My eyes tear up at the declaration of his feelings. It’s the first time he has said anything like that. There were a couple of times where I thought maybe he loved me, but I wasn’t completely positive until I heard him say those words.
Travis’s hands immediately drop down and he is in front of me in three long strides. “What is it? Why are you crying?”
I shake my head and offer him a smile. “It’s, it’s just that you’ve never said that before.”
“Said what?” he frowns.
“That you love me.”
“You’re right, I haven’t. It’s not something I say easily to other people. Now that you mention it, you haven’t said anything back.” He looks nervous. Is he serious? Does he really not know how I feel about him? I thought I was blatantly obvious about it.
“I love you, Travis. I have for some time now.”
With one light push, Travis has my body up against the wall, pinned in place with his. His hands grasp a hold of my thighs, moving up my body, along the curves of my waist, over my breasts and down my arms. He grabs a hold of my wrists, pulling them up and holding them above my head with one of his hands. I close my eyes and bite my lower lip as I feel him nibble along the side of my neck.
“We still need to talk, Travis, we aren’t done just because the I love you’s came out,” I say breathily.
“We will talk,” he says, his voice low and throaty. A moan escapes my lips as I feel his breath tickle against my skin. “We will, but right now I need to be inside of you. I need you, Gracie.”
Travis’s lips crush against mine, desperate and hard. His tongue traces along my lips, demanding access inside, which I happily give him. His free hand slides into the curve of my waist. His gentle touch causes my body to arch into his. I need him just as much as he needs me and we both know it. Travis releases his hold on my wrists. Grabbing the hem of my shirt, he pulls it over my head, discarding it onto the floor. With a quick movement, my pants and panties join them.
My hands move to undo the buckle of his jeans as he quickly removes his shirt. I yank his jeans down, then his boxers, allowing his dick to spring out. I grab a hold of it, pumping my hand along his shaft.
“Shit, Gracie,” he moans.
His hands move to undo my bra, allowing it to fall down my arms. I stop touching him just long enough to let the satiny material fall to the ground beneath our feet. I move to grab a hold of him again, when Travis stops me. He grabs me, right below my ass, and lifts me up. My legs wrap around him and he slides right inside of me. He feels so unbelievably good that I can’t stop myself from moaning out loud. I lean my back against the wall. Travis holds me steady with one arm wrapped around my waist while his free hand is pressed against the wall.
“You feel so good, so good baby,” he moans.
He pumps in and out of me alternating between slow and fast, teasing me by pulling almost all of the way out and then thrusting back in hard. Travis traces my lips with his tongue, pausing to pull my lower lip into his mouth for a long, slow suck.
“Mine,” he growls. “Just. Mine.”
My body shivers at the sound of those words coming from his lips. I am his, only his, just as he is only mine.
My fingers tangle into his hair, pulling and twisting as his lips move along my jawline and down my neck licking, kissing, sucking and biting as he goes. Travis squeezes my thighs, his fingers digging into my skin. His movements become quicker, almost frantic, like he needs me more and more with every thrust. A wave of euphoria crashes over me moments before his body stills, his muscles tightening beneath my grasp as he releases inside of me.
“I want you again,” he murmurs.
“I want you,” I say back.
Travis carries me down the hallway, into the bathroom. Without putting me down, he reaches a hand out and turns on the shower. Once the water is warm, he steps inside and slowly lowers me until my feet touch the bottom of the tub.
He is standing so close to me that I can feel the heat rising off of his body. Travis stares at me intently, biting his lower lip. A grin plays at his lips. Leaning in, he dots a couple of kisses along the side of my neck before whispering in my ear, “Go away with me.”
“What?” I choke out.
“I think I need to get away from here. I want you to come with me.”
“I can’t ask for time off from work. You know that. I need the money I make. I know it isn’t a lot but it pays my bills and buys my groceries.”
Travis looks up at the ceiling, thinking. His face brightens and he looks happier in this moment than I have seen him look in the past two weeks. “What if you ask Aidan to rearrange your schedule so that you work during the week next week and then we can go away that weekend?”
Hmmm…I could do that. I’m sure he would be willing to work with me and I don’t think the other girls would mind swapping.
“Where would we go?”
Travis shrugs. “Camping?”
Camping? As in sleeping on the ground with the bugs? As in no running water or electricity? I am about to object when I realize something. This isn’t about me. I mean, I guess in a sense it is about us because we will be going away together, but this little weekend getaway is about Travis. He’s the one that just had this little crisis and he wants to do something to give him a sense of normalcy. If camping is what will do that, then camping is what we will do.
“I would love to go camping with you.” I smile. “I just need to talk to Aidan first.”
“Call him. Do it as soon as we get out of the shower.” Travis sounds like he is completely serious but the glimmer of a smile on his face tells me otherwise.
Travis picks up a bar of soap and begins working it over my back. I close my eyes, melting at the soothing circles he is making as he washes my body.
“Have you ever felt like no matter what you did, your best wasn’t good enough?” he asks quietly.
Images of my mother float into my head. She spent my entire life ridiculing the things that I did and clothes that I wore. I can only imagine what she would think if she knew I was living here and working in a diner.
“From the first time I got in trouble, I was labeled a troublemaker,” Travis continues. “Before I got caught with weed in my pocket, I only got in trouble for stupid minor things, but then that happened…there’s a stigma that comes along with getting arrested that you can’t shake no matter how hard you try. Not when you live here. In most places, shit dies out after a while when townies find something new to gossip about, but not here…although, I guess I didn’t really help things when I kept doing stupid shit over and over again. I just added fuel to the rapidly growing fire.”
Travis sets the soap down and wraps his arms around me, burying his face in my shoulder. “I don’t want people to know what happened the other night, because I don’t want them to look at me the way they did for so long. I’ve worked so hard to make something of myself. I don’t want to lose it.”
I spin around in his arms, reaching my hand up to run my fingers through his wet hair. “Why does anyone have to know?” I ask. “You didn’t do anything illegal. The only person you hurt was yourself.”
“I hurt you.”
“You hurt my feelings, yes, but you apologized and we moved past that. If you want people to think better of you, you have to think better about yourself. You had a setback. It happens to a lot of people, what happens now is up to you. You can dwell on it, and make yourself feel worse, which will probably lead you to relapse further, or you can get over it and move on with your life. Only you can make that decision for yourself, and only you can make it better. The only thing your family and I can do is be supportive. The rest is up to you.”
Travis cracks a hint of a smile. “You sound like Claire.”
I smile, taking what he just said as a compliment. I don’t know Claire very well, but I know how much she means to Travis. We finish washing and Travis turns off the water. Reaching through the shower curtain, I grab two towels hanging from
the chrome towel bar, handing one to Travis as I wrap the other around my body.
“So…tell me more about our camping trip.”
Travis flashes a wicked smile. “Baby, you are in for the weekend of your life.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Travis
After spending the better part of the past week and a half pouring my Goddamn heart out to Gracie and my family, I am more than ready for this camping trip. I was starting to get tired of explaining over and over again why I did the things I did and why I reacted the way I did. I swear my mother is watching me like a hawk. I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same in her position, but still. Annoying none the less.
I glance over at Gracie as I drive through the entrance of Hollow Acres Campground. I wasn’t actually serious when I suggested camping, and I could tell by the look on her face that this was the last thing she wanted to do for our first getaway together, but then she did something I didn’t expect. She agreed. She had absolutely no interest in camping, yet she agreed to come anyway. For me. I couldn’t bear to tell her I was only kidding, since she was so willing to do something she didn’t want to do. So, I am just going to have to make sure this is the best damn camping trip ever. Although, I really have no idea how I am going to do that.
After I check in at the registration cabin, I drive us back to where our designated camping area is. Luckily for us, there aren’t too many people tent camping, although I did see a decent amount of cars near the cabins, so we are actually in a pretty secluded area.
I put the car in park and Gracie and I jump out, taking a moment to stretch and bask in the warmth of the sun, which really isn’t that warm considering it is the middle of November. In hindsight, this may not have been my best idea, however the cold fall air only ensures that we will end up cuddling beside the campfire before going to sleep wrapped up in each other as closely as possible.
“Do you need any help setting up the tent?” Gracie asks as I pull it out of the back of my Jeep.
“No, woman, I am a manly man and I can set this damn thing up myself,” I say, placing my fists on my hips and sticking out my chest as I strike my best Superman pose.
“All right, then.” She laughs as she sits down on a log, probably prepared to make jokes at my expense as if she really doesn’t think I can put the tent up without help.
I do get it set up, rather quickly, without any swearing, kicking or beating the ground with the poles.
“So you are a camper?” she asks, as if she doesn’t believe it.
“I have four brothers, baby.” I shrug. “What do you think we did when we were younger?”
“I don’t know. Camping probably wouldn’t have been at the top of my list.”
I walk up behind her, slipping my arms around her waist and drawing her to me so that her backside meets my front. “We used to camp nearly every weekend in our backyard. As we got a little older, we would invite some of the other guys around town, including Evan, but that quickly ended when my mother would come out to the tent with some pink shit on her face and her hair up in curlers to see if we wanted anything.”
“She didn’t!” Gracie laughs.
“Oh she did. That’s when we moved our camp outs to the lake. No meddling mothers. Just a bunch of rowdy boys being as loud as we could cause there was no one around to tell us to keep it down for the sake of the neighbors. Those camping trips lasted until we were in our teens. I think I was maybe fourteen.”
“Why’d they stop?”
“Well…” I trail off, hesitating for a moment before starting up again. “Some of the girls in town, led by none other than Molly, decided to start camping there too. I think their initial idea was to annoy us, which they did, but eventually they didn’t annoy us so much, which led to a little bit of sleeping bag sharing.”
“Oh.” Gracie’s mouth forms a perfect O shape as she understands what I am saying to her.
“Yeah, once our mother’s found out, that was the end of camping unsupervised at the lake. Camping with your friends isn’t any fun with your mother in the sleeping bag next to you.”
“I imagine it wouldn’t be.” Gracie giggles.
“C’mon, let’s get our stuff unloaded.” I kiss her cheek before reluctantly moving my arms away from her body.
We spend the majority of the afternoon unpacking the Jeep and gathering supplies to make a campfire. As soon as the sun begins to set on the horizon, I set to work building a fire. Gracie sits down on a long log, wrapped up in a flannel blanket.
“Got room for one more under there?” I ask her.
She opens up the blanket without saying a word. Sitting down next to her, I adjust the blanket, wrapping it around both of our shoulders. Gracie sighs happily, leaning her head against my shoulder.
This moment. This right here is exactly what I needed when I said I wanted to get away. Sure, we could have done this at my house, or hers, but it’s not the same. We’re sitting wrapped up underneath a blanket on a cold November night, in front of a nice warm fire, underneath a sky filled with an infinite amount of stars. There is nothing more perfect than this.
“I love you, Gracie,” I say softly.
“I love you too, Travis.”
“Do you know what would make this night even better?”
“A heated room and a bed?” Gracie blurts out. Her hand flies up to her mouth and her face turns from light red wind-chilled cheeks to bright crimson with embarrassment. “Oh my God! I didn’t mean to say that out loud! I promise you I am having a great time!”
“It’s okay, Gracie. You don’t have to apologize.” I chuckle. “But I was actually going to say s’mores. S’mores would make this night perfect and you are in luck because I happen to be an excellent s’mores maker.”
“Really? Well, I must taste these delicious s’mores of yours as soon as possible.”
I lean in, pressing my lips against hers softly. As I begin to back off, I slowly suck her lower lip into my mouth. “Luckily for you, I happen to have everything we need right here.”
I slip out from underneath the blanket and dip inside the tent, emerging a few moments later with a plastic bag of supplies in one hand and two sticks in the other.
I take the bag of marshmallows out before handing the rest of the supplies to Gracie. “I’ll toast the marshmallows if you get the chocolate and graham crackers ready.”
She gets to work opening the cardboard box containing the graham crackers. Turning away from her, I put the marshmallows onto the sticks before holding them out over the fire. I always loved the smell of campfires, though I’m not exactly sure why. I guess maybe because it reminds me of the camp outs I had with my brothers when I was younger, before my life turned to shit. I know the what ifs are completely pointless, but I always wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t gone down the path I did. What would my life be like if I never get involved with Veronica? I probably would have never gotten involved with drugs, or maybe I would have, it just wouldn’t have been at such a young age. The biggest what if, though, is what would my life be like if I had refused to go to rehab, like I was originally going to. I would have been court ordered, but it may not have been to the same facility, meaning I would have never befriended Claire.
If I am being completely honest with myself, had I refused to go to rehab the day of the intervention, I probably would have left town, became a wanted man, continued to use and then I would have ended up dying in a ditch somewhere completely alone.
Whatever the scenario, I probably would have never met Gracie, and she is one of the best things that have ever happened in my life. I don’t think I ever deserved someone like her, not with the way I have been behaving since I was sixteen, but she’s here. With me. She may not realize it but she saves me from myself every single solitary day.
Gracie starts humming a song behind me, snapping me out of my own thoughts. Pulling the marshmallows out of the fire, I turn around slowly, staring at her in awe.
“Are you humming ‘The
Golden Age’?” I ask.
“Huh?” Gracie looks confused for a moment before letting out an embarrassed giggle. “It popped into my head. I didn’t even realize I was humming it.”
I walk over to her, setting the marshmallows on top of the chocolate covered graham crackers, squeezing them so the marshmallows and chocolate melt out of the sides a little bit.
“Those lyrics literally define what my life was like before you walked into it. I was…a mess. I was surviving just fine but I was just going through the motions day to day. I had nothing to look forward to. Nothing to get excited about. I know this is going to sound absolutely crazy because we have only been together for like four months or something like that, but…you’re it for me.”
Gracie’s eyes widen and I realize what I just said. I need to watch myself because I don’t have a ring and the last thing I want is for her to start crying because she thinks I’m about to propose when I’m not.
“I’m not saying I am going to propose today or even tomorrow, but I want you to know that I have every intention of doing it someday.”
“Well, just so you know, I have every intention of saying yes someday.” Gracie takes one of the s’mores and holds it up to my mouth. I take a bite, closing my eyes as the warmth of the chocolate and marshmallow melts in my mouth. Suddenly, I feel Gracie’s tongue slide lightly over my top lip and then my bottom. My body stills as I draw in a slow breath. She is without a doubt the sexiest woman I have ever met in my entire life.
My eyes open to find Gracie staring at me with an innocent look on her face. “You taste delicious,” she murmurs, her voice low and husky.
My dick instantly hardens in my jeans. I take the remaining s’more, holding it up to her mouth, knowing full well that by the time she is finished eating it, I will have her inside the tent with her pants around her ankles.
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