Page 168 of Catch Me
I shook my head sharply. “That’s fucking stupid.”
“Maybe it wasn’t rational, and I know that isn’t fair, but it’s the truth.”
“Tell me what happened at your mom’s house.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed a bottle of pills from the nightstand. After taking a couple of them, he rubbed his temples. Without looking at me, he explained the resurfacing of his anger and the fight he had with Tilian. He’d been outed to the whole family, and it had only worn him down more. At the same time, it was what made him start to rebuild.
“You’re such a good person,” he went on. “And I knew that it was going to be hard for me. It would take time. On the drive back to Chicago, I convinced myself that you deserved better than that. I couldn’t give you anything, and I hated the idea of keeping you a secret, hiding you away for God knows how long. I didn’t trust myself to come out. You’re too fucking nice and you would’ve waited too long, given me too many chances.”
I understood it. He had other things to focus on back then and he had to find himself. I couldn’t fault him for that.
“Thank you,” I said before I headed toward the door.
“What was the point of this?”
“Closure, I guess.”
“Wait, please.”
When I turned around, he was right behind me. He put a hand on my chest, making me waiver. And that was the whole issue, right?
“You said I was too nice,” I reminded him. “You worried I’d give you too many chances, that I’d sacrifice too much for you. But you were wrong, and it led us here.”
“Travis—”
“All you had to do was give meanything. If you’d have asked for more time to figure things out, I would’ve given it. But you lied to me. Abandoned me.”
“I know,” he whispered.
I shook my head and stepped back, letting his hand fall from my chest. “It was a mistake for you to come here. Maybe it’s best if you just went home.”
A familiar anger rose in his eyes, and for some inexplicable reason, that was what made me want to stay. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.
This time, he didn’t try to stop me when I walked away.
Chapter 56
Roman
I got on the plane headed to Boston, although I probably shouldn’t have. At the same time, if I went home, I had no doubt that I’d sink into depression, unless I allowed myself to be lost to anger. All of these things teetered so close to the edge that balancing them took enough effort to wear me out.
Travis let me explain yesterday. That was all I could do, and now, I could start to rebuild. Again.
The next game was tomorrow, and there were two more after that, then we’d go back to Georgia. If the Red Sox won all of their home games, it would be over, but that wasn’t likely. As long as Travis was pitching a good portion of the time, I was confident they’d give Boston a run for their money.
All of us were in the same hotel, paid for by Travis. He wasn’t an extravagant person, but when it came to his friends, he had no reservations. Even though he couldn’t manage to get a suite for the away games, we had really good tickets.
When we piled out of our rental, we all stared up at the hotel in awe. Well, all of us but Brooks. He didn’t really seem interested at all. This was probably the equivalent of a Motel 6 to him.
As we walked inside, I seriously considered taking off my shoes. It seemed wrong to walk on these floors with fifty-dollar boots.
Someone whistled, drawing our attention to the hall where a large figure was leaning against a pillar. His ankles were crossed, and the dark jeans he wore hugged his thighs in a way that made it impossible for me not to look. In his light blue hoodie and ballcap, he stood out, but this was exactly how Travis operated. He undoubtedly didn’t care all that much about this five-star hotel or the nice floors. He was just existing—loud, proud, and unashamed.
We headed over to him, and his eyes landed on me briefly. There was a slight scowl on his face until he moved on, focusing on the keycards in his hand. He passed the small stack to Sen with a smile.
“There are jetted tubs in every room,” he said. “Take it from me: those jets will turbo charge any bubbles you put in there, and if you aren’t careful, they’ll reach the ceiling.”
I snorted a laugh, then smothered it.
