Ellie and I had something good going for a while. I’ve been tempted to propose that arrangement again while on tour. The boring-ass, vanilla groupies aren’t doing it for me, and I know she would.
“I’m sorry, Travis,” Olivia says, peeling Penn off her face.
“Do not apologize to him. He’s fucking with you.”
I give her a crooked smile, and she blushes with embarrassment. Damn, she’s too easy. Now I feel a little bad.
“Can I have a turn now?” Ellie whines from behind me.
Olivia takes a step toward her, but Penn drags her back. “No.”
“You’re going to see her again in less than two weeks!” Ellie argues.
Penn shrugs, burying his face in Liv’s shoulder. “So are you.”
“Yeah, but she lives withyounow.”
He lets out an aggravated sigh and ushers Olivia in Ellie’s direction. “Fine, two minutes.” He slides over to Pacey saying his goodbyes.
They’re about to catch an Uber to the airport and head home, and I can tell Ellie’s genuinely upset. Her eyes are puffy and her nose is red, like she’s been crying all morning.
“I don’t like sharing custody of you. I changed my mind about what I said.” She talks low, thinking only Liv can hear, but my ears strain to listen.
Liv giggles. “What do you mean?”
“I wanted you to be happy, but it’s really messing up my life. I miss you.” Ellie snorts through an onslaught of tears.
“Christ,” Penn mumbles, making his way to the girls. “I didn’t want you to make her cry.” He rubs Liv’s back while she and Ellie hug and sob.
I glance over my shoulder at Pacey. She’s smiling sadly at the girls, so I yank her to my chest. “Did you have a good time, baby Hayze?” I whisper in her hair. She nods under my chin, and I lean back to inspect her face. The bruising isstarting to fade a tiny bit. Penn was livid when I brought her back from our night out with more battle scars.
“Okay, we really have to go,” Liv says, wiping her eyes.
Ellie hugs Pacey next, but Penn refuses to stop kissing Liv long enough to let her get in the back of her waiting ride. Eventually, Pacey reaches out, snags her arm, and drags her away.
I watch Penn watch them drive away, wondering what that feels like. He looks miserable the second the car is out of sight. His shoulders slump, and his head drops. My best friend is disgustingly in love, but I called it the moment he invited her back to our room when he first laid eyes on her.
My eyes shift to Ellie, her emerald greens glistening with tears, looking as miserable as Penn. Her head turns, gaze meeting mine, and she attempts to smile. I swallow, something heavy sinking in my gut. Must be that three-day-old taco I ate this morning for breakfast. Remind me to never do that shit again.
Ellie shuffles to me as Penn gets back on the bus, head hung low. Shit, that’s depressing.
“I miss her already.”
I sling my arm around her shoulders. “We’ll be home soon.”
“Yeah.” She stares at me, and I swear sometimes I see that same starry-eyed look she used to give me. I could be imagining it. She never asked for more or pushed me in any way to make me think that; I just felt it. She seemed to be content with the setup we had. If we were horny, we fucked, plain and simple. If we were bored, we fucked. She just wanted to fuckonlyme, which should’ve been good. Great. But even that was a commitment I wasn’t ready for. Because what would happen when she wanted more? Dates and cuddles and hand holding? I couldn’t give her that. And she deserves someone who could give her anything she wants.
“Are you excited?” she asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I lead us to the bus. “About what?”
“Being back home.”
“Hell yes. Sleeping in my bed is going to be amazing.” I may stay there all week. The pills are making it easy to function, but I want to sleep when I go home. I want to do nothing else.
I dumpa bottle of water over my head then grab another off the table and chug it, my throat dry as the desert.
“Some girls are asking to come back here. Not bad looking, either,” Calvin says to me.
