The Bet (12 page)

When he reached her side he hunched on his knees in order to be face to face with her. He reached in to kiss her cheek, lingering an extra second before pulling back.

“I figured you may need rescuing.”

Sandy cursed next to her.

Joy giggled.

Another woman said, “How does she do it? Jake
and
the mystery man?”

“Thank you.” Kacey swallowed her pride and took his offer for what it was, a way to get out of that place, away from Jake’s admirers.

“Sorry, ladies.” Kacey pushed out of her seat and gathered her purse and sunglasses. “I forgot that Travis and I were going to go to…”

“The park,” he finished for her. “I hope I’m not stealing you away too soon.”

“No,” Kacey answered when everyone else said “Yes!” at the table.

“Wait,” Sandy interjected. “Travis? Travis, you look kind of familiar.”

“Bro!” Jake shouted. “Get over here!”

Kacey rolled her eyes.

Gasps were again heard around the table.

“You’re Travis Titus! Oh my word! Oh my word! Look at them both!” If Sandy didn’t watch it, she was going to have a heart attack.

Just then her husband came around the corner, his pudgy stomach all the more evident next to Travis’s perfect physique. “Hey, baby.” He tried to kiss her on the cheek, but Sandy pushed him away.

Kacey pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

“Hey, Kace, where you going? Travis, what are you doing here?” Jake tried to act happy. Kacey could tell because his lips were twitching like he wanted to scowl and then punch his brother in the face.

“Grandma wanted me to take Kacey to the park, something about the wedding or something.”

Well, that was a lie. On both accounts, but Kacey wasn’t going to argue.

“Oh, well, um, I guess I’ll go too.”

“No!” The girls all but yelled. “Jakey, stay with us.” A girl came up to his side and pouted. “She’ll be fine. We haven’t seen you in years!” She rolled her eyes.

Kacey wanted to pull her hair out.

Jake opened his mouth to speak, but another girl looped her arm with his. “Please Jake, you still haven’t told us about your trip to Africa to help the nomads.”

Seriously? They were buying this? Really? Kacey wanted to scream. He chuckled and nodded his head. “Sure, I’ll stay, but only for a little bit.” His eyes turned back to Kacey. “I hate to be away from my love for too long.”

Kacey wondered if slapping him or choking him would be more satisfying.

Jake leaned in and kissed her cheek. “See you soon.”

“Yup.” Kacey gave him a lame side hug and attached herself to Travis’s person like a leech.

Once they were outside she mumbled, “I’m still mad, but thank you.”

“Of course.” He put on his sunglasses.

“And I didn’t need saving.”

“I know.”

“Okay, I just want you to know that I was handling things fine and—”

“Kace, I know. Now, do you want to go have fun or sit here and argue?”

“Fun,” she mumbled.

He laughed. “Right. Well, let’s see what I can come up with.”

Chapter
Seventeen

Jake watched their disappearing forms. Well, actually he watched Kacey’s. His brother could go to hell for all he cared.

What was he doing here anyway? It wasn’t
his
high school reunion.

Just as he was ready to go after them, a hot blonde tugged at his shirt and smiled up at him as if to change his mind. “Are the rumors true, then?”

“Rumors?” He gave her a dazzling smile.

“That girls cry when you leave them in bed because they want you so badly.” She was trying to be sexy, but honestly the minute she said
cry
and
bed
together, he lost all his sexual appetite in one giant rush.

Kacey.

God, he was stupid.

He should have apologized.

Or at least done something, anything other than just sit there with his head in his hands, ready to burst into tears over ruining the most important friendship in his existence.

It had destroyed him.

Most people talk about straying, how choices eventually led them to be the people they were, how it was a slow fade into what was now their lives.

But with Jake it was different. He knew the exact time. Three o’clock in the morning. He knew the exact date. February third. He knew everything.

The way the room smelled like coconut from one of Kacey’s ridiculous candles from Bath and Body Works. The feel of her jersey sheets across his legs.

Her smooth skin under his hand.

Yes, he knew the exact moment when he gambled and lost everything dear to him.

It was the very same day he decided he couldn’t do it anymore. A crossroads had appeared that day. He could have chosen to be the good guy going after the girl and apologizing, living a safe life with 2.5 children and a house with a picket fence.

Or he could have chosen to be an ass.

The choice he’d made was obvious, but he’d felt trapped and alone, and it wasn’t any help that his friends had told him the easiest way to get over a girl was to get with a new one. So he had, again and again, until he was so numb and disgusted with himself he hadn’t even wanted to live anymore.

Eventually the pain faded when Kacey started her own life.

It was easier for him to ignore it ever happened. To pretend it didn’t really matter. But it did. Oh, how it did.

Kacey didn’t know.

How could she?

It had been his first time as well as hers. He’d never told a soul that he’d stayed a virgin through high school. It was easy to keep the secret though; girls had wanted him so bad that they lied about his skills in the bedroom. Granted, he’d never been an angel, but he’d always known he wanted his first time to be with someone special, with a girl he truly cared for. He’d thought he loved Kacey, but she’d had a way of making a man feel like more than he was, and for Jake that was difficult. He’d known he’d wanted more than he could give Kacey. He’d wanted to sow his wild oats, make mistakes, get crazy, be famous. Kacey would have been happy dropping out of school and having kids right away.

Nothing makes a guy run faster than knowing he could have it all, and lose it all, with one woman.

To be frank, it had scared the hell out of him.

What if? What if he had apologized? Loved her as she deserved? In his mind he would have still destroyed her. It was so much easier being who he was.

Which is why, when the hot blonde stuck her hand into his belt loop and whispered something naughty in his ear, he left with her. Not caring if people whispered behind his back that he was cheating, and not caring as she took off her top in the car, that what he was doing was stupidity at its finest.

He just wanted to be free, to live. To separate himself from the boy he was so long ago.

Chapter
Eighteen

Travis tried not to look at her legs. Really he did. It was a gargantuan effort on behalf of men everywhere. In fact, several times he wished someone was documenting the extreme self-control he was exhibiting by biting his lip, breathing in and out, and keeping the truck between the yellow and white lines of the road.

“So, where to?” Kacey asked.

He still didn’t look. He knew if he looked at her, even glanced, his eyes would stray and he would be responsible for a twelve-car pileup.

His nerves were already shot with the way her perfume was floating across the truck, tickling his noise, teasing his senses, and arousing him more than should be allowed.

Taking a shuddering breath he responded, “It’s a surprise.”

“Oh, I love surprises,” she said dryly.

“Cut the crap, Kacey. Are you forgetting who you’re with? I know how much you love surprises. Crap, you cried when we threw you a sixteenth birthday party.”

She crossed her arms.

“Remember.” Travis fought the urge to nudge her out of her bad mood. “You were so happy because Mom and Dad paid for everyone to go to that Backstreet Boys concert. You went backstage and met Brian and announced you were going to marry him.”

She let out a snort then a laugh. “Gosh, how I loved those Backstreet Boys.”

“Every girl did. I, however, wanted to set fire to their trailer and watch them die very slow agonizing deaths.”

“You and every other guy out there,” she teased.

“So, admit it.” He turned down the side street. “You like surprises.”

“Travis Titus, are you taking me to see the Backstreet Boys?”

“No.” He shuddered. “Thank God. I’m taking you some place that will make you feel happy, not resort back to the high-pitched screams of sixteen.”

“Happy?” She played with the radio. “Hmm, what would you know about making me happy? You threw rocks, taunted me, teased me, and chased me, and you think you know the one place in this town that’s going to make me happy?”

In that moment he did look at her legs, her face, her eyes, her lips, and answered with confidence, “Yes, yes I am.”

Kacey squinted in confusion then looked back out her window. It was for the best that they didn’t talk. He was getting more attached by the minute, and she was leaving in a matter of days. Two to be exact.

His heart clenched. He’d get over it.
Just like
he’d
gotten
over her in
high
school?
His memory reminded him that it wasn’t likely.

Taking a deep breath, he turned onto the correct street. The entire drive was quiet, up until he saw the sign and pulled into the parking lot.

“The zoo.” Kacey stated. “You’re taking me to the zoo?”

“Don’t sound so impressed,” Travis teased. “Maybe we can find an ass that looks exactly like my brother! Perhaps I’m being too hopeful.” He sighed and parked into the first available spot and turned off the car.

“What makes you think this is going to make me happy?” Kacey didn’t budge, her seatbelt was still fastened, her arms crossed.

Travis unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over. “Get out of the car and find out.”

Never one to back down from a challenge, Kacey glared at him as she unbuckled her seatbelt and threw open the door.

Geez, the reunion must have been worse than he thought.

They walked side by side to the entrance. Travis paid for the tickets and flinched when he noticed her walk ahead of him. He wanted to put his hand on her back, to touch the smooth skin peeking out from her dress. He hated his brother all over again for having the honor of touching something so sacred.

“So, where to, oh happy-maker?” Kacey had her hands on her hip.

“Are you going to be like this the whole time?”

“Like what?” Her lip jutted out. Adorable. She was trying too hard to be angry and hold a grudge.

“Look, I’m just trying to repair the damage done by my blood relation. You can participate or not. Your choice.”

Kacey broke eye contact and sighed. “You can’t fix that damage. It’s already been done.”

Honestly, he had no idea what kind of damage had already been done, he just knew they’d broken up and parted on bad terms, and to be frank, it wasn’t any of his business.

“I mean, what he did today,” Travis clarified. “Flirting with anything in a tight skirt and making you sit next to lustful women.” He winked. “Not to mention springing a ridiculous reunion brunch on you, when we both know how much you hated high school.”

“Key word is
hate
,” Kacey chimed in.

“Ah, there’s my girl. Now how about a smile?”

Her nostrils flared.

“A tiny one?” he asked, getting closer.

Her lips parted.

And suddenly a smile was the last thing on his mind. Crap, he needed to stop doing this to them. Slowly he backed off and grabbed her hand. “Follow me.”

With reluctance, Kacey trudged behind him, but he knew her better sometimes than she knew herself, a thought that often scared him, and again he was back to stalker status.

He cleared his throat when they reached their destination.

Kacey slowly approached the small glass container then looked up at him with confusion.

“Just watch,” he said, then looked around to make sure nobody was looking and gently tapped the glass.

Kacey cursed, a small child began to cry, and a mom gave them a dirty glare. All in all, it was the perfect surprise.

“You son of a—”

“Kace,” he interrupted. “Tell me you’re not smiling.”

She burst out laughing. “You creepy, weird man! Why the hell would you take me to the tarantula exhibit!”

“Because you hate spiders.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “How is that supposed to cheer me up?”

“It’s working.” He pulled her into a hug, purely instinctual, but she hugged him back. “Isn’t it?”

“Yes, you idiot. It’s working only because I’m too shocked and upset to do anything but laugh.”

“Ah, and she gets to the bottom of it.”

“Huh?”

Travis released her and looked back at the spider. “Sometimes, when life gets hard, and people make you angry or even when you’re scared, the best response is laughter. Laugh in the face of fear, in the face of what scares you the most. It’s the only way to get you through the things that bring you to tears.”

Kacey was silent and then said, “You’ve been drinking Grandma Nadine’s Kool-aid, haven’t you?”

“I do love grape,” he joked.

Kacey looked back at the spider and made a face. “Thanks. Oddly enough, this did work. I’m more worried about that stupid spider breaking out of its container than my horrible morning. By the way, when was I institutionalized?

“Oh, that was after the pregnancy.”

“Which was before?

“The cheating,” he confirmed.

“That explains it. I’m such a hussy.”

Travis nodded. “So, ready to go look for the asses?”

“You didn’t tell me Jake was here!” She slapped him playfully.

“Oh, there’s a whole cage of them. Just follow me!”

Travis took her hand and led her to the monkeys. The minute they stopped in front of the exhibit, one of them began pooping by the tree, another scratched its butt, and the other began licking a body part that shouldn’t be mentioned.