Once Upon A Rodeo

13: Swimming in Underwear

Swimming in Underwear

I slowly cracked open Travis' door, letting it groan under my light touch. I peaked my head in between the space. I was unsure if I was welcomed to come back into his room, after what happened last time. He sat on his bed, phone in hand, and looked up at me. He look surprised to see me, obviously I wasn't who he was expecting. I weakly smiled and gave a slight wave. Once he got over the shock he gave a smile back.

"B- Annie! What's up? Come on in." It was the second time he called me Annie in the last twenty four hours, and it stung just as bad as the first time.

My smile fell and I stayed put, unsure what to say after this point. And after being addressed as I would by any other person, instead of his nickname for me, I was left especially tongue tied.

He stood up. A worried expression played on his face. He moved in close to me and gently pulled me out of the hallway and into his room. "Are you alright?" I nodded. "Do you... need somethin'?" I shook my head. "Then what's up?"

"What are you doing right now?" I quickly spit out before I could think about what I was saying.

"Pardon?"

"Umm. Do you have plans, or um, are you free?" I asked slower this time, with the hint of nervousness and embarrassment in my voice.

Travis studied me quietly. I squirmed under his inquisitive stare. I looked down at my shoes and started to rock on my heels. My face quickly began to heat up, and I involuntarily took a step backward. I was about to back out, out of the door when he hand clamped down on my arm, making me stay. "No." His deep voice came out husky. "I'm not busy."

I looked up into his mesmerizing eyes and felt a scandalous amount of joy from his answer. I tried to play it cool, even though my arm was tingling under his touch. "Awesome. I was just thinkin' that it's really hot outside and I kinda felt like goin' for a swim. I was just wonderin' if you wanted ta join me, since I did promise you a while back that I would take ya." I said thinking back to the morning after the "summer is ending party" when he and I went for a ride. "You don't have to if you don't wanna, it was just a thought." I said after he didn't respond.

He shook his head rather violently. "No. No. You took me by surprise, that's all. I'd like to go for a swim with you." He said with a brilliant smile.

I found myself blushing slightly and turned my back to him so he couldn't see. I cleared my throat. "Cool. Let's go then." My eyes widened at how badly I was at playing it cool. I walked out of his room quickly, only knowing that he was following by the sound of his deep chuckles.

I didn't turn back to face him until we reached the stables and I got Dance Partner out of her pen. Travis was about to saddle High Maintenance Girlfriend but I stop him. "I planned on just ridin' bareback. We'll have more time at the lake that way."

He looked at me surprised at first, then chuckled and shook his head. "Lemme guess, it's less work to ride bareback than it is to saddle Dance," he gave me a teasing smile.

I surprised myself by laughing with him, instead of snapping at him. "Somethin' like that. But it also give Dance more room to breathe, plus this is just a leisurely ride."

"Whatever you say, lazy bum." He teased.

I picked up a stray towel and threw it at Travis, but he simply thwarted it away. He laughed and I huffed sticking my tongue out at him, pretending to be upset, but I couldn't help a smile escape my lips. His eyes shone bright of laughter and I easily lost myself looking in them once again. I don't know how long we stood there, smiling at each other like two idiots, but we were snapped out of our trance when Dance made a noise of anticipation and agitation.