Page 54 of Willow Vale

“That was low,” Desi hissed at me, trying not to let her lips curl into a grin.

I smiled and immediately winced when a sharp ache rang through my head.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’ve just had a killer headache all morning. I’ll be okay after I take some more ibuprofen.”

“Or maybe you need some sleep? You’re looking a little tired,” she said.

When our food was brought to our table, we ate in comfortable silence until Desi couldn’t take it anymore. Going back to my kiss with Travis, she asked, “So what does this mean for you two? Are you back together?”

“We...didn’t really talk about it.”

“Well, would you want to get back together if he asked you?” She asked before taking a sip from her mug.

“I would. I do want that. I guess we’re just taking it day by day now, and we’ll see what happens.” I said, rubbing my hand over my face. “God, what are we doing?”

That kiss had rocked my world and turned it upside down.

Travis hadn’t just kissed me. He’d lit a match of desire I had only felt with one man my whole life—withhim—and I never wanted to smother the flickering flame in my heart. I was trying so hard to convince myself that he’d moved on with someone else. Like Amanda.

I would have if he hadn’t said all those words the other night.

Because no one could erase you from me.

I’d surrendered fighting what I felt for him the second he framed my face in his hands and crushed his lips onto mine.

“I’m not really sure if you’re asking in the hypothetical sense or in the literal one. But I’d say you’re both doing what you’ve been wanting for a long time.Finally.And guess what, babe?” Desi leaned forward as if she was about to reveal a secret I was eager to hear. She said gently, “There’s no one standing in your way to stop you. So why not enjoy it?”

The next dayI was barely able to function at work.

My headache lasted two whole days, making it nearly impossible to get any sleep.

My entire body had started to ache halfway through my shift, and I felt like a zombie as I handed Saul his second beer of the night.

“You okay there, Lila?” Saul asked me, running a hand over his long beard.

I don’t remember answering him with a coherent response. Only a mush of words strung together. I couldn’t muster so much as a smile because my head wouldn’t stop throbbing.

I was about to pour myself my fourth cup of coffee of the day when I felt two hands land atop my shoulders.

“You drink any more of that stuff, and you’ll be jumping off the walls,” Travis said behind me as he tugged me away from the coffee machine on the counter. “You’re done for today.”

“You don’t understand, I need it,” I practically whined, reaching a hand toward the mug as I got manhandled away from the only thing keeping me alive. Speaking only made the constant pounding in my head worse, but I still said, “I have to pour myself a cup of ambition so that I can survive.”

“You are not quoting Dolly to me right now,” he scoffed, clearly not entertained by me—or Dolly, for that matter. Which was unforgivable if you ask me.

“I just need to take something for this headache. I’ll be fine,” I tried to convince him.

“I think you and I both know that’s a lie. Come on, grab your things. It’s a slow enough night that Jake can manage on his own until I get back.”

“I can drive,” I said as I followed his gruff order to get my tote bag. I went through the motions of gathering my stufffrom the break room when a sudden chill ran down my spine, seeping into my bones.

I shivered as I waved goodbye to Manny, who eyed me like I was riddled with the plague as he told me to feel better. He said it in a sweet, yet oddly chastising way, but it was the thought that counted. I was fishing my keys out of my bag when I spotted Travis waiting for me in the hall, scowling at me like I kicked his puppy.

He was wearing a black t-shirt beneath a black Carhartt zip-up, hands in the pockets of his jeans while he leaned against the wall. It was ridiculous how good he always looked without trying. Here I was, feeling like I might keel over at any moment—though, I’d never admit it—and he was…well, hot. My headache had nothing on wanting to feel his lips on mine again though.

“All right, let’s go,” he said before plucking my keys out of my hand and slipping them back into my bag. “We’ll take my truck.”

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