Nicole Edwards - Travis

“That’s exactly what I fucking said. So what?” Travis took a step closer although they were almost nose to nose. “Did you think bringing her back into my life would change what this is between us? Well, it worked. You managed to fuck my life up beyond repair. And it didn’t fucking help!”

“Didn’t help what?” Gage asked, his voice low and menacing. He seemed to move closer to Travis, eliminating the breath of air that still remained between them. Their cowboy hats were the only thing keeping them from getting any closer.

“It didn’t make me want you any less,” Travis growled, letting go of Gage’s shirt and taking a step back. “But you did accomplish one thing, Gage.”

“What’s that?”

“Now I want her just as much as I want you. Are you fucking happy now?” Travis spun around and lifted his face to the sky and roared, “Goddammit!”

Kylie’s mouth hung open as she stared in disbelief. Travis’ words answered every single question she had. She knew she should walk away, give them a little space because clearly tempers were getting out of control, but she couldn’t seem to move. The rain was coming down in sheets, drenching them all, the sound of the wind making it difficult to hear anything except for her own heartbeat.

Except, she had heard Travis’ words.

Clearly.

Now I want her just as much as I want you.

Travis turned to look at her, not an ounce of the compassion she’d seen earlier lingering in his gaze. His smoke-blue eyes swirled with anger and something else. Lust? Desire? Longing?

“Did you tell her?” Gage’s question had them both turning to look at him.

“Tell her what?”

“Did you tell Kylie why you ran like a chicken shit ten years ago? Did you tell her what you’re running from?”

“Fuck you,” Travis barked, taking a step closer to Gage.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure we’re getting to that point,” Gage growled and Kylie stared at him. “If you can’t even be honest with yourself, how in the hell do you ever expect anyone to want something from you?” Gage asked, but Kylie wasn’t sure he was looking for an answer.

If someone would have told her that she’d be standing in the middle of the pouring rain with two men who had managed to turn her life upside down at some point, she wouldn’t have believed them. For years, Kylie’s life had been too normal. Too mundane. This wasn’t supposed to happen to her, yet here she was listening to a drama unfold between two men she’d developed feelings for, yet they seemed more interested in one another than her.

Thunder boomed, and she jumped, suddenly acutely aware of the storm still surging around them. They needed to get out of the rain. And soon.

“I told her,” Travis said. “I laid my heart out there, is that what you want to hear? You want me to grovel? To drop to my knees and beg her forgiveness because I’ve never found anyone who could even remotely satisfy me the way she did? Huh? That what you want?”

Gage’s eyes widened, and he seemed just as stunned as she was. Kylie wasn’t sure she was even breathing. Travis’ words ripped through her heart, penetrating the anger and desperation that had been building there ever since she saw him again.

Travis’ back straightened as he continued, “Is that what you wanted me to do? You think you haven’t done enough damage yet?” Travis took another step closer, only this time, Gage retaliated as he moved in, their chests touching, their hands fisting in one another’s shirts.

“But did you tell her the rest? Did you tell her how you kissed me? Or how about how you led me on, made me want you when you had no intention of following through,” Gage’s voice grew louder, suddenly booming over the rolling thunder, “You kissed me, goddammit!”

“In case you didn’t know, I had every intention of following through. You’re the one who ran, you’re the one who disappeared for months. And let’s be real fucking clear here, you fucking kissed me back!” Travis yelled.

Hearing the words were like an arrow straight through her heart. It didn’t matter that Gage was a man, or that she hadn’t seen Travis in ten years until recently. The jealousy raged a war inside of her and tears threatened from the anger that was building. Kylie didn’t even think it was possible, but suddenly her heart was breaking all over again. Right in her chest, the anguish that consumed her nearly had her knees giving out. But this time, it was breaking right in half, and there were two men responsible. Not just one. She was somehow stuck in the middle.

“You’re damn right I did,” Gage said, his temper cooling significantly. His voice lowered even more before he continued, “I’d do it again too.”

His confession made Kylie’s blood run cold. Here she was, in the middle of a pissing contest between two men who clearly had a thing for one another. Yet it didn’t explain what happened between her and Gage, or what just happened not five minutes before between her and Travis.

Nor did it help to clear up what she was feeling for either one of these men because she knew from grade school math that one plus one did not equal three. She’d been dragged into this for what? So Gage could get his point across to Travis? So he could declare his feelings for the man?

Hell, she wasn’t even sure whether she cared anymore. Glancing around, Kylie tried to remember the way that Travis had come in. It might take her all day to walk back to town, or hell, maybe a week, but at this point, she was willing to walk if it meant she could get away from them. While the two of them continued to stare one another down, Kylie turned and started walking.

“Where the hell are you going?” Travis growled, falling into step beside her. She didn’t bother looking at him.

“I don’t want to interrupt your little love fest. I’ll just find my way back to town on my own, thank you very much.” It took everything in her not to let the dam break and tears to rush forth. She kept moving, but was quickly pulled up short by Travis’ hand on her arm. He wasn’t gentle as he turned her to look at him.

She found herself staring up into pools of blue, dark and cloudy, just like the storm brewing around them. His mood resembled the weather as a matter of fact, evident in the eerie blue swirls in his eyes. Kylie had no idea what to say to him, but she knew she couldn’t be near him. They were too close as it was, and for a second she actually thought he might kiss her again.

“Let me go,” she pleaded. “Just let me walk away, Travis. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t know why the two of you had to pull me into this. It’s clear that you both want each other.” Kylie paused, forcing her wet hair away from her face. A small part of her wanted him to deny it, to tell her to her face what he’d said to Gage moments ago. “I only want one thing from you,” she finally said, her voice quivering from the pain ricocheting like a stray bullet in the center of her chest.

“What’s that?” he asked, pinning her with a glare.

“A divorce.” The words escaped on a sob, but Kylie couldn’t hide how much pain she was in. She’d have thought ten years would’ve healed some of the damage this one man had caused, but her heart felt like an open, throbbing wound all over again.

Travis didn’t stop staring at her and Kylie felt the urge to grab him by his shirt and crush her mouth to his. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. Gage was the other half of what Travis had been missing when they got married. He could give Travis what he needed and without her, they’d find someone else. A woman who could handle two men.

Acknowledging the truth didn’t make it any easier to swallow, in fact, she felt as though she might just throw up.

“Not happening,” Travis growled before letting go of her arm and stomping back to his truck.

Kylie could only stare after him. “What’s not happening?” she yelled over the crash of thunder from the heavens.

“The divorce.” Travis turned momentarily, staring back at her. “It’s not fucking happening.”

With that, he climbed in his truck, started the engine and then tore out of the parking space, throwing up mud and water with his exit, leaving Kylie standing there with Gage.

Both of them too stunned to speak.

♂♀

“Get in the truck,” Gage told Kylie when Travis’ four wheel drive Chevy disappeared from sight and another bolt of lightning crackled and lit up the now blackened sky. The clouds were rolling in fiercely, turning under themselves as the storm blew in stronger. “Now!”

The rain was coming down harder, but what scared him most was the electrical storm that was intensifying all around them. They were surrounded by trees and water and the wind had picked up considerably within the last few minutes, leaving them sitting ducks in the middle of a vicious early summer storm. Being June in Texas, the weather could get ugly fast, and he wasn’t willing to risk her life or his at this point. It should’ve been enough that the water was now coming down in buckets, and they were both soaked to the skin, but Kylie seemed to be riveted to where she stood, staring after Travis’ truck even after it disappeared.

When she didn’t move, Gage took matters into his own hands, grabbing her arm and leading her to the driver’s side, which was closest. “Move over,” he instructed after opening the door and pushing her closer.

If they didn’t hurry, they were going to be trapped by the raging river guaranteed to wash out the low water crossing that would take them back to Coyote Ridge. As a teenager, there’d been many times Gage and Kaleb had waited out a storm and then some just to get across.