“Yeah, I couldn’t pull it off, but Tanner could.” He nods to Tanner.
My gaze follows, but Tanner has his face buried in his phone, his brows furrowed as he types.
“Hey, dickwad! Get off your phone, we’re bonding!” Travis says.
Tanner glances up, then ignores him.
Travis groans. “Dude, give it a rest. If you ignored her a bit, she’d probably like you more. She has your balls in a vise.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize youronefailed relationship qualified you to give advice.”
My gaze flicks to Travis. He never talks about his ex-girlfriend. The only thing I know about her is that she cheated. I got that from Liv, who didn’t seem to know more.
“Fuck you, you don’t know shit.”
“Guys, come on,” Liam interjects.
“Nah, fuck this,” Travis says, jumping up and stalking back to his bunk.
Penn sighs, and Tanner throws his hands up. “He can dish it out but can’t take it.”
I wait a few minutes before going to check on him. He’slying on his bed, earbuds in, while he taps his thigh to whatever beat is playing.
“You ok?” I ask, stepping on Penn’s bed to boost me up in his line of vision.
His eyes sweep over, then he grabs his phone, pauses the music, and removes an earbud. “What?”
“Are you ok?”
“Yep.” I start to hop down, but he grabs my hand. “Wait, stay.”
I glance down the hall where everyone else is. “That’s probably not the best idea.”
“Get up here.” He hands me the earbud he took out. “Listen to music with me.”
I hesitate only a second before climbing on the bed and popping the earbud in. I lean against the wall, stretching my legs out near his head. He presses play, and Distorted Penguins fill my ears. I smile and he drops his head, closing his eyes.
My body rocks as I get lost in the rhythm, and a minute later, his hand creeps up my leg. I stiffen, trying to pull away. Someone could walk back here any second, but he squeezes my calf, not letting me move. His eyes are still closed, but he leaves his hand there, thumb trickling across my skin like a feather. Before long, my eyelids grow heavy.
When my eyes open sometime later, I’m tucked in my bunk with no recollection of how I got here. I blink away the tiredness and pick up my phone, noting the time, 3 a.m., and use it for light as I walk down the hall, passing the guys in their bunks. Everyone is sleeping, but Travis’s bed is empty.
I find him lying on the floor under the kitchen table. It looks like he’s taking it apart or maybe fixing something. What in the world?
“What are you doing?” I ask, keeping my voice quiet, but he still jolts.
“Dammit, May, you scared me.”
“What are you doing?”
He rolls out and climbs to his feet. “Table has a wobbly leg. I was trying to fix it.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
He shrugs, sliding into the booth. “Couldn’t sleep.”
“Again?”
“I...I slept for a while, I just got up and was feeling restless.”
