Nicole Edwards - Travis

“What’s going on upstairs?” he slurred, not making the connection because the alcohol had seemingly rendered him ignorant. He smiled like a fool as he replayed his words back in his head, moving his tongue around inside of his mouth because it felt strangely numb.

“It’s Tuesday.”

As though that was supposed to mean something to him, Gage tried to fumble through his booze soaked brain cells to locate the little tidbit of information that might make sense. No such luck.

“Playroom?” Kane said with a grin.

Ahhh. Well, that explained it. Tuesday night.

“I’d much prefer hanging out here with the pretty little bartender,” Gage slurred.

There was a growl and Gage turned from side to side to see where it came from. When he looked back at Kane, the man’s face barely coming into focus, he realized the sound was coming from him.

Gage tilted his head, studying Kane for a moment. So many things were swimming around in his head, but he finally realized what he’d said. Oh, that’s right. The pretty little bartender was Kane’s woman. Hmmphh. The man was a little possessive. He might want to get that checked.

“I think you’d be better off upstairs,” Kane urged.

“Shit, why not. What the hell do I have to lose?” Gage mumbled and pushed his empty glass toward Kane. “One for the road?”

Kane looked him over as Gage did his best not to sway on his seat. Right. Like that was working.

He had no idea whether he was successful, but something must’ve convinced Kane because a few seconds later another glass was put in front of him. It took three attempts, but Gage finally managed to retrieve enough cash from his wallet to cover his tab and then some. With a tilt of his head, he grabbed the glass and made his way to the staircase on the far side.

Hmmm, the room was a little lopsided.

The smell of sweaty bodies and alcohol hit his nose at the same time the room tipped some more. Gage stopped, not wanting to spill his drink and grabbed onto the rail of the staircase. Looking up at the doors, he wondered if he’d even be able to enter his code to get in. Shit, he wasn’t even sure he’d remember what the damn thing was by the time he got up there.

Not having anything better to do, he figured he’d give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen? He’d take a trip down the stairs? Maybe it would knock some sense into him. Lord knows he needed it.

Ten painfully long minutes later, – hell, it could’ve been an hour, Gage had no idea – the steel doors were closing behind him, and he was stumbling down the dimly lit hallway, using the wall to assist. Yup, the world was spinning like a top on steroids. It seemed fitting. Everything else was out of control at this point, why not his ability to maneuver on solid ground.

When he rounded the corner, keeping the hallway from turning sideways by leaning his cheek against the wall, Gage noticed three people heading toward him. From this distance and from the booze fogging his eyes, the only thing he could make out was something long and red, and he was transfixed on the sight.

Moving along the wall, doing his best not to spill what was left of his drink… Ok, no need to worry about the drink, he thought as he downed the rest in one gulp before setting the glass on the floor at his feet.

Fuck. Mistake.

When the hallway turned abruptly, Gage dropped to his knees, his legs suddenly too weak to support him. He only hoped the people down the hall paid him no mind. If he could just make it to…

Shit, where the hell had he been going in the first damn place?

Ok, so maybe he could sit here for a few minutes, let the tilt-a-whirl slow down first. He’d have a better chance of making it back to his feet that way.

“Gage?”

The deep, booming voice was achingly familiar, but Gage couldn’t place it. Maybe his dreams. Yes, he’d heard the voice in his dreams.

He glanced up at the form in front of him and smiled. He didn’t know why he was smiling, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

“Get up,” the voice demanded.

“Yeah, that ain’t happenin’,” he slurred. Shit, his lips were numb too. If only the rest of him would follow suit, he’d be in business.

A strong hand gripped his bicep and pulled, easily lifting him from the floor. Gage had to work to get his feet under him, but somehow he managed.

“Fuck.”

Yeah, Gage was thinking the exact same thing as he tipped sideways, the floor suddenly coming up to high five his face much faster than he anticipated.

♂♂

Travis managed to catch Gage’s dead weight milliseconds before he face planted on the tile floor. Every muscle in his body screamed as he tried to hold him up and then suddenly he had help, the heavy weight lightening considerably.

Tag had come to assist, steadying Gage’s lax form and helping Travis maneuver him down the hall. After fishing the keys to his apartment from his pocket, Travis and Tag eased Gage inside before depositing him on the couch.

“Looks like tonight’s off, huh?” Tag questioned, but to Travis’ surprise the man didn’t sound disappointed.

Travis nodded, his eyes glued to the man passed out cold on his couch. He wasn’t leaving Gage, so yeah, the night was pretty well shot to hell.

“I’ll let McKenna know,” Tag said as he was shutting the door behind him.

“Mother fucker. What the hell have you done?” Travis kept his voice low, but part of him wished Gage could hear him and would wake up so they could hash this out the way he’d imagined it.

And he wasn’t thinking about pummeling Gage into the ground any longer.

He settled for sitting on the edge of the coffee table and staring at Gage as the man gave himself over to alcohol induced dreams. He didn’t envy him. Gage would certainly be hating himself in the morning. Although, Travis was pretty sure, based on how intoxicated Gage was, he’d been battling his own inner demons for a little while and probably wouldn’t feel much worse than he had already.

Why Travis sympathized with him, he had no idea.

He should hate Gage for what he did. He wasn’t happy, that was a given, but looking at the man now, his body relaxed, his dark eyelashes fanning out over rugged cheekbones, he felt something else. What, he didn’t know. It wasn’t like he could put names to his emotions considering he’d spent the better part of his adult life running from exactly that same thing.

But, for some reason, despite the hell he’d put himself through for so long, seeing Gage threatened something inside of him. Something he wasn’t ready to let go of. The same reaction he’d had to him each time their lips had touched, no matter how briefly.

Travis didn’t care that they knew so little about each other, or that Gage seemed compelled to keep himself unavailable by engaging in threesomes with Kaleb and Zoey. There was still a connection there, something that Travis found himself drawn to. He wanted to experiment, to see if what he felt wasn’t just a figment of his imagination or a reckless attempt to satisfy the part of himself he felt would never be satisfied.

It wasn’t that he wanted to care about anyone, especially a man he had such a prominent physical attraction to, but ever since the first time they kissed in the Walker Demo office, Travis found himself thinking about Gage more and more often. He wondered where he was, what he was doing, who he was doing it with. And ever since Gage pulled Kylie into his life, he wondered whether there was a reason. As though he’d been running from this his whole life, and suddenly he was full circle. Right back where he started from.

Kylie had been the beginning, and now she was front and center in his life once more, although she didn’t actually know that yet. Suddenly, all of those thoughts about Kylie and Gage seemed as though they were real. Almost as though the path he’d been on all these years was finally rounding the curve and he was about to find himself knee deep in exactly what he’d spent most of his life searching for.

Was that the plan? Did all of this happen for a reason? Were the three of them supposed to cross paths like this? Shit. Travis did not want to get his hopes up, but he couldn’t help but wonder if everything was finally working itself out.

Only he didn’t think the two people involved would give a shit about what he wanted one way or the other.

Leaning forward, Travis brushed Gage’s hair back from his face gently. It was a move he didn’t think himself capable of, but he didn’t want to pull back either. “Damn you, Gage,” Travis whispered. “What the hell have I got myself into?”

“Travis?” Gage’s slurred, barely discernable voice drifted up from the couch, and Travis held his breath. Did he know where he was?

“You said it would happen again,” Gage continued to mutter, his words running together but still clear. “You fucking promised.”

Yes, it’s exactly what he’d told Gage several months before. If he’d had his way, things would’ve progressed a lot further before now. Only Travis hadn’t been able to get in touch with Gage. No matter how hard he tried. Not that Gage would ever believe him. Travis got the impression Gage didn’t think highly of him.

Convincing Gage would be harder than he thought. He just wondered whether he had the guts to pursue him.

Full circle. The words echoed in the back of his mind.

Travis closed his eyes, slid the backs of his fingers down Gage’s cheek before pulling his hand away and sighing.

♀♂

Kylie placed the lid back on her nail polish as she admired her bright teal blue toenails. Half an hour ago, blue had seemed like the perfect color to help boost her mood. Heaven knew she needed it. Had she given in to the anger and frustration that had been boiling in her blood, she’d have gone with red. Luckily, she was more optimistic than that and was hoping this would liven her spirits.