Page 28 of Ice, Ice… Maybe?

Becca was no longer a mystery by Tuesday night. No, her name, address, and place of business were outed all over social media. She was getting text messages repeatedly asking her about their relationship, most of which she ignored, especially after a girl she graduated high school with nearly ten years ago texted out of the blue, asking for an autograph. People who never talked to her before, or she had forgotten were now coming out of the woodwork asking for favors.

Seriously?

At that moment, her cell phone beeped –again. She almost didn’t check, but it was time for Travis to be getting out of his practice session. Glancing at it, she saw it was him and simply called instead of replying.

“Hello?”

“Are you busy?”

“Too busy for my girlfriend – never,” he chuckled softly, and she felt a flush of happiness wash over her at his gentle teasing. “I saw our photograph on the screen in the locker room. How are you holding up? It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” he asked, openly guessing.

“You have no idea,” she whispered from the back stockroom in case one of the other employees was listening or decided to ‘sell the scoop’ to make a bit of quick cash. “They are everywhere. In my apartment complex, outside of the store. I am getting text messages from people I graduated high school with. Travis, I’m almost out of milk, which means I need to go to the grocery. Did you know that Amazon delivers groceries now – and I’m considering ordering a gallon of milk. Do you know how crazy that is?”

“I’m so sorry they are bothering you.”

“It not so much of a ‘bother’ – wait, actually, yes, it is. It’s a bother and a shock. I had no clue you were so popular.”

“It might be getting worse, Becca.”

“Why? What happened?”

“My agent just got me an endorsement with a sports drink. I’m gonna be on grocery store shelves, so it’s going to make it really hard for me to hide my face now.”

“Which means more people are going to be snooping…” she sighed in understanding.

“Hey,” he said nervously. “I know we are meeting tonight, but why don’t you reach out to your family and see if we can escape for the weekend? I’d love to meet them, and I could get a hotel room in town.”

“The nearest hotel is twenty or thirty minutes away – but there is a guest room you could use. Are you sure you want to do this because my family might tease you mercilessly about dating their kid sister?”

“It makes it easier for both of us to clear the air - especially if we keep talking, you know?” Travis paused, making a slight sound before speaking again. “The reporters aren’t going to run you off – are they? I can hire security guards if they are really bothering you and…”

“Travis, it’s just a surprise – and no, they aren’t running me off.”

“Oh, thank heavens…”

“You almost sound relieved,” she smiled, feeling a small thrill at the rush of relief in his voice.

“I am – and I can’t wait to see you soon.”

“Same here.”

Hanging up the phone, she heard the security door close and slapped her forehead in understanding. Someone had been snooping – and she was right. It was going to be leaked that they were going to see her family or that Travis might be staying in the guest room.

“Greaaaaat…”

Pullingup at Travis’s house was awfully intimidating. He offered to send a car to pick her up, but she declined. It would be a hassle to pick up her car later, plus it might only raise questions.

On the way over, Becca called her sister, Toni, to make sure the guest room was ready for this weekend – knowing she would take it better than Jason would. Her protective brother would probably flip his lid, and she preferred the two men to meet before dropping that bombshell on him. If they got along, it would make things really easy – and if things went south, it might not be necessary at all.

The man at the guard shack at the entrance of the elite subdivision obviously took his position seriously as he waved her forward– and then immediately launched out of his small air-conditioned enclosure, yelling at the vans and cars following her.

“Go on! I’m calling the police…” he hollered before quickly shutting the gates behind her.Thank goodness for GPS,she thought, following the dark winding roads around into the rolling hills that were covered with scrub brush, mesquite trees, and dotted with what looked like mansions. Maybe ‘intimidating’ wasn’t the word.

Terrifying? Humbling?

Feeling out of place?

Making a right turn and then another right, she turned down a long and winding private driveway and nearly called Travis to make sure she was headed in the right direction – only to see floodlights flip on as a garage door opened in the distance. He walked out of the garage in a Coyotes T-shirt and a pair of running pants.

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