Over the Line

Chapter Four

"Do y'all care if we head back so I can make a quick work call?" It was just after four o'clock when Sam sheepishly asked the group to return home. He'd been thoroughly wrapped up in something on his phone for a solid twenty minutes.

"Your prospect still playing hard to get?" Yvette questioned as she helped secure the towels and anything that might fly away as Zander manned the wheel.

"I don't think I've had to chase someone so hard since middle school."

"We've seen the girls you pull, maybe you should try a little harder." Travis volleyed back. There were a couple groans all around.

"Yeah, yeah, alright! What time are you guys thinking about eating? I've got a couple things that could use my attention." Sam played it off since he wasn't quite ready to admit how much work he actually had to put in to get a date with the girl he's seeing now.

"You know me, I'm hungry anytime!" Travis declared.

"I'm bit toasty, so I could definitely use a nice shower when we get back." Yvette assessed the amount of sun she had gotten.

"You guys want to plan on eating at seven?" Remi suggested since it sounded like everyone had something to keep them busy for a while. The time seemed to work well for everyone as they nodded their heads in agreement.

As Zander pulled the boat up to the dock Remi helped guide them in. Unloading went much faster than it had that morning because everyone except Sam was there to help.

"You guys go ahead and take the golf cart up. I'm going to take the boat over to the marina to fill her up." Remi threw the keys to Sienna as she hopped back on the boat.

"I'll come with you. I have nothing else to do for a while." Travis offered as the groups split off from one another. He knew Zander would end up hogging the bathroom in the basement anyways.

"Thanks for the company," Remi smiled as she steered the boat towards the nearby marina. She could have waited until they took the boat out again, but she always preferred doing it before turning in.

"Of course! How are things going?"

"They're real good, T." She stole a glance at him. "I have my best friends here for the week and my dream job waiting for me at the end of summer. What more could I ask for?"

"You know that's not quite what I meant." He gave her a pointed look.

Travis had the reputation of a player. He was slick with the girls in high school and even to this day. People thought he didn't really care about anyone but himself, but that definitely wasn't the case.

His mom left Thomas, his dad, when Travis was six or seven. She never looked back, not even to say Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas. He didn't talk much about it because by the time he was nine his dad had remarried Sienna's mom, Lauren. Lauren immediately fell in love with Travis and treated him as if he were her own which was something Travis really needed at the time. Understandably, he was a little guarded against outsiders because of how he felt towards his mom. Once he allowed someone in though, he loved ferociously and was loyal almost to a fault.

It took Travis a little while to warm up to Remi and the others when his dad's job relocated the four of them to Challen after his freshman year. Sienna and Remi became surprisingly quick friends after being paired together on a class project.  It wasn't until after Travis joined the football team and started hanging out with Sam that he realized he actually liked Remi's company too. He also loved Kellie and Scott. They made him feel welcome and loved from the moment they met him, so it really hit him hard too when they passed.