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Travis burst out laughing. “Oh my God, do you remember the time she took us to the movies and we accidentally spilled an entire large bucket of popcorn on the minivan carpet? Your mom made Shelby take us to the car wash and vacuum it all out? And while Shelby wasn’t looking, we had a popcorn fight and threw it everywhere?”
“Everyone was so mad,” I said, remembering how much my mom had yelled after that. We’d been grounded from seeing each other for two weeks and it had felt like torture. Like a part of me had been cut off.
“Man, we were terrors sometimes.”
“We weren’t bad,” I said, hearing the defensive tone in my voice.
Travis ran his fingers through his messy brown hair and grinned. “You’re right. Mom reminded me the other night how, when we were eight, we spent all summer pretending to get married. Apparently, I told her my birthday party was our wedding reception.”
“Hmm.” I nodded and sipped my drink again. “Yeah, I vaguely remember that.”
“I think we wrote like a marriage contract or something, too. Do you remember that part? Saying if we were still single when we got old, we’d get married to each other?”
I grinned, warmth spreading throughout me as a plan formed in my mind. “ThatI remember very clearly. It was supposed to be when we turned thirty, which felt very adult at the time.”
Travis laughed. “I don’t know that I feel very adult these days.”
“Agreed. Mom still treats me like a teenager some days.”
“You probably deserve it.” He winked. “In fairness, I get the same treatment. At least you have a great job that probably pays big bucks. I’m a park ranger, for heaven’s sake. I’m not exactly rolling in the dough. Besides, adulting is pretty lonely when you live on your own.”
“Oh God, agreed. Even though I see my family pretty often, living alone isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.” I decided not to mention the only part of living alone that I liked, which was the freedom to bring guys home whenever I wanted without complaint from a roommate. I thought about our situations for a few moments, an idea taking shape in my mind. I put my cup down and leaned forward. He was right—we were in very similar situations, and the answer to our problems seemed obvious. I took a deep breath, my stomach churning with nerves. It was a wild idea, but it might just work. “Okay, hear me out.”
He nodded in encouragement. “I’m listening.”
“What if we did it?”
Travis blinked at me and furrowed his brow. “Did what?”
“What if we got married? You know, for real.”
Chapter Six
Travis
Isatbackinmy seat and stared at him, my stomach doing somersaults. “Are you serious?”
Parker looked at me with his big dark eyes, no trace of sarcasm or amusement on his face. “Well, yeah. I don’t mean right away. We can plan a whole to-do. Make it a big party. You know how it goes.”
“Yeah, I know how it goes, but… this sounds…”
He shrugged, grinning a grin that was nothing if not adorable. “I know. But we promised. And I’m a man of my word. Aren’t you?” He winked.
“I am, but—” I rubbed my face with my hands. “I still can’t believe you remember that. I hadn’t thought of it in years, until Mom said something when I told her we’d started talking again.”
He shrugged and looked away, sitting back a little. “Doesn’t it seem like a good idea? Don’t you think it would solve most of our problems?”
I shook my head and laughed. As outrageous as it seemed, the idea was taking root in my mind. I didn’t hate it. “Problems?”
“Yeah. We’re both single, you’re thirty already and I’m about to turn thirty, and we both have families that won’t stop meddling in our love lives and pestering us to settle down with someone. We agree that living alone can be lonely. Besides, we like each other. We’re friends. Hell, you know my past better than anyone. And, if we move in together, we can both save a ton of money on bills—which will help you with that park ranger salary you mentioned. Plus, we promised.”
He had good points. I was tired of coming home to a dark house every night, and I acutely missed having Parker in my life. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, would it? I’d always had a crush on him as a kid, after all.
I took a deep breath. “Well… I’d hate to let younger me down. But what if we start all this and decide we hate each other?”
“We won’t. It’ll be so easy, like we never spent any time apart. But if we hate each other, it’s not like we can’t back out. Wedding planning takes a while. We can cancel it. Or get divorced or whatever, if we have to.”
“What about money? Weddings cost money. Are you going to talk your parents into paying?”
