Nicole Edwards - Travis

But that wasn’t going to happen.

No matter what he did or didn’t do, Travis couldn’t have Kylie. She deserved someone normal, not someone like him. She needed someone whose sole purpose in life was to put her up on a pedestal and worship her with love and attention. Not someone whose love was distorted and whose attention was divided at best.

The fact that Gage had thrown her to the wolves, so to speak, spoke volumes about how well Gage actually knew her. Kylie was so damn innocent, it made Travis’ heart break just thinking about the pained look on her face that day. When his eyes raked over her, categorizing every luscious curve, every delectable inch of her beautiful body, it was like a salve for some of those gaping wounds he’d grown accustomed to over the years.

Now that the old memories and feelings had been resurrected, there was no such hope of putting her in his past where she belonged.

He could still see the way her compelling blue eyes lit up like a gas flame the moment she saw him. Forgiveness wasn’t an easy thing for a woman as reserved as Kylie, and it was clear from her surprise that she hadn’t let him off the hook for what he had done to her all those years ago.

The moment her initial shock wore off, that unbridled anger she apparently never released came spewing out of her. Only her ire hadn’t been directed at him as he expected. With a deep, aching regret swirling in his soul, Travis had waited for the tongue lashing he deserved, yet she had never given him.

That never happened.

Having always been the one to keep her emotions close to her chest, Kylie had sucked in a deep breath, holding everything inside because heaven forbid she speak her mind. Rather than lay into him, or even Gage, she had turned and simply walked away.

It was a miracle that Travis and Gage were still in one piece after that one. Between Kylie’s piercing death glare and Beau Bennett’s barely restrained anger at seeing the woman so upset, they were both lucky to still be walking with their nuts in the same shape as before she realized what was going on.

As for Beau, well, Travis learned right-quick not to ask the man questions. He’d grown quite fond of his own fucking head, thank you very much, and that behemoth of a man looked ready to rip his right off of his body.

Surprise wasn’t quite the word Travis could use to describe that day. If he hadn’t been waylaid by the mere sight of the most beautiful woman to have ever graced his life, he’d have beaten Gage to dust right then and there. Finding him since had been impossible because Gage managed to run far and fast from Coyote Ridge. Travis knew when it came down to it, he would have to go in search of him rather than sit back and wait. Since he still didn’t know where he was, he’d opted for a different approach.

If only Travis would allow his emotions to control him, he would be on the road heading straight to Kylie’s. He suspected that’s where Gage was and as much as he longed to confront him, to ask him just what the fuck he was thinking, Travis wasn’t willing to go back in time. He’d lived through it once, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to walk away from Kylie again.

So, in true form, Travis had set out that morning for something much more expected of him. He didn’t do emotion. He didn’t fall in love, and he damn sure didn’t hold it all in. Rather than feeding his emotional needs, Travis was more interested in fulfilling other urges that, no matter how hard or how often he tried, couldn’t be sated. He would never stop trying because it sure beat the alternative.

His self-destructive tendencies were calling his name and the only way he could function was to attempt to ease the physical ache. The emotional pain would never be soothed, so he much preferred engaging in something that wouldn’t require him to feel anything other than unique, exquisite, mind numbing pleasure.

Club Destiny was calling his name.

For the last three weeks, he’d been practically dancing with Tag and McKenna and quite frankly, a rendezvous with them seemed more than appropriate. Considering he’d been waiting a long time for this day to finally come, he somehow forced himself to rebury all thoughts of Kylie, and toss those of Gage right alongside them, in the colossal black hole in his chest.

The day would come when that little situation would be rectified in one way or another. Until then, Travis was on his way to Dallas.

▫▪▫▪▫▪

By the time Travis reached Club Destiny, three hours north of his hometown of Coyote Ridge, he had managed to work himself up over the events the day was leading up to. A brief conversation with Tag during his drive had settled the plans and to Travis’ surprise, the day was actually looking up.

He was looking forward to a couple of hours of pleasure that would take his mind off of things better left forgotten. That included Gage and the way the man had kissed him back with a ferocity that threatened to burn them both to a crisp. He might not expect that same intensity from what was to come with the twosome he was about to engage with, but he knew it’d be explosive in its own right.

Sitting at the bar inside of Club Destiny, waiting for Kane to pour his Southern Comfort, Travis glanced around the large, airy bar, wondering where everyone was. This time of the evening, the place was usually packed, but tonight seemed fairly manageable.

As he was looking around, his eyes landed on the fiery red hair of a woman that had caught Travis’ eye ever since he first saw her. The big, burly man standing next to her also caught his eye, but Travis had learned right away exactly how uninterested Tag Murphy was. At least in him.

Originally, Tag also hadn’t been interested in a tryst with a third person, but much to Travis’ surprise, that had apparently changed. According to Tag, it was a one-time only deal because his fiancé was clearly interested in being the object of two men’s attention for one night. Not seeing a downside for any of them, Travis had easily accepted the invitation.

After the night when he witnessed the sexy reporter on her knees giving Tag a blow job that damn near blew Travis’ mind, he’d been hoping this day would come. Never having been the type to expect anything, Travis had seen a hint of interest in Tag’s eyes that night. Tag might not have any desire for Travis to fuck his woman, but he damn sure felt a spark from having an audience. Travis was at the point where he didn’t give a damn which role he played. He just needed something to take his mind off of more pressing things weighing him down.

At the time of the little peep show, Travis had been more than interested in getting in on that action, but he figured he was more likely to see pigs fly than to get a personal invitation from the bald giant of a man who liked to rock designer suits. The same guy heading up the stairs to the second floor suites at the moment.

“I figured you’d be going upstairs, too,” Kane said as he set a squat glass in front of Travis.

“For?” Travis was stunned by Kane’s forwardness. He couldn’t imagine that the guy knew Tag had personally invited him there tonight.

“It’s Tuesday night.”

It took a second for Kane’s reference to sink in. Sure enough, it was Tuesday night, and as of last week, Luke had reopened the private section of the club. In previous weeks, only those with an apartment were allowed to linger and interact, so the inclusion of all members was causing the playroom to see increasingly more action these days.

Sliding a twenty dollar tip in Kane’s direction, Travis grabbed his glass and headed up the stairs, noticing that McKenna and Tag weren’t that far ahead of him. He followed behind them, fully expecting them to go into Tag’s apartment, but when they continued down the hall, his body came to life instantly.