Walking Disaster

wouldn’t wake up and make any noises to tip her off. “Ssshhhh, little
man. No crying, okay? Be a good boy.”
    I sat the box at her feet, crouching behind it. “Hurry, I want you to be surprised.”
    “
Hurry
?” she asked, lifting the lid. Her mouth fell open. “A
puppy
?” she shrieked, reaching into the box. She lifted the puppy to her face, trying to
keep hold of it as it wiggled and stretched its neck, desperate to cover her mouth with kisses.
    “You like him?”
    “Him? I love him! You got me a puppy!”
    “It’s a cairn terrier. I had to drive three hours to pick him up Thursday after class.”
    “So when you said you were going with Shepley to take his car to the shop . . .”
    “We went to get your present.” I nodded.
    “He’s wiggly!” She laughed.
    “Every girl from Kansas needs a Toto,” I said, trying to keep the fur ball from falling off her lap.
    “He does look like Toto! That’s what I’m going to call him,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him.
    She was happy, and that made me happy.
    “You can keep him here. I’ll take care of him for you when you’re back at Morgan, and it’s my security that you’ll visit when your month is up.”
    “I would have come back anyway, Trav.”
    “I’d do anything for that smile that’s on your face right now.”
    My words made her pause, but she quickly turned her attention back to the dog. “I think you need a nap, Toto. Yes, you do.”
    I nodded, pulled her onto my lap, and then lifted her with me as I stood. “Come on, then.”
    I carried her to the bedroom, pulled back the covers, and then lowered her to the mattress. The action itself would have been a turn-on, but I was too tired. I reached over her to pull the
curtains closed, and then fell onto my pillow.
    “Thanks for staying with me last night,” she said, her voice a bit hoarse and sleepy. “You didn’t have to sleep on the bathroom floor.”
    “Last night was one of the best nights of my life.”
    She turned to shoot me a dubious look. “Sleeping in between the toilet and the tub on a cold, hard tile floor with a vomiting idiot was one of your best nights? That’s sad,
Trav.”
    “No, sitting up with you when you were sick, and you falling asleep in my lap, was one of my best nights. It wasn’t comfortable, I didn’t sleep worth a shit, but I brought in
your nineteenth birthday with you, and you’re actually pretty sweet when you’re drunk.”
    “I’m sure between the heaving and purging I was very charming.”
    I pulled her close, patting Toto, who was snuggled up to her neck. “You’re the only woman I know that still looks incredible with your head in the toilet. That’s saying
something.”
    “Thanks, Trav. I won’t make you babysit me again.”
    I leaned against my pillow. “Whatever. No one can hold your hair back like I can.”
    She giggled and closed her eyes. As tired as I was, it was difficult to stop watching her. Her face was makeup free except for the thin skin under her lower lashes that was still a little
stained with mascara. She fidgeted a bit before her shoulders relaxed.
    I blinked a few times, my eyes getting heavier each time they closed. It seemed I’d just fallen asleep when I heard the doorbell.
    Abby didn’t even stir.
    Two male voices murmured in the living room, one of them Shepley’s. America’s voice was a high-pitched break between the two, but none of them sounded happy. Whoever it was
wasn’t just making a social call.
    Footsteps sounded in the hall, and then the door blew open. Parker stood in the doorway. He looked at me, and then at Abby, his jaw tense.
    I knew what he thought, and it crossed my mind to explain why Abby was in my bed, but I didn’t. Instead I reached over and rested my hand on her hip.
    “Shut the door when you’re finished being in my business,” I said, resting my head next to Abby’s.
    Parker walked away without a word. He didn’t slam my door, instead putting his full force behind closing the front door. Shepley peeked into my room. “Shit, bro. That’s not
good.” It was done; couldn’t change it now. The consequences weren’t a concern in the moment, but lying next to Abby, scanning over her perfectly content, beautiful face, the
panic slowly crept in. When she found out what I’d done, she would hate me.
    THE GIRLS LEFT FOR CLASS THE NEXT MORNING IN A rush. Pidge barely had time to speak to me before she left, so her feelings about the day before were
definitely