Page 118 of The Lair

In the privacy of my mind, I’ve imagined this moment a thousand, million times. I’ve allowed myself to daydream about being courageous enough to call Travis. The outcome of that phone call varied depending on my mood that day—when I was feeling hopeful, he asked me to come back and start anew, and when guilt took over, which happened most of the time, he never wanted to see me again.

But now he’s here, and I don’t know if I’m ready for either to happen.

“Allie.”

The baritone rumble of his voice seeps through my skin, coating my undeserving heart.

At my sides, I ball my hands into fists because I don’t want him to see how badly I’ve started trembling. But this is Travis, so he notices.

His face, stoic until this moment, falls. “Sweetheart…”

That word feels like a punch to the gut.

My eyes get glassy, and I can’t see him clearly anymore. But I hear his heavy footsteps climbing up to the front porch of Jada and Paul’s house. To me.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice soft and close and everything that is good in this world. Everything I don’t deserve.

I blink the tears away.

“Why are you here?” I breathe out. “Why did you…”

My eyes come into focus, and the sight of him takes my breath away. He looks the same, but his face… his face looks gentle. And no matter how hard I’ve willed my brain to forget how it feels to have him close, my heart hasn’t. Not for one second.

“I’m here for you, Allie.”

My chest caves in.

Two conflicting emotions tug at my heart—the blinding need to throw myself into his arms, where everything always feels right, and the overwhelming feeling that I should push him away. For his own good, I should.

Before I know it, I find myself shaking my head.

“No, what?” he asks. His voice has never sounded so patient. When I still say nothing but keep shaking my head, he goes and kills me some more. “You can talk to me. You know that, right?”

Under Travis’s confused stare, I ask him again, out of breath, “Why are you here?”

Because I don’t understand. Why is he not in Maine? At The Lair? What is he doing in California?

What is he doinghere?

The man in front of me inhales, his wide chest expanding in size. His face takes on a more somber expression, reminding me of the Travis I met that day I ended up in Bannport by chance.

I’m starting to believe it was a thing of fate.

“I’m here for you,” he repeats. “Because we don’t belong apart.”

I can’t breathe normally anymore.

“I lied to you,” I whisper, my guilt caving in even deeper.

He sighs. “Allie.”

“N-No.” My voice shakes along with my head. “I’m a liar, Travis. I lied to you, toeveryone, for a year.”

“I watched you on TV. We all did,” he says, making my blood turn cold.We. Does he mean everyone at The Lair? “But even before that, Charlie showed me.”

“What did he show you?” I ask, not sure I’m ready for the answer.

He swallows, as if it hurt him to say it as much as it hurts me to hear it. “The videos. From your family. The articles about the kidnapping.”

---