Nicole Edwards - Travis

Gage wanted to know what the hell had happened between the two of them. Was Travis the way he was because of her? From what he had learned during the time he spent with Kylie in recent months, he couldn’t imagine she had the ability to freeze any man’s heart the way Travis’ obviously was. And if Travis had a woman like Kylie waiting at home for him at some point in his life, what the hell was he thinking letting her go.

At first, Gage thought maybe Travis was leading a double life, spending time with Kylie when he was supposedly out of town. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. Not once had she mentioned his name. Hell, she didn’t even use Travis’ last name as her own, so why the hell were they married?

A question Gage wanted an answer to.

Or at least he had wanted to find out when he first climbed onboard this emotional roller coaster. Now, Gage wasn’t so sure he wanted to do anything except turn around and hide away with Kylie for a few months, keeping her all to himself.

He was Fucked Up. With a capital FU.

At thirty-two years old, it sucked like fucking hell to find out that what you thought you wanted out of life might be a complete and total lie. It didn’t help that Gage was adding more lies to the running list as each day passed. And his self-hatred had morphed into something tangible. The only way he found to relieve some of the pressure was to push Travis as far as he could. Away from him.

He hadn’t been able to think of much else after Travis blindsided him with a kiss that rocked his fucking world off its axis. The tension between them was palpable and, damn it all to hell, Gage wanted more. Since that was a major problem for him, – mainly because Travis was virtually untouchable – he figured the easiest way to ensure that he didn’t want what he couldn’t have, he had opted for revenge.

Glancing down at Kylie, Gage realized he hadn’t thought things all the way through. Although he was about to deliver his very own brand of payback right at Travis’ feet, he hadn’t taken into account that he might just get a little too caught up in the woman he’d sought out to find and use as punishment. His anger at Travis, mixed with the desire he felt for the man and now this woman, had twisted into something ugly, yet he didn’t seem to be turning back.

Without a doubt, Gage knew he had found something to hurt Travis with. He had a feeling his plan was going to work even better than he expected. Walking into a room full of Walker men, putting on display someone Travis apparently thought he’d buried in his past was bound to get him the reaction he had been looking for. Key words being had been.

Mother fucking hell.

“What was that?” Kylie’s sweet voice pulled Gage from his thoughts as they made their way past the U-Haul truck backed up in the front yard.

“Nothing.” He didn’t even realize he’d said anything out loud, but that said a lot about his mental status. If he was going to back out now, it would be the perfect time. The only person he’d have to explain anything to would be Kylie.

His feet didn’t stop moving forward, and the next thing he knew, he was pulling open the freshly painted screen door, waiting while Kylie preceded him into the house. The second he laid eyes on Travis, a slew of emotions bubbled up inside of him. Anger, lust, and even a sliver of fear lingered in there somewhere.

Placing his hand on the small of her back as he followed her inside, Gage had one last moment of regret and then shrugged it off as his eyes tracked Travis across the room. The second their gazes collided, Gage knew he was in deep shit.

“Sonuvabitch,” Travis growled.

“Travis?” Kylie questioned, her hand wrenching out of Gage’s grasp as her back went stone still.

“Fuck.” That was Travis’ only response.

Very articulate he was.

Gage stared blankly at Travis, ensuring his face remained impassive. The recognition in the man’s eyes was exactly the response Gage had been going for when he made the decision that morning to come back home to Coyote Ridge.

One thing he prided himself on was his ability to do his job. Not only could he protect those he cared about, he also had an uncanny ability to uncover dirt that other people tried desperately to hide. Travis’ dirt had been hidden better than most. In fact, it had taken Gage almost three months, but he’d finally accomplished what he set out to do.

Gage had finally found what Travis apparently didn’t want anyone else to know about.

There was only one question left to be answered...

If Travis had been looking to bury his past, why hadn’t the man ever gotten a divorce?

♂♀♂

There was only one person to blame for these recent urges to do serious bodily harm. Unfortunately, the only person Travis wanted to get his hands on was Gage Matthews and the son of a bitch had disappeared altogether. The murderous rage continued to escalate as each hour ticked by, and it was a damn good thing Gage had the brains to flee. If he hadn’t, Travis would’ve hunted him down, and at this point, he couldn’t ensure that Gage would walk away unscathed.

Not after what he’d done.

Apparently, Travis’ brother Kaleb knew what Travis was capable of because no matter how hard he had tried – just short of begging, which Travis would never resort to – his brother wouldn’t give him any information. Not even Gage’s phone number. Then again, since the beginning he hadn’t been able to get Gage’s number from Kaleb. Since Kaleb had been too curious for his own good, Travis had given up on asking after the first time. So now, just short of hiring a private investigator to find Gage, Travis was at a loss on where the man could be.

Each morning, Travis woke up wondering if he would have the pleasure of wrapping his hands around Gage’s neck. And as each night cloaked their small town, he realized the opportunity had slipped by again. He had some serious connections, but despite his repeated attempts, he could not find Gage.

And Travis had doubled his efforts ever since he realized Gage had managed to skip town shortly after the fiasco that ensued at Kaleb’s house. The very day Gage had the fucking balls to dangle the one woman Travis never expected to see ever again right in front of his face.

Brass. No, make that steel. The man had balls of fucking steel, and he had proven it by waltzing Kylie Prescott – although she was technically still Kylie Walker – in through the front door without even a hint of warning.

Ever since that day, Travis hadn’t been able to sleep or eat. Hell, he could barely stand to be around himself which he knew wasn’t faring well for his brothers.

He was beginning to worry about the tension that was pulling at him these days. Part of him wanted to attribute his desire to self-destruct to what Gage had done, but he knew it was more than that. The insurmountable stress he put himself under was beginning to take its toll and Gage’s little scene was just the icing on the cake.

The bastard.

Ten years.

Ten long, fucking years, damn it.

All for nothing. The suffering and pain he’d put himself through trying to get over her was all for nothing because the second he laid eyes on Kylie, every damn thing he’d ever felt for her came flooding back like a tsunami threatening to take him under and drag him against jagged rocks that were a serious threat to his wellbeing.

Memories.

Pain.

It was all so intense, making him wish for things he knew he couldn’t have because Travis was too fucked up to have something as sweet and pure as Kylie in his life. It didn’t stop those devastating memories from overwhelming him, threatening to level him flat when he least expected it.

Son of a fucking bitch!

Just seeing her once brought back a torrent of feelings that Travis hadn’t wanted to lay claim to for a solid decade. If he had given himself any credit for being over her, well, he undoubtedly learned his lesson that day.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw big, cornflower blue eyes, pouty pink lips, the satiny luster of creamy alabaster skin, long, glossy, honey-gold hair. She looked the same, only prettier if that was even possible. The most sensually beautiful woman Travis had ever laid his eyes on. And so fucking touchable, he found himself wishing for a few more minutes with her.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

No matter what he did or didn’t do, Travis couldn’t have Kylie. She deserved someone normal, not someone like him. She needed someone whose sole purpose in life was to put her up on a pedestal and worship her with love and attention. Not someone whose love was distorted and whose attention was divided at best.

The fact that Gage had thrown her to the wolves, so to speak, spoke volumes about how well Gage actually knew her. Kylie was so damn innocent, it made Travis’ heart break just thinking about the pained look on her face that day. When his eyes raked over her, categorizing every luscious curve, every delectable inch of her beautiful body, it was like a salve for some of those gaping wounds he’d grown accustomed to over the years.

Now that the old memories and feelings had been resurrected, there was no such hope of putting her in his past where she belonged.

He could still see the way her compelling blue eyes lit up like a gas flame the moment she saw him. Forgiveness wasn’t an easy thing for a woman as reserved as Kylie, and it was clear from her surprise that she hadn’t let him off the hook for what he had done to her all those years ago.

The moment her initial shock wore off, that unbridled anger she apparently never released came spewing out of her. Only her ire hadn’t been directed at him as he expected. With a deep, aching regret swirling in his soul, Travis had waited for the tongue lashing he deserved, yet she had never given him.