Beautiful Disaster 01 (32 page)

His head popped up. “So? You don’t like it there?”

I touched his cheek and sighed. He was so quick to worry. “Of course I do, but I don’t live there.”

He ran the tip of his nose up my neck. “I want you there. I want you there every night.”

“I’m not moving in with you,” I said, shaking my head.

“I didn’t ask you to move in with me. I said I want you there.”

“Same thing!” I laughed.

Travis frowned. “You’re really not staying with me tonight?”

I shook my head, and his eyes traveled up my wall to the ceiling. I could almost see the wheels spinning inside his head. “What are you up to?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“I’m trying to think of another bet.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

two of a kind

I flipped a tiny white pill in my mouth and swallowed, chasing it with a large glass of water. I was standing in the middle of Travis’ bedroom in a bra and panties, getting ready to slip into my pajamas.

“What’s that?” Travis asked from the bed.

“Uh…my pill?”

He frowned. “What pill?”

“
The
pill, Travis. You have yet to replenish your top drawer and the last thing I need is to worry about whether or not I’m going to get my period.”

“Oh.”

“One of us has to be responsible,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“My God you’re sexy,” Travis said, propping his head up with his hand. “The most beautiful woman at Eastern is my girlfriend. That’s insanity.”

I rolled my eyes and slipped the purple silk over my head, crawling in bed beside him. I straddled his lap and kissed his neck, giggling when he let his head fall against the headboard. “
Again
? You’re gonna kill me, Pidge.”

“You can’t die,” I said, covering his face with kisses. “You’re too damn mean.”

“No, I can’t die because there are too many jackasses falling over themselves to take my place! I may live forever just to spite them!”

I giggled against his mouth and he flipped me onto my back. His finger slid under the delicate purple ribbon tied at the crest of my shoulder and slid it down my arm, kissing the skin it left behind.

“Why me, Trav?”

He leaned back, searching my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been with all these women, refused to settle down, refuse to even take a phone number… so why me?”

“Where is this coming from?” he said, his thumb caressing my cheek.

I shrugged. “I’m just curious.”

“Why
me
? You have half the men at Eastern just waiting for me to screw up.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s not true. Don’t change the subject.”

“It
is
true. If I hadn’t been chasing you from the beginning of school, you’d have more than Parker Hayes following you around. He’s just too self-absorbed to be scared of me.”

“You’re avoiding my question! And poorly, I might add.”

“Okay! Why you?” A smile spread across his face and he leaned down to touch his lips to mine. “I had a thing for you since the night of that first fight.”

“
What
?” I said with a dubious expression.

“It’s true. You in that cardigan with blood all over you? You looked absolutely ridiculous,” he chuckled.

“Thanks.”

His smiled faded. “It was when you looked up at me. That was the moment. You had this wide-eyed, innocent look…no pretenses. You didn’t look at me like I was
Travis Maddox
,” he said, rolling his eyes at his own words, “you looked at me like I was…I don’t know, a person I guess.”

“News flash, Trav. You
are
a person.”

He brushed my bangs from my face. “No, before you came, Shepley was the only one that treated me like anyone else. You didn’t get all awkward, or flirt, or run your fingers through your hair. You saw
me
.”

“I was a complete bitch to you, Travis.”

He kissed my neck. “That’s what sealed the deal.”

I slipped my hands down his back and into his boxers. “I hope this gets old soon. I don’t see myself ever getting tired of you.”

“Promise?” he asked, smiling.

His phone buzzed on the night table and he smiled, holding it to his ear. “Yeah?...Oh, hell no, I got Pidge here with me. We’re just getting’ ready to go to bed…Shut the fuck up, Trent, that’s not funny…Seriously? What’s he doin’ in town?” He looked at me and sighed. “All right. We’ll be there in half an hour….You heard me, douchebag. Because I don’t go anywhere without her, that’s why. Do you want me to pound your face when I get there?” Travis hung up and shook his head.

I raised an eyebrow. “That is the weirdest conversation I’ve ever heard.”

“That was Trent. Thomas is in town and it’s poker night at my dad’s.”

“Poker night?” I swallowed.

“Yeah, they usually take all of my money. Cheatin’ bastards.”

“I’m going to meet your family in thirty minutes?”

He looked at his watch. “Twenty-seven minutes to be exact.”

“Oh my God, Travis!” I wailed, jumping out of bed.

“What are you doing?” he sighed.

I rummaged through the closet and yanked on a pair of jeans, hopping up and down to pull them up, and then pulled the nightgown over my head, throwing it into Travis’ face. “I can’t believe you gave me twenty minutes notice to meet your family! I could kill you right now!”

He pulled my nightgown from his eyes and laughed at my desperate attempt to look presentable. I grabbed a black v-neck shirt and tugged it to its proper position, and then ran to the bathroom, brushing my teeth and ripping a brush through my hair. Travis walked up behind me, fully dressed and ready, and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I’m a mess!” I said, frowning in the mirror.

“Do you even realize how beautiful you are?” he asked, kissing my neck.

I huffed, scampering into his room to slip on a pair of heels, and then took Travis’ hand as he lead me to the door. I stopped, zipping up my black leather jacket and pulling my hair up into a tight bun in preparation for the blustery ride to his father’s house.

“Calm down, Pigeon. It’s just a bunch of guys sitting around a table.”

“This is the first time I’m meeting your dad and your brothers…all at the same time…and you want me to calm down?” I said, climbing onto his bike behind him.

He angled his neck, touching my cheek as he kissed me. “They’re going to love you, just like I do.”

When we arrived, I let my hair fall down my back and ran my fingers through it a few times before Travis led me through the door.

“Holy Christ! It’s the asshat!” one of the boys called.

Travis nodded once. He tried to look annoyed, but I could see that he was excited to see his brothers. The house was dated, with yellow and brown faded wallpaper and shag carpet in different shades of brown. We walked down a hall to a room straight ahead with the door wide open. Smoke wafted into the hallway, and his brothers and father were seated at a round, wooden table with mismatched chairs.

“Hey, hey…watch the language around the young lady,” his dad said, the cigar in his mouth bobbing while he talked.

“Pidge, this is my dad, Jim Maddox. Dad, this is Pigeon.”

“Pigeon?” Jim asked, an amused expression on his face.

“Abby,” I smiled, shaking his hand.

Travis pointed to his brothers. “Trenton, Taylor, Tyler, and Thomas.”

They all nodded, and all but Thomas looked like older versions of Travis; buzz cuts, brown eyes, their t-shirts stretched over their bulging muscles, and covered in tattoos. Thomas wore a dress shirt and loosened tie, his eyes were hazel green, and his dark blonde hair was longer by about an inch.

“Does Abby have a last name?” Jim asked.

“Abernathy,” I nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you, Abby,” Thomas said, smiling.

“Really nice,” Trent said, giving me an impish once-over. Jim slapped the back of his head and he yelped. “What’d I say?” he said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Have a seat, Abby. Watch us take Trav’s money,” one of the twins said. I couldn’t tell which was which; they were carbon copies of each other, even their tattoos matched.

The room was peppered with vintage pictures of poker games, pictures of poker legends posing with Jim and who I assumed to be Travis’ grandfather, and antique playing cards along the shelves.

“You knew Stu Unger?” I asked, pointing to a dusty photo.

Jim’s squinty eyes brightened. “You know who Stu Unger is?”

I nodded. “My dad’s a fan, too.”

He stood up, pointing to the picture beside it. “And that’s Doyle Brunson, there.”

I smiled. “My dad saw him play, once. He’s unbelievable.”

“Trav’s granddaddy was a professional…we take poker very seriously around here,” Jim smiled.

I sat between Travis and one of the twins while Trenton shuffled the deck with moderate skill. The boys put in their cash and Jim divvied out the chips.

Trenton raised an eyebrow. “You wanna play, Abby?”

I smiled politely and shook my head. “I don’t think I should.”

“You don’t know how?” Jim asked.

I couldn’t hold back a smile. Jim looked so serious, almost paternal. I knew what answer he expected, and I hated to disappoint him.

Travis kissed my forehead. “Play…I’ll teach you.”

“You should just kiss your money goodbye, now, Abby,” Thomas laughed.

I pressed my lips together and dug into my purse, pulling out two fifties. I held them out to Jim and waited patiently as he traded them for chips. Trenton’s mouth tightened into a smug smile, but I ignored him.

“I have faith in Travis’ teaching skills,” I said.

One of the twins clapped his hands together. “Hells yeah! I’m going to get rich tonight!”

“Let’s start small this time,” Jim said, throwing in a five dollar chip.

Trenton dealt, and Travis fanned out my hand for me. “Have you ever played cards?”

“It’s been awhile,” I nodded.