past couple of months had taken their toll on him. And he had only one person to blame.
Himself.
When he pulled into his driveway, he shut off the truck and sat there for a few minutes staring up at the big house. It had been Gage’s house at one time, brought back to its former glory by his wife’s perfectly manicured hand. This house had actually been what brought them all together. Gage had found out that Travis had been married—and never divorced—to Kylie, and in an act of revenge, Gage had lured Kylie here by using the house as the carrot.
It had worked.
Over the years, they’d managed to fill that house with life and love…
Travis’s chest tightened.
The house was dark, all the lights off except for the one on the porch. There were security lights around the house that would come on if someone or something got close enough, but there was nothing out there now.
As he stared, he felt that familiar storm brewing, the emotional turmoil twisting him up on the inside. Those people inside the walls of that dark house were his to protect, his to love, and he’d failed them. And in his attempt to make it right, he was failing them again.
The constriction on his heart grew more intense until a sob tore out of him, tears following not long after.
He was fucking it all up. He knew he was, but he didn’t know how to stop the spiral, how to pull himself back from the ledge. He’d depended on Gage to do that for so long, and in his quest to protect his family, Travis had hurt the man he loved.
He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and let the tears fall because there was nothing he could do to keep them at bay. He didn’t even attempt to stop them when the front door opened and Gage appeared as though summoned, as though the man could feel Travis’s pain.
Travis swallowed although his throat was tight, watched as Gage strolled down the steps, heading toward Travis’s truck. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t for Gage to walk around to the driver’s door, to open it.
“Come on,” Gage said softly. “Let’s go inside.”
Travis stared over at him, not bothering to hide his tears. Kylie and Gage were the two people in his life he’d never had to hide from, so it was natural. As was the pained look on Gage’s face at seeing those tears.
Gage’s long, strong fingers curled around Travis’s wrist. “Come on, Trav.”
He let his husband lead him into the house, although he barely remembered the walk.
Another sob tore at his chest, nearly taking him to his knees, but Gage was there.
Gage was always there.
“I’m sorry,” Travis whispered, staring into those brown eyes that had taunted him all those years ago. “So fuckin’ sorry.”
Gage pulled him close, palmed the back of his head, and held him. He was warm and smelled so good, so familiar.
Like usual, Travis clung to him, scared to let go because, if he did, there was a good chance he’d splinter even more.
“I love you,” he whispered, breathing in, taking Gage’s familiar scent deep into his lungs.
“I know.” Gage’s strong arms tightened around him. “I love you, too, Trav. Always will.”
He had needed to hear that, more than he would ever be willing to admit. Travis wasn’t one to show weakness, but he was as human as everyone else. He hurt like everyone else.
He would blame the chaos on what happened next, how he found Gage’s mouth with his own. He kissed him like there might not be a tomorrow, and to his relief, Gage kissed him back. They both succumbed to the onslaught, to the passion that flowed freely between them. It didn’t matter that they were in the living room or that they could make enough noise to wake the house. Nothing mattered except the sparks they ignited when they kissed.
“I need you,” Travis breathed against Gage’s lips. “Need you so much.”
Gage gripped Travis’s head in his hands, pressed their foreheads together. “Do you?”
“Yes.” He tried to tilt his head to bring their mouths together, but Gage held him back. “Christ, yes, I need you, Gage. I’ve always needed you. Don’t you get it? Don’t you get that you’re the one I lean on? The one I look to to hold me up when I’m falling over? You, Gage. It’s always been you.”
Gage’s hands tightened on his head, his voice a guttural rasp when