The Exception by Lauren H. Mae

Twenty

With every drink, Sonya found it harder and harder to control where her eyes landed.

Trav led them back to the bar, leaning his elbows on the wood to order them another round. This time her gaze lingered on his dress shirt tucked into his pants. Just like before when she’d wanted to mess up his hair, she had the overwhelming urge to pull his shirttails free, maybe pop open the top button. This buttoned-up version of Trav, though objectively handsome as hell, was missing that little je ne sais quoi that made him him.

That tie had to go too. She imagined taking it off and tossing it over her shoulder like he’d done to Marcus’s place card, then she giggled at herself. This was ridiculous. Worse than the dream. She was practically ogling her intern at a bar. It was so unlike her.

Maybe she could make an exception just this once. She was having a good time, after all.

The bartender slid two glasses across the bar, and Trav started back in her direction. She fixed her face just in time.

“Last round if I’m going to let you drive me home,” she said when he pushed one into her hand. She heard her words slur and watched Trav’s smile stretch in response.

“That’s very responsible of you.” He held his drink up to her nose. “But mine’s been water for the last few.”

She sniffed the decidedly plain liquid. “Oh. Well, that’s very responsible of you.”

“Always.”

Now that was something she never thought she’d agree with. But there he was, surprising her at every turn.

“You’re different than when we first met. You know that?” Along with the slurring, she could also feel her filter starting to slip. Dangerous territory when he was looking like that.

“So are you.”

She laughed but there was something unpleasant about it even to her own ear. “I doubt that,” she said. “I’ve been called rigid a time or two.”

He leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes. “Do you always turn self-deprecating when you drink? Because I’m not sure I can just let that slide.”

She didn’t usually, but there was something so unusual about life without Marcus. Some of it was freeing, like the way she could just pop out for a drink with a friend without worrying about being home in time to miss a Facetime call from somewhere around the world, sometimes the only contact for days. But this brooding trend Trav was picking up on wasn’t her favorite new trait. Maybe she wanted to be saved from herself.

“What are you going to do about it?” she asked, scooting a little closer.

“Tell you how great I think you are. Working with you has been—”

She waved a hand in his face. “For me. You work for me.”

Trav chuckled. “Working for you… it’s been inspiring.”

The back of her neck was on fire. Sure, she was used to being the best at everything she set out to do, but challenging herself like that usually meant surrounding herself with other people who were climbing the same ladder. It was competitive, not exactly an environment where you received a lot of overt praise. This was new.

“I wasn’t fishing,” she said.

“And I wasn’t biting. I’m being truthful, Sonya. Look, like I said, I haven’t always made the best decisions in life. I’ve cleaned up, sure, but it’s been humbling, learning from you. Watching you just inherently know the best way to do something, whether it’s talking to a patient’s family or coming up with a treatment plan that takes all of their personal factors into account. And tonight, getting a little glimpse of what it’s like when you let loose. That’s been good too.”

She did feel loose right then—like all of the structure and routines that kept her running at peak performance had been seated at a different table.

Since Trav had shown up on her floor, she’d started to notice all of the ways she’d been running on auto-pilot. She thought she’d achieved that sort of nirvana state in both her work and her life where she had little left to learn. She’d been ready to just sit back and reap the rewards of all of her hard work, but from the very moment they met, Trav had challenged her in a way she hadn’t realized she was missing. Though she would go to her grave defending that she was right on that plane, the lesson hadn’t been lost on her. Maybe there could be more than one right.

She dragged her eyes over his face. That comfortable, genuine smile of his that looked totally at ease, and she realized that this Sonya—the one Trav saw and pointed out as different—might be the real her screaming to get out.

“I think maybe you’re a good and bad influence on me in that regard,” she said.

“Well, look at that.” He winked. “We’re a great team in and out of work.”

She swore he was flirting. But who had started it?

And should she stop it? Was that what the real Sonya really wanted to do? Or was that what the Sonya that everyone knew would do?

When he leaned closer and his cologne drifted into her space, she knew it sure as hell wasn’t the former.

She studied him for a moment, her teeth pressed into her lip, then she reached up and popped the button open at his collar the way she’d imagined.

She slapped a hand over her own gaping mouth.

Trav’s eyes bulged while she laughed from behind her fingers. He caught her wrist, pulling it away. “What was that for?”

“We’re letting loose, like you said.”

His tongue swept over his lower lip, then he set his drink down and brought his other hand to the back of her head. She felt a small tug, and the braids she’d pulled back cascaded down around her shoulders. Her jaw dropped as Trav tossed her jeweled barrette on the bar, smiling.

Her spit was suddenly in a ball in the back of her throat, her chest flushed. What was that?

Her heart pounded worse than the night he’d shown up at the gym and she’d challenged him to a treadmill race. She still thought about that night weeks later.

“Sonya…” Trav’s voice was a low growl and his boyish smile had completely melted away. In its place was a serious look that had her brain conjuring a fantasy it had been dancing around since they’d met. She never let herself entertain it fully, but there it was, bursting through her alcohol-weakened defense—Soldier Trav. Stern, strong, and capable. She’d been intrigued by the little glimpses she’d caught so far, always in such complete opposition to the goofy smartass he was most of the time. But sometimes his eyes flashed with something different. Something she couldn’t help but want to poke at. Something that intimidated her in the best way.

Which one of those versions of himself manifested in intimate moments like the one she dreamed about? Would he laugh and play or was he the type to save up all of that strength and discipline, let it build until it exploded?

And what about that trouble switch? Did he mean it was permanently turned off or just better controlled?

“Hey.” Trav pressed two fingers under her chin, tipping her face, and she realized she’d been full-on staring at his mouth while she contemplated that. “Maybe it’s time to call it a night.”

He swallowed thickly and, though she knew he just meant he should drive her home, she couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes had gone equally hazy. And he couldn’t even blame it on booze.

“Yeah. You’re right. It’s late.” And if she stayed there any longer, she couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t be inclined to find out the answer to one or more of those questions.

Trav settled the tab, insisting on covering the whole thing. She felt bad about letting him pay since he was living on a part time salary while he finished school, but he didn’t want to hear it when she’d argued.

He helped her into the passenger side of his SUV and she watched him take his time rounding the hood. He paused in front of the vehicle, running a hand through his hair, then over his mouth. Finally, he took a deep breath before finally climbing in behind the wheel.

She realized she was sitting as still as a statue, all of her muscles tense, and she forced herself to relax. She was just getting a ride home from her friend. Nothing to get weird about.

But what if she invited him in?

Holy what? Where had that thought come from?

Trav was not her type. She’d learned to stay away from messy hair and mischievous eyes when she was still young and stupid, but damn if this wasn’t the best night she could remember. Had she ever had this much fun with Marcus? Had she ever spent an entire conversation staring at Marcus’s mouth without realizing it?

It didn’t matter because Trav was her intern.

Oh, my God! She was one of those teachers lusting after her students!

Okay, he was actually a year and a half older than her, and she wasn’t his teacher, but there was a power dynamic there. Even if it wasn’t explicitly against the rules, it would certainly be frowned upon. And definitely bad for her rep if people found out she’d slept with the paramedic student she was responsible for.

My God, Sonya. She pressed a hand to her forehead as that picture took form in her mind. Again.

“You okay?”

She expected him to be wearing his usual cocky smirk, but when she looked over at him, Trav looked equally disturbed for some reason.

“I’m fine.” She pressed the button to roll down her window. “Just warm. From the vodka. And… because it’s warm.”

“Right. It’s really warm.” He rolled his window down too and wiped at the back of his neck.

“My place is right up here.”

Trav rolled to a stop at the curb in front of her modern, white brick townhouse with flowers lining the walkway to her door. He put it in park and stared out the windshield.

Sonya gathered her purse and shawl, her fingers fumbling with the door handle. “Um, thank you for the ride. And the drinks.”

Trav seemed to snap out of whatever trance he’d been in and he hopped out of the car, coming around to her door just as she pushed it open. She stepped out onto the sidewalk, and he shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’re welcome. I’ll, um…” he jutted a thumb over his shoulder toward her walkway. “I’ll just walk you to your door.”

She turned carefully, walking slower than normal to avoid any tangling between the cobblestones and her heels. She could feel Trav behind her, his imposing presence warming her back.

When she got to the door, she turned around, tipping her chin. She’d intended to thank him, maybe take one more look at those dimples before she said goodnight, but he was closer than she thought. Her nose ended up inches from the hollow of his throat and she instinctively put her palms up, pressing them against his pecs. Her fingers curled without her permission.

“This was fun,” he said while she clawed him through his dress shirt.

Put your hands down, Sonya. But her limbs weren’t taking orders from her brain anymore.

Trav looked down at her hands, smiling, but it was a nervous smile she hadn’t seen on him before. “I’m glad we decided to be friends, Nurse Pope.”

“Sonya,” she said. Her voice was breathy and low. She sounded absolutely ridiculous.

“Sonya.”

She pressed her legs together and smiled back. “Trav.”

Her gaze flicked across his face. When he licked his bottom lip before pulling it between his teeth, she knew she’d been caught staring.

Embarrassed, but not enough to back away, she lifted her eyes to meet his and caught him watching her mouth just as intently.

He reached up to tuck a stray braid behind her ear and the warmth that had been on a slow simmer inside of her reached a rolling boil. Instead of pulling away, she inched close, her hands sliding up across his chest to cradle his warm neck. He tilted his head as he moved in closer, pausing just as his lips hovered a breath away from hers. He was asking her a question in that pause, just as clear as if he’d spoken the words out loud.

Are you sure?

Her answer should’ve been a goodnight as she went into her townhouse, but that wasn’t the answer the real Sonya who’d been let out of the box she kept herself in wanted to give. And it sure as hell wasn’t what she wanted to do.

Shutting out the alarm bells sounding in her mind, she closed her eyes and pushed to her toes, brushing her lips against his.

That small taste was enough to ignite the sparks that had been swirling in the air around them from the moment they’d escaped the benefit like a couple of teenagers dodging chaperones at the prom. Before that, if she were honest. It was enough to make her a little lightheaded but not enough to satisfy the craving for him that had snuck up on her.

Trav parted his lips and she took full advantage, sweeping her tongue into his mouth and drawing a quiet moan from him as he responded in kind. He tasted like the whiskey he’d had at the bar, smoky and sweet. Her hands continued doing whatever the hell they wanted to do, sliding into his hair, twisting the thick silky strands between her fingers.

She’d initiated it, but Trav was kissing her now and her whole body tingled at the way he took control. This wasn’t a polite response to being kissed, no. He kissed her like he wanted her and he needed her to know it. Had he thought about this too?

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the warmth of his mouth, the scratch of his stubble, their shared breaths and racing hearts.

Her knees went a little wobbly and Trav’s hands found her hips, tugging her flush against his solid body. It felt illicit—probably because it was—but Sonya melted into his warmth anyway as he backed her into the solid wood of her door. It would be so easy to open that door and invite him inside and, in that moment, Sonya couldn’t remember wanting anything more. It had been so long since a kiss made her feel this way and she wanted to drag it out as long as possible, damn the consequences.

A horn sounded as a truck rumbled past the house, and like the clock striking midnight in a fairy tale, it startled Sonya out of whatever spell she was under. Her eyes popped open and she wrestled her lips away from Trav’s, covering her mouth with a trembling hand.

What am I doing?

Trav snatched his hands away from her like she was on fire and took a large step backward. Even as the panic over what they’d just done was setting in, Sonya missed his touch, his warmth.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight as embarrassment and regret made her cheeks flush hot. What had she been thinking? She’d just gotten out of a relationship with a guy she thought she was going to marry, she and Trav were barely even friends, and topping it off, she was his preceptor. Even Dani had suggested banging him in a closet after his internship ended.

Emma was right. Maybe she wasn’t handling things well since the breakup and this was her wake up call. She had to figure out how to get it together because this was definitely not her.

She took a few deep breaths to try to get herself together, but it felt like coming down from a high and her body was going through withdrawals. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and saw Trav leaning against the porch railing and looking just about as dazed as she felt. Even in the dim porch light, she could see his red, swollen lips and his hair was beautifully disheveled from where she’d run her fingers through it.

Most striking were his wide, dark eyes that were trained on her as he waited for her to give him some sense of how they were going to handle what just happened, and the palpable attraction that still burned in them.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, refusing to meet his eye as she picked up her clutch from where she’d dropped it and searched for her keys. “That was… I don’t know what that was.”

Trav swallowed hard. “Sonya, I… ”

She couldn’t talk about this now. It was late and all she wanted to do was sleep off whatever insanity had caused her to make out with her intern on her front porch.

She turned around and after two tries she got the key into her lock and opened her door. She didn’t turn back around to look at Trav until she was in her doorway with the door between them.

“It’s late,” she said. “See you at work on Monday?”

Trav stared at her silently for a long moment and she prayed that he would just let this go for now. She didn’t have the energy to deal with it.

He nodded once. “Yeah. Good night, Sonya.”

Grateful, she tried to smile but it probably looked like a grimace if it reflected what was going on in her head. “Good night.”

She closed the door and her body sagged against it. She desperately needed to come up with a recovery plan for what might have been her biggest mistake to date. But even as her brain tried to regroup and refocus, her body knew she’d remember that kiss for a very long time.