Trained One ✓

Chapter 07

We stayed like that for a while, just lying together quietly until I heard his breathing deepen and he fell asleep.

I watched the stars, much brighter out here in the middle of nowhere and felt the weight of sleep pulling at my eyes but I tried to fight it off. I didn't want to miss a second relishing in the fact that Travis was here with me and not six feet under or in a ditch somewhere. I half expected it all to be a dream.

Travis suddenly jolted awake, his whole body twitching and I jumped from the surprise. I put a hand to my chest and tried to even out my breathing which had spiked.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Huh? Yeah," he said, rubbing his eyes. "Weird dream."

He didn't explain anymore and I didn't question it. Instead, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. It was 3 a.m. I hadn't realized so much time had passed and despite that, I didn't want to move.

"We should get you back," he said and uncurled me from him to stand as if he knew I wouldn't move on my own. "Before everyone wakes up."

I scooped the items I had discarded in the grass earlier and sat up. "Then what happens? We can I see you again?"

Travis brushed some dirt off his pants, the silence hitting me hard.

"Travis?" I asked, standing up and fidgeting with my fingers as I tried to keep my nerves at bay.

"Don't know."

I clenched my jaw as my stomach dropped.

"I'll be around, okay?" he said, grabbing my hand gently. "I got your back, babe," he teased, wiggling my arm slightly with his own.

I looked at our shoes, not ready to face him and say goodbye. I only just got him back.

"What do you need me to do?"

Travis let go of my hand and headed towards the bike. "Don't tell anyone about tonight. You can do that, right?"

I nodded.

"And do what you've been doing. Any heat you can take off us, the better."

I nodded again as he held out the helmet. Right as I was about to grab it, he pulled it back towards him and out of my reach. He was looking at the ground, a hard and calculated look on his face.

"I'm serious about not telling anyone," he looked up at me with hard eyes. "Not everyone thought it was a good idea I come here."

I tried not to react. It wasn't the news that I was trying to keep a blank face towards. I was working for the enemy currently trying to arrest them. I couldn't blame all of them, especially with their experience with dirty cops. It was the fact that he was falling back into the Travis that I originally saw when we arrived. The one that looked like he didn't understand the concept of a smile.

"You can trust me," I reassured.

When he held the helmet back out to me, I grudgingly took it and I strapped it on. I got on the back of the bike and held onto Travis, my mind screaming at me the entire time to just stay in the field with him and not have a care for the rest of our days.

Without a word, Travis started the bike and we were off, much faster this time and I held on tight. I didn't pay much attention to our surroundings this time. Instead, I kept my arms around him and leaned against him, trying to savor the rest of the time I had.

He came to a stop about a block from my hotel all too soon.

"I can't go closer without a distraction," he explained.