Page 104 of The Exception

She nodded, a few more tears slipping free. “Yes. I do.”

Emma squared her shoulders and tipped her chin. “Then I refuse to believe this is all you have in you.”

Thirty-nine

Trav had stared at that selfie of him and Sonya with that giant rooster so much over the last few days that he’d practically memorized every detail. If he had any artistic talent at all, he could probably draw it from memory. He couldn’t stop looking at it. It was the only picture he had of her and he needed to see that smile.

“Checking your grades to make sure you’re still graduating next week?”

Trav looked up from his phone to see Mike leaning against the porch railing with a beer. He hadn’t even noticed him come outside.

He’d been there all day for Asia’s birthday party, but even a bunch of one-year-olds hadn’t been able to shake him out of the mood he’d been in for the last three weeks.

Ever since things had ended between him and Sonya.

Trav slipped his phone into his pocket and tried to smile. “As far as I know I am.”

“I thought you’d be more excited about it. This is what you’ve been working for.”

It was what he’d been working for a long time, but Trav couldn’t find it in himself to be happy about it. Like everything else in his life recently, achieving this goal didn’t satisfy him the way it should.

Maybe because he’d pictured celebrating his graduation by taking Sonya out on a date and letting the world know that they were together. Now, she wouldn’t even be there and it felt all wrong because he wouldn’t be there either if it wasn’t for her.

“You look like shit, you know.”

“Thanks a lot, man. It’s been a rough few weeks with work and finals…”

And dealing with a broken heart.

After his anger over everything that went down faded, all Trav had left aside from his self-defeating thoughts was work, school, and a bed he couldn’t bear to sleep in because it still smelled like Sonya. He was pretty sure he’d even bummed his therapist out during their session the other day.

“Okay, enough. Out with it.”

Trav blinked out of his thoughts and realized Mike’s eyes were trained on him. “Out with what?”

“Don’t try to play me. If it wasn’t for the kids, I doubt we would’ve seen you crack a smile today. I bet you listened to that depressing-ass playlist of yours for the entire three-hour drive down here.”

Mike thought he knew him so well. So what if he’d had Radiohead on repeat lately? He just liked their music.

Jesus, he was full of shit.

“Nothing is going on.”

“I had to promise Tif to let her pick our next three Netflix shows to get her not to interrogate you, so if I have to watchBridgerton, you’re going to tell me what’s got you so bent out of shape.”

Trav leaned against the railing next to his friend. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Would one of those things be the woman you were supposed to bring with you today?”

Trav had pretended not to see the not-so-subtle shove Mike had given Tif when he’d arrived at their front door alone. He should’ve known they weren’t just going to let him escape back to D.C. without getting the story out of him.

Trav sighed. “We broke up a couple weeks ago.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, man. Seemed like you were really into her.”

“Well, it’s over.”

Mike folded his arms over his chest and sighed. “Are you sure? I mean, not all break ups are permanent. Me and Tif broke up and then got married three months later.”

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