I put my hand on his chest. “I will.” I wouldn’t because I didn’t want to come between siblings, but I loved that he was worried about me.
We all said good-bye, and I got in the car with Lynn. We took off, and neither of us said anything for about five minutes.
“Travis said the photo session went well. What did you think?” she asked me.
I felt my body relax. This was an easy question. I hadn’t even realized I was tense. “Yes, it was fun. I loved seeing the things the photographer had the models do to get certain shots. I’m excited to see the finished products.”
She nodded in understanding or in approval. I didn’t know which one.
“So, nothing about it bothered you?”
I had a feeling this had to do with Travis’s ex after the comment Christy had made to me at the gym. And I decided to be honest with her. “Truth be told, there were a few moments I did get a little bored. Because they do the same pose with just little adjustments over and over. I almost pulled out my phone a couple of times, but I didn’t want to hurt Travis’s feelings.”
Lynn smiled. “That’s good to hear.”
“Does this have to do with Christy?”
Lynn’s head whipped toward me. “What do you know about Christy?”
“I had the pleasure of meeting her one night at the gym. I only talked to her for a few minutes, but I got the impression she has low self-esteem and some issues she needs to address.”
Travis’s sister snorted. “Some issues? Try a lot. She was very … normal when she and Travis started dating, and she seemed proud that Travis was a cover model. But then she started getting increasingly jealous of his work. In the beginning, it was minor, but then she began working out a ton and lost a lot of weight. I think she felt like she wasn’t pretty enough for Travis, but her insecurities got worse, the more weight she lost.”
“I can kind of understand the part about not feeling pretty enough. I know he’s your brother, but there is just something amazing about him. He has this aura that he puts off that makes every straight woman’s heart beat faster. He’s good-looking, he’s charming, he’s nice, and to top it off, he’s a model. It can be intimidating.”
“But you’re not?”
“Intimidated?” I had to think about that. “Definitely not now. In the beginning, maybe a little. But I think it was more a girl falling in lust with a hot guy.” I laughed. “I remember being worried that I would say something stupid in front of him. But he isn’t the first guy I’ve been that way around.”
Lynn glanced at me, so I kept going, “But, if you’re wondering if I’ll end up like Christy, the answer is no. I spent many years of my late teens and early twenties striving for the perfect body. But that will never happen, and I’m okay with that. I might not love my body, but I like my body. And, more importantly, I like food. I refuse to starve myself for anyone, even me. I’m at that point in my life where I really want to be healthy more than anything.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-four.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Wow.”
“I know; I’m a lot older than your brother.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing. I’m thirty-one, and I understand a little of where you’re coming from.”
“I don’t know everything that happened between Travis and Christy, but I can tell she really hurt him. There are times when I feel like he’s holding back.”
Lynn blew out a deep breath. “Her jealousy got so bad that she started forbidding Travis from doing photo shoots or going to book signings. He actually stopped for about six months. But it didn’t help. She hacked into his phone and put some sort of parent-watch program on it. She would read his e-mails and his messages.” She looked at me. “Has Travis ever said anything about unsolicited messages?”
I laughed. “Oh, yeah. We’ve laughed at some of them.”
“Well, Christy would be furious even though Travis had no control over who sent him stuff. She called him out about a particular message. That was how he found out about the spyware. He was pissed.”
“I bet.”
“But I think he was more hurt than anything.”
Oh, Travis. My heart went out to him.
“The final straw was when Angela asked him to go to a book signing last year. Travis had known her for a long time, and he didn’t want to tell her no. Christy freaked out and said it was over. The next day, she went back to Travis and begged him to forgive her. But, in between those eight hours, she’d slept with someone else. She was so convinced that Travis would cheat on her that she felt like she had to have sex with someone else first. I guess, technically, one could say they were broken up, but Travis felt like he’d been cheated on.”
“Wow. I had no idea.”
“I don’t know if I should have told you all that. It was probably my brother’s place to open up to you, but I love him, and I don’t want him to get hurt again. So, if you’re going to start acting crazy, please tell me now.”
“No crazy plans. I swear. But, in full disclosure, I stalked him on social media after I met him.”
Lynn laughed. “I think we’ve all Facebook-stalked someone.”
And that was when I finally felt like Lynn might actually love me … someday.
Later that night, I walked out of Travis’s bathroom and toward his bed. He was sitting up in bed with his shirt off, looking sexier than anyone had the right to. I wanted to attack him, but I knew we needed to talk first.
I stopped at the end of the bed, so I blocked the TV.
His eyes moved from the screen to me. “What’s up, sexy?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
I put a knee on the bed and crawled toward him. I lay down next to him and put my head on my hand to prop it up. “Did something bad happen at a photo shoot when you were dating Christy?”
He stiffened. I was immediately worried I’d stepped too far, but then his body relaxed.
“Have you been talking to my sister about me?”
“Duh. Of course,” I joked. “But, seriously, she’s worried about you. And she’s worried about me. And I already knew Christy had hurt you. I just never knew if I should bring it up.”
Travis cleared his throat and turned down the volume on the television. “I took her to one shoot with me. She threw a fit and walked out. I was so embarrassed. Modeling is not my main source of income, but it’s still my job. Could you imagine if I had an office job and she did that?”
I put my free hand on his arm. “I’m sorry she did that to you. Is that why you were tense about the photo shoot?”
He looked at me. “You could tell I was tense?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. Um, yeah, that was why. Not that I thought you would ever really act that way, but I can’t just forget about it either.”
I rolled onto my back. “I understand. I had a boyfriend many years ago who would always make negative comments about my friends. I stopped hanging out with them at first to keep him from saying stuff until I realized how toxic he was. But, even after we broke up, the next guy I dated, I felt like I was always waiting for him to make a remark. It took a long time for me to stop expecting something to happen.”
“I hate that you dated a jerk like that.”
“Hey, me, too, but it wasn’t for very long.” I raised my eyebrows. “Your sister did tell me some stuff, but I was wondering if you wanted to tell me yourself. I feel bad that I heard it from Lynn first.”
Travis sighed.
“Hey. You don’t have to tell me anything right now.” I was a little hurt by this.
The Chicago trip had been at the beginning of May, and it was now the end of July. He’d met my family, and now, I’d met his, but I understood if he still had reservations. It didn’t help the wounded feelings at the moment, but I didn’t want to push him.
“Despite me being called your girlfriend twice this weekend
, we’ve never discussed it. You can tell me when you’re ready.” I was giving him time to talk to me, but I was also letting him know that I expected him to talk to me at some point if this relationship was going to continue.
Travis picked up my hand and started playing with my fingers. “Did my sister tell you how paranoid Christy got?”
“She mentioned how Christy put something on your phone, so she could monitor you. That’s not cool.”
“Yeah. In the beginning, we were like a normal couple, but as time progressed, she started being jealous of everything. She didn’t even like my female clients.”
“But I’m guessing she had male ones?”
“Yes. But that’s different, you know,” he said, his voice laced with sarcasm. “She got so paranoid that she made me paranoid. I would keep my phone on silent and only check it when she wasn’t around because she would freak out if I talked to anyone else.” He smiled. “The morning when you saw the unsolicited pic in my message, I had a flashback of being with Christy. But then you laughed. That was like a gift, babe.”
“Aw, and I wasn’t even trying.”
He met my eyes. “That’s the best part. You don’t get jealous, you don’t spy on me, and you trust me.”
“Well, the relationship is still young.”
Travis’s eyes widened.
“I’m joking. Life’s too short for those things. If you don’t trust your partner, then why are you even with them? Although, to be fair, I think Christy might be that way with everyone. She needs to talk to someone about her insecurities. But I don’t want to lie to you. I have felt jealous before. It’s a feeling that I think everyone experiences. But it’s what a person does with it that matters.”
“What did you feel jealous about?”
“This is embarrassing, but I was jealous of your relationship with Angela.”
Travis frowned.
“I know that Christy was jealous of that, too, but I don’t feel the same way,” I quickly reassured him. “I don’t want you to stop being friends with Angela. I was just jealous that you two were close because I wanted to be friends with you, too. I hope that makes sense.”
He nodded. “It’s not a you or them thing. It’s a you also thing.”
I smiled. “Exactly. I would never stop you from being friends with someone unless I really felt like they were a threat. Like, if someone were truly trying to come between us. But I’m not worried, and I’m not going to spy on you. If I were worried, I would talk to you about it. I wouldn’t go behind your back.”
Travis scooted down on the bed, and we rolled toward each other.
“You’re too good to be true.”
I busted out laughing. “We both know that’s not true. You sometimes have to drag me to the gym with you and to do outdoor activities.”
He grinned, and his dimples showed. “I’ll reform you yet.”
I put my thumb over one of his adorable marks. “Ha. You wish.”
He put his arm around me, pulling me close. “The important thing is that I trust my girlfriend, and she trusts me.”
“So, you’re saying that I’m your girlfriend?”
“Aren’t you?”
I snuggled into him. “I’d like to think so.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Good. Just no more talking to my sister. Next time, she’ll tell you embarrassing stories of when I was a kid.”
“I don’t know if I can promise you that. Your sister and I have something in common now.”
“What’s that?”
“We both care about you.”
Travis kissed me. “I care about you, too.”
It wasn’t quite love yet, but I had no doubt that we were headed in that direction. I rested my head against his chest and enjoyed the feeling of being grateful.
Tuesday morning, I was deep in the writing zone when my phone notified me that I had a message from Travis. I had set a specific ringtone for when he messaged me. It was someone whistling. Whenever I heard it, it made me smile.
Travis: Three things.
Me: Okay.
Travis: Dan and Lilah invited the two of us to go to their place on Friday. You up for that?
Me: Yes.
Travis: I’ll let them know that my *girlfriend* and I will be there.
Me: You’re such a cheeseball.
Travis: LOL. You love it.
Me: I do. What’s the second thing?
Travis: When is the book signing in Iowa?
Me: The second weekend in September.
It was the same signing we’d met at a year ago. I couldn’t believe it had been a whole year.
Travis: Okay, good. Because the third thing is, I was invited to go to another photo shoot next weekend, and since I already prepared for the last one, I figured it was a good time to go. It’s in North Carolina with David Wayne.
Me: So, this weekend, we hang out with your friends, and next weekend, you go to NC?
I wanted to be sure I had my dates correct.
Travis: Yes.
Me: Sad face. I can’t go with you even though I would love to. Next weekend is the weekend I’m watching my brother’s kids because they’re going to New York.
I had promised to take the weekend, and my dad was going to take the week. I couldn’t back out now. I wasn’t as big of a fan of David Wayne, but I would still love to meet him.
Travis: Crap. That’s right.
Me: I would way rather go with you, but I promised my brother months ago. Just make sure you bring me home a souvenir. I’ve never been there.
Travis: You don’t mind if I go without you?
Me: Not at all. I’m jealous because we both know you’ll have more fun than me. But, really, you don’t want to stay here and help me babysit. Bor-ing.
Travis: LOL. You’re the best, babe.
Me: LOL. I try.
On Friday, Travis and I headed over to Lilah and Dan’s house for dinner. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with Travis’s friends, but I liked them. We’d had fun on the Fourth of July, and all we had done was barhop all day.
Travis parked in the driveway of their house, and after getting out, we went to the back of his SUV to get the food and drinks we’d brought with us. I had made a simple pie for dessert, which I grabbed while Travis picked up the beer and wine we’d bought to drink.
As he was closing the door, his phone flew out of his hand and landed on the hard pavement.
I gasped, and we both froze for a moment.
“Oh no,” I said.
“Shit.” Travis pushed the wine toward me. “Here. Hold this a second.”
I took the paper bag, and he went over to his phone to pick it up. He turned it around to show me the screen, which was cracked in several places.
“Shit is right,” I said. “Does it work at all?”
Travis pushed the Home button, and the screen lit up. Unfortunately, he couldn’t read a single thing on it. “Damn it.”
We started for the front door.
“Sorry, babe. That sucks.”
“I just bought this a few months ago. I can’t afford a new phone.”
“Do you have insurance?”
“No. I should probably look into that with my next one.”
“Take it to the place you bought it. If it lights up, hopefully, it’s only the screen that is ruined. It’s a lot cheaper to replace that than the whole phone.”
We reached the door, and Travis hit the doorbell.
“I hope that’s the case. I’ll have to take it in tomorrow, so it can be done by next weekend. I don’t want to go out of town without a phone.”
“Yikes, that would be bad,” I said as the door opened.
“Hey, how’s it going, you two?” Lilah said.
“Travis dropped his phone in your driveway and cracked the screen,” I said as we walked in the house.
“Oh, that sucks,” Lilah said.
“Yeah, it does, especially
since I’m going to sue you because it happened on your property,” Travis joked.
“Go for it. We live paycheck to paycheck.”
Travis laughed as he carried the beer into the kitchen. I was glad that he wasn’t going to let his phone ruin his night.
I handed Lilah the pie. “I brought a little something for dessert. I hope that’s okay.”
She smiled. “No, that’s great. Is that wine?” She nodded toward the paper bag I was holding.
“Yes.”
Her eyes lit up. “Let’s crack that baby open, shall we?”
“Let’s.”
About ten minutes later, Barry showed up, all alone.
“Where’s Alice?” Travis asked.
“Who?”
“Barry,” Lilah scolded.
“I’m kidding. We broke up.”
Lilah rolled her eyes. “I’m not surprised. The guy can’t date someone for more than a month,” she said to me.
“I heard that, and I can, too. I just choose not to.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure that’s much of a distinction,” Dan said.
Barry stuck out his lower lip. “Why is everyone always picking on me?”
“Because you make it so easy, dude,” Travis said.
I went over to Barry and looped my arm with his. “It’s just because they’re all jealous of you.”
Barry’s mouth dropped open, and he smirked as he pointed to me. “See, she gets it. FYI, Travis, I’m stealing your girl.”
“Over my dead body,” Travis said with a dimpled grin.
“Okay, everyone, it’s time to eat,” Lilah called out.
We all sat down to dinner, and everything was going well, but after a while, I noticed Travis looked bummed.
“What’s up?” I asked him.
“It’s stupid, but I wish my phone worked so that I could take pics of everyone and share it.”
I knew that Travis had over fifty-five thousand followers on Instagram, and he liked to let them know what was going on in his life. There were quite a few male cover models who had more followers than some of the actors I followed. It always astounded me that male models could be so popular.
“Do you want to use my phone? It’s easy to add another account and switch back and forth.” I used to have a Sydney Hart Author profile and a Sydney Harting for my personal stuff, but it had gotten to be too much. I’d pretty much stopped using my personal one even though I never closed the account and was still signed into it.
Object of My Desire Page 19