When we get inside, we find May and her grandparents in the process of cleaning up after a board game. They ask how our dinner was, and I tell them the food was amazing, while Travis brings our leftovers into the kitchen to put away. He comes back and stands close to me, placing his hand over my hip like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Then he thanks Elise and Grant for their generosity.

Grants waves him off. “It was the least we could do.”

“We wanted you two to enjoy yourselves,” Elise adds.

May grins devilishly, her eyes darting between me and Travis. “Yeah. It must have been nice for you guys to get some alone time, right?”

“So nice,” I reply, with a minimal amount of sarcasm that hopefully only she can detect. I still don’t understand why she keeps pushing us together beyond what’s necessary for the lie.

“Well, we’d better get going back to the inn,” Elise says, motioning for Grant to follow her toward the door. “We’ll leave you all to the rest of your night.”

After the goodbyes, May turns to me and Travis and announces that she’s going to her room to read. “I’ll be playing music too,” she adds. “Loudly.”

Next thing I know, she’s run up the stairs, leaving us standing here alone. She must be happy to have her room back.

Travis’s hand is still on my hip, and he keeps his hold of it as he turns to face me. With his other hand, he cards his fingers through the hair at my temple. “I really did enjoy going out with you tonight.”

“Same,” I tell him, barely resisting the urge to nuzzle my head into his hand like a cat.

“And you know, the night doesn’t have to end here.”

“What do you mean?”

He gives me a small smile. “I mean I could give Grant and Elise a few minutes to get out of here, then I could head back to my place. Or...”

“Or?” I whisper, like he’s about to tell me a secret.

His brown eyes study me as he cradles my face in his warm palm. Then he says, “Or I could stay, and we could go up to your room.”

Oh my god.

I’ve hooked up with him a handful of times now, and he’s said some surprisingly filthy things to me. So why does that simple sentence sound like the goddamn sexiest thing I’ve ever heard?

I worried our hooking up was over now that he doesn’t need to share a bedroom with me anymore. But here he is, looking at me like he wants this to continue as much as I do.

He tilts his head, waiting for my answer.

“Stay,” I tell him.

And then I throw myself at him.