A grin I haven’t seen in a while.
He doesn’t see me straight away. Three girls flank him, like none of them are quite willing to step away and let the other girl in. Travis is in his element, laughing in that full-body way that used to make me feel invincible and now only makes me want to run in the opposite direction. Jacob follows my stare, and when I look back, his eyes are wide. “Is that Travis Phoenix?”
Before I can answer, Reagan is back at the table, placing her hands down on it, sweat trickling down her forehead. “Do you want to leave? We can leave?”
Jacob looks confused.
“No.”
My answer is final.
A few minutes later, Travis spots us. Spots me. And he wastes no time. His eyes don’t move past my face, not for a second, as he closes the space between us. The women at his side peel off, disappointed, like they know instinctively this is not about them and he is suddenly not interested in them hanging off him.
“Is there a reason he is coming over here?” Jacob asks.
“Ah... well, he, ah, is kind of my ex.”
Jacob doesn’t get the chance to answer before Travis is at our table. But he stands up first. He’s tall, and for a moment, I wonder if Travis would back down from someone bigger than him. But Travis is a different kind of big—the kind that doesn’t show up in height or width, but in the way he can fill a room with his anger and willingness to do basically anything.
“Hey,” Jacob says, level, and extends a hand, not showing an ounce of intimidation.
I respect that.
Travis ignores it. “Violet.”
He leans across the table, palms flat, so close I can smell the alcohol on his breath.
Great.
He’s drunk.
So am I.
This doesn’t tend to end well.
“What are you doing here?” he goes on when I say nothing.
“Having a drink,” I say, keeping my voice calm. “With a friend, so if you don’t mind, I would appreciate getting back to it.”
“I do fuckin’ mind.”
“Man, you want to maybe calm down?” Jacob says, still standing, still staring at Travis.
Travis doesn’t even blink. He speaks to me as if Jacob isn’t even in the room with us. “You come back to town after all these years, and this... this is what you do?”
Oh, he did not.
“If you have something to say to me, Travis, say it.” I snap. “Because I am quite sick of your anger being tossed at me.”
He jerks his chin in Jacob’s direction. “You trying to piss me off?”
Reagan clears her throat, loud. “You’re making a scene, Phoenix.”
Still nothing.
He will not acknowledge anyone else.
I don't want this to escalate.
