Playing With Fire

Chapter Forty-Four

                                              Recap

           She isn’t going anywhere.

            Slowly, I bring a hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose.

           With my eyes closed, I hiss with an exasperated sigh, “Travis!”

         “Are you going to tell me the truth this time?” Layla is still standing in her position as I release my hold after a few moments.

           I nod at her, but look towards the door for Travis to come back inside.

           I know I have to tell her everything now. For once, I understand how Travis must have felt when I refused to let this go. The fear of losing Layla with the information that I have and will be giving to her…it just makes perfect sense now.

          Moments after I called him, he reappears with a weary expression on his face. I meet his dark, eden gaze and give him a brisk nod to begin his story.

           Telling Layla his role in this is not my story to tell. Though he is a big part of it, I’m praying he will save her from some trouble and leave certain things out that he didn’t leave out for me.

          A sense of déjà vu enters my memories as he steps towards Layla and shoots her a regretful, warning look. His features furrow in disappointment, and his jaw clicks in utter seriousness, as he opens his mouth to repeat the same words he had said to me the day that we played 20 questions on the rooftop.

          “Just so you know,” He recites gruffly, taking a quick glance at me, “Once I tell you, there’s no going back.”

                                     Chapter Forty Four 

         The entire evening, Travis explained the entire situation to Layla while I pitched in with additional details. Even as we slandered her with the brutal information, she continued to remain stoic. I was beginning to worry, for I wondered if she had taken in so much information that she couldn’t attain any more. 

            It seems Travis noticed too, so less than twenty minutes later, we both decided to call it a night—to let her dream of minor problems rather than think of the life-threatening reality standing before us.

               Travis managed to lullaby her to sleep while reciting the rules of survival—the very ones he had tried to provoke me with the first day we met. I remember watching her eyes flutter shut in relief, probably appreciating the still blackness that enveloped her as she did so.

          I was next to fall, for I still remember, in the hazy fog of my mind, how Travis was rocking gently in his seat on the couch in the early hours of the morning. I would have reached out, comforted him, but I thought better of it. Instead, I shifted in my position and shut my eyes whenever he took a quick glance in my direction.

          I couldn’t trust myself around him anymore. Now more than ever, I felt an intoxicating attraction towards him—not to his appearance, though it benefits the cause, but to his emotions. When they brimmed, mine brimmed. When I saw panic written across his features, an unsettling anxiety nestled in my gut. 

           I tossed and turned due to my inner dilemma until I could no longer withstand it.

           When at last I shove the covers off my body, I notice the first rays of sun starting to seep through the sealed blinds. I squint at the sight and push forward, gently placing my warm toes on the chilled marble surface. I glance at Layla, who is still sleeping soundly on the other side of the same couch, careful not to wake her with any sudden movements.