“Should we check it out?” he asked.
I tried tosuppressmy smile. “What did you do with the old Travis? OldTravwould have run screaming from anything remotely dangerous or supernatural.”And now he was lifting an eyebrowat mein a devilish dare that sent a shiver up my spine and made my mouth water.
“I fed him to the hell hounds,” he joked.“But seriously, should we check it out? It’s not a bad idea to stay up today on whatever is nasty out there.Seems like there is some new monster every day.”
I thought of thesuicide housefrom yesterday and my stomach clenched. Or maybe it was the fetus making me nauseous. “Not today, we ran out before I could eat anythingand it’s almost one o’clock.”
“Yeah,you’re right, should we pick up something for the kids and your gran?”
“That sounds good. We shouldget somethingextra special for gran since she’s watching the kids tonight too.”
“Why, what’s going on tonight?”
A sly smile spread over my face. Silly boy.Didn’t he know I was an evil genius?
“Your birthday present, dumb-dumb.”
He sat up straighter. “What?”
“Yeah, you didn’t think Iforgot,did you? Well I mean I sort of did since yesterday was a shitshow,but Ialready had thetickets for tonight. You”—I pointed at him—p“me, Metallica,Pepsi Centertonight.”
Travis looked gob smacked. He was overdue for a haircut, and his brown hair was messily sticking out all over his head adding to the drama of his dazed face.
“I think I love you,” he said, a deathly serious expression on his face.
I snorted. “Don’t be weird. Just say thank youKrystan, queen goddess of everything that is cool.”
When I looked over at him again, I found he hadleanedin closer, his green eyes burned into mine. Heat zipped down my spine, jumped over to my belly, then sunk lower. Myjean-covered thighs were suddenly pressed tightly against each other to ward off the sensations.
“Thank you,Krystan.” Those three words wereas loaded as a twice-baked potato.
“You forgot the rest,” I muttered, focusing hard on the road in front of me.
“Seriously, how much did this cost?” Travis asked for the third time since we’d gotten to thePepsi Center.“This can’t have been cheap,and it was money we could have used for the house.”His expression warred between worry and awe as he saw how manymetalheads were running around in oneplace.
“Shut up and enjoy, Travis. You’re screwing up the mega awesome gift I got you.” I’d rather bite off my own tongue than tell him how I got the tickets.
He was right, if I’d come into anymoney,I would have put it straight toward the house. Since I had no money, I’d had tosystematically search for someone whohad the hookup forshowsat the Pepsi Center.It had taken threeweeks,but I finally found the perfect mark.His name was Steve, and Steve enjoyed shady bars, high skirts, and betting on pool games. Isharkedhis ass by shaking mineas I sunkalltheballsin a clean sweep. Of course, I only did thatafter gettingStevie-boyto bettickets againstwhatI promised to be the most mind-blowing night of his life.
Even after he’dhanded over the tickets, Stevetried to go for afeelskieon my ass,so I stuck my stiletto right in the center of his footand sweetly informed him if he did it again, the next timemy awesome heelswould end up in his balls.
It was worth dealing with thatcreepojust to see the look of amazement on Travis’s face.
I added sternly, “Don’t get used to this. This might be the only present you ever get from me, so don’t be giving me puppy eyescome Christmaswhen I don’t get you jack.” He nodded emphatically. “Okay, let’s go get some nachos, I’m dying for some with pickles on top.”
Pickles on nachos? Where the hell had that come from?Regardless,my mouthsalivated. I cut a side glance at Travis. Was my pregnancy showing? Thankfully, he seemed too over the moonabout being here to notice any weirdness on my part.
As wesquishedour wayto thefoodline, Travis said, “At least let me buy drinks, it’s the least I can do.I’ll even splurge on an overpriced rum and coke for you.”
“I’ll let you buy my nachos, but I don’t want a drink.”Seeingthe funny expression on his face, I quickly added, “My stomach isn’t feeling so good.”
“Right,” he said, though it didn’t seem he bought my excuse at all.I realized my need for crappy nachos was a tip off I was lyingabout an upset stomach.
We stepped in line behind a couple middle agedmetalheads with hair twice the length of mine. Was this what normalcy felt like? Betweencurling up in the living room to watch animated movies with thekidsthis afternoon,and now getting out to a concert, I almostdared to believelife wasn’t some crazy horror show.
A couple of guys rough-housed behind Travis, pushing him into me.Travis’shands went to my backto keep us from falling over. My nostrils flared as I took in his male scent and the temperature under my coat went up fifteen degrees.
For the second time today, I was caught up inTravis’sstare like a floppy fish caught in a net. His eyes dropped to my lips, and I inhaledhis spring fresh soap.I wanted him to kiss me. Scratch that, I wanted him to devour me. Blood sped up in my veins, awakening a deep, carnal wanting.
