Girls Like Boys

Tantamount

Mack navigated all the way to his friend’s house. It turned out that his buddy Owen lived in a neighborhood on the north side of town. The house was a couple stories with the blinds and curtains closed in every window. From the outside, you couldn’t tell that anything was going on, but we when knocked, and the door opened, we were met with music and people. The guy who opened the door was medium height and slender with shaved short hair and baby face. I’d seen Owen throughout high school, but we’d never really known each other. I’d always assumed that he was younger than us.

When he saw Mackenzy and the rest of us, he backed up and let us in without second thought. “Hey, come on in,” he said, holding the door open as we funneled through behind Mack.

Mackenzy took the time to introduce those of us who didn’t know him, which turned out to be mostly me and Ramsy. The others had all run into him in the course of the last six months, and it seemed like he’d become a part of their new group of friends.

The front door opened into the living room, and a group of people already sat there. The space smelled strongly of pot and perfume, but it was to be expected at a party like this. When Travis and I went out on campus, half the parties were made up of athletes who weren’t risking getting kicked off their teams. It had been awhile since I’d been around anyone who smoked anything other than cigarettes.

We passed through the living room and the people there into the kitchen. Every light in the house was on and drinks sat across the island and the counters, there for the taking. Ramsy and the others immediately dived for them, chatting excitedly with Owen as he lead us around. I took the cup that Ram pressed into my hand and followed them into a second family room off the other side of the kitchen so they could drop their coats onto the sofa there.

I kept my phone in my hand in case Trav got lost. Not only was he in a new, completely unfamiliar place, but he was dealing with snow for the first time in the dark. I knew his ability to drive was more than most people’s, but there were a lot of variables that he didn’t usually deal with. When we turned to head back to the living room and the others, Ram put her hands on my shoulders and pushed me that way.

“Relax, Cody,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s fine. He’ll probably be here any minute.”

Owen and the others looked our way as we stepped over the threshold into the living room. “Someone else is coming?” Owen questioned, glancing from me to Mack for clarification.

“Code’s boyfriend,” Mack said with a shrug, “is visiting from Alabama.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, elbowing the blonde in the side, “and if that’s not cool, we can always go find something else to do. It’s not a big deal.”

Owen shrugged. “I don’t mind as long as he’s cool,” he said, dropping down onto one of the couches. “You both go to school down there, don’t you?” he asked, referring to Alabama. “Makes sense that your friend is coming up from there then.”

The group fell into easy conversation with the others. In a way, this was similar to the last party Travis and the guys and I went to at UA, but minus the room full of dancing and water guns. The more everyone talked, the more I relaxed and was able to remember what it felt like to be back with everyone. This was high school for us, just a bunch of kids sitting around in someone’s house chatting and laughing.

It wasn’t until Ramsy pointed to the front door, and subsequently the driveway, that everyone got distracted from the conversation. “I think I heard a car,” Ramsy said, climbing to her knees to see out the window. She looked to me.

I hopped up quickly and pulled my phone out just as it started buzzing in my hand. Trav’s name lit up the screen, and I answered it quickly, moving to the front door to go get him. He’d pulled parallel into the end of the driveway so that he didn’t have to park the M5 on the street. When I saw him get out, I grinned and rushed down the stairs.

“Trav!” I greeted, catching his attention. He slipped his phone and his keys into the pocket of his jacket, and the car honked as it locked. He came around the back, and I rushed to him, throwing my arms around his neck.

He caught me around the waist and lifted me from the ground. “Holy fuck,” he muttered with his chin on my shoulder. “It feels like a lot longer than a month.”

I held onto him even when he put my feet back on the ground, and he chuckled, pulling back. “I missed you,” I said, shaking it off as I looked at him for the first time in weeks. “Are you wearing purple?” I questioned, grabbing at his t’shirt.

Travis yanked my hand off his shirt. “It’s maroon, leave it alone,” he muttered.

“Since when do you wear purple?”

“Since my dad bought it for me for Christmas,” he defended, turning away toward the house so that I couldn’t comment on it again.

I laughed at his reaction. “I’m not saying it looks bad,” I added, chasing behind him. “I’m just surprised is all. I really didn’t think I’d see you in a purple v-neck.”

Travis glowered at me over his shoulder, stopping at the top of the driveway. “Are you going to take me inside to hang out with your child-friends, or am I going to have to barge in on my own? It’s fucking cold out here.”

I practically skipped to his side and grabbed his hand, dragging him up the stairs. “I warned you that it was colder here,” I said, “and you’re the one that said you could handle anything. It’s not my fault you didn’t listen and wear a real coat.”

Travis glanced down at the jean and cotton-sleeved jacket that he wore. “This is a real coat,” he replied. “It’s not made out of my imagination.”

I paused before opening the front door, and Travis looked at me impatiently, glancing back to the snow that made the air bitter and painful. I grinned at him and lifted our clasped hands between us, moving so that my pinky was wrapped around his.

“Promise me that you’re going to be nice,” I demanded, looking into his dark green eyes with serious ones of my own. “And that means no Travis humor either. They’re just going to think you’re an asshole.”

Travis frowned at me. “Does that mean they think you’re an asshole, because you’re worse than me when it comes down to it.”

“No,” I quipped. “I’m Ramsy’s adorable but sometimes anti-social sister. You don’t have that aspect working for you, so you need to be nice and charming, not sarcastic and brooding.”

Travis rolled his eyes, his entire head tilting back with the movement. “Alright, whatever, Cody,” he said, pulling his hand out of the pinky swear and sliding his fingers through mine instead. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

I eyed him. “I want you on Ryan’s best behavior,” I amended, “or else I’ll throw you outside to die of hypothermia.”

Travis pouted immediately, tightening his hold on my hand. “You wouldn’t,” he said, eyes narrowed. “Can we go inside now? I’m already feeling the effects. I won’t last much longer unless you intend on huddling together for warmth.”

I relented and pushed the door open, pulling Travis inside by his hand. Trav obviously hadn’t expected to walk right into the room with everybody, but the layout of the house made it impossible to avoid them right off the get go. Travis glanced away from them and to me, and I shoved the door shut behind us stood at his side. All twelve people had their eyes on us.

“Hey, this is Travis,” I said. “We’re going to get something to drink. We’ll be back.” I turned and held his hand over my shoulder as I lead him out of the room full of people and through the entryway into the kitchen. From the living room you could still see a good portion of the room, but we moved up near the sink and out of sight.

Travis immediately laughed. “What was that?” he asked, leaning back to peer back into the living room. “It was dead silent in there. I swear to god I think they thought I’m a serial killer or something. Did you tell them I was coming?”

“Yeah, they knew,” I defended. “They were just surprised. I don’t know. Everybody has known everybody since high school. You’re a different story.”

Travis’s laughter died off as Aimee and Chloe stepped into the kitchen with polite smiles. They headed toward us. “That was awkward,” Aimee said to me, chuckling about it. “We figured we’d come introduce ourselves so you two don’t feel like you have to hide out in here all night.”

I set the bottle of UV Blue back on the counter and turned so that I was facing them, practically standing in front of Travis with my shoulder against his chest. “Trav, this is Aimee and Chloe,” I introduced, watching as he stepped out from behind me and offered his hand to them both.

“It’s cool to meet you,” he said easily, reaching around me for the bottle of UV when he was done shaking their hands. He finished pouring my drink as he spoke. “You both went to high school with Cody and Ramsy?”

Aimee nodded. “And middle school and elementary school,” she said, chuckling. “That’s probably why everyone was so surprised to see someone new. We’ve all been subjected to the same people our entire lives.”

I frowned. “I’ve never met Owen’s friends,” I said, referring to the four guys who were here when we walked in.

“Peter is his younger brother,” Chloe explained. “The rest of them are his friends. They’re a couple grades younger than us.”

I caught Travis’s raised eyebrows before he took a drink from my cup and pressed it into my hands. “How old is everybody here?” he asked, leaning into my side.

“Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,” Aimee said generally. “What about you?”

I was about to answer for him when Travis beat me to it, spouting off a year that was one more than I expected. I balked at him, trying to remember a twenty-second birthday celebration even though I knew we didn’t have one. 

“My birthday was a few days before Christmas,” Travis said softly. “It’s not a big deal.”

I fumed, crossing my arms over my chest. Travis laughed and put his arm over my shoulders, but I shrugged him off.

“Come on, Code,” he said, laughing still. “It’s really nothing. I had some cake with Matthias and my dad, and then I ran a race with the guys.”

Aimee and Chloe watched our exchange before Aimee spoke up. “You must be a senior then,” she said, putting two and two together. “How did you and Cody meet?”

“Uhhh,” Travis mumbled, his eyes on the ceiling as he thought about it. “It was actually at a pizza place on campus,” he said finally. “Then we ran into each other again at a party.”

“That’s cute,” Chloe said easily, smiling at the both of us, “and it was really nice of you to drive up here to visit over break. Cody was telling us earlier that it’s like an eight hour drive.”

Travis shook his head. “The time didn’t bother me,” he said, “but the fucking snow got annoying real fast. People were pulled over all over the place. I thought people from here would at least know how to drive in it.”

“You’d be surprised,” I said. “Everyone seems to forget every year.”

After a bit more mindless chit chat, I managed to get Travis out of the kitchen and away from Aimee and Chloe. They were nice enough, but Aimee knew how to monopolize a situation. They headed back into the living room when we did, and Travis and I found a small empty space on the other side of the circle. He sat down first and pulled me down in front of him, holding my drink as I dropped to sit between his knees. He leaned back on his palms with his knees bent and gave me my drink. I took a sip as I leaned back against him.

Everyone said their names and a quick hello, but Travis didn’t remain the topic of conversation for long. They dropped back into talking about high school memories and stuff that’d happened during the first part of their school year. To me it seemed a lot like high school continued for them. They went with the same people and all took the same classes. I zoned out for a lot of it, instead holding a quiet conversation with Travis. We talked about the drive and if the M5 made it through the weather all right. Trav’s mouth was near my ear as we spoke, so we didn’t have to talk loud at all.

“The hotel is pretty nice,” Trav said, pulling my empty cup from my hand and setting it on the little table behind him. When he resituated, he wrapped one arm around my shoulders from behind and pulled me back against his chest.

“I wish I could see it,” I muttered, glancing to the time on my phone. It was almost eleven already and that left no time for Trav and I to have any to ourselves. Ram’s plan had effectively kept us with everyone else for the evening.

At eleven-thirty, Owen flipped the TV on and turned it so that we could watch the ball drop. Aimee also managed to pull hats and leis and such out of somewhere and spent the next five minutes distributing them between us. Travis ended up sticking his lei around my neck so that I had two, and he didn’t have to wear one.

When the countdown finally came, everyone was up off the floor with new drinks and kazoos, being as obnoxious as possible. Travis and I stood in our same corner of the room and watched every else’s excitement as they screamed the numbers and made quick, rushed toasts before midnight could roll around.

When it did, Mack managed to plant a kiss on Chloe, and I caught Aimee’s look out of the corner of my eye. She took another sip of her drink to cover it, but I realized exactly what she’d been hoping for the night. Hidden on our side of the room while everyone was off in their own world, Trav wrapped his arms around my stomach and lightly pressed a kiss to the side of my neck, just below my jaw.

“Happy New Years,” he said, laughing slightly.

I smiled and pulled his lei off of my head and tossed it back over his. “Happy New Years, Trav.”

It wasn’t until later that I realized that anyone had noticed our small exchange. I went to the bathroom, and Ramsy met me there, shoving me into the room and following me in after.

“What is with you and Travis?” she asked, flipping the light on. “You two are acting weird.” 

I looked incredulously at her. “You always think we’re acting weird,” I defended, “but this is weird, having him here. It’s like my worlds are colliding.”

Ram deadpanned. “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. You two are being all touchy and crap. You were practically sitting in his lap.”

“We have always been like that,” I said, moving to push her out from in front of the door. “I don’t know why you’re freaking out now. You’re the only who always used to say that we were practically dating. We’ve always been close.”

Ram pushed me back away from the door. “You've been snuggling out there all night,” she said loudly. "He literally won't stop touching you. And I saw him all over you when the ball dropped.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Ramsy, it’s no big deal. So what if Travis and I are closer than usual tonight. We haven't seen each other in weeks. Chloe kissed Mackenzy; I don’t see you interrogating her.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t care about Chloe and Mack,” she muttered. “I just want to know what’s going on with my sister - why you didn’t tell me that Travis was coming until he was practically here. You never used to keep secrets from me and now you have a whole bunch.”

I faltered, unable to deny what she was saying. I did have secrets from her now, and they mostly had to do with Travis and the things we’d done. I hadn’t found a good time to tell her about us, mostly because I worried she would make a big deal out of it when it really wasn’t. With him and I, nothing had changed except for what we did together before I left. We were both the same people.

Ramsy’s eyes landed on me, and I knew I couldn’t lie to her face. Not telling her was a different story than completely brushing her off when she asked flat out. I sighed loudly, not wanting to have this conversation, and then told her.

“I had sex with him before we left for Christmas break,” I said, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “But it didn’t change anything. We’re still only friends, and it’s not going to change anything, Ramsy, so don’t make a big deal out of it-“

“A big deal?” she said, practically shouting. “You don’t want me to make a big deal out of the fact that one, you had sex for the first time, and two, it was with Travis!? On top of all of that, you didn’t even think to tell me until now? What is wrong with you!?”

“Nothing!” I hissed, reaching to cover her mouth with my hand. Despite the festivities and the noise, it wasn’t impossible that someone would hear her screaming to the heavens. “Jesus, Ramsy, shut up. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d freak out and I really just don’t want to deal with it.”

Ram shoved my hand away from her face. “You are crazy,” she muttered, throwing her hands in the air. “You’re not even going to tell me how it happened. You’re just going to tell me to shut up. Okay, I see how it is.” She turned and threw the bathroom door open, still muttering to herself. I chased behind her, hoping that I’d be able to intercede if she blurted it to everyone.

Travis caught sight of us as I followed Ramsy into the living room, begging her to keep her mouth closed. “We can talk about it later and I’ll tell you everything,” I promised, grabbing onto her arm as she made a beeline for Travis. “Ramsy, please,” I begged. “Please don’t make a big deal out of this.”

Ramsy went on without looking at me, acting as though she was completely in a daze and overwhelmed with the new information. Finally I sighed loudly and let go of her, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to convince her of anything if she didn’t want to be convinced. When I let go of her arm, I darted around her and sprinted to Travis.

“Ramsy knows,” I said quickly, turning so that I was standing in front of him, facing my sister.

Travis grabbed my shoulder. “Knows what?” he demanded, a bit of nerves creeping into his voice as he looked over my shoulder at her. “Cody, for the love of god, please tell me that you just didn’t tell her here when you went to pee.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” I defended, backing up into him as Ramsy came close. “I’m really sorry for whatever’s about to happen.”

Travis shook his head adamantly. “Nothing is going to happen because we’re getting out of here,” he said, reaching around to grab my arm. “I’m not making a scene with your sister in front of a bunch of strangers. Who I sleep with is none of their business. Lets go.”

“Go where?” I asked, pulling out of his grasp. “I can’t ditch my own sister because you’re afraid of her. If we deal with this, then it’ll be over and we’ll never have to deal with it again.”

Ram was a lot more clear headed and intentional when she finally made it over to us from the kitchen where everyone was chitchatting. I had a feeling it took her so long because she wanted Travis to sweat before she confronted him. She stopped right in front of the both of us and looked up.

“Travis,” she greeted.

“Ramsy…” he said a lot less certainly.

“I just recently found out about a new development between you and my sister, Cody,” she said formally, schooling her features into a mask of composure. I hissed her name at her, knowing she enjoyed making him uncomfortable. She showed just a hint of a smile before it disappeared again.

“Yeah…” Travis answered her, glancing from her to me. I shrugged.

“Yeah, well,” Ram said, “I’m curious about how this happened and whether or not it’s going to happen again.”

Travis frowned. “That’s kind of personal,” he trailed off.

I hadn’t thought about why it happened since it happened, but wasn’t just something for fun. Travis and I were easy together, and it made it easy just to want to be with him all the time. I couldn’t imagine either one of us explaining that to my sister, and I really hoped she wouldn’t hold it over our heads until we did.

“Ramsy, it’s none of your business,” I said, trying to get her to leave him alone. “I didn’t interrogate Ethan Riveranda when you hooked up with him in the eleventh grade.”

Ram’s eyes moved to mine. “Ethan Riveranda wasn’t my best friend,” she retorted, “and I didn’t hide it from you for weeks before finally blurting it out in a bathroom. I told you the minute it happened.”

“Well, Ram,” I placated, “you weren’t around the minute it happened. You weren’t even in the same building, and I really didn’t want to call you from a house filled with Travis’s friends and explain that we’d just had sex before they got home.”

I groaned as Mack walked in just as I said that. His head popped up and his attention turned to us. The others had migrated to the kitchen and actually stayed there, so they’d been too preoccupied to pay attention. Mackenzy, however, moved and sat on the couch, watching us like we were a TV show. When I glared at him, he simply grinned.

“You didn’t think to tell me during the entire eight hour car ride back home? When it was just the two of us in the privacy of our own truck?”

“Ramsy, come on,” I muttered, practically stomping my foot into the carpet. “It’s my business, and I get to tell people when and where I want to. This isn’t fair.”

Ramsy crossed her arms over her chest, but waited a moment before speaking. Mack sipped his drink and didn’t peel his eyes off of us. Finally, Ram took a step back and asked Travis, “Is it going to happen again?”

Travis faltered, glancing to me. “I don’t know…” he said slowly, “maybe. We haven’t really talked about it.”

Ram’s eyes narrowed on him. “So you want it to happen again?”

“Holy fuck, Ramsy,” Travis muttered, sighing as he pressed his fingers against his forehead. “Do we really have to have this conversation right now? It’s kind of none of your business. I get that you and Cody have been together every minute since before you were born, but I’m sleeping with her, not you, so you don’t get to ask me this shit.”

Despite Travis’s tone and frustration, Ram simply nodded. “Okay,” she said, shrugging as she turned away. “I figured out what I wanted to know. You two can go do whatever you want to do now.”

I balked, watching my sister turn off the third-degree in the blink of an eye. As she walked away, Mack looked frantically between all of us, pouting that Ramsy let it go so easily. I groaned and walked past him, shoving him back as I went. He dissolved into a fit of laughter.

“Ram, I’m going with Trav to get him something to eat,” I told her, following her into the kitchen where the others stood around the island nursing drinks.

Ramsy nodded, turning back to me like normal, without all the weirdness she had before. “Okay, is he going to drop you back here afterwards or can he bring you to Aimee’s?”

“You’re not driving to Aimee’s tonight,” I said, making a point to look right at the cup in her hand. “Travis is the only one here sober enough to drive.”

Ram frowned and shook her head. “Aims hasn’t had that much to drink. We’ll leave the truck here and come back for it in the morning. It’s not a big deal.”

I felt Travis come up behind me. “I could run you all wherever you want to go later,” he said, “but Ramsy, you’re not riding anywhere with any one of them.” I knew his concern was partly because he was older and felt responsible for everyone, and I couldn’t help but appreciate that he felt even more responsible for Ramsy and her wellbeing.

Ramsy frowned at Travis, the look edging on a glare, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she reached for a bottle of something. “Fine, you can pick us up later and drop us at Aimee’s house,” she said, pointing to herself, Aimee, Chloe, and me. “We’ll all fit in your racecar, right?”

Travis rolled his eyes as the word piqued everyone’s interest. “I didn’t bring a racecar, Ram,” he said.

Ram shook her head and directed her words to the others. “Travis street races,” she said, throwing his business out into the room again. “He’s actually like the guy to beat back home. He’s a millionaire, playboy, philanthropist or something.”

“Ram, that’s Iron Man,” Travis commented, taking the bottle of vodka out of her hand and setting it firmly back on the counter. “You need to slow down. You better be functional when I come back to get you, or you’re riding in the trunk.”

We managed to get out of the house before everyone could start asking about the races. I funneled him out despite the questions, wanting his race-free vacation to really be race-free in all aspects. When I dropped into the M5 next to him, it felt like our usual routine, even as I led him through the city to the nearest open eatery.

“Ramsy is something else tonight,” Travis said as we pulled out of the dark neighborhood onto a main street. “Honestly, I’m sorry I snapped at her, but you and her aren’t the same person. Thank god.”

I laughed lightly. “Ramsy is definitely her own person,” I said. “But she means well. She was obviously just taken off guard.”

Trav nodded, the light from his dashboard making him glow. “I would’ve thought you told her already actually. I figured she already had some time to adjust.”

I shrugged, glancing out to the street. “I don’t know,” I said. “It just didn’t feel like something she needed to know, I guess. It’s not any different than you not telling the guys. It would just make things weird.”

“Yeah, I’m not condemning you or anything,” Trav answered. “I was just surprised. Like you said in there though, it’s your business who you tell.”

I nodded and then stared at him as I caught the odd look on Travis’s face. He grinned at me and I tilted my head. “What..?” I asked.

He chuckled and glanced back to the street. “So, do you think you can get out of that sleepover with your drunk friends and come stay with me tonight instead?”
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You all are great. Here you go! This is all I have written as of now, so I can't promise another update ASAP, but I do have tomorrow and the rest of today off work, so I'll try! I just really appreciate all of you so much.

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This is actually a picture that I saw not too long ago and it reminded me so much of Trav that I decided to write some more. So you can thank this photo for the inspo haha
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And I was bored and love his name so:

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