Travis (45 page)

“Your
sister couldn’t pull it down fast enough before Melissa got an eyeful of the
bruises running up and down her back, some along her sides.”

Kylie
gasped. Her sister had never even alluded to the fact that there had been a boyfriend,
much less an abusive relationship.

“Well,
by the time I was able to return the call, Melissa had already panicked and
confronted Jess about it. She was beside herself, so scared that your sister
was going to get hurt worse. When Jess started to defend him, Melissa
threatened to call the police on him.”

Kylie
would’ve done the same thing Melissa did except she wouldn’t have just
threatened. She’d have been on the phone before Jessie could’ve blinked.
“That’s why they fought.”

“That
and we found out this guy worked at the same place she did. When I got home, I
lost it. Told her she wasn’t going to see him again and if she didn’t press
charges then she was going to have to quit her job.”

Jess
had lied to her. Maybe by omission, but she’d still flat out lied to her.

“The
moral of the story, Kylie,” her father said as he looked up at her with sadness
in his light blue eyes. “It’s hard for me to be much of a father when my girls
don’t trust me enough. I hate that you felt you couldn’t come to me when you
decided to get married. I’ve always trusted your decisions. And yes, it hurt
when your sister told me, but I knew there was a reason. When Jess was being
abused, she didn’t come to me either.”

“It’s
not that I don’t trust you,” Kylie said, choking on the lump that had formed in
her throat. “I know what Mom put you through, and I didn’t want you telling me
I was too young.”

Kylie
couldn’t speak for her sister, but Jess’ situation had been entirely different
from hers. Thankfully, Kylie had never been in a position like that. One of
these days, she was going to have a long heart to heart with Jessie because it
was time they opened up a little more to one another.

Much
to Kylie’s relief, she and her father had both been too upset after that
conversation to get into the whole two guys in her bed thing, so she had yet to
talk to him about it. He went back to Dallas the same day and had called her
twice since then, but she’d managed to avoid the questions on the phone.

Considering
her relationship with both Travis and Gage was now nonexistent, she didn’t feel
the need to explain anything. And she’d told him as much. Joe hadn’t been happy
with her explanation, but so far he hadn’t asked again. Kylie figured it was
because he didn’t want to push her back into the arms of two men.

Like
that was ever going to happen again.

Kylie
pulled into the parking lot of Ma’s Diner and considered honking the horn to
let Jessie know she was there. Figuring that would make her look stupid, she
settled for sending a text. When Jessie didn’t answer, she knew she was going
to have to go inside.

♀♀

Kylie
walked into the small diner where she had lunch with Zoey just a few days ago
and glanced around looking for her sister. When she didn’t see her right away,
she started around the corner, but a tiny, black haired woman with ice blue
eyes stopped her.

“Hi,”
she greeted.

“Oh,
hi. Sorry, I’m not staying. Just looking for someone.”

“Your
sister?”

“Yes,
actually,” Kylie said as she continued to peer around the corner. “If you’ll
just tell me where she’s at, I can find her.”

 “Kylie,
my name’s Sierra. Mind if I talk to you for a minute?”

Kylie
glanced down, noticed the woman was not wearing a nametag, so she wasn’t even
sure she worked there. Considering her outfit, which she wasn’t sure how she
hadn’t noticed before, Kylie doubted the woman was a waitress at the diner.
“Where’s my sister?”

“She’s
not here right now,” Sierra explained.

“Is
Jess all right?” It was the only logical explanation as to why this woman knew who
she was and she was suddenly scared that something had happened to Jessie.

“She’s
perfectly fine. Come on, sit down. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Yeah,
well, she just might. Kylie lowered herself to the chair that was directly
behind her, and Sierra took the seat beside her at the table.

“Do
I know you?”

“No.”
Her answer was simple, but the look in her eyes certainly wasn’t.

“Then
how do you know who I am?”

“A
friend of yours asked me to talk to you.”

Kylie
didn’t have any friends, especially not in Coyote Ridge, so she had no idea who
this woman was referring to. “If Travis or Gage –” Before she could finish the
sentence, Sierra stopped her, a gentle hand touching the top of hers.

“Just
give me a few minutes, ok? That’s all I’m asking for.”

Kylie
turned in her chair and faced the woman as a waitress brought two coffee mugs
and a coffee carafe, leaving them all on the table and disappearing. Good thing
Kylie wasn’t hungry.

“I’m
not sure if you know this, but there are a lot of people in this town who care
about you,” Sierra began. “And before you tell me that couldn’t possibly be
true, just trust me.”

“Are
you friends with Travis?” Kylie wanted to get to the bottom of this, and she
was sure she could let this Sierra woman talk, but she didn’t particularly care
what she had to say. She was more interested in finding her sister and once she
confirmed Jessie was all right, she was going to wring her neck for setting her
up like this.

“I
know Travis, yes. But I guess you could say I’m better friends with his
brother’s wife than with him.”

“Zoey?”

“Yes.”

“She
didn’t mention you,” Kylie said snidely, unsure why she was feeling so
defensive.

“No?
Did she happen to mention my husbands?”

“Your
–”
Wait, what?
“Husbands? As in
plural
?”

“Yes.
My husbands. Cole Ackerley and Luke McCoy.”

Kylie
had heard Travis and Gage mention the name Luke, but she wasn’t sure if it was
the same guy. Common name, could be a coincidence.

“You
have two husbands?”

“I
do. And we have a daughter, her name is Hannah.”

“Pretty
name,” Kylie said, feeling her defenses go down as she stared at Sierra.
Truthfully, she was too tired to fight this woman she didn’t know.

“Thanks.”

They
sat in silence for a second and Kylie watched Sierra, a million questions suddenly
running through her head, but she wasn’t about to ask them. She bit her tongue
and kept her mouth shut, scared of what might come out if she opened it.

Sierra
poured them both a cup of coffee, pushed one of them toward Kylie and then sat
with her hands wrapped around her mug, her forearms resting on the table as she
leaned in. Kylie felt as though the woman was giving her full attention, but
she had no idea why.

“See,
when I met Luke and Cole, I’d never been in a relationship that involved three
people,” Sierra began, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Kylie was ready to bolt.

That,
or Kylie was going to pelt Sierra with questions that she knew were better left
unanswered. She’d learned her lesson already.

Sierra
continued, “They had quite a bit more experience than I did though. In fact,
they’d even been together before I came along.

“I
have to say, it wasn’t much fun meeting a few women who’d been with them in the
same capacity that I had. The threesome thing seemed a little out of the realm
of normal for me, so I didn’t think that it was quite so… popular. One day
you’ll have to come to our club and meet some of the other people who share the
same lifestyle that you and I do.”

“I
don’t share that lifestyle,” Kylie said defensively. She clamped her jaw shut
as soon as the words escaped.

“I
beg to differ, but go ahead, ask me any questions you might have.”

Kylie
was hanging on every single word, but she didn’t want to be. “When you say you
met the women, how exactly did you meet them?”

“One
of the women that they were both with happens to be my sister-in-law. She’s
also one of my best friends. And no, I didn’t like the idea at first, but Sam
is an incredible woman and never once did she share any details with me that
she felt would intentionally hurt me. Nor did I ask.”

“And
it’s not weird? Knowing that they’ve been in these same situations before, but
you haven’t?”

“When
you lost your virginity, was the guy you were with also a virgin?”

Kylie
didn’t even have to think about that one. “No, he wasn’t.”

“Did
it bother you that you were giving up your virginity to a man who’d been with
other people?”

“No,
but it’s not the same thing.”

“No?
Sure sounds like the same thing,” Sierra said, the inflection of her tone never
wavering. She was calm and incredibly sweet, and it was obvious she was trying
to give Kylie some sort of message here.

“The
men you’re with have pasts, just like you do. Gage happens to be friends with a
woman he’s been intimate with. But Zoey happens to be married to a guy she
loves who happens to be Travis’ brother. There’s nothing you can do to change who
they were before.”

Hearing
Sierra use Gage’s and Travis’ names made her heart hurt. The few days she’d
been separated from them hadn’t helped to ease any of the pain either. In fact,
the longer she was away from them, the worse it seemed to get.

“I
don’t want to change them,” Kylie retorted.

“But
you’d like to erase their pasts, right? At least, the part where they
experienced something that you had no clue about?”

‘No,
that’s…” God that was exactly what she’d been doing. Kylie had been so selfish
that she walked away from Travis and Gage because of what they’d done
before
her. And the worst part of it, she walked away without giving them any
explanations.

 “Now,
I’m not here to tell you how to live your life, but I want you to know that you
aren’t the only woman who has been in your situation. I’ve lived it and like I
said, I love Luke and Cole very much, and we have a daughter together. We’ve
had some bumps along the way, but we’re solid. It has never been easy, nor do I
expect it to always be.

“And
just like you said, although it is relatively the same thing as when you lost
your virginity to a man who wasn’t a virgin, you still can’t compare your
unique relationship to a traditional one. Things will be different. It’s
expected,” Sierra reached over and put her hand on Kylie’s. “But when you love
them as much as you do, it’s totally worth it.”

Kylie
stared down at the small, soft hand resting on top of hers. The tears came, and
no matter how hard she tried to stop them, they wouldn’t listen. She tried to
keep her sobs to herself, but the pain overwhelmed her and she couldn’t hold it
in any longer.

She
was the one who brought this on herself. She’d not only hurt herself, but she hurt
the two men she loved more than anything in the world.

♂♀♂

“Where’s
Sierra?” Travis asked Luke when he dropped into the seat across from him at a
huge table at the back of the diner. He ordered a coffee when the waitress
passed by, then looked at Luke as he waited for an answer.

“She’ll
be here in a few minutes.”

“How’s
the baby?”

“Perfect
as ever,” Luke said and his whole face lit up as he answered.

When
it appeared Luke wasn’t going to initiate further conversation, Travis figured
he’d fill the silence. “What business did you have down here?”

“Needed
to talk to a friend,” Luke said. “His family’s worried about him, and they
thought it might help if I talked to him.”

The
hair on the back of Travis’ neck stood on end. It was a warning because as soon
as the feeling came on, he looked up to see Gage and Cole heading their way.

“Sierra’s
not coming, is she?” Travis asked Luke, feeling blindsided.

“She’s
here. She’s talking to someone at the moment,” Luke explained as Cole sat down
beside him. Gage took the seat beside Travis, and it felt as though the four of
them were facing off.

No
one could ever accuse Travis of being stupid and he was getting pissed that
Luke would think he could pull one over on him. “What the hell is going on?”
Travis barked, trying to keep his voice low so as not to alert the entire
restaurant. Leaning forward, he pinned Luke with a glare as it dawned on him
what Luke said. “Fuck, I’m the friend you needed to talk to, that it? Since
when did we become friends, McCoy?”

Luke
leaned forward, his eyes glowing with the same frustration currently lighting
Travis up from the inside. “Since we went into business together,” Luke stated
matter-of-factly. “And for the next few minutes, you’re going to sit here and
act civil. You can thank me later.”

“Thank
you? For what? Interfering when your advice isn’t needed?”

“That’s
what you think,” Cole interjected.

The
four men sat back as the waitress set four coffee mugs and a carafe on the
table before shuffling off. Travis didn’t blame her, the tension at the table
could be cut with a knife.

“Enlighten
me then,” Travis told the two men when they were alone once again. “You here to
save the world?”

It
didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Cole and Luke were there. They
were the only people Travis knew personally who were in the same sort of
relationship that he had been. Then again, that was where they differed. Travis
was no longer in that sort of relationship, so their advice wasn’t going to
help them much.

“Dear
Abbey I’m not,” Luke said as he poured coffee for himself and then Cole before
passing the carafe to the other side of the table. Gage didn’t say a word, but
his body language said he didn’t appreciate the way these two men were
inserting themselves in their lives when they knew nothing about what was going
on.

“That’s
for damn sure,” Cole joked, resting his forearms on the table and looking far
more laid back than Travis had ever seen him.

“Shut
it,” Luke told Cole, but the smile on his face belied his caustic remark.

“I
think it all comes down to one thing,” Luke said as he leaned back in his
chair, his hands wrapped around the coffee cup steaming on the table in front
of him.

“What’s
that?” Travis asked.

“You
two love her?”

You
could’ve heard a pin drop as the table fell silent. Travis didn’t say a word
and neither did Gage. Luke didn’t look at all intimidated by their nonresponses
either.

“How
‘bout each other?”

Nothing
again.

“That’s
what I figured.”

Travis
bit his tongue to keep from making a snide remark. Although he didn’t appreciate
Luke’s interference, especially right now, he still had to work with the guy in
the future, and he knew that blowing up at him wasn’t in his best interest.

“Ok,
so I’ll give you an easier one,” Luke grinned and the smirk pissed Travis off
more.

“Why
haven’t you told each other yet?”

“Man,
you’re seriously starting to piss me off,” Travis said, his voice barely heard
above the clang of silverware against plates that echoed throughout.

“Good.
It means you’re alive,” he retorted.

What
the fuck was wrong with all these people today? Sawyer hadn’t said a single
word to him which was worse than if he had. Then Braydon confronted him,
offering up his unsolicited opinions. And now, Luke and Cole were sitting him
down like he was a child and needed a lesson in how to make a relationship
work.