Page 23 of Not Over You

Shoving a cracker in my mouth, followed by cheese, I chew. Shit, even my chewing sounds loud. I jump about a foot in the air and end up banging my elbow on the counter when a door creaks open. Whirling around, I find a sleepy Travis standing just outside the kitchen. The pain in my elbow is forgotten when I see that he’s in nothing but a pair of low hanging sweats, his perfectly sculpted chest is on display to the world.

Remember what he did. How he treated Sam. How he left with sex on legs.

“Whoa, what are you doing up so late?” he asks, rubbing at his eyes, his voice deep with sleep.

I point to my mouth, which is still packed with crackers. He nods and heads to the fridge. Opening the bottom drawer, he grabs a bottle of water and then closes the door, coming to rest casually against the counter.

“I burned way too many calories tonight line dancing that my belly growling woke me up from a dead sleep. The thing sounded like a t-rex coming to life.”

Travis smirks, “You went line dancing? That’d be a sight to see.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I pin him with what I think is a menacing look, “I’m a good dancer.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” His eyes move over my skin, and I feel like I’m under a microscope being inspected. I do everything I can not to lick my lips, or worst of all, his perfect chest. Heat swirls deep in my belly, and I can’t be thinking like this right now. Pushing the thoughts away, I grab a couple more crackers and start putting the stuff away. I need to get away from him and remind myself of how he made me feel that night. How embarrassed I was. He doesn’t deserve my ogling. He deserves nothing from me.

“Well, I’m going to bed…” I mumble.

“Look, Nina,” he pauses, and I look up at him, taking in his guilt-ridden features, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what happened the other night. I don’t… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You weren’t thinking, but that’s fine. Sam and I have a date, so you didn’t quite scare him away.” I swear I see his face fall, but that can’t be right, why would he care if I have a date with Sam?

“Good. I’m happy for you.” Travis smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. I don’t allow myself to dwell on the way he’s looking right now, like a puppy that’s been kicked. Travis had a chance with me, and he ruined it, and took my heart with him. I don’t owe him anything.

“Thanks, and goodnight.” Slipping past him, I walk down the hall and back into my bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I stand there for a long moment before crawling back into my bed.

He broke your heart, idiot, and embarrassed you in front of a co-worker, and future date. You owe him nothing. Nothing at all.

TRAVIS

The week comes and goes, and I’ve barely spoken to Nina since that night in the kitchen. She is definitely avoiding me, which I can understand after my drunken fiasco last weekend. I’m not saying I regret anything, just that I get why she is mad at me. I apologized even though I didn’t want to. It was the right thing to do, a way to keep the peace.

The greenhouse project was so intense yesterday, I ended up just sleeping on the couch at my parents. That wasn’t much fun, considering it felt like I was sleeping on a sack full of marbles. I think I have a permanent crick in my neck. My dad has finally locked down a layout he likes, now we’re starting the building process again. Hopefully, this time it will stick.

My mom brought up hiring a professional company to do it, and you’d have thought she’d insulted his mother. Bless her heart, she was only trying to help, but I think my father took it more of an insult than help. After that long drawn out fight ended with my mother leaving the house to spend his money in retaliation, we got started again. Dad’s mood was oddly chipper, considering everything that had happened. I decided not to push my luck and make a comment.

At around lunchtime, my dad comes out to declare we are done because the city called and said they couldn’t verify his permits. Needless to say, the good mood he’d been in after my mother left has evaporated.

“This is old Mr. Sailor’s fault. He’s got nothing better to do than sit around and mind my business,” he yelled as he paced back and forth in the kitchen.

“He was a sailor, dear. That’s not his name. We’re not doing anything wrong,” Mom says, trying to calm him down.

“He’s trying to sabotage me. I bet he has gophers in cages, and he’s just waiting for the perfect moment to release them and bring this whole project to its knees.”

“Now, honey,” my mom says, “you’re just being dramatic.”

“Dramatic, I’ll show you dramatic. Where are my hedge clippers?”

As my mom tries to save Mr. Sailor’s hedges, I finish my sandwich. I think it’s the perfect time to get the hell out of dodge and head out for the day.

When I open the front door, the house is somewhat quiet. I walk in the apartment, not prepared for what I find. Nina stands in the center of the living room, wearing a huge dress with layers of fabric cascading all over the place. The bodice of the gown is synched so tightly, her breasts heave upward, nearly reaching her chin. She leans forward and stumbles slightly in some sort of awkward curtsy. I laugh. I don’t mean to, but I can’t help it. I don’t laugh to be mean, it caught me completely off guard. Seriously, when a guy comes home, the last thing he expects is to see a beautiful woman standing in the middle of the living room, dressed in costume, practicing a curtsy.

Her head jerks up at the sound of my snicker. Color tints her cheeks as her brows pull together in a harsh frown.

“Travis, get the hell out of here if you’re going to be a dick,” she shouts.

Holding up my hands as a sign of surrender, I slowly back away from the dangerous situation I just landed myself in.

I try to keep my sniggers of amusement under control but fail miserably. I decide it is probably for the best that I go ahead and leave. “Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting… this.”

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