Page 223 of Catch Me
“Fuck no. I have standards.”
“You boned your stepbrother.”
I shoved him away from me, making him laugh. It drew the attention of a couple further down the path, and Travis lifted his hand in a wave.
“We’ll chalk it up to you being hormonal,” he said.
“Gee, thanks. I’d actually rather forget about my mistakes if that’s okay.”
“Pussy.”
Tipping my head back, I groaned. “You’re annoying, but I guess I like you.”
He stopped suddenly, and I was going to ask what was wrong, but the look on his face halted me in my tracks. It was serious but also warm in a way that made something flutter in my stomach.
“Shit, he was right,” Travis said. He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair before he put it back on.
“Who?”
“Brooks.”
My nose wrinkled. “I don’t know what he said, but I bet it was something ridiculous.”
“He told me I was in love with you.”
I opened my mouth, but I had no words right now. Travis broke into a smile, making my heart beat again. Tessa barked, and he crouched to give her attention, all while I stood there, completely lost.
The other couple in the park passed by us, snapping me back to reality. Looking down at Travis and Tessa, I decided to lower myself to their level. She nudged at my hand, so I scratched her ears while I met Travis’ eyes. He didn’t seem nervous or awkward about what he’d said, and maybe that was what emboldened me.
“You love me,” I ventured. His smile grew wider, almost comically so. “Why do you look giddy about it?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “It kinda just makes it all make sense, you know? Like I don’t have to feel afraid about what it all means.”
I rolled my lips as I thought about that. “I always heard love was kind of scary.”
“Maybe those people aren’t doing it right. Personally, I’ve never felt safer.”
His words settled deep inside of me, and it was as if they found some lock that had been hidden away. As soon as they touched it, I was struck by that exact same feeling. Safety. Freedom. I felt like I belonged, like I was actually alive. It was if I’d been posing for so long, but finally, I could be something more than a caricature of my true form.
Art wasn’t alive. But I sure was.
“I love you,” I said with as much conviction as when I’d run into the stands after that last game.
“Are you sure?”
There wasn’t even a flicker of vulnerability in his expression. He knew already, and the trust I saw in his eyes made me lean forward to kiss him.
“Since the first hey back.”
He raised a brow. “You said the third.”
“Well, I lied.”
The sky darkened, and there was a hint of rain in the air, but with Travis in front of me, the sun might as well have been shining.
My dad could yell, could hate me and call me names, but he couldn’t take this from me.
“Thanks for not letting me do this alone,” I said.
