While I found women beautiful and I could definitely see their attraction, I wasn’t attracted to them. It would be hard, but I assumed it would be harder for a heterosexual man. Women were naturally more intimate with their friends. Harper and I had shared a bed before when there was nowhere else to sleep. It wasn’t a big deal. I bet, if two straight guys ran into that problem, one of them would sleep on the floor. Not all men, but a lot that I knew.
“I understand. I think you both did an excellent job today. I’m hoping to buy one of your pictures for a book cover.”
He wrapped his arms around my middle, and I leaned my head against his chest.
“You know I’m not going to oppose that.” He kissed my cheek. “I just need to quickly wash my hair, and then I’ll get out of your way, so you can have the shower to yourself.”
“Sounds good.” I liked sharing a shower, but it was hard to actually get clean sometimes.
When I got out of the shower, I could hear Travis talking on the phone through the door.
“It went great. Much better than last time. I’ll have to tell you about it when I get home.” Pause. “Really? When?” Pause. “Okay. That would be nice. I’ll have to warn her.”
I wondered if I was the her that he was talking about and what he had to warn me about.
I dried off, slipped on my robe, and stepped out of the bathroom as he was finishing up his call.
“Our plane gets in at five thirty.” Pause. “Okay. See you then.” Pause. “Bye, sis.” He hit End on his phone and threw it on the bed. “Sloan is going to pick us up from the airport tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
His friend Broderick had driven us, so I’d assumed he’d take us home. I had yet to meet his family, and we actually hadn’t really talked about it, so I was a little surprised. But it was also exciting that he was inviting me to meet his sister.
He studied me. “Is that okay?”
“Of course.” I smiled. “I would love to meet your sister. I just hope she likes me.”
Travis pulled me into his arms. “She’s going to love you.”
Forty-One
Sydney
Travis’s sister didn’t love me. Don’t get me wrong; she didn’t hate me. But I did not feel any love coming from her when she met us at the airport.
Sloan ran up to Travis and threw her arms around him. I was a little envious because, even though my brother and I saw each other often, I could never picture either of us running up and hugging each other. We simply weren’t that close.
When they separated, Travis introduced us, and Sloan held out her hand to me. I shook it as she studied me. I hoped she wasn’t wondering what a guy like her brother was doing with a woman like me. She nodded politely after her assessment, but I felt an I don’t know if I can trust you yet vibe.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to her despite her reservations. I was looking forward to seeing another side of Travis.
“Same here,” she said, her voice cool and her face devoid of an expression. She didn’t sound like it was especially nice to meet me.
Sloan had red hair and the same green eyes. She was pretty but not as good-looking as Travis. But I could be biased.
“Do you need to grab any luggage?” she asked us.
“Nope, we both brought carry-ons,” Travis said.
“Great. Let’s go then.”
I trailed behind Travis and his sister as we walked to her car. They were talking about someone they apparently both knew, so I just followed them, eavesdropping on their conversation about someone who had gotten into trouble with the law again.
When we got to Sloan’s car and loaded our bags in the back, Travis turned to me. “Sorry. We were talking about our cousin.”
I shrugged and smiled. “No big deal.”
I’d had him all weekend. His sister could certainly have his attention for a while.
I moved to get in the backseat behind Sloan, so I could see Travis in the passenger seat. It took a few minutes to get out of the airport parking ramp, but soon, we were on our way. Seeing as it was the weekend, the traffic was pretty thin compared to a weekday, and I hoped we would quickly get to Travis’s place.
“Last-minute family dinner tonight. How does Cowboy Jack’s sound? Mom and Dad are going to