Page 20 of Love Me Forever

"It's lunch."

"Holy shit, I slept a lot!"

"You were tired."

"When did you wake up?" I asked suspiciously.

"About an hour ago."

As he flipped the bacon over again, I gave him two plates, and he arranged both beautifully. I walked up behind him, wrapping my arms around his torso.

“Why are you wearing clothes? It should be illegal to cook breakfast all dressed up.”

“Because I went for ingredients. Unless you’d want me to do that half naked?”

“Oh, no.”

I wasn’t going to share him. I couldn’t believe I was already possessive.

"You grew up in Chicago?" he asked as we sat down to eat.

"No. I only moved there when I went to college."

"So your family isn’t in the city?"

I shook my head. "Mom lives in Seattle, Dad in Aspen."

"And you're coming back to Chicago after your placement here finishes?"

"Yes. I sublet my apartment because I love it too much to let it go. My best friend is handling it. I'm renting it out through Airbnb."

"That’s a lot of work," he said.

"I know, right? I kept telling her I should give her part of the profits. It's not too much anyway, just a bit more than the rent, but she refuses. I’m going to find a way to pay her back somehow. She’s a great friend. Thank God I didn’t move in with my ex and give up that apartment.”

I said that last sentence more to myself, but Travis cocked a brow.

“Ex-boyfriend?”

“Yes,” I said with a heavy heart. "He texted me a week after I moved here, stating that we should break up."

"What the fuck?"

"That was my reaction too. So the next time I went to Chicago, I asked him exactly that. Turns out he couldn't keep from putting his dick somewhere else while I was gone."

"I'm sorry."

"Better to find out sooner rather than later. We'd only gone out for a couple months, but still, it stung." A terrible thought struck me. “Travis... you don’t have a girlfriend back in Chicago, do you? Or anywhere, for that matter?”

His eyes turned hard. “No. I’m not double-dipping my wick, Bonnie. Besides, I’m not what you’d call boyfriend material.”

That made me laugh. “Roger that.”

“It doesn’t bother you?”

I shrugged. “Why would it? You’re only here for a short time. I’m not looking for a relationship. I mean, I wasn’t looking for sexy time, either, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

I took a bite of bacon and hummed. "Oh, this is great. You've got skills in the kitchen."

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