burning into the side of my head, but I pretend not to notice. Like his proximity isn’t affecting me.
“So, what brings you guys in here tonight?” Travis addresses Rome and his friends. I stiffen, glaring at his back.
Fucking asshole tricked me.
Rome’s friend answers with a shrug, “Just coming in for a few cold ones after work.”
Travis smiles charmingly. “Right, right, we’re doing the same. Where do you fellas work?”
“Automotive garage,” Rome answers, with a bit of snark. I still haven’t found the courage to look their way yet. This is just a bad accident waiting to happen.
Travis makes a noise in the back of his throat, and my heart drops. Oh, good God. This isn’t happening. “That’s quaint.”
“Quaint?” Rome grits. I can hear the warning clear in his tone. Finally, I summon the courage to look his way, and he’s staring at Travis, with a murderous gleam in his eyes.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. But obviously, compared to a doctor, like me, there’s little to no competition.”
Rome spears a heated look my way, and I have the decency to look embarrassed on Travis’s behalf. “And what would we ever have competition over?” Roman asks, his voice filled with ice. Slowly, he slides off the barstool, turning to face us. Travis smirks, and I realize too late what he’s doing. He’s taunting Roman.
But why?
I startle, my body going stiff, as he slides his arm around my shoulders. “Competition? There is none. Not where I’m concerned.”
My gaze pings back and forth between the two men, both having a conversation of their own without words. Jaws are locked. Eyes narrowed in thin slits. Tension crackling in the air around us.
What the hell is happening?
My stomach revolts painfully when Roman looks at me. There’s so much to be read in his gaze, but what jumps out at me the most is betrayal. The man, who keeps his feelings boarded up behind a brick wall and thorns wrapped around his heart, is looking at me like I’ve forsaken him. I swear I even see a hint of jealousy there, but that can’t be right, can it?
Roman scoffs. “There is no competition, pretty boy. Not when I don’t want what you have.”
Their conversation and the hidden messages between them start to dawn on me. I choke on a breath.
Are they…are they talking about me? But why? It’s not like I’m dating Travis. And it’s not like I’m dating Rome either. So, where the hell is this sudden pissing contest coming from?
Travis smiles like he’s just won the lottery. “If that’s what you tell yourself, sure. Some people are just…undeserving of some things. Wouldn’t you agree, Olivia?”
I jerk my gaze to his, eyes wide. Pressing my lips together, I shake my head slightly. “Please stop,” I whisper, so only he can hear.
As if on cue, our drinks are sliding across the bar top. Travis picks them up, taking off with a shit-eating grin. I glance back at Rome and find him standing there, stiff as a board, glaring daggers at us. His hands are balled into fists, and the tic in his jaw jumps wildly, like it’s all that’s holding him back at this point.
For the rest of the night, I sneak subtle glances at Roman. He’s talked to a few women but never for long. Every time one of them smiles and walks away, I can’t help but breathe a little sigh of relief that they won’t be going home with him.
I truly am sick in the head.
At some point, my bladder screams to be released. Seems all the drinks have finally caught up with me. I excuse myself and head down the wood and velvet hallway toward the bathrooms.
“Olivia, wait!”
I pause, turning around with a questioning expression on my face. Travis jogs up to me, glancing over his shoulder a few times.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Look, I know you said you just moved here but—” He pauses, and I have to shift on my feet, because my bladder is on the verge of bursting. All I need is to piss myself in this hallway. That would really be the cherry on top of tonight. “Listen, I like you, Olivia. You’re smart, funny, and insanely beautiful. You’re committed to the work, and I just can’t help but feel like there’s something between us. This attraction…it’s insane. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I feel it every time we’re in the room together.”
Ice floods my body, and my breath gets lodged in my throat. My heart stops beating,