Page 79 of The Exception

He nodded, his chin nuzzling her hair, and she couldn’t help her smile. Trav was an open book most of the time, but his need for validation stayed close to his chest. She liked being able to boost his confidence. The real kind, not the cocky facade. He was good, and he deserved to feel good.

And so did she. This right here, this felt good.

“Let’s do it,” she said, looking up at him. “Let’s play hooky tomorrow.”

“Yeah?”

“Yup. We both work damn hard. Let’s extend the weekend, just you and me.”

A grin bloomed across his face. “Well, look at that. This might be the first idea of mine you’ve liked, Nurse Pope.”

Thirty

“You want to ride around the city on that?”

Trav tried his best not to laugh but the look on Sonya’s face made it hard. Her expression was somewhere between horror and fascination as she walked around inspecting the electric scooters for rent.

He nodded. “Sure. Ever since I got home, I’ve been making a list of off-the-beaten-path attractions I want to see and I’d much rather see them with you than alone. I’ve also always wanted to ride one of these.”

Her eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. “You make lists?”

Trav chuckled. He should’ve known that would be her takeaway from all of that. “I guess you’ve already rubbed off on me a little bit.”

She chewed her bottom lip. “What if we run into someone from work?”

“Then they’re skipping out too and we pretend we don’t see each other.”

“I thought we were going to stay in bed when I agreed to this,” she grumbled.

“Already trying to get back in my pants,” he said, shaking his head. “We’ll have plenty of time for that before we have to get your car from Dani’s. Time will be tight for the next few weeks. Let’s enjoy it.”

They weren’t going to get many chances for a real date while he was still in school, and he wasn’t willing to give her the wrong impression about his intentions. There was that word again, but Adam was right to push him on it. Trav wanted to spend time with Sonya, not just sleep with her, and she deserved to not have to question that.

He slipped his hand into hers, squeezing. “Besides, you know you always end up enjoying the things I coerce you into.”

Her face softened as if she were realizing the same. “We could just take the metro.”

“We could…” Trav paused his coercion efforts when a playful grin stretched across her lips.

“But if we did that, I wouldn’t be able to say I’ve ridden an electric scooter around D.C.”

“Looks like I may be rubbing off on you a little bit too.”

“Maybe,” she conceded as she stepped onto the scooter and focused on the instructions like she was trying to memorize them.

Trav laughed to himself and used his credit card at the kiosk to pay for the scooter rentals. She’d probably be a scooter expert by the end of this outing, and when he turned around, her scooter was already creeping along the sidewalk. This was going to be fun.

He grabbed his own scooter and joined her. “You ready?”

She nodded, her dark eyes sparkling. “Show me what’s on your list.”

* * *

“Now that is a very large cock.”

“That’s a phrase I’d like to hear from you more often,” Trav said

She pushed an elbow into his side. It only made him laugh harder.

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