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  “Sweetie, I know what I saw. And the dazzling smile he broke into when you walked out totally gave it away. He definitely has a thing for you,” Taylor explained. I was in shock that she was taking this all with ease. If it had been anyone else, they would probably be clawing my eyes out.

  “I think he may just act that way towards everyone.” I brushed off Taylor’s statement. I wasn’t going to let my heart believe something like that. Especially when this is all playing out on a TV show. If Travis liked me, he would have mentioned something well before now. Wouldn’t he?

  “Isn’t that why we are all here? To get Travis to notice us, to fall for us? Why are you trying to push this away when it’s what everyone would love to have?” Taylor sat up and swung her legs to the side of the chair facing me; she placed her elbows on her knees and leaned slightly forward, getting closer to me.

  Sighing I sat up and faced her, mimicking her pose. “I don’t know Taylor. Maybe I just don’t belong here. I’m not really good at putting my feelings out for the whole world to see.”

  “Then why did you sign up?” She was curious, I couldn’t really blame her.

  “I was kind of forced into it by my best friend and his mom.” It wasn’t a lie—I just wasn’t about to mention who my best friend really was.

  “You must have one hell of a relationship with them, for them to be able to force you into doing this.” Smiling at me, she stood up and started to stretch.

  “You have no idea,” I mumbled standing with her.

  “I suppose, we better get ready for dinner,” Taylor said as she started walking towards the house, waving for me to follow.

  “You know about that?” I was shocked she knew, but obviously she would have been told.

  Taylor laughed. “Yes, we got a note shortly after you left on your date about having a birthday dinner.”

  “Why do they have to make such a big deal about my birthday? It’s not like everyone here likes me…” I trailed off, seeing Nicki sneering at me from the patio door.

  “Speak of the devil.” Taylor leaned in and whispered to me. I started laughing, Taylor joining in as we pushed open the door and walked into the living room.

  “What are you two so happy about?” Nicki glared at us. Apparently anyone being happy wasn’t okay around her.

  “Is it a crime to laugh Nicki?” Taylor threw back at her with a glare of her own. “Just because you want to be bitchy all the time, doesn’t mean everyone else feels the same way.” She turned to me, giving me a wink, then scurried up the stairs before Nicki could respond.

  That little traitor left me in the hornet’s nest!

  I stood frozen for about a millisecond watching Taylor’s retreat before I heard Nicki utter a few choice words under her breath. I glanced her way, noticed the fury in her eyes and decided to take Taylor’s lead and run up to my room before she could throw angry insults my way.

  Travis arrived at 5:30 and popped a bottle of champagne. “To Riley, may your 26th year be even better than the last 25!” He held up his glass and the girls followed suit, except for Nicki, who just drank her champagne down in a gulp and grabbed the bottle for a refill.

  I should have been more embarrassed about the toast, but Travis was staring at me with such genuine happiness that I couldn’t do anything but lift my glass and smile right along with him. He ushered us into the dining room where the food was spread out on the table. I started laughing as soon as I entered the room.

  “We’re having Chinese take-out?” Nicki slurred, having consumed four glasses of champagne in about fifteen minutes.

  “Well, word is Riley loves Chinese take-out.” Travis mentioned, leaving out the fact that we had made it a tradition to get Chinese take-out, rent a movie and veg out on the couch for both of our birthdays, years ago.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, settling into my seat.

  Everyone was silent as we dug into the food. I loaded my plate with Hunan chicken, vegetable lo mien and an egg roll. I glanced up to see Nicki scooping a little steamed chicken and broccoli on her plate. She pushed it around and picked at it but never actually ate anything.

  Travis and I usually stuffed ourselves silly with food, and then sprawled out on the couch not moving for hours. I figured I should take it easy today, so only had the one plate. There were a ton of leftovers, which Travis quickly scooped up and took to the kitchen to put away.

  I offered to help Travis, but he declined to let anyone help. So I sat at the table in quiet conversation with Taylor and Kara.

  Travis returned from the kitchen carrying a gourmet lemon and raspberry cake with 26 candles on it. He set it in front of me, whispering in my ear, "You didn't think I forgot, did you?"

  I looked up smiling while Travis led the girls in singing happy birthday. When they finished, I blew out the candles in one breath.

  Travis clapped his hands, “Well, who wants cake?” He started slicing the cake and scooping it onto plates and handing them to the waiting girls.

  The cake was melt in your mouth delicious and we ate mostly in silence. Every year, since I’d discovered the genius of lemon and raspberry together, I had some sort of dessert with those flavors for my birthday. Each year, Travis tried to top what I had the year before. It went from a simple lemon cake with raspberry frosting, to delicious raspberry filled lemon cupcakes, to raspberry-lemon ice cream, to the most amazing raspberry macaron filled with lemon buttercream that Travis had flown in from effing Paris.

  “I’m going to take the rest of the cake into the kitchen for the crew to enjoy.” Travis broke me out of my thoughts as he stood and gathered the leftover cake. He glanced over at me and winked, nodding his head slightly to the doorway and headed out to the kitchen.

  “Happy Birthday, Riley! It’s so exciting that you get to celebrate here!” Taylor smiled at me from across the table.

  “Thanks, Taylor. It has been a pretty great day,” I said, smiling back, genuinely happy I was celebrating with her.

  “Yes, nothing better than getting pampered by Travis,” Nicki scoffed.

  I looked at Taylor and rolled my eyes in Nicki’s direction. Taylor giggled and got an evil eye from Nicki before quickly turning to Kara next to her and engaging her in conversation.

  "If you'll excuse me, I have to use the restroom." I pushed back from the table and headed out to the hallway.

  I was halfway down the hall when a door opened to my left and I was pulled in. Immediately I was pressed against the door, with Travis’ arms propped on either side of my head, and his hard body pressed against me.

  “Happy Birthday Riles,” he murmured, gently pressing a kiss on my forehead.

  My body erupted with heat at the closeness of his. He trailed kisses down to my ear where he whispered, “Do you have to look so amazing all the time?”

  I honestly didn’t think I could get more confused by this whole situation, yet here I was, completely baffled as to what was going on.

  “Trav, I look like I always do.” My voice came out hoarse. His lips were so close to mine at this point, my brain was not functioning at all.

  Honestly, all I wanted to know was what his lips felt like.

  Ohmygod, he’s your best friend! Stop it!

  “Riles, I…” Travis’ eyes were on my mouth. He flicked his tongue across his lips and leaned slightly more into me. I could smell the lemon on his breath as I watched his lips move even closer to mine.

  Was this really happening?

  I clenched my hands into a fist, pinching my skin with my nails. Ouch. Yep, this was real.

  My heart thudding in my chest and if I looked down I would be able to see my shirt moving—it was beating so fast. I heard the buzz of the cameras that were positioned throughout the room as it was repositioned and probably zoomed in on us.

  I held my breath and my eyes fluttered closed as Travis’ lips lightly brushed against mine. He moved his left hand from the door to my cheek, lightly running his thumb over it. He pressed harder against my mouth, run
ning his tongue across my bottom lip and a moan escaped my lips. He pulled back just enough to separate our lips, both of us with quick breaths and the smell of lemon and raspberry lingering around us.

  “Was that…” I stopped and shook my head. I couldn’t think clearly. My mind was racing with thoughts of the kiss and hoping it would happen again.

  “Riles…” Travis cupped my face with his hands, bringing my mouth back to his.

  Before our lips could meet again someone started banging loudly on the door behind me. “The ladies are starting to wonder where you two are. Better get back out there, unless you want one of them to find you.” Someone from the crew yelled.

  Travis stepped back from me and ran his hand through his hair. “Um… so, yeah, Happy Birthday,” he said glancing around the room. “I guess I should get back out there.”

  I nodded and moved away from the door so he could get out. He opened the door a crack before stopping and turning back to me.

  “Come over tonight. Okay?” he said, staring intently into my eyes.

  I found myself nodding again, unable to form words. He gave me a small smirk before heading out into the hall and closing the door quietly behind him.

  I slowly sank into the nearest chair and exhaled slowly.

  Well, that was…amazing.

  I’d been standing outside of Travis’ door for the last twenty minutes, unable to actually knock. What was I thinking coming over here? Either it was going to be completely awkward on the other side of that door, or it was going to be…completely awkward.

  Yep, either way—awkward.

  I lifted my fist again, debating on knocking, when the door cracked open.

  “Are you just going to stand out there all night? Or do you actually want to come in?” Travis grinned from behind the door.

  “How long have you known I was here?” I asked, walking through the door.

  “Oh, you know…when you showed up twenty minutes ago.” Travis laughed and dodged my arm as I tried to smack him.

  “You could have rescued me earlier!” I yelled as he took off for the living room.

  I followed him past the kitchen into the living room, where we had never hung out before. It was fitted with an overstuffed couch and a large flat screen TV attached to the wall. Two chairs flanked either side of the couch with a cherry wood coffee table in the middle. The wall behind the couch had a patio door, which was cracked open allowing a light breeze to flow through the room.

  Was it weird that we’ve always had conversations and hung out in his bedroom? And why were we now in the living room? Did he feel awkward about having me in his bedroom after the kiss?

  Oh my God. Was I a horrible kisser?!

  “Riles?” Travis waved his hand in front of my face, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  I blinked up at him. “Uh…what?”

  He laughed. “I asked which movie you wanted to watch.” He was holding up two new movies: a romantic comedy and an action movie.

  “Oh, um…that one.” I pointed at the action movie. I was not in the mood to watch romance with this man. I walked over and sat down on the couch, pulling my feet up under me and snuggling into one of the pillows.

  Travis walked over to the DVD player and put the movie in before returning back to the couch and sitting right next to me. He held up the remote to turn on the TV then hit play on the DVD remote.

  I wasn’t paying any attention to what was on the TV. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing over at Travis every two seconds. He was in his pajamas and was sitting so close I could smell the citrus soap he used in the shower, along with the woodsy minty smell that was uniquely Travis. He had draped his arm across the back of the couch behind me, and was mindlessly running his fingers through my hair.

  Each time I felt the pull of my hair in his fingers, a chill would run through my body. It got to the point where I looked like I was shivering before he noticed the effect he was having on me.

  “Are you cold?” He rubbed his hand down my shoulder, making the shivers worse.

  “Um…I don’t…uh…know,” I stuttered, unable to form a complete sentence once again today.

  Ugh, I do not like this awkwardness.

  He grabbed the flannel blanket draped across the back of the couch and threw it over both of us. Then threw his arm over my shoulder again, pulling me closer to him.

  I laid my head against his shoulder, my body fitting perfectly against his. Shifting my head a little, I breathed him in, relaxing for the first time since the kiss. Which was strange, I would have thought the touching would be extremely awkward.

  Staring at the TV I tried to take slow deep breaths to calm myself. I could feel my heart beat exceedingly fast and the butterflies in my stomach would not settle down. My fingers were starting to twitch with the overwhelming amount of nervous energy coursing through my body.

  Settle down, Riley.

  I took another deep breath and held it, counting to ten before slowly releasing. Nope, didn’t help at all. Travis was still absentmindedly running his fingers up and down my arm, which was not helping any. I decided I couldn’t take any more of these damn nerves and tried to scoot myself into a sitting position. As soon as I attempted to move, Travis locked his arm around me, making it impossible for me to budge.

  “Trav, I really need to sit up.” I complained into his chest. Seriously, if I couldn’t get away from his delicious scent I was going to start hyperventilating.

  I felt his laugh before I heard it. I smacked his stomach, angry that he was finding this all funny while I was on the verge of a panic attack.

  “Riles, it was just a kiss.” Travis let me sit up, but still kept his arm around me.

  “Just…just a kiss?” I looked at him questioningly. Really, that’s all it was to him?

  “It’s your birthday, it’s a birthday kiss.” He shrugged, glancing back at the TV.

  At those words, the flutters disappeared. Right now I had the uncontrollable urge to punch him, repeatedly. Angrily I brushed off his arm and stood up and started pacing in front of the couch.

  “Riles, you’re in the way.” Travis kept moving his head trying to watch the movie.

  Really, he wants to watch the movie right now?!

  “Travis, we’ve celebrated 15 of my birthdays together, before this one. Not one year did I ever get a damn birthday kiss from you!” I stopped right in front of the TV and glared at him. “So, tell me, why now? Why this year?”

  Travis laughed and leaned his head back against the couch. “Riles, I was just trying to ease the tension. I could physically feel you freaking out on me. I wasn’t sure if it was because you were uncomfortable with the kiss and didn’t know how to act around me, or if it was the opposite.” He reached out to grab my hand. “So, I just decided to go for one option and see how you reacted.” He gave a little tug on my hand, causing me to stumble forward.

  “And can I say, I’m really pleased with this reaction,” he said as he tugged again, harder this time, forcing me to fall forward and straddle his lap.

  Yeah… I definitely should not be sitting on Travis like this.

  I tried to push off of him, but he wrapped his arms around my waist, locking them behind me. Once again, making it impossible for me to move.

  “Trav, what’s going on here?” I whispered unable to make eye contact with him.

  “I think you have a pretty good idea.” He smirked and unwrapped one hand from my waist and brought it up to my face.

  Slowly, ever so slowly, he inched towards me, until his lips were mere centimeters from mine. “I’ve been thinking about doing this again since I left you in that room,” he mumbled against my lips, before pressing his against mine.

  I didn’t have time to react, nor did I care to. All I knew was Travis was kissing me again, and the butterflies took full flight in my stomach. Where the first kiss was short and timid, this kiss was all power. Travis quickly ran his tongue across my bottom lip and I opened to him. Our tongues met with a moan, from
me or from Travis, I’m not sure. Without breaking the kiss, Travis laid me down on the couch and hovered over me, propped up on one elbow. His other hand found the hem of my shirt and slipped under it, running his fingers lightly against my skin. I heard the moan escape from my lips as chills ran through my body from the skin-to-skin contact.

  Travis moved his mouth from mine and started trailing kisses along my jaw and down my neck. I tried catching my breath, but Travis hit a spot by my ear that caused my hips to buck up and a hiss to escape from my mouth. Thousands of sparks flew through my body. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from moaning.

  I felt Travis’ smile against my skin. “Found it,” he mumbled, and resumed kissing around the spot.

  He teased me for what felt like hours, lightly rubbing his hand up and down my waist, and kissing my neck, but never that spot or my lips. I finally reached up and grabbed his head, pulling him back down to my lips. He tasted of spicy cinnamon from his toothpaste.

  Shit, did I brush my teeth before coming over?

  I couldn’t continue to ponder my thought, because Travis moved his mouth back to the spot by my ear. All thoughts flew from my mind and all I could focus on was the tingles traveling down my body. Travis moved his hand down and was lightly tickling my side, while his mouth was continuing its assault on my neck. My hips jerked again involuntarily.

  “Trav…. Stop!” I tried brushing his hand off my side to cease the tickling, but that just caused him to tickle harder. My whole body started jerking against his hand, trying to escape the tickles. Between the tickling and the neck kissing, my brain was on overdrive.

  “Trav….please!” I begged barely above a whisper, breathing heavily.

  He finally stopped the tickling and brought his head back over mine. A giant smile took over his face as he leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against mine. He then tucked his body behind mine, rolling us to face the TV. The movie was almost over.

  “I don’t know why we waited so long to do that,” he murmured in my ear.

  I smiled, relaxing into him. He pulled me closer to him, leaving his arm draped across my waist. I entwined my fingers with his as exhaustion took over.