Page 152 of Catch Me
By the time I got to the hotel, I was exhausted. Once my door closed behind me, I leaned back against it. Deciding to just go with it, I slid down until I was sitting. There was something about being on the floor that was comforting. Maybe there was some science behind it, but all I knew was that it felt right.
Looking at my phone, I navigated to Travis’ contact. He’d changed his picture to one of him with Tessa. I recognized it from his Instagram earlier today when he’d been at the ice cream shop.
Jesus, that was sad.
My thumb hovered over the call button. It got a little closer, then it was right above it.
When the phone vibrated, my thumb tapped the screen and I swore. Before it could start ringing, I ended the call. My heart raced as I watched it return to the home screen.
That was too close.
I checked the text and forced myself to breathe through the still fading panic.
Leo:Hey, how are things?
Roman:It’s coming along. Want a pic?
Leo:Of course! I’m stoked. You doing alright?
I considered how to answer. We’d been talking a little bit, but I still felt awkward about what had happened. He was the only one I kept in contact with from my old group of friends. It was only a few months ago when he’d reached out to talk about a game he was working on. I’d agreed to collaborate on the character designs, and after a couple of weeks, we started talking sort of like we used to.
It was nice, and I didn’t put him in the same category as the other guys. They’d actually been easy to cut off, probably because they were simple assholes, plus I’d started talking to Til and the others after Christmas. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it this far.
Suddenly, I felt guilty for putting hands on Kai. He’d wanted to push me like that, obviously, but I should’ve had better control of myself. I couldn’t slip back into that reactionary anger that I used to exist in.
Maybe that was the point. I was shoving everything down, which made it worse in a way. Fucking Kai and his subtle but not so subtle life lessons.
With a sigh, I sent Leo a picture of a character I’d been working on during the plane ride.
Roman:All good over here. Sorta on vacation, but you know I take my art everywhere
Leo:LOL. Glad to hear it. We should catch up soon
Roman:For sure
We probably wouldn’t, but our conversations were easy and the business side of things could be good. Between his game and another that I was contracted for, at least I had plenty to keep me busy while I was here.
Oh yeah, there was also the escape room. That was bound to be an amazing time. It’d be smart to go on a long run beforehand, otherwise I was likely to explode and ruin the entire thing.
Chapter 50
Travis
Surprisingly, I’d never been to an escape room. Maybe I just didn’t hang out with people enough. I was excited for it, even though Kai had apparently reserved the longest, most complicated one. Considering who he was, it tracked.
I’d tried to bring my dad along, but he wasn’t interested. He was the type who would get a kick out of hearing about it, not actually participating. It was a shame because I thought he’d be good at it.
As I waited for them, I studied the pictures on the walls. It looked like they put up the ones of the groups that won. The idea of it made me feel competitive. One way or another, we were going to get our faces on that wall.
Sen walked through the door and smiled at me, but it was tight.
“Why do you look like that?” I asked.
“No reason. Definitely not because of my fiancé.”
“Ah, so he’s on some shit today.”
“Today, tomorrow, probably the whole time we’re here. Don’t get too angry, ’kay?”
