The Bet (The Bet #1)(16)

“Where is she? Where is my sweet girl?” Grandma Nadine clapped her hands in front of her and sighed. Bright red lipstick stained her lips and an ungodly amount of eye shadow was beautifully brushed across her eyelids. Grandma had always been a knock-out, and at eighty-five she was still breaking hearts.

The latest conquest just so happened to be their next door neighbor, Mr. Casbon. The poor man walked his dog by their property at least three times a day. Travis used to worry the man would get overheated and have a stroke in the driveway, but he was relentless and never stopped his pilgrimage to wave at Grandma.

“Travis! I’m going to kill you! Give me that!” Kacey stormed into the kitchen and grabbed the beer out of his hand, throwing back the entire can before slamming it down onto the counter and accidently letting out a loud burp. She slapped her hands over her mouth, and her face turned red.

In that moment, Travis fell a little more in love with her, if that was even possible.

Grandma Nadine let out a hearty laugh. “Oh my, honey girl, still chugging beer in the kitchen away from the watchful eyes of this one’s parents, huh?” Grandma reached for Kacey and pulled her into a tight hug. “Mum’s the word. I think a margarita is just what this one needs here, Travis. Now why don’t you two run along and have some drinks out on the porch. I’ll take care of things in here. You just leave those two to me.” Grandma straightened her tight-fitting jacket and strutted into the living room.

Kacey gaped after her. “I swear she could have been the first female president.”

Travis didn’t think it was the most appropriate time to let Kacey in on the family secret that Grandma had, in fact, enjoyed an affair with one of the presidents.

Instead, he grunted and grabbed the tequila from the pantry. “Get some cups with ice and I’ll grab the mix. This should be enough to get you good and drunk before Mom starts planning your wedding.” Travis winked and ignored the pain in his chest when he thought of Kacey in a wedding dress, standing opposite his brother.

The bastard didn’t deserve her. He dated strippers, for crying out loud! Real strippers! He paid for sex. He lived the life of a true bachelor. He didn’t even know how to do laundry! He would be the death of Kacey. Travis knew his brother was just sneaky enough to manipulate his way into Kacey’s life. Most likely, he’d deliver the line of doing it for Grandma, and say they could divorce when she kicked the bucket.

And then Travis would have to feel guilty every time Grandma woke up with a smile on her face. Oh, he’d love for Grandma to live another day, but it meant another day that Kacey and Jake would spend in holy matrimony. Her lips pressed against his. Jake’s hands running along Kacey’s hips…

“Travis? Travis? Hello, anyone home? We gonna drink margaritas in the tree house or are you going to stand there with your mouth open all day?”

“Tree house,” he grumbled and walked out of the kitchen to the backyard. The tree house sat on the edge of the property, far enough away that his parents wouldn’t be able to see them through the tiny windows.

He pulled the ladder down and balanced the tequila and mix in his left arm as he hauled himself up. Travis set the drink stuff inside the door of the tree house, and still grasping the top rung, turned around to grab the glasses from Kacey below.

Her eyes were glued to his ass.

He would have been flattered had she gasped or sighed or done anything except scream.

“Crap! Crap! Crap!”

“Kace, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“G-g-giant spider! On your ass!”

“GET IT OFF!” he shouted in a not-so-masculine voice.

Kacey moved away from him, slowly dropping down the ladder to the bottom rung. “I can’t! You know I’m afraid of spiders! What if it lunges at me!”

“Better it lunge at you than take a chunk out of my ass! Now, scare it!”

“If I scare it, it’s going to eat you, and I can’t have that on my conscience.” Kacey’s eyes widened again. “Oh gosh, it’s moving! It’s so gross! Can’t you just like, flex your butt or something?”

“Why, yes.” Travis clenched his teeth. “Why don’t I just clench my butt muscles in hopes that it will shock the spider enough to crawl back into the hell hole it came out of.”

“You don’t have to be mean!” Kacey argued. “Okay, um. I’m going to grab a stick. Do you think that will work?”

Did he think a stick in his ass would work? Well, so much for impressing her. “Just, kill it!” His muscles tightened as he kept himself positioned on the ladder.

“Found one!” Kacey announced. “Okay, now don’t move. I’m just going to smack it against your jeans.”

Travis laughed. He couldn’t help it. It was one of those moments that he wished he would have caught on camera, so that others could enjoy the ridiculousness. And then… searing pain.

He cursed, loud, dropping in a few inappropriate words that would cause his mom to smack him. What the hell kind of stick had she grabbed?

“I did it! I did it!” Kacey squealed.

Travis turned and glared.

“I killed the spider!”

“You almost killed the man too! What did you use? A baseball bat?”

Kacey blushed. “It was all I could find.” She lifted a wooden bat in her hands as if sacrificing it on the altar before him.