52| Naked In The Shower

Entering inside the classroom, Zoey looked around to find an empty seat. The seat beside Olive was already filled so she made her way to the back of class and sat down beside Travis.

"Hi." She said when she found him looking at her.

"Hi." He replied and opened up his notebook.

"How was work without me? Did you all miss me?" She chuckled.

"Well, we definitely had less customers because of your absence." He said and she smirked at that.

"See. I told you. I attract customers." She shrugged.

"That you do." Travis said and kept his eyes on the board. He jotted down what Mr. Ray was writing on the board.

For the rest of the lecture, they didn't talk because of Mr. Ray's sharp eyes but when the class ended, he asked her to wait outside for a minute. One by one, every student left the class, including Mr. Ray while Zoey kept waiting for him near the door.

Soon, he reached her and they both started walking together to their next class. "I had to ask you something."

"Sure." She replied.

"Did you quit the job because of me?" He asked.

"Of course not, Travis." She lied.

"Because if that's the reason, I think you should join back. I'll keep my distance from you." He said.

"You are not the reason, Travis. I quit that job because I wasn't feeling like myself anymore The girl that worked with you for the last few months, she is not me." Zoey said.

They both stopped in front of the gym where Travis had his P.E class next. "For the record, I liked that girl. She was a nicer version of you." He said.

Zoey stared into his warm hazel eyes and felt a tug in her heart. "It wasn't me. I am not a nice person, you said it yourself. Remember?" She passed him a soft smile.

"I think you are. You are just afraid to let anybody know." Travis said and walked inside the gym while Zoey kept staring at his retreating figure.

Once she was sure he wasn't coming back, she walked forwards and that's when she noticed Zachary standing at a distance, observing her.

"What?" She asked on reaching him.

"Is he the one? The mystery guy that gave you hickey?" He asked and Zoey's eyes widened.

If it was any other person, she would have lied but Zachary could easily sense when she was lying. So she nodded her head up and down.

"Wow." He said in surprise.

"It was a mistake. I should have known better." She admitted.

"Yes, you should have." Zachary said and she scrunched her nose in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, people like Travis and Maya, they are not like us. They don't sleep around for fun. For them, it's a big deal and there are always feelings involved." He said.

"Wait, why are we talking about Maya? Is there something going on between you two?" Zoey asked.

"Of course not." Zachary replied.

"Really? Because these days, you both are always seen together." Zoey commented.

"I could say the same about you and Travis." Zachary pointed out and Zoey flushed at this.

He changed the direction of their conversation as they both walked towards the hallway. "Forget about them. Tell me, what are your plans for your eighteenth birthday next weekend? Should we do something? Because last year, you prohibited us from planning any surprise party for you."

"And you are still prohibited. I will plan something fun and cozy myself." Zoey told him.

"Cool." He said and then they both parted their ways.

•••••••••••

It was Sunday evening. After finishing his chores, Travis drove towards the Crawfords for Sam's tutoring session. Rose let him in and he made his way straight to the lounge where Sam was busy playing his videogame.

"Go bring your books, Sam. We have to prepare for your test." Travis said and pulled out a notebook from his backpack. "And give this notebook to your sister."

"Give her yourself. She is extra cranky these days." Sam said as he played the game.

"Sam---"

"Please Travis. Let me play for just five more minutes. You can go and give it to her by then." He said.

Rolling his eyes, Travis left the lounge and made his way upstairs to Zoey's room. He was a little nervous of being in the same room in which they slept together. He still remembered when he woke up next morning. She was still asleep and curled up in a small ball. Her hair was sprawled all over her back and her small snores were filling the room. The memory caused a smile on his face.

At first, he knocked on the door and when nobody replied for a moment, he entered through the door.

"Rose, is it you?" A voice came out of the bathroom. "Can you please hand me my bathrobe? It's on the dressing table."

"Um..." Travis looked at the table where the fluffy bathrobe was placed. Picking it up, he trudged towards the bathroom and knocked on the door that was already half-opened.

"I'm in the shower. Hand it to me." Her voice came from inside.

Gulping, Travis peeked inside the bathroom and thankfully, there was a curtain separating the shower area from the rest of the bathroom. But through the thin cloth of curtain, he could easily see the silhouette of her figure.

His throat suddenly felt parched. Licking his dry lips, he entered inside and slowly walked towards the shower. He could hear the slow hums she was producing as she slowly swayed along the rhythm of some stupid song. The sight was definitely not good for his hormones that were extra active these says for some reason.

"Here." He said and his voice came out extra hoarse.

Hearing his voice, Zoey stilled in her spot and after a brief moment, her head peeked out of the shower curtain.

"What are you doing inside my bathroom?" She screeched. Her skin looked slightly flushed probably because of the warm water and her wet hair was an unruly mess.

"I was trying to help you." He replied, handing her the robe.

"Really? Or maybe you were not expecting a shower curtain so you thought maybe it's your lucky day." Zoey replied.

"There is nothing here that I haven't seen before. Remember?" Travis replied and Zoey's eyes widened.

"Low blow, Anderson. Really low blow." Zoey grunted and then retreated in the shower. After a small moment, she walked out with a robe covering her body.

They both went back to her room and she sat down on the bed, straightening her long, bare legs. The sight of her legs caused a fuzzy sensation inside his stomach. "What were you doing in here anyway?" She asked.

"I was here to give you your notebook." He said, trying his best not to stare at her cleavage that was evident through the deep neckline of her robe.

"You can stop staring at my chest now." Zoey said and a deep blush appeared on Travis's cheeks.

"Zoey!" He yelled. "God! You are so full of yourself."

"It's hard not to, when you look like me." Zoey smirked and Travis rolled his eyes.

"Get off the high horse, princess. You aren't that gorgeous." Travis said, more like lied. She was definitely the most beautiful girl he has ever seen.

"Yeah, that's why you couldn't control yourself in the storage room." She said and Travis gasped.

He scurried towards Zoey's bed in a swift motion and placed his hands on both sides of her, caging her in. "We promised we will never talk about that. Do you want to get me killed, woman?" He whispered.

Amusement filled Zoey's eyes and she smirked, "Deny it all you want but we both know how it happened. You got so hot and bothered that you couldn't control yourself around me."

"Shut up." He said, glaring into her eyes. Their faces were so close that he could practically smell the scent of her shampoo.

"Then you picked me up in your arms and slammed me against the wall," Zoey said and she saw the hint of crimson crawling up his neck. "Hard."

"Zoey, shut up." He muttered under his breath while his gaze fixated on her pink lips.

"And then," she whispered breathlessly as she noticed how his pupil dilated, reducing the hazel color to thin rims. "You unbuttoned my pants... And your hands slowly..."

The very next second, Travis shut her off by kissing her. Unlike all their other kisses, it was hard and punishing, like he was pouring all his frustration into the kiss. His teeth nibbled on her lower lip and she winced when he added a little pressure. In the same rough manner, his tongue invaded her mouth and her legs turned to jelly in anticipation.

But soon, the kiss was broke off by none other than Zoey herself. "Control yourself, Anderson." She stated against his lips while her lungs threatened to give up.

She silently observed Travis whose jaw was clenched and a frown was plastered on his face. "I swear Zoey, one day you are going to get yourself killed." He spat.

"Is that a threat?" Zoey asked in fake annoyance.

Without bothering to reply, he stormed out of the room and Zoey fell back on the bed. Her eyes closed on their own and she imagined what would have happened if the kiss went on. The imagination was enough to make her heart race inside her chest.

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For those of you wondering, we still have 20-25 more chapters to go. This story is longer because we have lots of characters to deal with.