Walking to the door, I tap on it, Liam right behind me. “Travis, are you ok?” More groans are the only response I get. “Do you need anything?” More heaving, and I’m pretty sure this time it’s vomit, too.
“I’ll get him some more water,” Liam says, moving to the kitchen and flipping the light on. It’s then that I realize I’m in nothing but a shirt and thong. Even though he’s already seen me naked from the waist down, my hands fly to cover myself, as if it does any good. I spin around so that my bare ass isn’t facing Liam. He’s busy filling up a glass and hasn’t noticed, so I rush around to my bag on the floor and tug on some shorts.
Liam knocks on the bathroom door after it’s been silent for a few minutes. When Travis doesn’t open up or say anything, we glance nervously at each other. Without waiting another minute, I push it open. My heart drops to my feet immediately.
Travis is slumped over the toilet, his arm dangling by his side. He’s so still, I’m not sure he’s alive. A scream rips from my throat sharp enough to cut glass. I clutch my chest as my heart caves in on itself.
His head slowly lifts off the seat, his eyes landing on me, confusion and emptiness staring back at me.
An audible exhale comes from both Liam and me. I hunch over, hands gripping my knees while I gasp for air. I think I’m going to be sick. I suck in breath after breath, trying to pull myself together, but my heart won’t stop pounding. Slumping against the wall, I slide down to the cold tile floor and drop my head between my knees as Liam tends to Travis.
After a few more minutes, Liam convinces him to drink some water, and we’re able to get him back to bed, but I’m not the slightest bit tired. There’s no way I’ll sleep tonight. I don’t even want to take my eyes off him now. Liam wanted to call the guys, but Travis was adamant he was fine and just needed to rest.
“You can go to sleep. I’ll stay up with him,” Liam offers as we stand over the bed watching Travis’s chest move. I thought he was dead.
“I’m not tired anymore.”
He blows out a rough breath. “Yeah, me either.”
“Do you think someone slipped something in his drink?”
“Maybe.” He shrugs. “I don’t know who would do that. No one was around except...”
My eyes widen. He doesn’t finish his sentence. He doesn’t need to. The only people around were Jordan and Josh. Why would they do that? They’re fans, plus I don’t know if they had the opportunity. Either way, it doesn’t stop the guilt eating at me that this could be all my fault.
“It’s not your fault, Ellie,” Liam assures, pulling me into a hug. “Maybe he just had too much to drink.”
I nod, not trusting my voice right now. The urge to cry in his arms is so overwhelming that I force myself back away.
Liam eventually passes out at the foot of the bed, but I stay up, watching Travis’s chest go up and down. Up and down. He’s been groaning a lot in his sleep, as if he’s in pain, but he hasn’t moved or thrown up anymore.
I bring my knees to my chest and rest my head on them, still watching him. And I watch until my eyelids droop with exhaustion.
32
TRAVIS
There’sa banging in my head when I wake up. Like Liam is playing his drums right against my fucking skull. I rub my burning eyes and sit up, noticing a lump at the end of the bed. It’s Ellie and Liam. I stare at them, my heart pounding as hard as my head now. What the hell?
I’m not sure how long I sit and stare at them before Ellie stirs.
“Hey,” she rasps, sitting up. “How are you feeling?”
I cock my head, studying her. How am I feeling? Hm. What a loaded question. I have the worst hangover in years, my head feels fuzzy as fuck, I’m nauseous, and I can’t remember a single fucking thing from last night. And to top it off, I wake up, finding one of my best friends draped around my ex…something. Doesn’t matter what she is. I’ve been inside her multiple times, which means she’s off-limits. Doesn’t matter that we all fooled around already, he doesn’t get to move in on his own.
Yet, they looked so cozy sleeping together, her head in hislap and his hand curled around her bare stomach. At one point, his face was practically buried in her ass.
“You ok?”
I simply blink at her, refusing to answer. I’m irritable as shit right now and on the verge of lashing out. Considering I don’t remember much of last night, I’m not sure if I’m on the right side of whatever fucked-up situation we have going on where we’re all piled in bed together. Did we have another threesome? Fuck, I close my eyes trying to find the memory but come up with nothing.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Liam says. My attention moves to him. He’s easy to read, and I see it. Guilt. All over his face when he sees his arm hanging over Ellie. He immediately pulls away and jumps up. “Uh, you alright, buddy?”
I laugh dryly. “I’m fine. You good?”
He frowns. I normally don’t start shit with Liam—he’s the innocent one—but right now, he’s looking pretty fucking guilty. “I’m fine. You gave us a scare last night.”
My stomach rolls, like it has been for the last hour, but I don’t even wanna know. Somehow they’re going to spin this shit and make whatever happened between them my fault.
