Choose Us Read online

  “You…wait…what?!” I stammered. I stopped in front of Travis and stared at him until he looked up at me. “Travis, you always do this! You always find a girl you think is gorgeous and easy. You have fun with her for a weekend or two and then it’s over. You move on to a different city. But this isn’t like that anymore. You are on a show to find someone to date. To really date! Do you really think I am just going to stand by while Nicki plays you and you fall into her trap? Do you really think Nicki is the one for you? And are you seriously going to tell me, you believe her over me? You believe a woman you’ve known one day over me who you’ve known fifteen years?!”

  “I’m asking you to stop being a stuck up bitch and start giving people who are not like you a chance,” he said, glaring at me now, clearly upset that I was not backing down.

  I was shocked. Travis called me a bitch. He’s never called me a bitch before. I couldn’t do this anymore; I stomped over to the door and let out a frustrated scream.

  “Don’t you dare walk out the door while we’re talking.” Travis stood.

  “Go to hell, Travis.” I spit back at him, before leaving the restaurant and heading towards the SUV.

  I climbed into the backseat and swiped at the tears that were now streaming down my face. Not only had we gotten into our first ever fight, but he had also managed to make me cry. My heart felt like it was being torn into two and I had a horrible feeling that I was going to lose my best friend over this.

  Was I being an overly dramatic fool? Travis and I never fought. I never brought up any issues with the stupid girls he was with. What the hell was going on right now?

  I had sat in the SUV until everyone was done eating, sad I wasn’t enjoying in the deliciousness that was Lu-Mick’s. Even more upset Travis and I had fought over something as dumb as Nicki.

  Too much estrogen around me, that had to be it.

  I needed to hide out in my room for a while. To get away from these girls, especially Nicki and to figure out what the heck was going on with Travis. I seriously wished I could be around when Travis and Nicki were alone together to see what exactly she was like. Or I wished Travis would just realize I wouldn’t lie to him.

  I hadn’t said a word when the girls came back into the vehicle. Nicki smirked at me, figuring I’d gotten talked to by Travis, and was probably going to be the one going home tonight. Yeah, that’s right. The producers decided to do another kick off right away. They figured they would have enough coverage from the two dates and Travis would be able to see which girl still wasn’t clicking with him. Only one would go home tonight. Then it would be a weekly thing, with the possibility of the top five getting stretched out to every two weeks. Depended on the ratings and the budget.

  I wished it was an elimination every night, so I could be home in a week, but I knew it couldn’t happen that way.

  Hadn’t anyone heard of speed dating?

  We pulled into the driveway of the house and I waited very impatiently as Nicki took her ever loving time getting out of the vehicle. As soon as her feet hit the blacktop outside, I rushed out of the SUV and pushed my way past her—literally pushed—causing her to stumble to the side, and mutter a few cuss words under her breath; I could hear them and hopefully so could Travis.

  I ran into the house, passing the girls who stayed behind, who were excitedly trying to ask how the date went. I took the stairs two at a time and sprinted down the hall to my room. I threw the door open, slammed it behind me and sank down to the floor against it. I hugged my knees to my chest and placed my head down on them. Pretty much the same position I took whenever Travis got on his bike. I closed my eyes and thought about the last hour and a half. About the argument with Travis. About him taking Nicki’s side. About him calling me a bitch.

  A single tear slipped out of the corner of my eye, and rolled down my cheek, dripping off the corner of my chin before landing on my jeans. I sniffed and pressed my palms to my eyes, willing the tears that were threatening to stay in. I don’t know what had come over me. Why did I care so much about Nicki and Travis? If he wanted to waste his time with her, why should I care so much? Yes, I was brought on this show to help him decide, but sometimes Travis would make his own decisions and not care what I think. Clearly this was going to be one of those times. I should just roll my eyes and walk away… and let him make the biggest mistake of his life. But I couldn’t. Even after all the crap he said to me, especially the calling me a bitch part, I still couldn't just walk away from him. I wanted to hate him. To be angry with him for weeks. But that wasn’t me. Did I need him to apologize to me? Yes. Did I need to apologize to him? Probably.

  Leaning my head back against the door, I took a deep breath. I held it for a few seconds and slowly released it.

  What is going on with me?

  This just wasn’t right. I was stressed and overwhelmed with the TV show, but there was something more that just wasn’t right. I felt not only hurt by what Travis said — but… jealous? Was I jealous of Nicki? Was I jealous that Travis clearly had feelings for her?

  Psht. No. That couldn’t be it.

  I needed sleep. Yep, that’s what I needed. Maybe if I took a quick nap, I’d wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day. Maybe I’d wake up to my old self again. Not this crazy, hormonal, over reacting, jealous girl.

  No, not jealous. I was not jealous!

  I kept telling myself that as I kicked off my shoes and slid under the covers. I snuggled into the pillows closing my eyes. My body relaxed, my breathing evened, and I drifted off to sleep imagining Travis lying next to me.

  I woke up to a dark room, with the sound of someone pounding on the door. I looked over at the alarm clock. 8:30, holy shit I slept a long time! I scrambled out of bed and hurried to the door, since the pounding never stopped. I threw the door open and stood face to face with Jim, the producer.

  Jim had to be in his early 50s, his light brown hair had more silver pieces now than brown. He also wore a full beard which was completely silver. His eyes were a soft blue—yet they were currently staring hard at me.

  “Riley, you need to get downstairs right now. The elimination was supposed to happen an hour ago,” Jim said leaning against the door frame.

  I rolled my eyes and leaned back against the door frame opposite of Jim. “I’m not going down there. I’d rather go home right now.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic Riley. You and Travis had a fight. You’ll make up and everything will be back to normal.” Jim stated, glancing at his watch. “But we really need you to get downstairs, before the other girls start a rally to get you thrown out tonight.”

  “And what makes you think Travis isn’t going to eliminate me tonight anyway?” I asked, curious for his answer.

  “Riley, Travis has been moping around all day since your fight. He was the biggest drag on the second date today. I watched the video feed; I saw what happened between you two. But by the way you have both behaved since, I can tell you’ll be back to best friends again by the night’s end,” Jim said pushing me back in my room. “Now, go get changed and get downstairs. I’ll go hold them off for a little while longer. The girls currently think you got ill after the date and that’s why you came straight up here when you got back.” Jim started down the hall before I could respond. As I was closing my door I heard him mumble, “If I didn’t know any better, I would swear those two had feelings for each other.”

  I closed the door and quickly got changed into a new pair of jeans and an old faded football t-shirt. I ran to the bathroom to check my reflection in the mirror. Ugh, dark circles under my eyes, thanks to the makeup I cried off. I washed my face as quickly as I could and assessed the damage again. No more circles, but no more makeup either. I swiped on a quick pass of mascara and some lip balm and called it good. I slipped some black flip flops on my feet, pulled my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head and headed downstairs.

  The girls were all situated in front of the wall of windows, just like the last elimi
nation. Travis wasn’t in the room yet, but Tessa was there, standing next to a table with the bracelets. They were navy blue this time. I twisted the maroon one on my wrist, and noticed Taylor pointing to an open spot between her and Kara. I slowly made my way there, passing a snickering Holly and Nicki.

  “I hope you’re all packed,” Nicki whispered as I went by.

  I decided to ignore her. Obviously there wasn’t anything I could do that would stop her from acting like a bitch. And Travis was clearly not listening to a word I had to say. Why waste my breath? Why even care anymore?

  I found my spot, ignoring both Taylor and Kara who were trying to talk to me and just stared ahead at Tessa. Honestly I didn’t care if I got sent home. I actually hoped Travis had gotten sick of me being there and decided he didn’t need me here. Okay, well, I didn’t wish he would get sick of me, but I did wish he could make this stupid decision by himself. It’s not like he even cared what I had to say.

  Why was I on this stupid show?!

  Travis walked in then. The sleeves on his red and brown plaid button up shirt were rolled up to his elbows, making his muscles very visible.

  Stupid him, looking stupidly attractive. Damnit!

  “Hello ladies. Another night none of us are looking forward to. But I am glad I got to hang out with you all a lot more today. I hope you all had as much fun on our dates as I did.” He greeted us, clapping his hands together.

  Everyone, except me, replied with some sort of excited agreement. Yeah, sure, I had a great time—until you decided to pick Nicki’s side over mine.

  “So based on today’s date, I’ve made my decision on who I would like to keep here and continue to get to know better, and the one person who I just didn’t feel that connection with.” Travis continued, picking up the first bracelet. “This first bracelet is for the woman who maybe didn’t have the best time on our date, but tried to keep a positive attitude.”

  Oh, come on!

  “Nicki, this one is for you.” Travis held the bracelet out for her.

  She squealed and ran up to him, yet again, just about tackling him into a hug. He put the bracelet on her and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. She walked back to her spot grinning like an idiot. She looked up at me and gave me the same ugly self-righteous smile she always saved just for me.

  Travis rattled off a few of the other girls. I was barely listening, but I saw Taylor, Kara, Erin and Addison go up. Also three of Nicki’s minions, whom I just didn’t care enough about to learn their names, had gotten bracelets.

  I finally zoned back into the surroundings and noticed Taylor giving me a sad look.

  “What?” I whispered to her.

  “It’s you and Holly left. I just don’t want to see you leave tonight,” She whispered back to me.

  Of course I was left in the bottom two. I honestly had no idea what Travis was going to do.

  “Will Riley and Holly please come up here?” Tessa asked, pointing to the spot right in front of Travis.

  I walked forward, noticing two small pieces of tape stuck to the floor where we were to stand. Seriously, did the crew have every move pinned down?

  I thought I was going to notice the cameras around all the time, but I barely ever remembered they were there. The only time I caught them was when Travis and I were alone in the restaurant, and that was only because they came in after me. Every other moment the cameras were on me, I usually forgot about them and went about my day.

  Wow, I was going to have to remember not to do anything majorly embarrassing.

  Travis cleared his throat. “I don’t like making this decision. But I’m basing it on what happened on our date. And for that reason, I’d like this bracelet to go to…” He paused, rolling the bracelet between his fingers.

  I glanced over at Holly who appeared to be shaking. You could clearly see the tears forming in her eyes. She has been here for one full day! What is it with these girls who think they are in love with Travis after one freaking day?!

  Holly choked out a sob and turned to stare at me with tears rolling down her face.

  Wait, what just happened?

  I turned back to Travis; he was holding the bracelet out to me.

  “Riley?” he asked looking slightly confused.

  Huh, he called my name.

  I walked forward for Travis to put the bracelet on my wrist. He slid it on, running his thumb over the first bracelet. He pulled me into a hug and whispered close to my ear, “Tonight. Get to my place as soon as you can.”

  He released me and turned to hug Holly and lead her to the door to say goodbye. I turned in a daze and was quickly in the arms of Taylor who gave me a big hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re still here!” she whispered to me.

  I just smiled at her.

  “It should be you he’s leading out tonight,” Nicki hissed brushing past me to go get a drink at the bar.

  Again, I didn’t say anything to her, but turned back to Taylor. “I’m going to head up to bed. I’ve just been exhausted.”

  Taylor nodded, “Yeah, they said you came down with something right before we were going to eat. I hope you feel better.” She smiled at me.

  I smiled back before heading slowly up the stairs to my room. I collapsed on my bed, not even bothering to kick off my shoes.

  Travis wanted me to come to his place. He wanted to talk. I guess that was a step in the right direction, but was I willing to go there? Did I really want to rehash what went down earlier today? I was already exhausted; I didn’t need more issues today. My eyes started to feel heavy.

  I’ll just close them for a few minutes.

  I woke up to the sound of a door slamming somewhere in the house. Everything else was quiet. I realized I was still in the spot I had fallen on my bed in and I tried readjusting myself, pulling myself up by the pillows and getting comfortable.

  I closed my eyes, my finger playing with the bracelets on my right wrist. My eyes flew open.

  “Travis!” I gasped, rolling over looking at the clock. One a.m.

  Oh shit!

  I scrambled out of bed, thankful I was still dressed and quickly made my way to the door. I slowly opened it, peeking out to make sure the hallway was clear.

  It was dark and silent in the hall as I softly closed the door behind me and made my way to the servants’ staircase. I ran down the stairs, avoiding the steps I knew made noises and peered around the corner into the kitchen, which was also dark. I quickly moved to the door and out of it as quietly as I could. I took a few steps away from the house, before turning around to look and see if any lights were on.

  Everything was pitch black on this side of the house, so I quickly sprinted to the guest house. As I got close to the house, there was a single light shining from the back of the house. Probably from his bedroom, if I remembered the layout correctly. I reached the front door, ready to knock, but stopped before my fist hit the door. I reached down for the knob and tried to turn it. It was unlocked and opened smoothly. I let myself in, shutting the door slowly behind me and sliding the lock in place. I kicked my shoes off by the door and tiptoed down the hall to his room.

  I was able to see Travis sprawled out on his bed before I even got to his room. The light was coming from one of the bedside lamps. As I entered, I heard his heavy breathing, so I knew he was sleeping. I made my way to the bed, and gently kneeled next to Travis. He didn’t even stir. I lay down next to him and just took him in. He was on his stomach with his arms under his head. His biceps just peaked out from beneath the sleeves of his white shirt. I reached out and ran my finger down his arm.

  Why does he have to be so attractive even when he’s sleeping?

  He stirred when I touched him, so I brought my hand under my head and watched as he slowly opened his eyes and took in the room. He blinked a little and his eyes focused on me.

  “Riles?” He reached out and touched my face softly. “Are you really here?” He had the look of hope in his eyes but his voice sounded broken. It may have
even cracked a little.

  “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry I’m so late.” I closed my eyes as he gently cupped my face with his hand.

  “What time is it?” he asked, his voice scruffy from sleep.

  “A little after one. I didn’t think I was going to fall asleep, so I never set my alarm. But I guess I was more exhausted than I thought,” I explained.

  He sighed and rolled onto his side facing me. “I thought you weren’t going to show up.”

  “To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to either. When you whispered it to me, all I could think was…why?” I sighed, nestling into the pillow and pulling the covers over me.

  “What changed your mind?” His voice lost the scruffiness as he continued to wake up.

  I peered at him under my eyelashes and took a deep breath before I answered. “Travis, we have never fought before. Ever. And we’ve been around each other almost 24/7 for the last five years. Do you realize how uncanny that is? People fight, they argue, it’s what happens. And yet, we never did.” I noticed Travis give me a slight nod before I continued. “So this fight. This stupid argument, caught me off guard. Especially because of what… or who it was about.”

  “Riles, I’m just out of my element here.” Travis started to explain. I reached over and grabbed his hand to stop him.

  “Just, let me talk, please?” I pleaded. He just stared at me and started rubbing his thumb up and down my hand.

  Taking another deep breath, I continued, “Travis, I agreed to do this stupid TV show with you, because you asked. That is all. You asked and I agreed. You know I would do anything for you. But it was also so I could help you. So I could weed out the girls who are no good for you. If anyone knows who is good for you, it’s me.” My voice was rising and I could feel the anger start to bubble up again. Travis continued to rub my hand, which had the calming effect I needed to continue. “But it seems you don’t want to listen to me, Trav. You seem like you don’t even care that I’m here.” Travis paused the rubbing and just held my hand.