Page 52 of Nightmare

“Where’d your mind just go?” His voice is gruff, and I flick my eyes back up to his to find him searching my face, like he’s reading all the emotions running through my veins.

I shake my head, “Nowhere.”

“Liv.” He whispers, but I give him another shake of my head.

I pull him closer, putting my head against his chest, “Just be here with me, Travis.”

His head comes down on top of mine, then his arms tighten around me, “Okay, pretty girl. I can do that.”

* * *

I don’t knowhow long we sway to the music. I lose count of the songs – I just get lost. Lost in his touch. His warmth. His big arms and soft caresses all over me, and I find my head swimming.

At some point the bar’s lights were dimmed, and more couples joined us on the dance floor – but I don’t see them. All I see is him. Travis.

He’s saving me. Breathing life back into me, like CPR for the soul.

I pull back in his arms a little to look into his crystal eyes, he smiles at me before leaning forward and pressing his lips against mine.

There’s nothing sexual about the kiss, he doesn’t open his mouth or tighten his grip on my flesh, he just kisses me. Soft and… Sweet.

I fucking melt. My stomach turning to mush in my gut, my limbs turning to jelly in his hold. He surrounds me – mind, body and soul. And I’m falling. Farther and farther.

“Liv.” Summer’s voice cuts through the fog, and I pull away from his lips to look at her. Her face is pained, troubled. Scared.

I feel a spike of panic in my veins and reach out to grab her, “What is it?”

“We have to get out of here. Now.” Her eyes fill with tears, and I move closer and closer to the edge of a panic attack.

Like a mama bear, I want to protect her, “Summer, what is it?!”

Travis steps closer to us, “What’s going on?”

Summer eyes me, trying to block Travis out, and I can’t fucking breathe. “You’re freaking me out, Summer.”

She shakes her head wildly, “I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but he’s here. He found you.”

My gut falls, almost hard enough that I almost look down to search for it on the ground. “Who?”

My blood turns to ice, then my head is spinning when I feel the entire atmosphere in the bar shift. My breath gets caught in my throat, and Summer’s arms come around me, like she’s trying to protect me from something. Then the one voice I swore I would never hear again cuts through, “Olivia.”

Summer makes a noise deep in her throat, pulling me even closer to her – Travis moving with her to put me in between them. My eyes search out the voice, my spit getting stuck in my throat when I try to swallow.

Then I’m looking at him.

No, no, no, no, no.

“Brody.” I manage to choke out before he flashes me that movie star smile that used to make my stomach fill with butterflies.

“Hey, baby.” He says, taking another step towards me.

I shake my head, disbelief flooding every one of my senses, then I feel Travis’s body lock up where it’s crowding my own.

“Baby?” He says gruffly, his fists clenching at his sides.

No, no, no.

I try to take a step backwards on instinct when Brody is close enough that I can smell his signature cologne, and my back hits Travis’s chest.

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