Page 15 of Fourth Wheel
Ugh.
Travis.
I guess not full-blownugh. But a miniugh, for sure.
We dated for a few months in high school. We went to senior prom together. And then we went off to different colleges and things fizzled. But when we’re both back in town, and when I’m exceptionally bored, I seem to end up in bed with him.
He’s objectively attractive. And he’s sort of funny—if I’m drunk. He’s okay-ish in bed. Or maybe I’ve just learned to manage my expectations when it comes to him.
Note to self: if you fake it the first time you hook up with someone, be prepared to fake it again… and again…and again… every time you make that same mistake.
More than anything, Travis is convenient. Neither one of us is interested in taking things further. So when I’m home, he’ll do.
I don’t dislike the guy. But I get annoyed with myself when we hook up nowadays. Like,come on, Madison. You can pull better, girl!
“We’ll see.” I shrug.
Paige gives me the biggest smile and lets out a little squeal before pinching my thigh. She’d love nothing more than for us to end up paired off with these guys, or some version of them, living in Hampton and pregnant by the time we’re twenty-five.
If that’s her version of happily ever after, I want that for her. But that’s so far from the vision I have for my own life. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, though, and it would be a pretty lonely summer if I didn’t have her to hang out with. So I return her smile and ignore the buffoons who have dislodged so much water from my parents’ pool it’s down a solid three inches.
Needing to cool off, I sit up and make my way over to the water. Paige follows, and we perch on the edge of the pool and let our legs hang down while splashing water up and down our arms. It’s only mid-May, but the high today is ninety-two. I’m glad my parents were home a few weeks ago to get the pool opened up for the season.
Travis pops his head out of the water inches from where we sit.
“Hey ladies.” He grins, raising his eyebrows behind his aviators—yes, he’s still wearing them, even underwater. He’s somehow trying way too hard, and also not hard enough.
“Can I take you to a party next weekend, Maddie girl?”
I inwardly cringe at the nickname. Only my brother’s allowed to call me that. The faking it lesson applies here, too. I should have never let him get away with it once, because now it’s too late to course correct.
“That depends,” I hedge. “Are Paige and Kyle going?”
Travis spins around to call out to his buddy. “Yo. Ky! We’re taking the girls to that party at Adley’s house on Saturday night. Cool?”
Kyle grunts something that sounds like agreement, and Paige squeezes my arm appreciatively. Travis gives me an obnoxiously unsubtle up and down and swims a few inches closer, then grips both my knees and uses them as leverage to raise himself out of the water until we’re eye to eye.
“Looks like it’s a date,” he whispers in what I’m sure he thinks is an attempt at being sexy. I muster up a half smile before shaking him off, standing up, and heading to the sunroom for a drink.
Well, it looks like I’m going to a party.
“Maddie! Wait!” Paige calls as I make my way across the backyard. “We need to go shopping!”
I wonder if my sister-in-law has any job openings at her non-profit. Apparently, I’m exceptionally good at charity work.
Chapter 9
Maddie
Igetoutofthe shower with five minutes to spare before our Sunday night Wheeler family Zoom call. Why we have to sit awkwardly in front of our computers like we’re in a board meeting once a week is beyond me. We have a family group chat. I text my brother almost every day. I talk to my mom on the phone multiple times a week.
But alas. Family Zoom calls started at the beginning of my sophomore year at Berkeley, and they’ve been going strong ever since.
I grab a hairbrush and work through my tangles as the call connects on my end. Rhett’s already logged in, because of course he is. I do the awkward Zoom wave when he and Tori pop up at the top of my screen.
“Hold on,” I mutter as I hop up to find a hair tie. I wrestle my hair into a messy bun and pull it tight as I sit back down in front of my vanity.
My parents are both on the call now, so I wave to them as well.
