I scoot myself down the bed until I’m lying on my back, and the mattress shifts as Travis does the same next to me. “Goodnight,” I say, rolling onto my side and facing away from him to put a bit more space between us. Not that I actually want the space. But I need it.

“Goodnight,” he replies.

Then we’re both quiet. I’m holding my body so rigidly, keeping myself from spreading out the way I normally would. Despite how tired I am, it takes me a long time to fall asleep. And before I do, I recall the totally-out-of-left-field story May made up for her grandparents about me and Travis.

How the heck did she come up with that? She made it sound like he was pining away for me all these years.

Like there’d be a chance in hell of that.

But luckily, Elise and Grant have no way of knowing how crazy and unrealistic the story was.

CHAPTER EIGHT

TRAVIS

I wake before the sun rises and before my alarm. My body’s used to this because of all the mornings I need to get up super early to open the diner. Like today. The alarm will probably sound any minute, so I need to turn it off before it wakes Brenden. I start to move, but then freeze, realizing something.

Brenden.

He went to sleep last night with as much distance between us as this bed allowed. As if I have cooties. He was practically falling off the mattress.

Now, obviously having migrated my direction during the night, he’s so close I can smell his shampoo. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, if it weren’t for these two facts: I’m hard, and his ass is pressed right against my erection.

Taking a deep breath, I roll the other way, careful not to disturb him, and reach for my phone on the nightstand. I turn off the alarm just in time. My plan was to sneak out before anyone else is awake, open the diner, then sneak back in here to continue playing the boyfriend role.

There’s no time to freak out about the compromising position we were in. But believe me, that doesn’t mean I’ll be forgetting about it.

In the dark, I find my clothes and get changed, tucking my dick away and willing it to soften. I spare only one more quick glance at Brenden’s peacefully sleeping form. He was a ball of anxiety last night. I’m glad he seems to have gotten some good sleep.

I sneak downstairs as stealthily as my fairly large body will allow, mindful of the fact that May’s asleep on the couch as I creep past her. Once I’ve made it out the front door and shut it quietly behind me, I hightail it to my truck and drive away.