Page 53 of Catch Me (Becoming Us #4)

Roman

“What the hell, man?” I shouted.

Kai leaned against the side of the house as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

I knew that he was probably distracting himself from his own shit by meddling in mine.

His dad had been doing well up until a month ago, and that was eating at him more than he’d tell anyone except Sen. But I was still pissed at him.

“What’s got your panties in a bunch?” he asked.

“You know what. What happened to the getaway driver spiel?”

“Relax,” he drawled. “It’s just an escape room.”

“Well, I’m not going.”

“Why not?”

“Why do you think? I’m not playing these games. Not with you, and especially not with him .”

“Can you even say his name?”

I huffed and looked down at my phone. “Of course I can say his name. I’m not a child.”

“You’re an abandoner of men. A heartb reaker.”

The case on my phone shifted as I squeezed it. Clenching my teeth, I counted backward from ten. It was a stupid trick my therapist wanted me to use, and I didn’t think it worked, but I’d be damned if I didn’t try.

“I mean, he gave you, like, a whole week,” Kai went on. “Couldn’t figure your shit out in a week?”

“Don’t start.”

“Took me a day to commit to Sen after he kissed me. Hell, Sen went to bat against his dad for me. That’s scary shit. You still haven’t dealt with yours.”

I tried to walk away, but my skin was on fire.

When I heard Kai chuckle, I grabbed his shoulders and shoved him to the side.

He stumbled but righted himself, just managing to avoid landing in a shrub.

I clutched the front of his shirt and thrust him up against the wall again, forcing a grunt out of him.

Someone appeared around the corner carrying two drinks. “Roman,” Sen scolded, rushing over. His eyes went between us warily.

“It’s okay, baby,” Kai assured him. He didn’t look at all concerned about being in this position.

“What the hell’s going on?”

Ignoring him, I tightened my grip on Kai. “You gonna keep talking shit?”

He shrugged. The way the corner of his lips lifted made me even angrier. I kept my hands at his chest, resisting the urge to take it further.

“Good,” I said.

“Actually, I think you’re a pussy.”

Sen groaned. “Kai, you’re gonna get hit.”

I released Kai’s shirt and thrust my hands to my sides. “You should listen to your boyfriend.”

“He’s my fiancé.”

“Whatever.”

“Oh, ho, ho,” West bellowed when he joined us. Somehow, the bastard was always around when something happened. “We fighting or what? I get Roman. We’re due to square up and settle who would win, once and for all. ”

I shook my head and took another step back, still trying to calm myself down. With Linc coming up beside West, I was overwhelmed and teetering on the edge of fury.

Kai glanced at West. “Nah, we’re just trying to get Roman to have an emotional response.”

“We?” Sen repeated.

“Why does he need to be emotional?” Linc asked.

“Cause he wants to act like he’s fine, which isn’t doing anyone any good,” Kai replied.

Without a word, I turned around and walked toward the front of the house.

Nobody called for me, but I heard them talking.

I didn’t want this to be some constant topic of conversation just because I had history with Travis.

It was barely even history. I didn’t need an emotional response, that was for sure.

I quickly ordered a ride, and I was relieved when I saw that it wasn’t too far away. I just needed to get the hell out of here before I hit something—or someone.

“You’ve gotta go easy on your old man,” someone said. “That ball could tear right through my hand.”

A laugh followed, and it immediately made my stomach clench.

It was carefree, just like I’d heard a hundred times.

Seeing him had been one thing, but experiencing his joy again.

.. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t because of me.

The fact that it still existed somewhere in the world was enough to make my body feel heavy with the weight of the past, of my failures.

There was really no way to avoid him, so I just kept walking. Travis was in the front yard, throwing a ball with an older man. The way he smiled was so similar that I had to assume it was his dad. Why did that make the knot in my stomach tighten even more?

Keeping my head down, I passed them. Maybe he watched me go, or maybe I imagined the prickle at the back of my neck. It didn’t matter.

I continued until I reached the end of the driveway where it met the road. It only took a few more minutes for the car to arrive, and I got in without a word. The ride was silent, just like I wanted it. The entire time, I just stared out the window, watching the vaguely familiar scenery pass by .

By the time I got to the hotel, I was exhausted.

Once my door closed behind me, I leaned back against it.

Deciding to just go with it, I slid down until I was sitting.

There was something about being on the floor that was comforting.

Maybe there was some science behind it, but all I knew was that it felt right.

Looking at my phone, I navigated to Travis’ contact. He’d changed his picture to one of him with Tessa. I recognized it from his Instagram earlier today when he’d been at the ice cream shop.

Jesus, that was sad.

My thumb hovered over the call button. It got a little closer, then it was right above it.

When the phone vibrated, my thumb tapped the screen and I swore. Before it could start ringing, I ended the call. My heart raced as I watched it return to the home screen.

That was too close.

I checked the text and forced myself to breathe through the still fading panic.

Leo: Hey, how are things?

Roman: It’s coming along. Want a pic?

Leo: Of course! I’m stoked. You doing alright?

I considered how to answer. We’d been talking a little bit, but I still felt awkward about what had happened.

He was the only one I kept in contact with from my old group of friends.

It was only a few months ago when he’d reached out to talk about a game he was working on.

I’d agreed to collaborate on the character designs, and after a couple of weeks, we started talking sort of like we used to.

It was nice, and I didn’t put him in the same category as the other guys. They’d actually been easy to cut off, probably because they were simple assholes, plus I’d started talking to Til and the others after Christmas. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it this far.

Suddenly, I felt guilty for putting hands on Kai. He’d wanted to push me like that, obviously, but I should’ve had better control of myself. I couldn’t slip back into that reactionary anger that I used to exist in .

Maybe that was the point. I was shoving everything down, which made it worse in a way. Fucking Kai and his subtle but not so subtle life lessons.

With a sigh, I sent Leo a picture of a character I’d been working on during the plane ride.

Roman: All good over here. Sorta on vacation, but you know I take my art everywhere

Leo: LOL. Glad to hear it. We should catch up soon

Roman: For sure

We probably wouldn’t, but our conversations were easy and the business side of things could be good. Between his game and another that I was contracted for, at least I had plenty to keep me busy while I was here.

Oh yeah, there was also the escape room. That was bound to be an amazing time. It’d be smart to go on a long run beforehand, otherwise I was likely to explode and ruin the entire thing.