The Exception by Lauren H. Mae

Twenty-two

It was still early when Sonya settled in behind her desk Monday morning with a hazelnut latte and chocolate croissant. She’d spent more than enough time on her treadmill yesterday to counteract the carbs, and even if she hadn’t, she needed the extra sugar buzz because she was dragging.

After literally running her ass off, she’d spent her whole Sunday trying to figure out how to deal with Trav post-kiss. She’d decided that the moment between them was just an overflow of everything she’d been dealing with lately, brought on by good times and a little too much vodka. While she could admit that Trav was objectively handsome and he’d grown on her over the last few weeks with his work ethic and his dedication to bringing her home cooked lunches… his jokes and those dimples that made her cheeks warm and her heart race… kissing him was just a blip on the path to friendship. Nothing more.

She’d always been shit at lying, even to herself.

Get it together, girl. It meant nothing.

A quiet knock drew her attention to her doorway, and there he was, like she’d somehow summoned him with her thoughts. Sonya’s nerves flared. Seeing him again had memories flashing in her brain like neon signs, reminding her just how good it had felt to touch him.

He looked like she felt: a little rumpled and tired as he stood there with his shoulder pressed against the doorframe and his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his scrubs. Maybe he was remembering too.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Good morning,” she greeted with an everything is normal smile. “You’re in early today.”

“Yeah… I figured you’d be here. Can we talk?”

“Sure.”

He closed the door behind him before dropping into the chair facing her desk. He was quiet as he rubbed his hands along his thighs like he was trying to figure out how to say it.

She was just about to put them both out of their misery when he finally blurted out, “So the other night… ”

Her heart skipped. Okay, maybe she wasn’t as ready for this as she thought. But she’d better get ready. Letting things like this fester was never a good idea. She pushed her coffee aside and folded her hands. “You’re right, we should talk about it.”

He nodded, clearing his throat before saying, “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Oh.

“For what? I kissed you.”

“And I kissed you back and things got a little… heated.”

That was one way to put it. In fact, her body was heating now just thinking about it. But at least he was being direct. Direct she could handle.

“We were both emotional and got carried away,” she said. “That’s all. It happened, it’s not going to happen again, so it was just a blip and we should just move on.”

“A blip?” A piece of his hair fell onto his forehead and her heart made a different kind of blip. Not good.

She folded her hands on her desk and tipped her chin. “Yep. It didn’t mean anything so we shouldn’t let it get in the way of our working relationship.

“Okay,” he said, nodding as if to convince himself. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his scrubs, shifting in his seat. “But I kinda hoped that it wouldn’t get in the way of us being friends either.”

“Of course not!” A relief she hadn’t even known she was looking for flooded her chest. Her friendship with Trav had been an unexpected beacon in what was, unquestionably, one of the most confusing times of her life. It was really nice to spend time with someone who had never known Marcus. Who had never known her and Marcus.

She may not have even been able to articulate that need until right now when she’d thought there was a chance he would come in here and act all weird like some playboy afraid she was going to get the wrong impression and accidentally fall in love with him. But she had to give him credit. This was a very mature reaction.

And apparently maturity was her weak spot because an idea popped into her head before she could talk herself out of it. “In fact,” she said, “my friends rented a lake house for the long weekend and since we’re both off, I was wondering if you’d like to come.”

His brow furrowed. “You’re inviting me on a trip with your friends?”

Was she? In that same vein, she realized the thought of going on a weekend trip with a big glaring hole where her plus one was supposed to be was eating at her more than she’d admitted. No one wanted to be the seventh wheel, and Trav had mentioned more than once that he was still trying to expand his social circle. It was a win/win. A mutually beneficial situation. Something friends would do.

For God’s sake, Sonya. Just go with it.

She cleared her throat. “There’s a group of us—my three best friends, their significant others, a baby. I remember you saying you don’t really know anyone and I know how that can get depressing. The guys are always happy to have someone else to… guy… with, the space is already paid for, and it’ll be a good break from this place.”

Trav looked nervous for some reason. “Didn’t we say we were going to be just friends?”

“We did.”

“Don’t you think going away together might make that a little… hard.”

The memory of his body pressing into hers the night before made her face heat and his mind must’ve traveled to that same place because his cheeks turned bright pink.

“I mean, wouldn’t that muddy things up more than they already are,” he corrected.

“Only if we let it, besides I thought you might enjoy meeting some new people.” She shrugged. “These are the kinds of things people who are just friends do, Trav.”

And maybe it was a good test for herself. A weekend away with him would prove once and for all that she had this under control. And that he did, which of course was what she wanted.

“But if you can’t handle it…”

He squared his shoulders, any trace of nerves slipping into that familiar smirk. “Oh, I can handle it but since the… blip… was all you, do you think you’re up to it?”

“I don’t remember it being all me,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

“You definitely started it. I just want you to be sure that a weekend away together won’t entice you into starting anything else.”

Of all the…

How did he manage to fluster and infuriate her in the same breath?

“While I did start it, Trav, I don’t remember you trying to end it.”

His smirk turned into a genuine smile that threw her. “I’ve been known to make some really bad choices, but I’m not dumb enough to stop a pretty woman from kissing me.”

Pretty. She had to ignore that word or it was going to take her completely off track. She didn’t have time for compliments from him. They were friends, and friends didn’t get a warm feeling in their bellies when a friend said they were pretty. Period.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about me starting anything else, especially now that I have an idea of what you’re offering.”

His eyes narrowed and she knew she’d hit her intended mark. She gave herself a mental high-five.

“Excuse me, but that was just a taste of what I’m offering.”

“Even so, it’s irrelevant because you and I are just friends, right?”

“Right,” he grumbled.

She pretended to shuffle some papers on her desk so he wouldn’t see her satisfied grin. “So are you interested in coming to the lake with me or not? I need to tweak the schedule to include picking you up and dropping you off if you are.”

“I bet you have the whole weekend planned down to the minute.”

“Do you have a problem with that?” She turned back to him ready to defend the merits of a well-laid plan, but it died on her lips when she saw the way his eyes twinkled with mirth.

“Nah. I’m used to having my every minute planned for me. Just tell me what time to be ready.”

“Early. Five a.m.”

“Okay, then.” He stood to leave, his hand on the doorknob, when he stopped and turned back to her, pointing at her croissant. “You might want to save that. I brought you a couple of the Nutella brownies I made yesterday.”

An image of him shirtless except for an apron, licking brownie batter off of a wooden spoon flashed through her mind.

Again, not good, Sonya.

She blinked that unproductive thought away. While she was killing herself on the treadmill and planning out how to recover their working relationship and their friendship, he was making brownies?

Annoying wasn’t even the word.

“You made brownies? Yesterday?”

“Baking relaxes me,” he admitted. “But don’t get it twisted. I always bake brownies after accidentally making out with one of my friends.”

She shook her head and held in her chuckle until he was out of her office.

* * *

“Did you give him the list?” Dani asked as she climbed over the console, into the backseat of Sonya’s SUV. They’d pulled up to Trav’s apartment at exactly five on the dot, and Sonya’s other two passengers were already annoying her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She gave Dani’s ass a shove, sending her tumbling onto Dylan. “And shut up.”

“The Sonya Says list,” Dylan supplied, helping Dani into her seat.

Sonya shot him a look in the rear-view. When she bought her SUV, and it became the go-to transportation for road trips for their ever-expanding group, she’d laid down a few… guidelines. It wasn’t her fault her friends had zero car safety skills or road trip etiquette and had to be reminded constantly.

It was one of the most Sonya things she’d ever done, and she definitely hadn’t mentioned it to Trav.

“Some people don’t need a set of written rules to know how to act right,” she said.

Dani fixed her ponytail, eyeing Sonya in the mirror. “And you know him so well because you’re not sleeping with him?”

Dylan snorted.

Sonya sighed. She might as well spend the next four hours with a ticking time bomb in the back seat between the two of them and their penchant for saying whatever the hell they felt like. Why couldn’t she have just made up a story about her car being in the shop and hitched a ride with Emma?

“For the hundredth time, I’m not sleeping with him.”

Dylan pushed his elbow into Dani’s side and winked. “Have you ever thought you might be a little less uptight if you were?”

Sonya clapped her hands like a school teacher teaching syllables. “Shut. Up. Both. Of. You.”

“Don’t worry, Sonya,” Dani said. “We won’t embarrass you.”

Sonya’s eyes moved to Dylan, narrowing. He dropped his expensive sunglasses onto his nose and slouched in his seat. “Don’t look at me. I’m not funny until after seven.” He tugged Dani’s ponytail. “Wake me up when she admits it.”

“Admits what?” Trav opened the passenger side door, and Sonya quickly pasted on a smile.

“Nothing. Hey. I mean, good morning. Cause it’s early.” Oh my god. Could she be any more awkward? She cleared her throat and started again. “Let me put your bags in the back.”

“I’ve got it,” he said, but she’d already launched herself out of the car like it was on fire.

Trav met her at the tailgate, his expression half amusement, half nervousness, and she suddenly felt silly. She was acting like she was about to ask her crush to prom, but it was just Trav. Sure he looked fit and athletic in the t-shirt and shorts he’d chosen, and he had some sort of bedhead thing going on that was borderline adorable and made her palms sweat, but she needed to set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

This was their move on opportunity, and if she couldn’t handle a little ribbing from Dani and Dylan, she wasn’t as prepared for this as she thought.

“Hi,” she said, taking a deep breath.

“Morning.” He smiled. “Everything alright?”

“Yes. Everything is fine. I’m glad you’re coming.”

“Me too.” His shoulders loosened, and one corner of his mouth curved into a familiar grin. “Thank you for inviting me. It really is important to me that we can still be friends.”

“It’s important to me too.”

“Good.” He tossed his bag in the back, and did a double take as Dani’s blonde ponytail disappeared behind the seat.

Sonya shook her head. “Those, unfortunately, are my other friends. Come on.”

She rounded the SUV and got back behind the wheel. Trav climbed in beside her, turning over his shoulder to greet the others.

Dani reached between their headrests to shake Trav’s hand. “I’m Dani. Sonya’s best friend no matter what Emma says.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“That’s Dylan,” Sonya said. “He lost his voice in a tragic accident so he won’t be speaking.”

Dylan gave a silent thumbs up.

“Sorry to hear that,” Trav said, laughing.

“You won’t be.” Sonya put the car in gear and pulled out onto the road. “So it’s about four hours to the lake, give or take—What are you doing?”

Trav rolled down his window, letting his arm hang out.

Her pulse hammered in her neck.

“What?”

“Nothing. Nevermind.” She tossed a shut the hell up look at Dani who cackled loud enough to wake Dylan.

Dylan took one look at Trav’s blatant violation of rule number three, and fell into a fit of laughter. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

* * *

As soon as they pulled into the dirt driveway of the lake house Sonya’s friends had rented, Trav knew he made the right decision to come. Not that he’d doubted it. He was desperate for some adult interaction that didn’t involve his dad, or Elliot who hated him more each day, and every time he hung out with Sonya, they had a lot of fun.

And sometimes they accidentally made out and needed to dedicate a weekend to fixing it.

Besides hopefully patching up any weirdness with Sonya, he had a feeling he was going to like hanging with her friends. Dani was a spitfire, and he already knew he was going to get along with Dylan. Hopefully the others would be cool.

They unloaded their bags, and Trav followed Sonya into the house. The walls were open wood, with a vaulted ceiling and exposed beams. Sunlight flooded in through a picture window overlooking the lake. It was tastefully decorated but still looked like the kind of place you could walk around with a wet bathing suit and not ruin anything.

Baby paraphernalia already littered the foyer, and Trav smiled at the sight. He had to admit, he was looking forward to being around kids for the weekend as much as he was the adults. He’d only seen Asia a handful of times since she was born and he missed his adopted niece and nephew.

A woman wearing a floral sundress and carrying a platter of fruit and crackers squealed as they came in. She attacked Sonya with a hug, and Trav quickly slipped Sonya’s bag off of her shoulder before it crashed to the ground.

“You’re here!” She gave Dani the same greeting, then turned to Trav, offering her free hand. “I’m Emma. It’s so nice to meet you!”

“Trav. Nice to meet you too.”

She motioned them into the open space. “There’s snacks here,” she said. “Coffee on the counter. What can I get y’all?”

“Em,” Sonya said. “You don’t have to play hostess. Relax and enjoy your kid-free weekend.”

As if offended, a baby strapped to a short, dark-haired woman’s chest wailed.

Sonya’s face crumpled. She put on this cutesy baby-talk voice as she cooed over the infant whose name was apparently Lulu.

That voice was pretty adorable. And so was the baby.

But the woman holding her was staring daggers at him for some reason. “You must be Trav,” she said.

Sonya took the baby from her and the woman put her hands on her hips. Though she was maybe five-foot-one, Trav was more than a little intimidated.

“I am. You’re Cat?” he guessed by process of elimination and the growly bulldog analogy Sonya had used at the bar that night.

She answered with a suspicious glare, and a guy with light brown hair and glasses wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Be nice, Catia.” He turned to Trav. “I’m Josh. Nice to meet you.”

Trav shook Josh’s hand, and Cat took a few steps in Trav’s direction. He thought she might shake his hand too, but she cut a hard left and hugged Dylan and Dani instead.

Trav held off a smile. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to earn the icy reception, but he could respect a gatekeeper friend. He had to earn it.

“¿Pero cuál es tu problema, mija?” Cat said, taking the baby back from Sonya.

Trav perked up. “Es hermosa,” he said.

Cat’s head whipped around at his Spanish. “Que?”

“¿Puedo cargarla?”

Josh chuckled as Cat’s scowl flickered. “You can hold her,” she said. “But I warn you, she’s in a mood.”

Cat handed Trav the baby, and he melted at the sight of her big brown eyes and chubby cheeks. "¿Qué edad tiene?”

“Siete meses.”

“Y’all are being really rude,” Dani said, mixing herself a mimosa from the kitchen island bar. “You know we can’t understand you.”

“How do you know Spanish?” Cat asked.

“My step-mother Marielle is from Puerto Rico.” He bounced the baby, making a weird face and hoping for a baby giggle. “Being bilingual came in handy in the Army. Until they sent me to Afghanistan.” He shrugged. “I only know the two languages.”

“Army guy, huh?” Dani asked. “That must be why you won Sonya over so quickly. She’s very structured.”

“I don’t know,” Trav said. He shot Sonya a look, thinking of the night at the bar… and after. “She has her moments.”

Sonya met his eyes, and he would bet by the way her mouth fought off a smile that she was thinking of that same moment.

Dylan cleared his throat, and Sonya blinked away.

“I’ll show you your room,” she said.

Trav made a funny face at Lulu and handed her back to Cat. “If you need a babysitter this weekend, I have a fake nephew who can provide you with a reference.”

Cat’s mouth twisted into a reluctant smile. “Be careful what you wish for. I haven’t peed by myself in six months.”

He saluted her and followed Sonya up a set of stairs. Mission: win over Sonya’s friends, accomplished.