Travis (28 page)

♂♀♂

Morning
didn’t waste time showing up, and, as was her usual routine, Kylie was up and
out of bed just as the first rays of light seeped through the wood blinds in
her bedroom. The only difference between that morning, and oh, say
all
others… she had two large, sexy males asleep beside her.

Getting
out of bed without waking them required a little more finesse than she was used
to that early in the day. She somehow managed, although she was sure both
Travis and Gage had stirred enough to know she’d disappeared, but gave in to
exhaustion once again. She couldn’t necessarily blame them. If she weren’t so
routine oriented, she’d close her eyes and drift off once more, but the coffee beckoned
her, and she had a couple of things she wanted to work on before they woke up
and left.

After
grabbing the closest article of clothing to where she was standing, which happened
to be Travis’ black t-shirt, she covered her nakedness and then headed out of
her room, her hand on the knob as she pulled the door closed behind her.

“Morning,
sunshine.” Jessie’s chipper greeting had Kylie clutching her chest and
swallowing a scream.

Oh,
crap.
Her sister was back. And… Well, Kylie could safely assume
her sister didn’t have any questions about what might’ve happened last night
because Kylie hadn’t shut her bedroom door before they fell asleep in a naked heap
on her bed.

“What
time did you get back?” Kylie asked, turning to ensure the door had shut all
the way. No sense in giving her sister more of a show than she already got.

“Not
long ago. Brendon dropped me off early because he had a job he needed to check
out this morning.”

Brendon.
Brendon? Kylie tried to place the name, but the fog in her head was denser than
usual and the only possible chance at clearing it would require a serious dose
of caffeine.

“I’m
guessing you had a good night?” Kylie was trying to make conversation, anything
that would possibly take Jessie’s attention off of the fact that Kylie had two
men in her bed.

“I’m
not complaining. But I guess neither are you, huh?”

So
much for redirecting.

She
didn’t answer her sister, simply busied herself with setting up the coffee
maker, making enough noise to let Jessie know she wasn’t interested in having
this discussion.

Apparently
her sister had other ideas because she bellied up to the bar, placing her arms
on the granite top as she trailed her around the kitchen with her eyes. Kylie
had to bite her lip to keep from saying anything.

Brendon.

Oh,
shit.
Brendon! One of… no!

“You’re
having sex with Travis’ brother!” she exclaimed, turning to face her sister,
unable to hide the look of horror that was written across her face.

“Hmmm,
way to jump to conclusions there, sis,” Jessie replied with a mischievous grin.

“Conclusions,
my ass. You got laid.”

“Well,
I’d say that makes two of us, now doesn’t it.”

It
wasn’t like Kylie could deny it. The evidence was sound asleep in her bed. If
only that were the hardest question she’d have to answer this morning, she’d be
happy. Based on the smirk on Jessie’s face, there were more coming, and she was
pretty sure she wasn’t going to like them.

How
in the world would she be able to explain that yes, she had… gotten laid. The term
wasn’t quite sufficient for describing what happened between the three of them,
but whatever. There was certainly no way she could explain the two men in her
bed. Granted, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. She just wasn’t interested in
explaining
how
it happened.

“So,
I’ve got a question for you,” Jessie said sweetly as she nodded her head toward
the coffee pot. “Looks like your java’s done.”

Thank
God. Caffeine before questions. That should always be the rule. Hoping her
sister would hold off, Kylie lunged for the coffee pot, wishing she used cream
or sugar so she could make the process last a little longer.

“Want
some?” Kylie peered over her shoulder, looking for Jessie’s response.

“You’re
procrastinating.”

Yeah,
so what.
“I’ll take that as a no.” Kylie lifted her mug to
her lips, keeping her back to her sister and inhaled the delicious aroma before
taking a tentative sip. “Mmmm.”

“Get
over here,” Jessie laughed. “I’m not going to bed until you answer my
questions.”

“Going
to bed? You mean you haven’t been to sleep yet?” Kylie squared her shoulders,
stiffened her spine and then turned to face her sister.

“Not
yet. Let’s just say we were a little too preoccupied to sleep.”

Ok,
now usually Kylie would ask her sister for details. They were so close, more
like best friends than sisters, and they shared everything. Unfortunately, this
was one of those times Kylie was hesitant to ask because she knew she’d be on
the other side of the interrogation table in due time.

“So,
tell me this, sister mine,” Jessie said and there wasn’t an ounce of humor on
her pretty face. “How old were you when you got married?”

Kylie
literally spewed coffee all over the counter – from her mouth
and
her
nose.
Ow, ow, ow
. That actually hurt. Setting her cup down clumsily and
sloshing the hot, dark liquid everywhere, Kylie stood there choking.
Surprisingly, Jess didn’t change her expression or seem concerned in the least.
Her only reaction was for one, perfectly shaped brow to lift toward the sky as
she waited for a response.

Choking
to death had never seemed more appropriate than right then and there.
Unfortunately, Kylie got herself under control minutes later, but not enough
time had spanned in order for Jessie to forget that she was waiting for an
answer.

“And
spare me the question on how I know. It’s irrelevant.”

And
unnecessary, Kylie thought to herself. Obviously, if Jessie was spending time
with Travis’ brother, the answer was brilliantly clear. After all, according to
Travis, all of his brothers had been at the house Gage had taken her to. Which
meant they probably bombarded him for information as soon as she stormed out.

After
wiping up the spill with a paper towel, Kylie proceeded to fill her cup once
more, breathing long and deep. She wasn’t getting out of this. No matter how
much she wanted to, it was time she faced the music. Considering she’d spent
years wanting to tell her sister because she needed someone to be on her side,
to understand her pain, she should’ve been better prepared for this.

“I
met Travis when I was eighteen. He was in the Army, stationed at Fort Hood. We
dated for about a year and then we got married shortly after my nineteenth
birthday. The marriage lasted all of three weeks before we went our separate
ways.”

“Is
it true that you’re still married?” Jess asked, but this time there was no
judgment in her tone, only sincere curiosity.

“Yes.
But only because I couldn’t afford to get a divorce,” she lied.

“See,
here I was thinking you were going to be honest with me,” Jess said with a
small smile. “Spill it, sis.”

Resigning
herself to having to relive the sad details, Kylie took her coffee cup and
retreated to the living room, Jessie’s bare feet padding through the room
behind her. Once they were comfortable on the sofas, she looked at her sister
and let the words flow.

♂♀

Travis
felt like he’d been run over by a Mack truck. Rolling over onto his back, he
peered through one eye and realized he was not at home. Could’ve been the pale
yellow walls that clued him in, but something else caught his attention first.
The smell of coffee wafted in from the kitchen and his caffeine antenna must
have been triggered, hence the reason his eyes were now open. At home, coffee
wasn’t made for him. In fact, coffee wasn’t made at all unless he went to the
office.

Turning
his head to one side, he saw that Gage was still asleep, his head resting
peacefully against one of Kylie’s frilly pillows. If the man didn’t look so out
of place against that yellow and white, flowery thing, he didn’t know what did.
Staring back up at the ceiling, Travis propped his arm over his eyes and tried
to block out the world a little longer.

Funny,
he’d had very little alcohol last night, but he felt like he had the world’s
worst hangover. Only this one wasn’t physical, it was emotional. And that was
the worst kind.

To
top it off, Travis was on unstable ground at the moment, and his feet hadn’t
even hit carpet yet. Waking up in an unfamiliar bed was not Travis’ M.O. He
wasn’t prone to spending the night with anyone. At least not if sleeping was
involved, but last night, what little sleep they had gotten, was the soundless
he’d slept in years. When he told Kylie he didn’t sleep at night, he hadn’t
been lying.

Unwilling
to go through this mental dog and pony show first thing in the morning, Travis
decided it was time to get up and get moving. As he rolled to a sitting
position, dropping his feet to the plush carpet at his feet, he took his time
checking out his surroundings.

Nice
room.

Kinda
girly, but nice.

The
pale yellow walls had some sort of wallpaper border along the top, little white
flowers – he had no idea what kind because… well, because he’d never given a
shit before. Not his style, but he could certainly see Kylie sleeping in here.
The furniture looked to be antique, brass headboard and all. The same headboard
Kylie’d been restrained to the night before by her own willpower. Damn that had
been hot as fucking hell, and Travis had only heard Gage’s instruction, hadn’t received
the pleasure of seeing it.

Ok,
someone else was up now.

Glancing
down between his legs, he gave a silent good morning to the guy who’d kept him
up all night. Turning his attention back to Kylie’s bedroom, he took in the few
other things in residence. A small night table, a worn wooden dresser that,
although having seen many years of use was still in decent shape. On top of the
dresser there were three pictures, and he got up to see what they were.

There,
in three silver frames were pictures of Kylie, her sister, and a guy Travis
assumed was her dad. One picture was of Kylie and the man, the other of her and
her sister and the last was all three of them together. Apparently mom wasn’t
in the picture anymore… obvious because she wasn’t. In the picture.

Interesting.
Travis wanted to hear that story because back when they’d dated, from what he remembered,
Kylie’s mom and dad had been together.

Glancing
around, Travis noticed an open door and what appeared to be a bathroom. Yep,
that’s where he was headed. Trying not to wake Gage he moved around the bed and
shut himself in the small white tiled bathroom. He had to admit, the woman had
an uncanny ability to keep with the times on the house because it reflected the
era it was probably built in. Not that he knew what that was or even when, but
he knew it looked nothing like the modern shit they were building these days.

After
relieving himself and running through a three minute shower, Travis came out of
the bathroom smelling like fucking lavender and vanilla. He preferred the smell
on Kylie over him. Grabbing his jeans off of the floor, he pulled them on.
Since his shirt was missing, he knew he’d have to go ask Kylie if she’d seen
it.

Gage
appeared to be asleep and either the guy was exhausted and could sleep through
anything, or he was doing a damn good job faking it. Either way, the scent of
coffee was calling him, so Travis exited the room.

Just
as he was about to step into the living room, the sound of voices stopped him.
One was Kylie. The other didn’t sound familiar, but Travis figured her sister
was there chatting it up.

Christ
it was early.

Now
that he was stuck, unsure whether Kylie wanted her sister to know that he was
there, he stood in the hallway for a minute, listening to what they were
talking about. As the conversation progressed, Travis leaned against the wall,
realizing exactly what they were talking about. As the girls continued talking,
he closed his eyes and relived the moments exactly as Kylie was telling them.

“Like
I said before, we dated for about a year and I was head over heels in love with
him. From the moment I saw him practically. Needless to say, when Travis asked
me to marry him, I nearly burst. Of course I said yes. There was no long
engagement, and since he was still in the Army and I was about to start my
second year of college, we chose to go to the Justice of the Peace.

“It
was quite nice, actually. See, Travis never was the romantic kind. At least not
in ways some men are. He didn’t have to be though because when he looked at me,
I knew. I knew he loved me, and I knew he’d go to the ends of the earth to make
me happy.”

There
was a slight pause and Travis opened his eyes, silently willing her to continue.