Page 14 of Catch Me (Becoming Us #4)

Roman

Once the bedroom door closed behind me, I dropped my bag. Travis told me to just come in when I got here, so that’s what I did. He was in the middle of a LIVE, and I didn’t want to interrupt. Then, I was frozen.

“I think that no matter who you are, how you were born, or what you identify as, you deserve to live loudly and openly, no matter your past.”

Why did that statement make me panic? Sen said that he knew he was gay; he was just trying to pretend that he wasn’t.

His dad was an asshole who wouldn’t accept him.

I could see how Kai would make him brave.

I didn’t really know any of them, but my mom always filled me in on things, even if I didn’t ask. She loved all of Til’s friends.

Deciding I should shower after that long drive, maybe more to clear my head than anything, I took off my sweatshirt and tossed it onto the bed.

There was a knock on the door, which made my heart immediately speed up.

After I opened it, I remembered that I was shirtless, but it was too late to do anything about it now.

“Hey,” Travis said. “You just get in?”

“Yup. About to shower. ”

“Sorry, I was on a video before.”

I shrugged. “I just came straight to the room.”

“Well, I saw that you were at the back door, so I thought I’d mention it.”

Since he’d called me out, I wasn’t sure what to say. It kind of looked like he was trying not to smile. I just remained expressionless while I waited.

“You can be straight with me,” he went on.

“Okay.”

“I’m gonna make some dinner, so if you’re hungry—”

“I’m good,” I interrupted.

“Since you don’t want to eat with me, I’ll leave some out. You can come collect it like a fairy receiving offerings from the humans.”

I scowled, but before I could think of a retort, he started walking down the hall.

“Hey!” I called, taking a few steps out of the room. “Are you trying to taunt me or something?”

He turned and crossed his arms over his chest. “It was just a joke.”

“It wasn’t funny.”

“Jesus. Long car ride, my bad. Feel free to have a nap.”

When he turned again, my frustration peaked. “Fuck you,” I muttered.

He whirled around before I could make it back to the room. “Are you fucking serious, Roman?”

He came closer, and I almost backed up, but I didn’t want to look like a pussy. When he stopped in front of me, I saw anger in his expression. It was like the day he came out of Pete’s office.

“I told you that if you have an issue, you can stay in a hotel. There’s no reason for you to come in here acting like an asshole after five minutes.

” His knuckles were white from making fists at his sides.

When he saw me looking, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped back.

“Sorry. It’s been a shitty couple weeks. ”

“Why?”

He laughed. “You want to know why?”

“Yeah.” My voice came out weaker than it should have.

“Believe it or not, I’m not interested in sharing that with you.” He glanced at my chest for less than a second. “Enjoy your shower. ”

I watched him until he disappeared around the corner.

Part of me wanted to apologize while the other part didn’t want to smooth things over.

It was better if we didn’t talk much over the next three weeks.

If I could, I wouldn’t even stay that long, but they’d set up schedules for the team to work with me.

They wanted me to draw every single player, as well as a team portrait.

It was a lot of fucking work, but they were paying me really well.

It wasn’t just a calendar; it was postcards and other merch.

I was still shocked that they’d liked my art that much.

It was because of Travis that I had this project, and here I was, acting like a dick.

I didn’t actively tell myself to do it. He was cool and I liked him, but I was making him hate me.

It was the same thing I’d done to Til when we were teenagers, even if I wasn’t being as hostile about it as I had when I was younger.

Why was I doing that here?

Why did I do it back then?

Realizing I was still in the hall, I returned to my room and closed the door. I was due for a shower, and if I could pull myself together, I might go eat some dinner.

While I washed myself, I wondered if he would be done eating by the time I went out there. After what happened, he might not even give me any food, which was fair. Maybe I should wait longer to make sure he’d be gone.

I wasn’t generally an over-thinker. I didn’t want to get into the habit now, so I dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, then ventured out of the room. It was day one, and if it went to shit this early, the rest of my time here would suck.

An apology was the best course of action. He’d said he was sorry just because he reacted to my verbal attack. I was in the wrong, so I could meet him in the middle at the very least.

It smelled amazing out here, and I would’ve asked what he was making, but he wasn’t in the kitchen. I wondered if he ever sat down and relaxed. From what I’d seen, I doubted it.

There was soft music coming from outside, so I made my way to the back door. What I saw there made me freeze.

Travis was on the deck, standing on a mat, and he was doing yoga. He moved more gracefully than his tall, muscular body should’ve allowed. And, fuck, I had a view of just how fit he was .

Without a shirt on, the muscles in his back were visible.

As he stretched his arms to the sides, I watched them engage, along with his shoulders.

The sun was still hovering above the trees, so the light shone on his hair, bringing out the highlights.

When he lifted one leg and flattened his foot against the inside of his thigh, my eyes fell to his ass.

Anyone would notice. Travis was attractive. More than attractive. He was hot. Sexy , as some of his commenters said. Often.

Tessa looked up and cocked her head at me, so I rushed back into the kitchen. A timer started going off, which gave me an excuse to peek at the food in the oven. It was meat, but that was the only thing I could determine.

When he didn’t come inside, I bit my lip. He was the one cooking, so he should have it under control, right? During that LIVE, he mentioned that he got distracted easily.

I stepped onto the deck and cleared my throat. He turned around, looking surprised to see me.

“There’s a timer going off.”

“Shit,” he muttered as he rushed inside.

I watched him crouch to pull the dish out of the oven. When he was standing again, he crossed one ankle behind the other and stuck a thermometer into the meat.

“Did you forget you were cooking?” I asked lightheartedly.

“No.”

Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I stared at his back. When I realized that was a bad idea, I shifted my eyes to the window. I considered drawing the sunset again, but it didn’t feel interesting to me right now.

I noticed that he’d turned around, so I looked at him, only to find him studying me.

“What?” I asked more venomously than I’d intended.

“You sounded civilized a minute ago. Now you don’t. I just never know who I’m getting when I talk to you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Should I have let your food burn?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Must be the ADHD.”

His head cocked, which made my stomach lurch. “Wonder where you heard that.”

“You mentioned it. ”

“I don’t think I did. Not to you.”

“Well, it’s not hard to guess. My stepbrother has it.”

“Tilian?” He laughed before he turned back to the food. “Yeah, I see that. Get past his shell and he’s a ball of unfiltered chaos. Love that dude.”

I casually sat on a stool at the island and laid my palms on my thighs. “He doesn’t take anything. It makes his anxiety worse and he says he just doesn’t mind the way his brain works. Is that how you are?”

He leaned back against the counter and flipped a serving spoon around with his fingers. It reminded me of the way they spun lightsabers in Star Wars.

“I don’t medicate.”

“Why?” He looked annoyed by the question, so I shook my head. “You can ignore that.”

With a sigh, he came closer and leaned his forearms on the counter, just across the island from me. “Will you be agreeable for the rest of the day if I tell you?”

My lips twitched. “Sure.”

“I get angry easily. It started when I was thirteen, got worse when my mom died, peaked when I was fifteen. Stimulants heighten it, and sometimes, they actually make me tired. I don’t like either of those things, so I’ve just learned to manage, and I do fine.”

“Except when you burn food.”

He smiled and looked down at the counter. “Yeah, there are those times. Better to burn dinner than punch people in the face.”

“Have you done that?”

“I have.”

While he made two plates, I looked out the window and thought about his exercises. “Does yoga help?”

He set the food down and sat beside me. “It helps calm me down, and I can refocus myself, but that’s just in the moment.

Not reacting when I’m angry is a conscious effort every time, and sometimes, it’s too quick for me to catch.

Then, it’s just about reining myself in before I take things too far. ”

As I mulled over his words, I started eating. The food was damn good, and I couldn’t even say I was surprised. Travis lived alone with his dog and didn’t seem to do much aside from run and play with her. He probably spent a lot of time learning to cook .

I’d never been very far from a city. My stepdad’s house was only an hour from Seattle, and Atlanta was about thirty miles away from here, so it wasn’t much different. There was a certain peace that existed here, which was probably why Travis chose it.

“Do you get angry?” he asked suddenly.

The question made me fist one of my hands. “Everyone gets angry.”

“Sure. What sort of things set you off?”

“Stupid questions.”

I stood and brought my plate to the sink. After rinsing it and putting it in the dishwasher, I headed toward the hall.

“I thought you were going to be agreeable,” he called.

“I am. Just tired.”

Thankfully, he didn’t say anything else. Once I shut the door, I dropped onto the bed and buried my face in the pillow.

What kind of a question was that? Did I get angry? Yeah, I got fucking angry. I felt angry right now.

Why did I feel angry? Why did I always feel angry?