Page 7 of Catch Me (Becoming Us #4)

Travis

As I drank my smoothie, I decided I needed to add more fruit.

I was trying to include vegetables, but it sort of tasted like I’d dipped kale in apple juice.

For a second, I considered saying fuck it because it was Monday, so I could go for some breakfast tacos, but I had to exercise a little self-control once in a while.

Tessa would be distraught if I got too out of shape to keep up with her.

Her head popped up, and she cocked it as she stared at me. I swear this dog could hear my thoughts. Her head tilted to the other side, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Alright, little monster. You’d better tell me if you’re in my mind. Blink twice if you know what I’m thinking.”

She just stared at me with a blank look, so that was encouraging.

Wow, I needed to get out more.

“Selfie time.”

She’d learned what that meant, so she ran over to me. When she tried to stop, she didn’t get traction in time and collided with my leg. When I crouched beside her, she played off her blunder and casually put her paws on my thigh. I kissed the top of her head while I snapped a few pictures .

“Beautiful. You’re the only reason people follow me.”

A few thirsty as fuck people commented within the first few minutes of me posting it, which made me roll my eyes. Did they think that would get them somewhere, or did they just find it fun? One of them said, ‘ Make me Tessa’s stepdad.’

Wait, that one was West.

Christ.

A text came in and made me pause with the smoothie halfway to my mouth. Had I given him my number? I was positive that I hadn’t.

Roman: Hey

I almost laughed when I read it. Hey . That was weird as hell.

Trav: Hey back

Roman: I got your number from my stepbrother

Trav: That’s better than what I was thinking

Roman: What were you thinking?

Trav: That you secretly work for the gov and you were planted to gather info on me

Roman: Oh

Damn. Did he know how to joke?

Trav: I have to ask you something

Roman: Ok

Trav: When’s the last time you laughed?

Roman: Idk

Well, this was fun.

I sent a quick text to Pete to see if he had an answer about the calendar. I should’ve followed up earlier, but I was forgetful. Now, I felt bad about it.

I thought he texted me back, but it was Roman again.

Roman: Tbh the gov plant thing made me laugh

Trav: Out loud ?

Roman: Seems irrelevant

I chuckled, then read the new message from Pete. It made me perk up. After draining the rest of my smoothie, I stuck my tongue out and decided I definitely needed more fruit in it. Or a bucket of sugar.

Trav: Do you have plans this weekend?

It took a while for him to respond. He kept typing, then stopping. It was a simple question. At least, I thought so.

Roman: No plans. Why?

Trav: They like the art idea. I think it’d be easier for everyone if you talked to him in person and ironed out the details

Roman: You want me to fly there?

Trav: You could walk, but I think flying sounds less tedious

Where are you at?

Roman: Home

Trav: Okay, that’s cool, but where would you be flying out from?

Roman: Oh. Sorry. Chicago

This was taking too long. I was going to wear a path in my floor from all of my pacing, so I hit call.

“Hey,” he answered, sounding more nervous than the situation called for.

“Hey back. Would you rather fly out on Friday or Saturday? I hate getting off a plane the same day I have to do something, but that might just be me.”

He was silent for a solid minute. “I feel like we could do a meeting over the phone or video or something, but if you think it’d be better in person...I’ll look at the flights and see. A red-eye is probably cheapest.”

“Oh, I’m an idiot for not being clearer. I was going to pay for it.”

“Uh . . . Why?”

“Because it’d be dumb for you to spend a big chunk of what you’ll make just to fly here. And you might need to do it a couple times since I assume you can only do this on weekends, plus the guys’ schedules might be a mess and all that. ”

“Sorry, I’m confused. That sounds like a bad deal for you.”

I leaned against the counter to stop myself from walking around. “I told you; I like supporting indie artists. The idea is really cool, and it’ll be a good opportunity for you.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“Don’t have to. I make a lot of money, Roman. I’m happy to put some of it into this. It’ll be worth it, and I’ll get to claim some bragging rights since it was my idea.”

He laughed, albeit a little awkwardly. “Thank you. Really. Can I at least make you something? A portrait of you and your dog maybe.”

I smiled and looked down at Tessa. “We’d be ecstatic.”

“Cool, just think about where you’d want it to be. Your house or the river or whatever.”

“I’ll see what the monster thinks. You still haven’t answered the itinerary question.”

“Right. Friday is cool, I guess.”

“Great. I’ll send you the details when I have them. Make sure you bring a portfolio and your best smile.”

“Thanks.”

I ended the call and crouched to pet Tessa’s head. “What do you think? Backyard or the river?” She barked, and I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, you want to swim. Fine, but you have to let me make decisions once in a while.”

She turned her back on me and headed outside. Apparently, we weren’t in agreement.

*****

While I waited for Roman to make it out of the airport, I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel.

I wasn’t entirely sure how to act. We’d interacted fine on the phone, but he was more than a little prickly the one and only time we’d met.

This was a professional thing, so I hoped he wouldn’t look at me with a mysterious scowl like he had a few times at the game.

I liked doing nice things for people—giving back, if you will. Baseball paid way too much, and I didn’t even know what to do with my money, so I donated quite a bit and I volunteered some of my free time to help those who didn’t have the things I did.

If only niceties always came off the way I intended.

I knew those things were hard to trust, and a lot of people didn’t actually have good intentions, but I did.

I also wasn’t in the business of trying to convince people of that.

If they didn’t trust me, they didn’t trust me, and we went about our lives.

I saw him leave the building, so I rolled down the windows. “Hey!”

Tessa barked through the back one to be double sure he heard us. Expressionless, he headed over to the Jeep. After he got in, he glanced at me quickly, then settled his duffle between his legs.

“How was the flight?” I asked.

“Fine.”

With an internal shrug, I pulled away from the loading zone.

Tessa put her head on Roman’s shoulder and panted in his face.

I knew firsthand that her breath wasn’t always tolerable, but before I could tell her to back up, he started scratching her ears.

He twisted in his seat and used both hands to pet the sides of her face.

“Like dogs?”

“Who doesn’t like dogs?” he replied.

“Some people. Bad ones.”

“Hey,” he said to her. “You’re so good, huh, Tessa?”

I cocked my head as I stared at the road. “You know her name?”

“West said it.”

“Oh, right.”

I guess I knew that he’d been listening, considering he’d started acting differently after that. He’d left for half an hour to stand at the back of the room instead of being near me. We were sitting in the same car now, though, so maybe he’d moved past it.

“Did your family have pets?” I asked.

His lips thinned as he continued to pet Tessa. I focused on driving, but then I realized that I didn’t know where I was going.

“Hey, so I don’t know where you’re staying. I was gonna offer you a room, but I’m sure you got a hotel.”

Still, he remained silent. He wasn’t an easy person to talk to, that was for sure.

I didn’t know if he was introverted or if he simply didn’t like to talk.

Or it was because of me. Whatever it was, I’d let him stick to it.

I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

This experience should be enjoyable for him, and hopefully, it would be a good memory—the time he did a commission for the Atlanta Braves.

“I need to know where I’m going, buddy. ”

He ground his teeth so hard that it was audible. “I got a room. Uh, let me pull up the address.”

I peeked over at his phone, then wrinkled my nose. “Absolutely not.”

“What?”

“Do you want bedbugs? That’s how you get bedbugs. Everyone knows about that place.”

“Yeah, I read the reviews.”

I glanced at him, knowing my eyes must’ve been like saucers. “You read the reviews and still booked it? Shit, no one told me you were insane.”

He was quiet again, and I wondered if I’d made it too big of a deal. But really, how could I let him stay in that shithole?

Flipping on my turn signal, I took the on-ramp.

Roman looked behind us. “This is the wrong way.”

“Anywhere near that hotel is the wrong way.”

My first instinct was to offer him one of my rooms. I had three of them, not including my office.

It would be simple and I’d be able to drive him to the meeting tomorrow.

For obvious reasons, I wasn’t sure if he’d be comfortable with that.

Getting a hotel in Atlanta on short notice would cost a lot, and I knew he’d fight me on it if I offered to pay.

“I know some better places,” I ventured. “But if you’re looking for the budget option, you can stay at my house.”

I didn’t look at him, but out of the side of my eye, I could glean enough.

“My hotel’s fine.”

With a sigh, I forced myself not to argue. “Whatever you say. Just don’t answer the door if anyone knocks.”

It was silent for a minute. When I approached the next exit, he huffed. “Is it that bad?”

“Worse.”

He swore under his breath, then tapped around on his phone. “Isn’t the south supposed to be cheap?”

It was impossible not to laugh. “Atlanta didn’t get the memo. Sorry, I should’ve gone over what to expect, but I’m actually a terrible planner.”

He just grunted and dropped his phone in his lap.

“I can— ”

“Don’t offer to pay or something weird like that,” he interrupted.

“My place, then?”

“Guess so.”

I drove for another twenty minutes, then got off the freeway. My house wasn’t super far off the beaten path, but it wasn’t in the city. Tessa needed space to run, and I liked being distant enough from the neighbors that we didn’t disturb each other.

When we pulled up, Tessa got hyped and started running across the seat, back and forth.

My tires crunched the gravel; it had become the sound of coming home.

As soon as I put it in park, Tessa barked.

I hurried out of the seat and opened her door, then watched her dart toward the house.

Two hours in the car and she was ready to explode with energy.

Roman was standing by the Jeep with his bag slung over his shoulder, looking awkward. When I came up beside him, he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Come on, I’ll show you the guest room.”

He just nodded, which I took as my cue to start moving. We walked through the front door, and his eyes widened a little as he looked around.

The place wasn’t fancy in the way some of the guys’ condos were, but it was far from conservative.

It had a modern rustic vibe with a sloped ceiling in the living room that was made of cherry wood planks, and it had beams running across it.

The fireplace was stone instead of brick, and there was a black flue pipe that went from the top of it to the ceiling.

The kitchen looked like something out of a home design show—dark green cabinets, white countertops, and brass fixtures.

It was homey in a way I loved. This was one of the things I’d spent a lot of money on, and I wouldn’t apologize for it.

“If you’re hungry, feel free to have whatever,” I told him as we passed the kitchen. I led him into the hallway, all the way down to the end, then gestured to the door on the left. “It has its own bathroom, so you don’t have to fight me for a shower or anything.”

When he didn’t respond, I looked over at him. He noticed my stare and stiffened.

“Thanks,” he muttered .

Then, he just walked into the room and closed the door. The abruptness made me breathe a laugh. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but that caught me a bit by surprise.

“Tessa!” I called as I returned to the kitchen. She came hurtling through the dog door and sat in front of me, tail sweeping the wood floor. “We didn’t go on our run today. I know, I know. I got distracted with my videos. You ready now, turbo?”

She barked her agreement, then put her paws on my chest. I held onto her head and shook her around playfully before I took off toward the front door. She beat me to the car, of course, but I’d become used to losing to the likes of her.

I sent Roman a quick text so he’d know I was gone. Maybe he’d come out of the room if I wasn’t there. Some sunshine and the peace that came from outside of the city could do him some good. Chicago probably soured his mood—more than it already was, if what I’d heard about him was to be believed.