible, I’d say love, but I remind myself that he’s my friend and I’m just so happy I’ve got him back.
“Yeah, Coach put me on the bench for four weeks, but I knew some form of punishment was coming,” he tells me, and I feel bad that he’s been benched because he was sticking up for me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to get caught in the middle of it all.”
“Charlie, I’ve told you, you don’t need to apologise. I chose to get involved, I decided to punch Ryder, and if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change my actions.”
I stare at him for a moment. He really is beautiful.
“How is it that you’ve slotted back into my life so perfectly?” I say quietly, but he hears me, his eyes lighting up a little bit more.
“Because this is where I’m meant to be,” he says as he reaches for my hand and squeezes gently, making butterflies unfurl in my stomach.
“And, uh, your parents, were they mad?” I ask as I bite my bottom lip.
“Not really. They knew I did it for the right reasons.”
“God, I bet they hate me now, huh?” I always got on well with his parents, and vice versa, until Ryder put a stop to it all, of course.
“Actually, they invited you round for dinner one night when you’re free. They’ve missed you too, you know,” he tells me, leaning down a little more, his face closer to mine, his words hitting me deep. The emotions coursing through me are ones I haven’t experienced in a long time, but before I can say anything, Travis says, “I’ll go get us another drink, be back in a sec,” and then he’s squeezing my hand one last time and moving out of the booth, leaving me wondering if we could ever be more.
Chapter Seven
TRAVIS
“Steady,” I say as I help Charlie out of the taxi. She had a couple more drinks at the club and is a little unsteady on her feet, so it’s a good job I’m here to be of assistance. We dropped Suzie off at her place first, making sure she got in safely too. I pay the taxi fare as Charlie merrily makes her way up the path to her house.
I follow behind her, taking a cheeky look at her arse in that dress. Fuck me, best arse ever.
She gets to the front door and then flops down on the stone steps, patting next to her for me to join her. With a smile, I do, because I’ll do fucking anything to spend more time with her.
