Nicole Edwards - Travis

He could sense that Travis was worried, and Gage wanted to reassure him that he’d be fine, but he didn’t. Rather than making Travis feel as though he were blowing him off, Gage was willing to accept whatever Travis had to offer.

As Gage watched the firemen get the fire under control, he let himself think about another blaze. One that happened just a short while ago. Ironically, that one had been in the shower and the water hadn’t done anything to keep the flames at bay there either. A sudden longing to be wrapped in the arms of a caramel haired angel with big blue eyes and a body to die for nearly leveled him flat.

“Hey.”

Gage turned to see Kaleb standing beside him, and he wondered how long he had been there. Travis was nowhere in sight, which Gage pretended didn’t bother him just a little.

Gage muttered, “Hey.”

“You all right?” Kaleb asked, sounding both worried and curious.

“Just fucking perfect. You?” His growl didn’t faze Kaleb in the least, but he hadn’t expected it to either.

“You want to come stay with Zoey and me tonight? We’ve got plenty of room. I’ll come back with you tomorrow so we can see if anything can be salvaged.”

“Nah. I’m good. I’ve got my grandmother’s place.”

“You sure?”

Gage turned to face Kaleb, looking his best friend in the eye. He wasn’t sure if he was just imagining it or not, but he felt as though Kaleb wanted to ask questions. One’s that didn’t have anything to do with fire or ashes or salvageable items. Was it obvious that something had happened between him and Kylie and Travis? If so, did everyone notice or just Kaleb?

Part of him hoped that Kaleb knew what was happening between Gage and Travis, only because it would make it so much easier to do what he needed to do. Since they’d always known their threesomes wouldn’t last forever, and truly, they were in it for Zoey’s pleasure, which she could find in the arms of her husband, it seemed only natural for them to expect the interactions to come to an end. Gage just hadn’t expected to be the one to put an end to them. And especially not because he’d found someone – in his case, two people – to focus all of his energy on.

Even if he couldn’t define what was happening between him and Kylie and Travis as a relationship, Gage knew he owed it to himself to at least find out where it was headed before he reinserted himself in someone else’s love life.

“I’m sure.” Not that he was sure about much of anything at this point, but he was certain that he wouldn’t need a place to sleep tonight.

Kaleb nodded, then glanced over Gage’s shoulder as though someone was standing behind him.

“Thanks for the offer, man. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

“You do that.” Kaleb clapped Gage on the shoulder. “I’m really sorry.”

Gage didn’t know what to say, so he just tipped his head in acknowledgement. The rain and the fact Gage was once again soaked to the bone wasn’t nearly as disrupting as knowing Travis was standing behind him, so Gage politely dismissed Kaleb, hoping he’d go back home to his warm bed and his even warmer wife.

When Kaleb was out of earshot, Travis came up next to him. “Need anything?” That was Travis, abrupt and to the point. The answer to that question could’ve been a million different things, but Gage didn’t say a word. “Look man,” Travis began and Gage thought he heard the beginnings of another woeful “I’m sorry”, except Travis wasn’t known for such awkward expressions of emotion, so he opted to halt him midsentence.

“Don’t. Just… don’t.” Gage didn’t want to hear anyone else ask him if he needed anything or if he had a place to stay or… Shit, Gage didn’t want any more questions tonight period.

The two of them stood in silence for a few minutes, watching as the last embers burned, the shell of his house the only thing remaining, but even those were bowed and threatening to crumble to the earth. Charcoal black and water logged was how it was all going to go down tonight.

“Let’s get a beer,” Travis stated firmly, glancing over at Gage.

He couldn’t help it, he cocked his eyebrow, surprise written on his face. “A beer?”

“Yeah. This sucks, but it is what it is. Let’s head over to Moonshiners.”

“I’d rather go back to my grandmother’s house and get some sleep.”

“We can do that, too,” Travis added, but before Gage could retort, he was quickly cut off by more words. “You can try and push me away all night, Matthews. It ain’t happenin’. I’m not leaving you tonight, and before you go getting all righteous and shit, I’m not looking for anything.”

No? Well, Gage was. He was looking for a fight because his life was suddenly a pile of rubble. Literally.

“I need to get back to Kylie,” Gage stated firmly.

“She’s waiting for us in the truck,” Travis explained as though he’d already talked to her. Which he probably had.

Damn it.

“Keep pushing, Gage.” Travis’ words were low but nonthreatening as he took one step closer. “I can take anything you come up with. And in case you forgot, I was right there in that shower with you both, I know exactly what happened between us. The same thing that’s going to happen again.”

The fight immediately drained out of him and Gage dropped his head, staring down at the ground. He didn’t have anything left, not an ounce of anger to dish out. In fact, he figured he was about ten seconds away from collapsing.

“Come on,” Travis urged and nudged Gage with his shoulder.

Gage gave in and allowed Travis to lead him back to his truck. They were stopped a couple of times by more sorrowful neighbors as well as some volunteer firefighters and Gage forced himself to keep it together.

As soon as he laid eyes on Kylie still sitting in the back seat of his truck, he felt a relief he hadn’t expected.

“I’m driving,” Travis said as he took the lead, heading around to the driver’s side, leaving Gage with only one other place to go. Figuring it wouldn’t do him much good to argue, he headed to the passenger side, giving in to riding shotgun in his own damn truck.

“Hey,” Kylie greeted, her voice soft and concerned as she leaned up against the front seats when Gage climbed in. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him backward. She was hugging him and damn it if he didn’t want to just lose himself in her arms for a little while.

Bless her, she didn’t ask him if he was ok and she didn’t let him go either. It took everything in him not to break down.

♀♂

Travis was tempted to check himself in the vanity mirror of the truck. For some odd reason, he thought maybe he’d see someone else peering back at him. Hell, he was surprised Gage agreed to go anywhere with him considering how out of character he was acting.

Damn it. Not a single one of his brothers was around to see it either. And Travis knew they’d never believe him if he told them.

Despite the levity of what happened to Gage’s house, Travis couldn’t stop the smile from creeping up to his lips. For the first time in years – many, many years – he didn’t feel like taking someone’s head clean off their body.

Didn’t mean it would last, so he considered warning Gage and Kylie that they better take advantage of it while they could. Hell, he’d be more than willing to let them take advantage of him. Right here in the damn truck if they’d like.

Travis kept his eyes on the road and forced himself not to look over at Gage. The man looked like hell, and knowing he’d just go stir crazy sitting in that big old house of his all alone, he had wanted to limit the amount of time that Gage would have to do so.

A few minutes later, they were pulling into Moonshiners, and the first thing Travis noticed was how empty the parking lot was. Not necessarily a bad thing, but he knew that would change once the volunteer fire department got things settled. If they were lucky, they’d grab a booth in the back and have a couple of beers before that happened. It was clear Gage was getting sick of hearing all the I’m sorry’s and if you need anything let me know’s although the people clearly meant well. Probably didn’t make it any easier to have just watched your house burn to the ground.

As soon as Travis put the truck in Park, he scrambled out and over to Kylie’s door. Neither of them had gotten out, so he went to her door and opened it for her.

Yes, it should be noted that he could be a gentleman when he wanted to.

“Ummm, boys…” Kylie drew their attention before they had a chance to travel far on the wet pavement that glistened from the oil and rain. “I’m not sure I’m dressed for this.”

Travis glanced down, noticed she was wearing Gage’s t-shirt, which came almost to her knees, and totally hid her shorts from view. Sometime in the last few minutes she’d put her boots on so… Well, the picture she made had Travis wanting to settle her cute little ass back in the truck and head over to Gage’s farmhouse anyway. Screw the beer.

Shit. And she didn’t have on a bra either. That little news flash was like a homing beacon, drawing his attention to her perky breasts beneath the soft, dark cotton. And his eyes weren’t the only thing paying attention either.

Kylie must’ve realized that they were both now staring at her chest because she cleared her throat to get their attention.

“Would you rather go back to…?”

Before Gage could finish the sentence, Kylie smiled as her hands disappeared behind her back. Seconds later, the t-shirt was pulling tight across her flat belly and riding at hip level, those tight jean shorts once again visible.