“And Heather,” Travis interrupted. “Remind me how Cole Milton knows that I’m gay?”
“That was an accident!” Heather spluttered. “How was I supposed to know he was hanging around the parking lot like a creeper?”
“You could have refrained from making a very loud gay joke in the middle of a parking lot.”
“I said I was sorry!” Heather protested. “And you said you weren’t mad.”
Travis chuckled. “Yeah, and I meant it. You apologized—both of you—and I forgave you. Would you rather I have dragged it out for days, making you feel bad and expecting you to apologize over and over?”
“Well—no,” Heather said.
“But that’s different,” Matty argued. “Jacob dumped you. He completely broke your heart?—”
“He was recovering from a crash that nearly killed him. A crash that did kill two other people. And he had a lot of other stuff to deal with. His family’s not like yours, Matty.”
“You’re defending him dumping you?”
“I’m saying I understand why he did it. And, more to the point, he apologized, and I forgave him. I don’t need him to, like, grovel for me, like he’s so far beneath me he has to beg me to take him back.”
“I mean, you could’ve made him grovel a little,” Matty said.
“That’s not how you treat people you love. You either forgive someone and get on with it, or you don’t. Even if someone dumps you. Or if they out you to Cole Milton, or try to kill your dog.”
He said the last part with warm humor, and Matty and Heather chuckled reluctantly. Meanwhile, my heart was trying to beat out of my chest. I felt?—
I don’t know what I felt. But my hands were shaking, and my pulse was thudding in my ears, and I wanted to walk out onto the balcony and throw myself into Travis’s arms.
“I get what you’re saying,” Heather said. “No, really, babe. I do. But what if he hurts you again?”
“He won’t,” Travis said.
There was a long silence, then Matty heaved a loud sigh. “I still don’t think he’s good enough for you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think you’re good enough for Erin, but you don’t hear me whining about it.”
Matty laughed. “Touché.”
“I want you both to trust him,” Travis said. “And I don’t want to talk about this again.”
“That’s us told,” Matty joked.
“Yes,” Travis said. “It is.”
He said it in his firm, don’t-fuck-with-me tone, and Matty was wise enough not to joke again. After another, longer silence, Heather said quietly, “Fine. You trust him, we trust him.”
Matty didn’t say anything, but he must’ve nodded or something, because Travis said, “Good.”
Then Matty said, “Look at that weird bird!” and the conversation moved on. And none of them ever knew that I’d been standing there listening. Falling in love with Travis all over again.
“Hey.” Travis nudges my elbow, calling me back to the present. “You good?”
I clear my throat and sit up straighter. Matty and Heather are piling up their empty plates and cutlery, getting ready to leave. “I’m good,” I say. “Spaced out for a bit there, sorry.”
Travis frowns. “You sure?”
I press my leg against his under the table. “Yeah,” I say. “I’m sure.”
Chapter 6
