The Bet (The Bet #1)(52)

Travis had on a curly blonde wig. And he was playing lead singer.

Jake was in the background shaking his butt.

But the best part? They were both old enough to know better and still deathly serious about their little music video.

As the song came to a close, Grandma Nadine made an appearance in a leopard leotard and began playing air guitar.

Kacey snorted and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.

The only thing she could think of was how she was going to get a copy of this and sneak it to the press. Jake would kill her.

And it would be totally worth it.

The movie skipped to Christmas 2007.

She remembered that Christmas. It was two years before her parents’ deaths. She shifted on the couch, tucking her feet underneath her and watched the perfect little Christmas take place.

She and Jake were sitting under the tree. Her braces were glowing in the candlelight of the room, and Jake, such a lady-killer even at the ripe old age of sixteen with his curly brown hair and megawatt smile. She giggled at the memory, transfixed by what she saw.

Travis was in the background, sulking, or what looked like sulking. His eyes were downcast, and he was playing with a brightly wrapped package in his hands. The video zoomed in. He was shaking and mumbling something to himself.

“Just give it to her,” Grandma Nadine urged from the side.

Kacey watched in horror as she read the red tag. To Kacey.

Swallowing a knot of emotion, she watched as Travis wiped his hands on his pants and slowly got up and walked toward her.

She wanted to go back in time and scream at herself, “Look at him! Look!”

Instead, sixteen-year-old Kacey flashed him a look of annoyance and then got up and made some excuse about needing more spiced cider.

Travis froze.

Jake sneered. “What? Did you actually think she’d accept a gift from you? After everything you’ve done?”

Travis shook his head and licked his lips, the package slowly dropped out of his hands onto the floor. He shoved his hands into his jeans and walked off.

Jake rolled his eyes as Grandma Nadine went after Travis.

And then Jake did the most asinine thing she’d ever seen in her life. He ripped the tag off of the package, and when Kacey walked back into the room he held it out to her as if he had gotten her a present.

“For me?” Kacey squealed with excitement. “Oh, Jakey!”

Oh gag me, she thought but couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Slowly, she watched as her sixteen-year-old self unwrapped the package and gasped with excitement, throwing her arms around Jake’s neck.

“It’s so perfect!”

And in that moment Kacey knew exactly what the present had been.

Tears flowed freely down her face as the movie played.

It was a framed picture of her and her parents on a family vacation, and underneath it was the word Love.

She clicked off the TV and began to sob into her hands.

It was the very same picture that still sat next to her bed at night. The same picture she’d wept into when her parents died, the same picture she’d talked to when she’d had a bad day. And it had never been from Jake.

But Travis.

She looked over at him now. His eyes were completely open, but she was unable to decipher if he was upset or just cautious as to how to proceed.

“You…” She swallowed down the tears. “You gave me the best present I’ve ever had. When my parents died…” She couldn’t even finish, her body racked with sobs.

Travis cursed and immediately pulled her down to him, spooning her and kissing her hair. “Shh, baby, it’s okay. It’s going to be fine.”

It had always been Travis. Always. She flipped around to face him as he brushed the tears away from her eyes.

Then his mouth was hot on hers, possessive, fierce. It melted every part of her, and made her knees weak even though she was lying down. He kissed her tears away, his kisses burning a trail down her cheek until he found her mouth again, searching and pulling.

****

Embarrassment had washed over Travis when he’d opened his eyes. It was as if he was reliving the moment all over again. Reliving the pain of being rejected and then made fun of left a bitter taste in his mouth.

All he had wanted back then was to say he was sorry, to give Kacey something she could treasure before she left for college.

Jake had ruined everything, but in the end Travis hadn’t cared that Jake took credit. It had sucked, and he’d been pissed, but when he’d seen the look on Kacey’s face, he’d known it was worth it. Regardless of who’d given her the picture, at least she had it, and for that he’d been thankful.

He’d just wanted her to be happy.

His only desire had been to see her smile.

Mission accomplished. He left it alone, walked away, and hadn’t spoken to her since that fateful day.

“Travis.” Kacey kissed him roughly across his lips. He should have cared that he had gross numbing cream on his arms, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was now in his arms, exactly where she belonged.

“Travis,” she said again, this time pulling away.

“What?”

“I can’t feel my lips.”

“Huh?” He looked down. Sure enough, some of the cream had gotten onto her lips, and they were swelling at an alarming rate. “Um, Kace, maybe you should take some Benadryl.”