Beautiful Oblivion (The Maddox Brothers, #1)(34)

“Gruber can walk me, can’t you, Gruby?”

“I . . . uh . . .” Gruber stuttered.

“C’mon, Ray. Let me walk you. Please?”

Raegan’s shoulders fell, and she sighed. “See you at home, Cami.”

I waved to her, and made sure to stay several feet back.

Gruber and I could hear Kody pleading with Raegan at her car all the way across the parking lot, and it broke my heart. Gruber stood with me at my car until Raegan got into hers. She followed me home, and when we pulled into the parking lot, I looked over, to see Raegan sobbing into her hands.

I opened her door. “Come on. We’ll watch scary movies and eat ice cream.”

Raegan looked up at me, her eyes red and puffy. “Have you ever loved two people at the same time?” she asked.

After a long pause, I held out my hand. “If I ever try, slap me, okay?”





CHAPTER NINE





AT THE HEIGHT OF THE RED’S FRIDAY NIGHT CROWD, Travis Maddox headed for his usual stool at my station, strutting across the bar like he always did: sexy, confident, and in command of the room. Shepley was with him, so was Shepley’s girlfriend, America, and another girl—the one who I assumed he had been talking about the weekend before: the Freshman. I let the guy sitting in his usual seat know he was coming. He and his friend scattered without protest.

Travis straddled his stool. He ordered a beer, drank half of it in a few swallows, and then turned to watch the dance floor. The Freshman was out there, dancing with America.

Three girls were standing behind Travis, hovering like groupies, waiting for him to turn around.

America and her friend returned, smiling and sweaty. The Freshman was a knockout, I’d give Travis that. She had that something special that one might expect from the girl who finally caught Travis Maddox’s attention, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. There was a certain confidence in her eyes. She knew something that no one else knew.

“It’s going to be like this all night, Mare. Just ignore them,” Shepley said.

America snarled, and glanced over at the three women who were staring at Travis and whispering among themselves. I wasn’t sure why America was so angry. They weren’t looking at Shepley.

“It looks like Vegas threw up on a flock on vultures,” America said.

Travis looked over his shoulder to see who America was talking about, and then turned back, chugging his beer. He lit a cigarette and puffed out a cloud of smoke. He looked at me and held up two fingers.

This should be interesting. I pulled two Bud Lights out of the cooler, popped the tops, and sat them in front of Travis.

One of the vultures picked one up, but Travis took it away from her. “Uh . . . not yours,” he said, handing it to the Freshman.

The corners on the Freshman’s mouth turned up just a tiny bit right before she chugged the beer for a few seconds.

“Can you make a—” Marty, Raegan’s regular, began. Raegan was on the other side of the bar, having an intense conversation with Kody.

“Yes,” I said, cutting him off. “Don’t worry, Marty. I’ll get you taken care of.” As I was pouring Marty’s particularly tricky Warninks Crème Egg Shooter, Travis and the Freshman were having a good time on the dance floor, making quite a scene. By the time Marty had finished his shot, Travis had already pissed her off, and she was storming away from him, toward the bar.

She offered me a half smile, and held up one finger. I pulled her a beer, popped the cap, and set it in front of her. She had sucked down more than half when Travis made it back to the bar. No wonder he was so unhappy about his feelings. The two of them were exhausting me, and I didn’t even know her name yet.

Megan, Travis’s tried-and-true Plan B, appeared next to him. “Well, if it isn’t Travis Maddox.”

Megan didn’t cause a lot of drama, but she wasn’t my favorite. In addition to Travis, she had a few other guys that she liked to chase around. But never when they wanted her, and never when they were single. She liked the challenge of taking a man away from his girlfriend, and women like that are the enemy of couples everywhere.

“What’s going on?” Raegan said softly.

Just then, Travis pulled Megan by the hand out to the dance floor, and they proceeded to dry f*ck each other in front of God and everyone else.

“Oh, Travis,” I said, disappointed. “What the hell are you doing?”

Travis wasn’t gone five minutes before Ethan Coats swooped in and appropriated Travis’s stool. He leaned in, immediately turning on the charm. The Freshman appreciated the attention. I wouldn’t have blamed her, if the attention weren’t coming from Ethan.

“Oh, that’s not good. Get that slime away from her!” Raegan hissed.

We all knew what Ethan had done, and what he was capable of. We tried to police him while he was at the bar, but not all girls would heed our warnings.

I saw Travis walking back to the east bar, his eyes targeting Ethan.

“I don’t think I’ll have to,” I said.

Travis nearly stood in between them, and after a short exchange, Ethan was walking away with his tail tucked between his legs and Travis and the Freshman were on their way out, both seemingly on the verge of war.

Raegan smirked. “I think Travis Maddox has met his match.”