Endlessly Beautiful (Beautiful #1.3) (4 page)

The energy was so different from the week before spring break when everyone was smiling and walked with a bounce in their step. Now the halls were quiet, the air heavy and somber. The girls were wiping away tears, and the guys were holding the girls close, all recognizing their own mortality—some for the first time.

“A lot on your mind?” Shepley asked, slipping inside the building behind me. “Like what? Oh. You mean the thing I don’t know about? Or did you just realize marriage is forever?” I grabbed Shepley’s collar in both fists, shoving him against the nearest wall. The breath was knocked out of him, and he stared at me, wide-eyed, with his hands up. “Hey!” he said through his teeth. “I’m on your side!”

I slowly loosened my grip, aware of the curious eyes of passersby. I patted Shepley’s shoulder to apologize, and then took a deep breath. “This isn’t funny, Shepley. Any of it.”

Shepley took a quick glance around, and then leaned in, keeping his voice low. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Just trying to lighten your mood. But, you need to keep a low profile, Travis. Now is not the time to draw attention to yourself.”

I looked over my shoulder at fellow students, kids, young and stupid like me but without a wife or bills or detectives knocking on their door. Their biggest worries were grades and explaining the credit card bill to their parents. Abby and I had those silly worries just a few days ago. The wedding had helped me pretend the fire hadn’t happened, but now the aftermath was staring me in the face. The worries of losing Abby to Parker seemed like a different lifetime. Now, I could lose her for real … forever.

“You’re right,” I said. I smoothed his shirt, and then patted his cheek, forcing a smile. “You’re right, buddy, I’m sorry.”

“Get to class, dick head,” Shepley said, readjusting his backpack before turning the corner to climb the stairs.

I walked to the end of the hall and ducked into class, nodding to my humanities professor before taking a seat. A couple of students from the previous class were still hanging around his desk, asking questions about the mid-term. I glanced at my watch, and then pulled out my phone, smiling when the display lit up. Abby’s gorgeous smile graced the screen, laughing in a simpler time.

Hey

I smiled, tapping out a reply. WTF. How can I miss you already?

Three dots appeared—the manifestation of anticipation. Same.

I chuckled to myself. Abby was an enigma. I knew she loved me—hell, she was my wife—but her short answers and refusal to get too emotional other than express frustration or anger had me guessing most of the time. I loved that about her. I loved how stubborn and even how petty she was. I loved how insane she made me feel, how unsure, how afraid. Surely that wasn’t healthy, but I didn’t fucking care. No one had dared make me feel those things before—at least, not on purpose.

I just wrote Abby Maddox on my notebook. With hearts. How lame am I?

A huge grin spread across my face. Was that weird?

Nope. Gotta go. <3 You.

Professor Halsey stood from his seat and walked around to the front of his desk, leaning his ass against the wooden edge. He was a gangly thing, all arms and legs and nose, his black, greasy hair styled over to one side to poorly hide the bald spot on the crown of his head. He fanned out his fingers and pressed the tips together, touching his pointers to his lips.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware, the school has suffered a terrible tragedy this past weekend.”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and students shifted in their seats. I sunk into my desk, chewing on the end of my pen.

Halsey continued. “We’ve been instructed to inform you about the on-campus, free counseling services provided by Eastern State. Based on the numbers, I’m sure we have at least one person in this very classroom who knew someone who was injured, survived, or became a victim in the basement of Keaton. This can be a frightening, overwhelming time for anyone, whether you were close with one of the victims or not, so please … don’t ignore any feelings you’re having trouble processing. We’re here to help.” He paused just long enough to let his words sink in, and then he continued with the lesson. A girl or two sniffled a few times, but other than that, we proceeded as normal, taking notes and asking questions.

The moment he dismissed class, I bolted for the door, jogging down the hall and out the door, running all the way to where Abby would be leaving class. She’d just stepped out of the doors, stopping when she saw me. I crashed into her, and she hooked her arm around my middle, guiding me down the steps and around the side of the building.

“What happened?” she said, keeping her voice quiet and calm.

My chest heaved as I gasped for breath. I shook my head, unable to answer.

“Travis, look at me,” she said, grabbing my jaw and lifting my head until my gaze met hers. “Talk to me.”

“They’re all dead. So many people are walking around without their friends, roommates … family members.” I pointed at my chest. “I did that.”

“No. You didn’t.” She peeked over her shoulder, and then back at me. “You need to get it together, Maddox. If people see you like this and tell the cops?”

“Maybe they should. Maybe I should turn myself in,” I said. No breath I took was deep enough. The more air I pulled in, the less satisfying it felt.

“What the hell are you talking about?” she said. For the first time, she was struggling to retain her famous poker face. “Travis, you better listen to me,” she gripped my shirt. “You’re not going to leave me.”

“You think I want to?” I spat, flustered.

“They died, yes, and it is awful, yes, but you don’t get to leave me. You’re going to pick me over everything else; over your guilt, over your god damn morals, even over the right thing to do! If that makes me selfish or a bad person, I accept that. But they won’t understand that you didn’t mean for any of it to happen. They won’t care that you didn’t choose the building or put up the lanterns. They’ll arrest you, Trav. They’ll arrest you, and cuff you, and … take you away from me, and …”

I pulled her into my chest, holding her as she trembled in my arms. “Baby,” I said, surprised. I’d never seen her so rattled.

She pushed me away, keeping hold of my T-shirt in her fist. “Don’t do anything stupid, Travis. Don’t you fucking dare.” Frustrated, she tightened her free hand into a fist and hit my chest with the side—just hard enough to make a point. Her eyes glossed over. “You’re the only family I’ve got.”

“Okay,” I said, blinking. I pulled her in again, swaying a bit, trying to comfort her the best I could. I kissed her temple, cursing myself. I knew I couldn’t leave her, even if it was to do the right thing. I’d just wanted her to tell me not to. Unloaded something on her that I knew wasn’t going to happen was a dick thing to do. “You’re right. I wasn’t … I don’t want to get arrested. I just needed to hear you say it, I guess.”

“You want me to talk you out of it? So later you can tell yourself it was me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No, baby. For fuck’s sake.”

She lifted her chin. “Because that’s fine. I’ll take the blame. Whatever it takes, Travis. Whatever I have to do.”

I choked down my emotions, clenching my teeth. She loved me as much as I loved her. I didn’t know that was possible. “Abby…”

She pressed her forehead against my chest, took in a deep breath, and then nodded. She took a moment to gather herself, looking at the ground as she made the choice to trust me not to ruin her plans. She wiped her eyes, turned on her heels, and walked away in the direction of her next class. The smell of smoke still lingered in the air as she walked out of sight, leaving the ashes of my conscience in her wake.

******

This story has translations in: SPANISH (Maravillosa Eternidad), CZECH (Nekonecne Krasna), GERMAN (Unendlich Schon), HUNGARIAN ( Vegtelenul Gyonyoru), PORTUGUESE (Infinitamente Belo),ITALIAN (Infinitamente Bello ), and FRENCH (Beaute Infinie). Please search my profile page for your language!

*****

I hope you enjoyed the fourth (already??) episode of Endlessly Beautiful. This has been so much fun that I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Next week, hear Travis talk to Jim about the letter Dianne wrote to Abby, and what happens when Parker learns the wedding news.

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News: Thank you to everyone who purchased Beautiful Burn: A Novel (Maddox Brothers Book 4)! It is officially a New York Times bestseller, and made the USA Today best seller list two weeks in a row! The reviews are phenomenal. I’m thrilled that some are saying Tyler’s story was their favorite of all the Maddox brother books! Check out the book page and buy links here:

http://www.jamiemcguire.com/beautiful-burn/

I’ll just be over here dancing cool.

https://youtu.be/zS1cLOIxsQ8

Truth

:: Travis ::

My boots made a squishing sound against the wet steps that led to my apartment. The sky had been pissing on me off and on all day between classes. I was glad. The grounds around Keaton Hall was still soaked from the deluge of water the fire hoses had poured into the building. The rain made the rest of the campus blend in with Keaton’s saturated grass and sidewalks.

My keys jingled in my hand as I pulled them out to unlock the door. As soon as I touched the knob, I heard tiny scratching on the other side. I smiled and pushed the door, immediately leaning over to greet Toto.

His wiry dark fur brushed against my face as he covered me with puppy kisses. He’d already grown so much, but he squirmed, yelped, and bounced around like he did his first day in the apartment. He wouldn’t settle down, so I finally picked him up, holding him against my chest while he soaked my face with dog slobber. I lifted my chin so I didn’t end up with puppy tongue in my mouth.

Brazil used the spare key to pick up Toto after we’d already left for the airport, and even though he’d agreed with no notice and no questions, Abby was more than just unhappy when we’d picked Toto up. She’d given him a bath the moment we got home to wash away the stench of cigarettes and dirty socks. After she’d dried him off and made up for lost snuggle time, he’d curled up in a ball on his bed in the corner of our bedroom, and slept the rest of the night.

I picked up my phone to text Brazil, like I promised Abby I would.

Dude. I appreciate you picking up my dog, but if you didn’t want to take care of him, you should have just said so.

It didn’t take long for Brazil to respond. What do u mean?

He smelled like shit. You were smoking around him? I don’t even smoke around him. And he was comatose for 24 hrs after we got him home.

Sorry, man. I had a party. My girl dragged me outside to argue over something stupid. When I came back in, Derek had let him out of my room and was trying to feed him beer. I made Derek leave, but the dog wasn’t hurt or anything, I swear.

Remind me not to ask you for any more favors.

Won’t happen again, Travis. Sorry.

I set Toto on the floor and listened to his nails click the against the linoleum in the kitchen while I opened a can of his favorite food. I scrunched my face at the rancid smell, wondering how in God’s name any creature could eat something so revolting. Of course, I was talking about Toto, who enjoyed sniffing and licking his own asshole.

I poured the food into the orange ceramic bowl Abby had found online with Toto’s name on it, and I added more water to his bowl before returning my attention to my phone. I scrolled through my contacts until Brandon Kyle’s name appeared. My thumb hovered over the phone icon. One of my frat brothers had given me Brandon’s contact information. He was the owner of Iron E, one of three off-campus gyms in Eakins. Two of those gyms were Brandon’s, and Iron E was his pride and joy: a newer gym on the eastside that was significantly more popular than the others because of the high number of co-ed memberships. I’d lifted there before and had talked to Brandon every time. He was nice enough, but he had a pregnant wife and a lot of girlfriends—not someone I could stomach calling a friend.

I pressed the button and held the phone to my ear. It rang a few times, and then I heard a click followed by the screeching, banging, and intermittent yelling I’d expected if Brandon was still at the gym.

“Brandon Kyle,” he answered. Pompous prick. I couldn’t stand the kind of people who used their name instead of a greeting.

“Hey. It’s Travis Maddox. We’ve met a few times at Iron E. I heard you were looking for a part-time trainer.”

“Good to hear from you! Yeah, I heard you might call. Man … we’d love to have you on the team. I’ve watched you here before. You know your shit. And holy God, would you bring in the ladies. Come get an application and I’ll show you around. We’ll discuss details and then we can decide if it’s something we both still wanna do.”

“Uh …” I wasn’t expecting his response. “When do you want me to come in? Today is my early day, but I have to go pick up my wife and …”

“Wife?” Brandon laughed. “Since when?”

“Since last weekend.”

“Oh!” he said, his voice muffled. He was likely holding his fist over his mouth the way I’d seen him do before when he made fun of people. “Damn. Did you knock her up?”

“What did you just say to me?” I asked, feeling my blood boil. I turned on my heels, realizing I was pacing with my free hand balled into a fist.

“Nothin’ … Nothin’. Just fuckin’ with ya, man! Yeah! Come on in! I’ll see you then.”

“Just whenever?” I asked.

“This is a pretty slow week. All the fatties have given up on their New Year’s resolutions. I’m open until Thursday.”

I told him thanks through clenched teeth, and then hung up. There was no way I could work for that tweedle dick. I’d assault him on my first day.

Toto finished his lunch, and I put him in the green plaid sweater Abby had bought him. With some effort, I hooked his leash on his collar while he tried to lick my hand, and then led him outside. I crossed my arms, keeping hold of the leash, grumbling to myself about Brandon when a shiny Porsche rolled up, parking just behind my Harley. The window rolled down, revealing Parker’s smug smile.