Travis (44 page)

“Well,
that’s one way to do it,” Travis said as he approached the table, all three
women looking up at him.

He
slid into the booth beside Kylie, but she moved over, closer to the wall as
though she were trying to get away from him. He made eye contact with Zoey, not
sure what answer he expected to be on her face, but what he saw wasn’t it.

Great.

“Did
you tell him that I’m sleeping with two guys too?” Kylie asked.

She
was so distraught, Travis wasn’t sure she even realized what she asked. Or that
she’d said it loud enough to attract the attention of several other patrons.
And the waitress.

Jessie
looked down at the table, a slight nod was her only response.

Fucking
lovely.

Travis
glanced down at his watch. He figured he’d have about ten minutes before word
reached his parents. He almost considered calling them and giving them a heads
up but from the looks of it, Kylie needed him more. And he wanted to be able to
talk to them in a less public place. Face to face would also be good. Because,
Hey,
Mom and Dad, I’m kinda in love with both a man and a woman and I think this is
forever,
really would sound better in person.

He
was aware of the murmurs that started up around him, but Travis put his hand on
Kylie’s arm and tried to calm her. She jerked away from him and the reaction
stung. Like hell.

Kylie
tried to play it off by reaching for her phone in her hip pocket. She flipped
it on while muttering, “I’ve got to text him. Tell him not to come here.”

The
rest of them shared glances as they watched Kylie type furiously once the phone
screen lit up.

Not
a minute after Kylie had sent off the text, her phone rang. With a strained
sigh, she hit the talk button and Travis watched as she stared into space and
spoke to her father.

There
was a series of
No, Dad
’s followed by a sequence of
I know
’s, but
then Kylie said the one thing that felt like a dagger had been slammed right
between his ribs, piercing his heart with deadly precision.

“I’m
getting a divorce, Dad. We’ll talk about it when I get home.”

The
wind was knocked completely out of him.

♂♀

“What
are you doing?” Gage asked, anger and confusion wracking him as he followed
Kylie through the upstairs bedrooms watching as she packed her things.

“I’ve
got to go home. My dad’s coming to visit and I don’t want him coming here.” she
said over her shoulder, still not looking at him.

In
fact, she hadn’t made eye contact with him since she walked in the door ten
minutes before. He knew what was going on because Zoey had called him with a
heads up. Apparently, that afternoon all hell broke loose, and it started with
Kylie asking questions about Gage’s relationship with Zoey. It ended with
Travis roaring out of the parking lot of the diner like his ass was on fire.

According
to Zoey, she’d watched the lights dim in Kylie’s eyes after she answered
Kylie’s questions as honestly as she could. But that hadn’t been the worst of
it. As they had sat in awkward silence, Jessie showed up and plopped down in
the booth beside Zoey and proceeded to give her sister the terrible news.

Kylie’s
father found out she was married because her sister had spilled it in order to take
the heat off of herself and in the process, Kylie told her father she was
getting a divorce. Yep, Travis had been right there to hear the news. Zoey said
it hadn’t been pretty. According to her, every ounce of the easy going guy
they’d started getting used to, drained out of him right in front of Zoey’s
eyes, along with his color. Without a word, he had walked out and even from
inside the restaurant they heard his truck peel out of the parking lot.

Of
course, Travis wasn’t answering his phone, so Gage only knew this second hand.

“When
are you coming back?” he asked Kylie when she disappeared into the bathroom she
had been using while she was there. This one was bigger than the master so
she’d commandeered it upon her arrival.

“Umm,”
Kylie didn’t answer and even though she started to, Gage knew she had no
intention of telling him anything. She was stalling for time.

Rather
than letting her walk out the door and out of his life, Gage wasn’t going down
without a fight. She might have heard some things she wasn’t happy about, but
he deserved a chance to explain.

Gently
placing his hands on her shoulders, he tried to stop her. When she went to jerk
away from him, he tightened his grip slightly and held her in place. “We’re
going to talk, Kylie. Something’s obviously wrong,” he told her as he lifted
her chin and forced her to look at him. She avoided making eye contact, but he
held her there until she did.

“Nothing’s
wrong. I just need to go home.” Her response was straightforward. And lacking
any emotion whatsoever.

“Bullshit,
Kylie,” Gage growled through clenched teeth. “Don’t stand there and treat me
like I’m an idiot. This morning you were screaming my name when I was fucking
you against the shower wall, and now you’re not looking at me and trying to run
out the door like the world is crashing down on you.”

She
had the decency to blush, but when Kylie pulled away, Gage let her go. She
wasn’t going to talk to him, she was making that perfectly clear. He had half a
mind to lock her in the bedroom until she calmed down. Figuring it would only
make things worse, Gage gave in to his anger and stormed out of the room and
back downstairs.

If
he couldn’t stop her, he damn sure wasn’t going to watch her go. He didn’t have
it in him to lose her again.

Twenty
minutes later, Gage was pulling up to Travis’ house. His truck was parked
outside, and although it was halfway in the yard, the fact that it was there, was
a good sign. Gage was up to the front door before the engine on his truck
stopped clicking. Without knocking, he tried the knob and found it unlocked, so
he walked in.

“Travis!”
he called out, mainly to let the man know he had company but then he went on
the hunt.

He
didn’t have to go far.

Travis
was sitting on the couch in the living room, the blinds drawn, the television
off and the room was almost totally dark. His only company appeared to be a six
pack of beer sitting on the coffee table. Nice choice. At least they wouldn’t
tell you something you didn’t want to hear.

Gage
moved around and dropped onto the couch beside Travis, their arms touching.
They sat that way for a good ten minutes before Travis pointed his beer bottle
toward the table. “Help yourself.”

That’s
all that was said between the two of them for the next few hours. Gage didn’t
ask questions, Travis didn’t explain anything. They drank the beers on the
table and only when those were gone did Gage get up to get more. A couple of
trips to the bathroom to take care of business and they were right back at it.
Staring at the walls and listening to one another breathe.

Gage’s
heart was breaking in his chest, he could feel the tiny fissures opening up and
trying to suck the air from his lungs. Never once did he give in to the tears
though. And neither did Travis, although he was pretty sure the man was
suffering right along with him.

By
rebuilding that wall of hers and walking away without an explanation, Kylie had
effectively broken them both. And the only thing they had left was each other.

Neither
of them answered the phone when it rang, which it did more than once. And it
wasn’t until they were swallowed by the dark of the night that they moved. And
that was only to go to Travis’ bedroom.

Their
clothes fell where they took them off, and then they climbed into bed together.
There was only one thing that would help right now, so Gage spooned up behind
Travis, wrapped his arms tightly around him and they slept.

♂

Several
days passed before Travis forced himself to leave his house. Gage came and
went, but Travis hadn’t had it in him to see anyone else. The anger was gradually
resuming control of his body, and he needed time to get reacquainted with it.
Thankfully, Gage hadn’t pressed him to talk because he’d have ruined the only good
thing left in his life at that point.

As
Travis walked in the door to Walker Demo, he heard Sawyer’s voice as he spoke
to someone on the phone.

“Yeah.
Perfect. Yes, we’ll be here. Thanks.” The phone landed in the cradle as Travis
was pouring coffee into a Styrofoam cup.

Walking
over to his desk, he prepared himself to have to talk to Sawyer, but the man
didn’t say a word. Travis forced himself to look over at him, thinking he might
still be on the phone. Nope, he’d been right, Sawyer had hung up and was
currently typing on his computer, paying not a lick of attention to Travis.

Thank
Christ.

He
sat down at his desk and opened his email on his computer. There were a handful
of things he needed to take care of, but nothing pressing. If he knew his
brothers, Sawyer and Kaleb took care of everything while he was gone. They
always did, it was one of the reasons they all worked so well together.

They
had each other’s back.

An
email caught Travis’ attention, and he clicked to open it. It was from Luke
McCoy, dated two days ago.

Travis,

Haven’t
heard from you but wanted to let you know that we’re heading down to Austin.
Sierra’s got a little time to meet with you so we’ll be stopping by. See you on
Thursday.

Luke
McCoy

Shit.
That was today.

He
knew there wasn’t time to call the guy and tell him not to come. It wouldn’t be
professional either, and Travis might not be a lot of things, but he did pride
himself on his work ethic. He’d spent the last few days wallowing in his own
pain in order to spare those he cared about, but now it was time to get back to
it. Life would go on.

It
always did.

Travis’
phone vibrated on his hip, and he flipped it off the holster and glanced down
at the screen.

“Just
saw your email. Where’re you at?” he said by way of greeting.

“Just
hit Main Street. Want to meet somewhere for coffee?”

Travis
wasn’t up for social interaction, but he wasn’t fond of sitting in the office
watching Sawyer dissect his every word either. “Yeah. The diner in town work
for you?”

“Yep.
See you in a few.”

With
that the line disconnected and Travis stood from his chair, clamping his cell
phone back in place. He didn’t say a word as he passed Sawyer on the way out.
No reason to initiate conversation. He had no intention of talking to anyone
anyway.

“Hey,
where’re you headed?” Braydon asked when Travis passed him on his way out the
door.

“Meeting
with McCoy.” With his head down, he kept going, but Braydon reached out and
touched his arm. Travis stopped, resisting the urge to pull away from his
brother.

“You
all right?”

No.
He’d never be all right again
. “Fine. Why? What’s
up?” If he pretended he was all business, he hoped Braydon would move on.

“She’s
not doing well,” Braydon said, his voice low. “I’ve talked to Jessie a couple
of times. Kylie’s taking this hard.”

Well,
she should. She went and made a fucking decision for whatever reason and just
like he’d expected, the happily ever after wasn’t within his reach. No sense in
going back to try and grab it now.

“Sorry
to hear that.”

“You
should talk to her,” Braydon told him, pulling his hand away.

“And
you should mind your own fucking business,” Travis barked and walked away.

“Do
you do this to yourself on purpose?” Braydon’s voice rang out, stopping Travis
dead in his tracks. He turned to glare at his brother, fists clenched at his
sides. He was already itching for a fight, and he hadn’t wanted to do this, but
it was clear Braydon was going to push the issue for whatever reason.

Taking
slow, measured steps back toward him, Travis stopped just inches from his face.
“Do I do what on purpose?”

“Fuck
everything up?”

Travis
felt as though he’d been slapped across the face, causing him to stumble back a
step or two.

“You
don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“No?
You let her walk out on you like that and you hole up in your house sulking
over it.”

“Fuck
you, Braydon.”

“No,
fuck you, Travis. I’m so fucking tired of sitting back and watching you waste
away.”

“Me?
Who the fuck are you to judge me? I’m not the one fucking my twin’s girl. If
you’re so fucking concerned about me, you might want to take some time to look
in the mirror.”

Braydon
didn’t even flinch, although Travis knew for damn sure the statement had hit
home. In a big way.

With
his voice low and eerily calm, Braydon said, “I’ve never, ever seen you happy
before. Not until this woman walked back into your life. There was a smile on
your face for days. And now you’re going to turn your back on her.”

“Turn
my back? She fucking walked away from me,” Travis growled, letting the urge to rush
his brother and take him to the ground pound in his veins.

“This
time,” he said softly. “From the way I see it, you got a little taste of your
own medicine.”

Travis
felt as though he’d been sucker punched. The image of Kylie’s face from ten
years ago flashed before his eyes. The pain and confusion, the tears streaming
down.

Fuck.

Without
arguing further, Travis turned on his heel and stormed to his truck. He let his
tires spin on the gravel as he floored it down the driveway on his way to town.

He
needed to meet with McCoy, but then he had a couple of things to take care of.

♂

Gage
was on his third cup of coffee as he sat at his kitchen table with his laptop
open. He’d spent the better part of the last few days talking to Cole Ackerley
and Luke McCoy about a potential job opportunity. Still on administrative
leave, he was starting to go batshit crazy which meant he needed to get back to
work.

And
with Kylie gone, he had no reason to stick around the house all day.

He
reread the email he had pulled up as he sipped his coffee.

Gage,

I’ve
got some business to take care of in Austin on Thursday so if you’re serious
about the job opportunity, I’d like to meet with you while I’m down there. Let
me know.

Cole
Ackerley

Gage
had sent the email back the same day, letting Cole know he was interested.
After spending the night with Travis the same as he had for the last several
nights, Gage came home early, taking a shower and was now waiting for the call.

Seemed
all he’d been doing lately was waiting. Waiting for Travis to come around,
waiting for Kylie to call, and waiting for his heart to heal. The more time he
spent staring at his phone, willing it to ring, praying for a call from Kylie,
the more he knew it wasn’t going to come.

He’d
fought the urge to call her, although his fingers were itching to push the
buttons just so he could hear her voice. He still couldn’t believe she’d just
walked out, never even giving him a chance to talk to her, to explain anything.

The
day after she left, Gage had gone to Kaleb’s and Zoey’s, and they hashed
through the details once again. Kylie hadn’t given Zoey any specifics about how
she was feeling, but her reaction had been palpable. As they made assumptions
about how she felt when Zoey told her, they’d decided Kylie didn’t like the
idea of Gage having been in a relationship like that before.

“Think
about it, Gage, this is new to her. She wants her happily ever after just like
the two of you do, but she thought this was specific to her. That the stars
aligned and everything came together like it should. It’s how girls think,”
Zoey had told him.

Yeah,
well, he didn’t like the way Kylie was thinking. He wanted her to believe this
could work, and, although Gage had been in other situations similar, never were
they like what he had found with Kylie and Travis. He loved them both. He’d
never loved anyone like this before, never suffered a pain so extensive that
his chest physically ached.

Gage
glanced down, realizing he was rubbing the consistent pain that had taken up
residence. Didn’t matter how hard he pressed, it never eased though.

His
phone vibrated, distracting him from his thoughts, but it wasn’t an incoming
call. Gage hit the little envelope icon and pulled up his texts. One incoming
from Cole:

Stopping
at diner in 10. Meet there.

Gage
dumped his coffee in the sink and grabbed his keys. Time to figure out what he
was going to do with the rest of his life because he damn sure wasn’t going to
sit around waiting anymore.

♀

Kylie
was furious that she had to drive to Coyote Ridge. When her sister called to
tell her she wanted to come home, but she didn’t have a ride, she’d been
pissed. After giving Jessie hell about hooking up with guys who weren’t
interested in seeing to her well-being, Kylie had caved. She hated how she was
purposely trying to hurt Jessie. No matter what happened over the last few
days, Jessie didn’t deserve it.

With
the long, boring highway now behind her, Kylie was heading down the rural road
that would get her to town. Based on the text she’d received a few minutes ago,
Jessie would be at the diner waiting for her.

Of
course she would. She’d probably just had breakfast with Brendon, and they were
sitting around chatting while they waited for Jessie’s chauffer to arrive.

Kylie
should’ve been mad at her sister. And somewhere deep down, maybe she still was,
but there was an overwhelming ache in her chest that continued to push the anger
to the side.

When
her father came to visit, Kylie had fallen apart. The conversation hadn’t gone
like she expected, but it hadn’t been necessarily positive either. And
surprisingly, Joe had been angrier for her not telling him the truth than for
her getting married when she was just nineteen years old.

Pressing
her foot on the gas, Kylie remembered the conversation from just two days ago:

“You’re
still married? After ten years?” her father asked as they sat on the sofa in
Kylie’s living room.

“Yes.”
She had spent the last twenty minutes explaining to him how she met Travis and
the brief details of their marriage. Luckily, there wasn’t much to tell.

“Why?”

Kylie
didn’t know what to tell him. She knew she couldn’t say that she’d never gone
through with the divorce because she’d loved Travis so much that one day she
hoped they’d find their way back to each other. It wasn’t entirely true, but it
was how she felt now. There’d been a reason it never happened, and maybe that’s
what the universe had planned for her, she didn’t know. As the pain settled in
her chest, she really wished the universe would’ve stayed out of her business.

“Ok,
answer this if you don’t want to tell me why. Are you in love with him now?”

Kylie
stared at her father. She knew this was the easy part. Since Jessie had gone
and lost her mind, telling their father that Kylie was in love with two guys,
she knew the best was yet to come.

“Yes,
I love him.”

“Then
why have you been crying?” Joe leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

She
shrugged.

“Did
Jessie ever tell you why she left? Or why she quit her job?”

Kylie
was stunned by the change of subject, but if it would give her a reprieve, she
decided to go along with it.

“Your
sister was dating this guy. He came around every so often. Seemed like a nice
one, but Melissa started to get concerned. Said Jessie was acting strange. Of
course, I’m not there often, so she saw more than I did. I figured it was just
one of those young love things and Jess would get over it and move on with her
life. They didn’t seem all that serious, but what did I know.

“A
little time went by, and Jess stopped talking about him, so I figured they
broke up. It made sense because she seemed a little down. One morning, Melissa
left me a message. I’d had an early flight and didn’t get it until I was
sitting on the tarmac at O’Hare. Melissa said she’d thought Jess had already
gone to work, and she was going into her room to get her sheets so she could wash
them, which she does every week. When she walked in the door, Jess was pulling
on her shirt.