Page 80 of The Exception

Sonya rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the first stop on their date day, a giant blue rooster sculpture on the rooftop terrace of the National Gallery. All the years she’d lived in D.C. and she’d never noticed or even heard about the rooster sculpture, but somehow it was the first stop on Trav’s list of D.C.’s hidden gems.

She’d also never expected to call in sick to work and then spend the day riding a scooter and playing tourist. It was a great plan, though. Downtown in the middle of tourist season was the very last place anyone from work would be, making it the safest place to spend the first day she’d ever played hooky from anything in her entire life.

She was still wrestling with whether Trav was a good or bad influence on her, but at the moment, she was leaning toward good. It was a gorgeous day, she was with a guy who had a way of making a trip to see a sculpture of a rooster into an adventure, and she felt free.

“So what do you think?”

“It’s so random, but cool. I didn’t peg you for an art guy.”

Trav held up his phone to take a picture of the sculpture. “I’m not really, but who wouldn’t be intrigued by a huge blue rooster on a roof?”

He was smiling like a little kid, and she shook her head. “Do you want a picture with the rooster, Trav?”

He frowned and she giggled. She’d intentionally used the same placating voice she’d used with Emma’s boys when she’d gone with Emma to take them to see Santa last year.

“Only if you’re in it with me, smart ass.”

Her shriek when he grabbed her around the waist had all of the other tourists staring at them. “Trav!”

She was laughing too hard for her protests to be taken seriously and he started laughing too, moving them around until they were in the position he wanted with the rooster behind them. He snapped a selfie and released her, pausing to look at the picture and smile before shoving the phone into the pocket of his cargo shorts.

Sonya’s curiosity peaked. “Are you going to let me see it?”

“Eventually.”

His smirk told her that he knew that would annoy her and she refused to give him the satisfaction.

She stretched her lips into a wide smile. “Fine. So where are we going next?”

“Actually, the next stop is inspired by you.”

* * *

Sonya’s laughter was a sound Trav would never get tired of and when they pulled up to the second stop on his list, it echoed through the grove of elm and holly trees for a solid minute.

When she caught her breath, she stole his by turning one of her heartstopping smiles on him. “Really, Trav?”

“Yep. I know you’re a fangirl of his and everything.”

She rolled her eyes but accepted his hand as they rounded the memorial, coming face to face with a larger than life statue of Albert Einstein.

“I amnotan Einstein fangirl.”

“Einstein studied physics. Everyone knows that.”

Her sigh sounded like it came up from the depths of her soul before she shot him a side-eye sharp enough to maim.

“You know, we’re going to have to talk about your terrible imitations of me.”

They spent a few minutes walking hand in hand around the monument and he realized he could watch Sonya smile to herself as she ran her fingers across the quotes etched into the stone benches encircling the statue all day.“Have you been here before?”

She shook her head. “It’s one of those things I keep saying I’m going to do but never do.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “See? Playing hooky every now and then can help you cross things off your list too.”

Sonya smiled up at him. “I’m starting to see some benefits tooccasionallygoing off plan.”

Something in her voice told Trav she wasn’t just talking about calling in sick to hang out with him all day and he squeezed her hand tighter. He had a feeling that being with a guy like him in general was another one of those off-plan decisions. He was determined to show her all the benefits involved with that.

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