You and Me Baby Read online

  Please. He could hold his alcohol better than that. No puking. Not going to happen. And apparently, he was going to wherever Travis kept his wife and kids.

  Not home. Good.

  “Okay, I’ll be by in a few minutes then,” she said, nodding again. “Thanks.”

  She pressed a button to end the call and looked up at Aiden.

  “It’s your lucky night. You just got a Christmas evening invite to stay with Travis.”

  “Told you Travis and I were tight,” he said.

  “I guess you did,” she murmured in response. “Though I don’t see how that’s possible, given who he is and who you…”

  She narrowed her eyes at him.

  What did that mean?

  “Anyway,” she said, shaking her head, “it’s time to get you out of here and out of my way.”

  That didn’t sound like she was enjoying this time with him. However, she had said that she was going to drive him, so…

  “I’m looking forward to spending the drive with you, Laurie Roberts.” He gave her his best smile. And then, because he was feeling good, he gave her a pistol wink.

  She rolled her eyes before turning to the door and walking away. “Okay, you’re done.”

  But he was only getting started as he followed her out to her car.

  Laurie’s patience with him ended before it even began, just as soon as they pulled out of the parking lot of the Dive.

  “What does this button do?” he said, reaching out for a blinking light on the dashboard of her car.

  Laurie reached out and slapped his hand.

  “Ow!” he yelled, pulling it back from her.

  “Stop touching things,” she hissed. “And stop talking. Your breath is stinking up the whole car.”

  Did his breath stink? Quite possibly.

  But this didn’t keep him from talking.

  “What do I smell like?” he asked.

  “You reek of alcohol,” she said.

  “That’s not a bad smell,” he sighed, sitting back and nodding his head to the music that was playing.

  “Are you having a seizure?” she asked, glancing over at him with a touch of concern in her voice.

  “Nope,” he said, looking her car over. “Just jammin’ to the music.”

  “Aiden, there’s no music playing,” she said.

  There wasn’t? He put his hands to his head and shook just a little. Nope, he was still hearing something.

  “Really? What’s that screeching sound?”

  Laurie let out a tired breath. “Something expensive likely.”

  Aiden listened as it kept on. “Is that your car making that sound?”

  She glanced over at him tightly, then nodded.

  “You should get that checked out,” he said, looking at her odometer. “Due for a service soon. 120K miles. May be due for more than that. And your check engine light is on. For a smart girl, you aren’t being very smart about driving when it’s –”

  “I’m about to kick you out of this car,” she said tightly. “Smartest move I’ll ever make.”

  “Seriously, though,” he said, “you need to take this piece of junk in somewhere. Get it fixed so that awful screeching is taken care of, at least.”

  “Sounds expensive,” she muttered.

  “More expensive if your car blows up because it’s angry that you haven’t taken care of it,” he said. “Just sayin’, and it’s –”

  “We’re here,” she said, parking the car and cutting him off.

  Here. Where exactly was here?

  Here was the middle of nowhere, right in an open field, acres and acres around, full of nothing.

  Nothing apart from the biggest house in town, likely.

  “Whoa!” he exclaimed, unable to help himself as soon as he caught sight of it. “Who lives here? The Queen of England?”

  Laurie rolled her eyes at this, moving to get out of the car.

  He followed her lead, his eyes never leaving the house as he climbed out and shut the door behind him.

  “Is it the beer coloring my perception, or is this house just really freakin’ enormous?” he asked as she made her way up the sidewalk to the front door.

  She didn’t get a chance to answer him, though, as the door to house opened at their approach, and a man stepped out.

  It took Aiden a second, but he recognized the confident smile quickly enough.

  He beamed in response.

  “Travis Collins,” he laughed, reaching out his hand and pulling his old friend in for a tight hug. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

  He hadn’t. Same wide muscular shoulders and swagger as he slapped a hand on Aiden’s back.

  But his hair wasn’t shaggy and unkempt anymore. And there was concern in his eyes.

  The smile was the same, though.

  “Might have changed a little,” Travis said. He grinned even wider. “But look at you. Drunk on Christmas. Some things really don’t change, Aiden.”

  Aiden shrugged with a laugh. “Guilty.”

  “Yeah, well,” Laurie said, a sigh in her voice. “Here are his car keys. The car’s still back at the Dive, but I figure you can make him walk back there to pick it up once he’s sober.”

  “Will do,” Travis said softly. “Thanks, Laurie. And I texted his folks just in case they got worried.”

  Aiden made a face at this. “Since when do you text my parents?”

  “Thank you, Travis,” Laurie said, ignoring Aiden completely. “I’m so sorry. I know this wasn’t part of your family Christmas plans.”

  “Hey,” Aiden said, slapping his friend on the arm again. “I heard the good news! Married! With kids!” He took a breath. “Well, maybe that’s not such good news. Monogamy and all.”

  Travis looked to Laurie with a question in his eyes. Laurie looked back at him. Then, they both looked at Aiden.

  “What?” he asked. “Some guys are into that one woman for a lifetime thing, I guess, but Travis here –”

  “I’m not sure what he’s talking about,” Laurie said. “And again, I’m sorry.”

  “No problem,” Travis said, smiling at her with understanding. “Any recommendations on what to give him to ease the hangover?”

  “Not from me,” Laurie said, beginning the walk back to her car. “I’d like him to hurt as much as possible.”

  Travis laughed as she shot him a grin then frowned back at Aiden.

  Well, that wasn’t very nice.

  “Goodnight, Laurie!” he called out after her. “Get your car checked out, okay?”

  She waved him off, getting in and driving away just a few seconds later.

  Aiden looked over at Travis. “I don’t think she likes me much.”

  “You’re not as drunk as you sound, then,” Travis observed. Then, with a sigh, “Well, come on in.”

  With a nod, Aiden did, his eyes trailing over the gigantic house that Travis… owned?

  Surely not. Maybe rented. Or maybe he was just a squatter?

  “So, whose house is this?” he asked.

  “Mine,” Travis whispered.

  Aiden lowered his voice, too. “Why are we whispering?”

  “Because everyone is asleep,” Travis whispered back.

  The family. The wife. The kids. Aiden glanced around, thinking that there might be pictures so he could be prepared for the morning. You know, in the likelihood that ten tiny children would come into wherever he was sleeping and jump on him or something. He wanted to know in advance how many he was dealing with and all.

  “So, the family –” he began to say.

  “Will meet you in the morning,” Travis whispered. He pointed over to his left. “Through that door is a guest suite. Bedroom, bathroom. TV in there, too, in case you need something to help you wind down.”

  “I’m sorry, a guest suite?” These were high class accommodations. If he was back at his parents’ house, he’d be sharing a room with Caleb and a bathroom with everyone else.

  One bathroom, loads of people, no fun.

  “Yeah,” Travis said. “Nice quiet space, which you’ll appreciate in the morning.”

  “I appreciate it now,” Aiden said.

  He watched his friend for a long moment, wondering why a man he hadn’t spoken to in years would suddenly go so far out of his way to help. Furthermore, the guy had been going nowhere all those years ago, and now, here he was, obviously successful, responsible, and a generally good man, based on what he was doing for an old friend.

  Travis was a successful, responsible, good man.

  How had that happened?

  “What?” Travis asked, watching him.

  “Why are you letting me stay here?” Aiden said. “I mean, apart from the fact that I’m the best friend you’ve ever had.”

  Travis smiled a little at this. “Well, you were. A long time ago.”

  “Yeah,” Aiden said. “And I was a cool guy. But even so, all these years later… well, surely I wasn’t cool enough that you’d just welcome me in like this sight unseen after not even talking with me for…” He squinted. “How many years has it been?”

  “A lot,” Travis said.

  Aiden nodded. “Ages, right?”

  “It’s been a while.”

  “Well, okay,” he shrugged. “Guess I’m still that cool if you’re wanting to hang out with me even though...”

  I’m a loser. A jobless loser.

  He looked back up at Travis. “I’m still cool, you know.” Because if he kept saying it, maybe it would be true, right?

  “Hmm,” Travis murmured. “I think you need to get some rest, buddy.”

  “Probably,” Aiden agreed. Then, shooting a grin at his friend as he made his way over to that posh guest suite that was waiting for him, he said, “Can’t wait to meet the wife and kids i
n the morning!”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Owwww…”

  Aiden woke up to the sound of ESPN commentators telling him all about the schedule of bowl games that would be taking place over the next few days and why he should care about any of it.

  He didn’t care. Not even a little bit. He didn’t care about anything apart from the splitting headache he had and figuring out where in the world he was.

  He opened his eyes fractionally and surveyed his surroundings.

  A bedroom. Well, excellent observation, Aiden, given the fact that you’re lying face first on a pillow and your feet (with your shoes still on, strangely enough) are covered with a sheet, blankets, and four more pillows.

  That was a lot of pillows. Whose bedroom was this?

  Aiden lifted his head up and looked around, careful with how he moved his neck, not wanting to make any jerky movements that would increase the pounding in his head.

  The more he moved, the more alive he felt, though, so he cautiously sat all the way up.

  The ESPN commentator smiled at him. “It’s a great day for football!”

  “I don’t think so,” Aiden breathed out, already looking for the remote and remembering, very vaguely, just how he’d gotten here and just exactly where “here” was.

  Travis Collins. Drunk at the Dive with Laurie Roberts. Well, Travis wasn’t the one who was drunk, but he’d been the one to help Aiden out, letting him stay here. Aiden could remember coming back to this room, unable to sleep although he was relaxed for the first time in a long while (lost job and all, loads of stress) and feeling all the warm fuzzies because Travis had let him stay here for old times’ sake. He’d turned on ESPN to keep him company and must have been more tired that he thought, because the next thing he remembered was waking up and wondering where in the world he was.

  “But I know now,” he yawned, taking a deep breath.

  And that’s when he smelled something.

  No, not his own breath, which was horrifying. Not even his clothes, which smelled vaguely of smoke and sweat.

  No, he smelled… cake.

  Was he having a stroke or something? He breathed again, cautiously testing that theory. Stroke? Nope, there was cake in this house!

  How weird. How wonderful. Merry Christmas. Happy birthday, Baby Jesus. Someone made You a cake!

  Cake would make his head feel better, surely. (Not the Baby Jesus’s head. Aiden’s head.) Aiden pushed the covers back, then stood up slowly, pondering for just a moment if he should try and make the bed back up. Be a good guest and all. He did his best straightening it all out, but he was at a loss when it came to the pillows. He couldn’t remember how they were arranged when he’d come in so he just laid them flat out, in a line.

  That probably wasn’t right at all, but at least he’d made the bed, right?

  He looked around again, seeing if he’d left a mess anywhere else, pleased to see that he hadn’t. With that, he made his way into the guest bathroom, surprised to find that Travis had the whole place stocked with everything he’d need to make himself presentable. Of course, he’d have to put on the same dirty clothes after he was done getting cleaned up, but…

  “Beggars can’t be choosers, Aiden,” he chided himself even as he was pulling his shirt off over his head and turning the shower on. Ten minutes later, he felt like a new man, even in his old clothes and with his head still pounding. He followed his nose to where the cake smell was the strongest, stopping in his tracks when his eyes landed on the kitchen and what he found waiting there for him.

  There was a girl. A really hot girl, standing at the counter, frosting cupcakes.

  Yes. Cupcakes.

  He shook his head just a little, certain that his eyes were deceiving him. They’d been known to do that from time to time and –

  “Good morning,” she said softly, smiling at him.

  Well, she wasn’t really a girl. No, she was definitely a woman. Before he could marvel at this, another one was suddenly there, standing to her feet by the oven, where she’d bent down to take out another pan of cupcakes.

  “Oh, well, look at that,” she said, grinning over at him. “Hello.”

  He stared at them, wondering what exactly was going on, when it hit him…

  Glory. Travis Collins was living in a sorority house.

  And all those pillows in the guest room. Living in a sorority house where there were pillow fights with hot sorority girls –

  Surely not… these weren’t sorority girls. These were goddesses! Glory, he was dead, and this was heaven, and –

  “Hey,” one of the goddesses said, coming right over to him, a cupcake in her hand. “Are you Travis’s friend?”

  Well, maybe not heaven. But close.

  “Uh… yeah,” he said. “I am. I’m Aiden Pearson.”

  “Aiden,” she said slowly, a smile unfolding delicately on her face. “I think I’ve heard about you.”

  Had she?

  “Well, it is a small town,” he said, giving her his best flirty smile.

  At this, she laughed. Then, biting her lip, she lowered her voice and lifted the cupcake up a little higher. “Hey, Aiden, can I use you?”

  Uhh…

  There was only one explanation for all of this. He wasn’t dead. He was still drunk. Really, really drunk because he was hallucinating all of this. Maybe Laurie had poisoned him with something stronger, because all of this was just too good to be true. A gorgeous girl in a huge house, holding out a cupcake to him (red velvet at that, if he was guessing right), and whispering about how she wanted to use him, while her equally hot friend smiled over at him, too.

  He just went with it. Hallucination or not.

  “Glory,” he murmured. “Please. Yes. I’m all yours. Use me all up, woman.”

  “Try this,” she said, putting the cupcake in front of him. “And tell me how it is. Travis was our taste tester, but he’s on this weird diet that won’t let him eat processed sugar.” She rolled her eyes. “Lame.”

  “Lame,” the other girl piped up.

  “Totally lame,” Aiden agreed, stuffing the whole cupcake in his mouth. “Why no processed sugar?” Then, when the taste hit him, “Mercy…”

  It was good. Hallucinated foods always were, though. Being drunk was a trippy ride most of the time.

  “Travis is training for an Ironman and spends all of his free time working out and watching what he eats,” the cupcake girl said, leaning her chin onto her hands. “How was it?”

  “Amazing,” Aiden managed. “And what do you mean he’s training for an Ironman?”

  “That’s where he is this morning,” the other girl said. “Fifty mile bike ride. Left here in all of his gear about the time Leslie and I got up to start baking.”

  “Leslie,” Aiden said, looking back at the cupcake girl, watching as she made notes.

  “That’s me,” she said. “And that’s Holly. And Brooke is still asleep.”

  “Slacker,” Holly muttered, just as the kitchen timer dinged. “Travis has been out there sweating for hours in his spandex while she’s sleeping like there’s no tomorrow. Typical.”

  Aiden started choking at the thought of his old friend in spandex. This was a really bizarre hallucination.

  But the cupcake was excellent.

  “You need me to test another one, Leslie?” he asked, licking his lips from the last bite. Cream cheese frosting…

  “Nope,” she said, grinning. “You can go to the Dive and pay for it next time because –”

  “Hey.”

  They heard his voice before they heard the door close. Both beautiful goddesses turned towards the sound and said, in perfect melodic unison, “Good morning, Travis.”

  Glory.

  Travis was the man. Seriously.

  Then, he came into sight.

  Travis was a man wearing spandex.

  “Good grief,” Aiden muttered looking at his sweaty friend as he came into the room slipping off gloves and managing a drink from a water bottle. “What are you wearing?”

  “Good morning, Aiden,” Travis said, nodding over at him. Then, glancing over at Leslie, “You got something baking that doesn’t have sugar?”

  “Nope,” she said. “But I did fix some granola for you. Holly’s got it.”

  “How’d it go today?” Holly asked him, grinning, as she brought it over to him and Leslie went to go get him a fresh glass of water.