Page 56 of The Exception

“Dude, no more stealing strawberries. You’re going to throw off the ratio of strawberries to blueberries.”

Trav’s grin spread even wider, like it always did when she let that Type A side of herself shine. Usually her perfectionism was met with eye rolls or groans, but not from him. He seemed to like it or was at least amused by it.

He said, “That would be unacceptable, considering it’s finally your turn to cook for me.”

Something about the gentle teasing in his tone made her whole body flush like she’d taken a shot of the bourbon she was planning to soak the fruit in. It distracted her just enough that she was unprepared when he grabbed a few blueberries from the bowl before backing out of arm's reach to pop them into his mouth, which had been his plan all along.

“Three blueberries equal one strawberry. Your ratio is safe,” Trav declared before grabbing his beer from the counter and following Josh and Dylan out the door.

Sonya smiled to herself and went back to slicing strawberries, but she felt three sets of eyes burning holes into her from all sides. She looked up and her suspicions were confirmed.

“What?”

They all exchanged a glance, and Sonya guessed that Emma had drawn the short straw because she was the one who spoke first. “What did he mean, it’syourturn to cook for him?”

Shit.She hadn’t told them about Trav bringing her lunch and that realization started an avalanche of things she hadn’t told them. They had no idea about the study sessions, the treadmill runs, the furniture shopping, the hospital benefit, or the accidental lip lock. She’d told them that she and Trav had become friends, but given them no context as to why, and from the looks on their faces, they knew she was hiding something.

“It’s not a big deal. He enjoys cooking and he brings me lunch at work sometimes,” Sonya explained. They had no need to know that sometimes meant nearly every day. “And before you ask, he’s a really good cook.”

Dani muttered, “That’s not the question I was going to ask.”

Emma wiped her hands on a towel before resting them on her hips. “When you told me you’d invited him, I have to admit I was a little surprised. I mean, I know you said you two are friends now, but I didn’t think you were weekend trip level friends.”

“I’m woman enough to admit I was wrong about him,” Sonya offered with a shrug. “He’s still annoying, but he’s a good guy.”

“Heseemslike a good guy, but what if it’s all just an act so you’ll give him a good grade? Did you think about that?” Even after everything she’d found with Josh, Cat still looked for a catch when it came to men.

“That’s not what he’s doing,” she said, and it came out a little more defensively than she would’ve liked. Maybe because she was still pissed at Jack Travis for the same insinuation.

Admittedly, Sonya had been a little skeptical when Trav first started bringing her lunch. But as time passed, and she’d taken the time to get to know him, he’d turned out to be one of the most genuine people she’d ever met. Sweet, even. “I’m his mentor not his teacher. I can evaluate his progress but I can’t directly pass or fail him. Besides, he’s good at this. He doesn’t need a leg up.”

“She’s definitely considered all angles,” Emma said to the others with a wink.

Dani snorted. “But you have to admit that going from nemesis to bestie in under two months is a whole journey.”

Sonya rolled her eyes. “He’s not my bestie. You three idiots are my besties.”

Dani jumped up to sit on the counter. “I don’t know. You didn’t say anything about him violating the Sonya Says rules about hanging your arm out of a moving vehicle.”

Both Cat and Emma’s mouths fell open. Violating a Sonya Says was tantamount to blasphemy, and being allowed to get away with it was unheard of.

“Now I’m offended,” Cat said. “We’ve known each other for over a decade and you still give me hell about that every time we ride together.”

Sonya shot Dani a glare. Thanks to her big mouth, she had to tell them the whole story or she wasn’t going to make it out of that kitchen in one piece. She put down the knife and rested her palms on the countertop.

Resigned to her fate, she sighed. “Alright. It’s not really that interesting of a story but what do you want to know?”

All three of their faces lit up with eager smiles like they were watching a reality show of her life.

They responded in chorus, “Everything.”

* * *

“This place is amazing,” Trav said, following the guys back out to the second story deck. The lake spread out as far as they could see on either side, surrounded by pine trees, and he spotted a dock jutting out from the small grassy knoll in front of the house. He couldn’t wait to take a running leap off of it and swim until his muscles burned.

Between school and working twelve-hour days, he hadn’t realized how much he needed the break until right then. Sonya must have, though. And he definitely needed to thank her again for inviting him.

“You all live out on the peninsula, right?” Trav asked. He touched the tiny pink sock on Lucia’s foot, hoping he was pulling off chill and casual despite feeling a little like the first day of school. His piss-poor attempt at making friends with Elliot still lived in a little corner in the back of his brain, reminding him he wasn’t always great at this.

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