Nicole Edwards - Travis

“To talk.”

The man didn’t know how to speak in sentences. Since the day she met him, he’d rarely gone into detail when he spoke. He was a man of few words, but he always managed to cut to the chase. He also had an uncanny ability to keep his emotions locked down. At least she’d been right about one thing… he hadn’t changed over the years.

At least not in ways she’d hoped he would.

♂♀

As his common sense returned in slow measures, Travis was beginning to question what the fuck he was doing. As soon as Kylie’s truck disappeared from sight, the only thing he could think about was not letting her walk away so easily. The small voice in his head kept telling him not to fuck this up again. There’d be no turning back if he let her go this time.

She wanted a divorce.

Of course she wanted a divorce.

He was a fucking idiot and walked out on her ten years ago because he never thought she’d accept him for who he truly was. Not that he thought she was any different now. Nor had he ever even given her a chance to decide for herself. And the truth was he sure as hell hadn’t changed. So why he was standing in front of her, half tempted to convince her otherwise was beyond him.

She looked just as innocent as ever, although he witnessed that strange detachment in her eyes earlier. He didn’t want to think he’d been the one to put that look on her face. It was rather presumptuous for him to believe he’d had any impact on her life at all. After the short time they were together, it was true that Kylie had forever changed him, but he was a stupid fuck for thinking the same might’ve been true for her.

Looking at her now, Travis noticed that her eyes were red as though she’d been crying. He could still see the faint tear streaks on her soft cheeks. He wanted to lean over and run the backs of his fingers down her smooth face, get rid of the evidence from any pain he might’ve caused her. Only touching her, even for that brief moment when he tried to stop her from leaving the parking lot at Walker Demo had stirred up emotions inside of him that Travis didn’t even know existed.

Anymore.

Not since the day he walked out on Kylie had he ever felt even a slight attachment to anyone else. Not one single time.

Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true, but he was leaving Gage out of this because he didn’t understand his strange obsession with the man any more than he understood why he was standing here.

For the entire drive to her house, Travis tried to convince himself why he was following her. Closure? He needed it, and after seeing the sadness in her eyes when she walked away from him, he knew she deserved it. The least he could do was see how she was doing and try to ensure she knew that his walking away had never been about her.

Not that he particularly cared to explain himself. He’d never been adept at expressing his feelings in a way that benefited anyone, especially him.

 “You could’ve just given me the papers,” Kylie said before he could say anything more. “I would’ve been on my way, and you wouldn’t have had to drive all the way out here.”

“Like I told you, I haven’t signed them,” he explained, noticing the way her eyebrows darted up as though she hadn’t expected him to say as much. “Mind if we just talk?”

Kylie shrugged her shoulders as though she didn’t care, turning her attention to the yard beyond her front porch. Travis couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He noticed the way she fidgeted, rocking back and forth on the edge of the rail, her hands squeezed around the wood beam until her knuckles were white, refusing to look up at him.

She was cute as hell.

He allowed the silence to hang between them for a moment while he studied her. He couldn’t help but notice that Kylie’s once gentle demeanor had been replaced with something harder, colder even. Or maybe it was just him that brought out that side of her. He didn’t know.

“What did you want to talk about?” Kylie asked, looking around at anything except him.

“Look at me, Kylie,” he stated more sternly than he anticipated.

Kylie’s eyes shot toward his face, and he met them head on. He was demanding, he knew that about himself, but it was another part of himself he’d kept hidden from her all those years ago. The difference between then and now, Travis didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. Not after her. Knowing that Kylie had fallen for a man that didn’t exist, Travis vowed never to do that to anyone else again. He made it abundantly clear who he was by the way he acted, sometimes overdoing it just to ensure no one got the wrong impression of him.

“How are you?”

Kylie’s eyebrows shot the opposite direction, a frown replacing the surprise he’d just witnessed. Sure, Travis knew this was unusual behavior, especially for him, but he wanted to know how she was. Seeing her with Gage at Kaleb’s had raised a heap of questions, the first being how they knew each other. Since he couldn’t just out and out grill her over her relationship with the man, he wanted to start out simple.

“Fine.”

“Fine?” For some reason he didn’t believe her.

“What do you want me to say, Travis? I’ve managed to mind my own business all these years, letting you walk away because you chose to do so only to have your friend show up on my doorstep and flip my world upside down. I’m fine. I figure that’s a polite way of putting it.”

Travis didn’t speak right away. He processed what she said for a minute, keeping his arms firmly crossed over his chest, his eyes locked on her.

He had suspected that Gage went digging around in his past, and it wasn’t shocking that he’d figured out Travis was still married. His confusion came from Gage’s audacity, his ability to deceive Kylie just to get back at him. Travis could think of a million things to say about Gage, but devious had never been one of them.

“He’s not my friend.” Seriously, that was all he came up with?

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Gage isn’t my friend. He’s a friend of my brother.”

“Yeah, Gage told me you had a brother,” Kylie stated.

Hearing that statement from her nearly leveled him. Here was a woman he had married ten years ago, hoping she would fill a void that he knew couldn’t be filled, all the while he kept his personal life a complete secret from her.

“I have six brothers.”

Her face fell, and Travis saw the recognition as it dawned. She didn’t know him.

“Six?”

“Yes.”

“How did I not know that?” she asked, sounding defeated as she looked down at the ground.

“There’s a lot about me you didn’t know, Kylie.”

“Evidently, but...”

When she didn’t finish the sentence, Travis contemplated how much he should tell her now. If he thought about it, there was no reason he should fill her in on the details now that she was asking for a divorce. How much would she even care to know anyway?

“It doesn’t matter,” Kylie blurted, jumping down from the rail and moving toward the door.

Before Travis could think it through, he grabbed Kylie’s arm much like he had earlier. What was it about this woman that he didn’t want her running away from him?

This was new for him. These emotions she had reawakened. He wasn’t ready to move on with his routine, day-to-day life just yet and for some reason, now that his past had caught up with him, he felt as though she deserved some explanations.

“I want to talk. Can you just give me this?” he asked, then realized he didn’t have the right to ask her for anything.

“This? What’s this, Travis?” Kylie’s pretty blue eyes darkened with anger, and he knew he officially crossed the line. “You walked out on me, remember? And after that, you left it up to me to get the divorce. I had to relive the pain all over again just so I could muster up the courage to get a lawyer.”

Her harsh words were only a decibel above a whisper, but loud enough to echo around her small porch. Travis kept his hand on her arm, terrified that she would run as soon as he let go.

“Calm down.”

Kylie’s face turned red and she yanked her arm out of his grasp.

“Fuck you, Travis Walker. Fuck. You!”

Travis didn’t move for what felt like an eternity, but he knew it had only been a few seconds. Before the screen door could slam behind her, Travis followed her into the house, ignoring his own curiosity and keeping his attention on her.

Without thinking, he grabbed her, turning her to face him as he held her shoulders, keeping her at arm’s length.

“Don’t touch me!” Kylie yelled at him, trying to pull away, and damn it all to hell if the little hellcat didn’t turn him on when she did that. Where the hell was the fire in her back then? Why didn’t she fight to keep him when he would’ve done anything for her to stop him from walking out the door?

Travis released her shoulders, but managed to crowd her between his body and the wall, not touching her. How he managed that tremendous feat was beyond him.

“Don’t walk away from me, Kylie. Give me a chance to talk to you.”

“You say that like you deserve that chance, Travis,” Kylie retorted. “I don’t owe you anything.”

Travis shook his head, standing to his full height but not moving away from her. Looking down at her mouth, he fought the urge to eliminate the few inches left between them and kiss her. He wanted to know if she tasted as sweet as he remembered. He’d dreamed about her kisses, the soft way she used to mewl when he drove his tongue deep in her mouth.

For years after he walked away, he found himself reliving those stolen moments the two of them had somehow managed to find together. Despite their odds, Travis had fallen for this woman during a time when he should’ve been keeping as far away from a sweet girl like her as he possibly could.