Page 11 of Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars (Rock Canyon, Idaho 2)

It was selfish of her to have said yes to Travis, but despite her reservations, there was still a pull for her. She was still drawn to him, and it was hard to fight, especially when he kept touching her, challenging every defense and reason she had for not trusting him. Like asking her about the last ten years, instead of dominating the conversation. What could she say that could possibly compare to the life he was living or the people he had met? They’d always been polar opposites in personality and social standing, but now it was like they were from two different planets.

Too bad her heart didn’t understand that. Every time he reached out to take her hand or gave her that crooked grin, her heart skipped, hopped, and jumped in her chest like a jackrabbit. It was as if she was seventeen years old again, staring into the eyes of the same nineteen-year-old guy she couldn’t seem to believe loved her. It had been one thing to be the unpopular sophomore with a penchant for romance novels befriended by the new junior with the killer blue eyes, but to be Travis’s girlfriend? To be his love? It had never made sense, but her dad had once told her, “Love doesn’t have to make sense. Love can be patient and kind, but it can also be a real bitch. Just try not to piss it off.”

My dad the philosopher.

Dick Carlson hadn’t always been angry and combative. He’d had his moments of humor and had been an excellent showman until his death. People around town had loved him and still missed him, but for his wife and children, the feelings had been mixed up and sometimes wrong. For Gemma especially, it was like a two-sided coin: heads—she loved and missed the funny guy who had taught her to fish; tails—she didn’t miss the awful times when he lost control and took his anger out on her, calling her his biggest disappointment.

Her brother James had graduated with a business degree and was the district manager for a grocery chain in the Boise area. Her sister Dawn had gone to nursing school in Colorado but moved back to Idaho after graduation, married a nice, successful lawyer, and was the perfect wife and mother. Drew, who was just three years older than Gemma, had been an all-around athlete, but his sweet spot had been football. After getting a full ride to Boise State, he’d been drafted to the NFL, and her dad had been over the moon.

Gemma hadn’t been athletic and had preferred books to extracurricular activities, but the first time she’d brought Travis home to study, her dad had puffed up proud. Tall and lean, Travis had played football, basketball, and the guitar like Brad Paisley, and her dad had thought he’d be a good influence on her.

Then again, he also used to ask Travis to take her running so she would lose some weight, and she’d wanted to die of embarrassment.

Travis had ignored those little digs while still being polite to her dad, but never too friendly. When the mean girls had said the only reason Travis was friends with her was because of what her dad did for a living, she hadn’t believed it. Most of the time. If that had been the case, he could have bailed on her any time after he signed with Off Road Records, but he hadn’t. It had been up to her to end things between them.

That night was still painful, still in the top three, coming in right after her dad kicking her out of the house when he found out she was pregnant and the night her mom had called to tell her he was dead.

The night she had ended things with Travis was a hard one to forget, especially when he sat across from her now, larger than life. She could feel Phoenix there between them, like the big pink elephant in the room that no one wanted to acknowledge.

The server came back with their food, and Gemma took the first bite of her burrito, moaning, “Damn, that is so good. I haven’t had Mexican food in forever. The flavor is so . . .” Travis’s smile caught her eye, and she asked, “What?”

Chuckling, he said, “Nothing. I just can’t believe you still make that noise. That little growling moan, like when you’d bite into those nasty Cadbury egg things. I would go to the store right before Easter and buy a ton of those things for you, remember?”

“Yes, I remember. I used to bitch at you that I didn’t need a hundred Cadbury eggs lying around, tempting me,” she said.

“I never knew what was so good about them. I always liked Peeps myself,” he said.

Gemma twisted her face into a look of disgust. “Peeps are vile.”

“And chocolate eggs filled with sugary cream aren’t?” he shot back.

“Nope, they are to be savored and enjoyed, like this burrito.” She took another bite, and said, “Mmm, mmm, mmm.”

She hardly ever ate Mexican anymore, and when she did, it was usually a taco salad or tostada. Becoming Fat Gemma again was always in the back of her mind when she ate anything, and she hated it. Every humiliating childhood moment seemed to haunt her when she ate something unhealthy. The boys who’d made pig noises in high school, or when Bobby Gillingham had taken her to homecoming only because he’d lost a bet and then ditched her when they arrived. Or when she’d had Travis, Mike, and Gracie over for her birthday, and her dad had told her mother she didn’t need a cake. Or the girls in their little booty shorts at the fair, who’d flirted with Travis in front of her like she wasn’t there.

Through it all, Travis had been her champion. Pulling her onto the dance floor in front of Bobby and everyone else to dance like a dork, despite his date’s angry glares. Telling her dad that he thought she looked great and, the next day, taking her to Jensen’s for a large piece of chocolate pie. And Travis wrapping his arm around her shoulders and introducing her to those thin, pretty girls, by saying, “This is my girlfriend, Gemma.”

He had always surprised her with his ability to look people in the eye, say whatever h

e wanted, and not care what they thought. She’d spent most of her life just trying to stay invisible so she wouldn’t be made fun of, so Travis’s confidence had been a big draw for her. It had been hard to believe he’d wanted that girl ten years ago. As for wanting her now, Travis was a flirt and obviously hadn’t changed.

“People make noises when they eat,” Gemma said, blushing at the way her thoughts had shifted. Travis hadn’t said anything except that he was sorry about the way they’d parted and wanted to catch up. With all the women in the world undoubtedly throwing themselves at him, why would he be into her now?

Because when he touched my hand, I felt it. That spark is still there.

The problem with sparks was that they were both bright and short-lived. She needed to remember that.

Gemma suddenly realized Travis was speaking and she’d missed it. “I’m sorry, what?”

His grin was mischievous. “I said people might make noises, but your food noises are the same as the noises you used to make right before you—”

Her fork dropped onto the plate loudly, and she squeaked, “Travis!”

Innocent blue eyes stared back at her. “What? I was going to say before you bought a new book.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t play innocent with me! You always had a dirty mind, but I’m sorry to see you haven’t matured,” she said.

UGH, I AM so full, I’m going to bust out of my skirt.

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