Nicole Edwards - Travis

Funny, it wasn’t like Travis to panic like this, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he was worried about only one thing – that Gage and Kylie weren’t in danger.

Nothing else mattered.

♂♂

By the time Gage managed to get all of the insurance details hashed out, he was ready to pull his fucking hair out. He was fairly certain his ears were beginning to bleed thanks to having to listen to crappy ass hold music for the last two hours, too.

Sure, there was no doubt about it, having insurance was a good thing. Especially when there was something like a one in two hundred eighty thousand chance the house you live in will be struck by lightning. Yep, he’d looked that shit up, and he’d come to one conclusion: he had shitty odds and wouldn’t be betting his life savings in Vegas anytime soon. And since he couldn’t look forward to doubling his net worth at the Blackjack table, he was just going to have to be patient and wait for the insurance check.

According to the woman he’d just gotten off the phone with – the one who sounded like she was watching her “stories” on the tube and putting him on hold during the good parts – it was a damn good thing since his house went up in a flash and his shit was now crispy. He doubted anything with her was urgent (or real), unless it meant getting to the grocery store to pick up her weekly copy of Soap Opera Digest.

Ok, yes, he was being a dick.

Probably hadn’t helped that she continued to explain how so-and-so on her favorite show was also a cop. Just like Gage was. Yes, he certainly could relate to the time Mr. So-and-So got shot down on the boat docks by the mob boss who was sleeping with a waitress and her sister – who wasn’t really her sister, actually just one of her multiple personalities. Sigh.

 It was obvious, there was no reason for him to hurry up and wait, so he’d come up with a solution. While he was waiting for a daytime drama commercial break, he would just use what he had in savings to front Kylie the money for the work she was going to be doing.

Just that morning, before she left to go back to Killeen to pack more things for her lengthy stay, they had walked through the plans, laying out room by room what she still needed and what she’d already managed to get. To his relief, she’d put him to work. At least he had something to do, even if it was hiring subcontractors since he knew the area better. Someone had to do it.

After talking with Travis, they were going to ask the rest of the Walker clan if they’d be willing to help in order to save a little money. Gage still wasn’t sure how he was ever going to be able to repay them for all that they had done for him already. It was thanks to them that the house was livable, enough furniture to make it comfortable to stay there.

The only thing that would make it better would be for Kylie and Travis to stay with him. And yes, he was starting to think he’d lost his mind, thank you very much.

Although he had an excuse with Kylie, – she’d be staying at the farmhouse while she was working on it – he hadn’t figured out a way to talk to Travis. He tried to imply it a time or two, but he’d been too chicken shit to say it out loud.

It would be amusing if it weren’t so terribly sad, but Gage found himself thinking more about Travis and Kylie than the fact that his life had literally just burned to the ground – phone conversation with the soap opera queen notwithstanding. His priorities had shifted somewhere along the way, and he found he cared more about being with them than anything else. If there was ever any intention of keeping himself detached, then he had failed miserably.

And he was trying to be ok with that. Although doubts still plagued him from time to time, he was trying to take things one day at a time. He’d spent years wishing for what they had found with each other, and he was afraid to do anything to risk losing it all.

And the sex… Well, let’s just say he was functioning on little sleep. And he didn’t mind one fucking iota. If they weren’t together coming up with creative ways to get naked, then Gage was spending more than enough time remembering the little details – like being buried to the hilt inside of Kylie at the same time Travis was. He’d gone stir crazy remembering how beautiful Kylie had looked as she rode him, her breasts smashed against his chest, her sweet moans of pleasure echoing in the room as Travis thrust over and over from behind her.

Of course, his life wouldn’t be complete without the overwhelming memories of what it felt like when he had been balls deep inside of Travis the first time they were together. Even now his cock swelled. If he were smart, he’d yank out his dick and massage some of the stress away just so he could get his mind on other things.

Like sleep.

Not that a quick hand job was going to keep him from thinking about the two of them. Or how he wanted to see Kylie sandwiched between him and Travis, taking them both at the same time again.

A groan rumbled up from his chest.

This was so not helping.

Being alone in the big house wasn’t nearly as exciting as he expected it to be. He must’ve gotten used to having company so the random creaks and groans of the old house had him looking around, wishing like hell Kylie was walking down the stairs to come sit with him, or maybe Travis was heading up to take a shower. Those mundane, normal things that he’d wanted for so long.

A faint knock on the front door caught his attention, although he barely heard it from the far side of the house. Pushing himself up off of the gigantic leather sectional that had replaced the ratty loveseat, he made his way to the front door. Glancing down, he realized he was only wearing jeans, and wasn’t dressed for company, but then again he hadn’t been expecting any.

Pulling open the heavy wooden door, Gage came face to face with none other than the man who’d been plaguing his thoughts for the better part of the last few days.

“Hey, you all right?” Gage leaned one arm on the edge of the open door as he stood staring at Travis.

“That’s the question I was going to ask you,” he replied as he eased past him into the house. “You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“There’s a grass fire less than a mile from here. Right now the fire department thinks they’ll get it contained shortly, but it’s getting closer.”

“Shit.” Gage didn’t even want to think about what might happen if the thing got out of control. There was no way he could handle going through it again. No fucking way.

Gage shut the front door and followed Travis back into the living room, secretly happy that Travis seemed comfortable in his house. Despite his unflappable indifference, Gage felt an underlying energy radiating off of the man.

“Where’s Kylie?” Travis asked, turning abruptly when he stepped into the living room where Gage had been sitting, staring at the cracked plaster peeling off the wall.

“Home. She left earlier today to pack some things. I offered to drive her and bring her back, but she insisted she go alone.”

“She’s not coming back tonight is she?”

“No. I talked to her a little while ago, and she said she was going to ride out the storm at home and come back in the morning.”

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

Gage instinctively glanced over at the couch, seeing his cell phone lying in the same place he’d dropped it after he hung up with Kylie. The battery had died and rather than charging it in his truck because he couldn’t find the house charger, he’d opted to ignore the damn thing altogether.

“It’s dead.”

Travis nodded as though the explanation was one he expected.

“So, what?” Gage asked, driving his thumbs into his pockets as he stood up straight. “You worried about me?”

Travis’ brows arched down, his blue eyes growing darker as he stared him down. “That a problem for you?”

What prompted Gage to question Travis, he had no idea, but he truthfully hadn’t expected that answer. Something more aggressive or innately sexual would’ve made more sense coming from Travis. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with the knowledge that this man was concerned about his well-being. Before he could say a word, he found himself backing up against the wall, Travis’ looming form directly in front of him.

Ok, now this was familiar.

The heat in the blue-gray eyes peering back at him had turned to an inferno within the last few seconds, and Gage had to inhale deeply.

Mistake.

Travis’ enticing, musky scent filled his nostrils and made his body harden. Every single time they had touched each other flooded his memory bank in a quick flash of images, reminding him of the way Travis had all but consumed him with a passion he, quite frankly, hadn’t expected from the man.

“Does it bother you that I was worried?” Travis asked again, apparently expecting an answer.

Gage was not the man to back down from anyone, let alone in a situation such as this. But, holy fucking hell, he wanted to. Right there in the dim light of the living room, surrounded by peeling plaster and hardwood that had seen at least one hundred years of abuse.

When there was only a breath between the two of them, Gage focused on the heat of Travis’ chest, anticipating every rise and fall from every breath he took because it brought them that much closer.

Travis’ palm flattened against the side of his neck, his thumb gliding back and forth over his jaw while his fingers dug lightly into the back of his neck. There wasn’t an ounce of aggression in the move, and Gage found himself locked and loaded, ready to beg.