Travis

At the party for Kaleb and Zoey…

Gage Matthews wasn’t sure exactly what he expected was going to happen if and when he ran into Travis Walker again, but this specific scenario wasn’t anywhere on the list.

He’d been coming back from the bathroom on his way to rejoin the pre-wedding  slash   bridal  shower slash  bachelor  slash  bachelorette party when Travis stepped right in his path. In the dining room of Travis’ parents’ house of all places. 

Now that he was pinned against the wall, Gage was fighting the ever present supply of lust that bubbled inside of him anytime he laid eyes on Travis. It seemed to be a response that was hardwired in his brain at this point. Going toe to toe with the man was a byproduct of that reaction as well and… well, Gage was more than ready to put up a fight. 

Considering what the reward was going to be, he didn’t see a downside one way or the other. 

“What the fuck do you want, Walker?” Gage asked, maintaining a defiant bite to his tone. 

​With the sheetrock at his back, a hard, warm body at his front, Gage stared into stormy blue eyes that appeared to be trying to read his mind, versus determining whether he approved of the physical contact or not. His dick was already answering the latter for him, so he doubted Travis had any questions as far as that went. 

What he couldn’t determine was what Travis was thinking. The shadows in the man’s eyes were just as vivid as they always were, guarding whatever deep, dark secrets he harbored. 

Despite his desire to be pissed at Travis for blowing his cover to hell and back in order to save his brother Zane’s life – which, by the way, Gage would’ve done without the threats Travis had made to his physical well-being at the time – combined with a staggering urge to take him to the ground and bury himself balls deep inside of him, Gage found himself waiting for Travis to explain what the hell he was doing.

“I’m picking up where I left off,” Travis stated. He was eerily calm, his restraint admirable as he kept Gage’s body pinned between his and the wall.

When Travis lifted one hand, gripping Gage’s chin firmly, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to turn away. He also knew clear as day what was about to happen. He welcomed it, damn near close to begging for it. But, he prayed the indifference he let settle over him was shielding him from Travis’ scrutinizing gaze. 

He’d silently been taunting Travis for weeks, every time the opportunity presented itself. The last time, at Zoey’s and Kaleb’s bachelor/bachelorette party in Vegas, Gage had gone out of his way – probably a little overboard – to make sure Travis understood Gage’s role in Kaleb’s current relationship. 

And just like that night, Gage recognized Travis’ determination to exercise his own version of payback at the next opportunity. 

Gage had been banking on it.

And here they were.

Granted, there wasn’t any privacy where they stood but considering his hunger for this man was picking up speed and rumbling in his veins, Gage wasn’t sure he even gave a shit where they were. 

But Gage wasn’t giving in just yet. “And you picked now to do this?”

“It will happen again, I told you that,” Travis answered, sounding bored. But the way his gaze slipped down to Gage’s mouth told him that Travis wasn’t holding on as well as he wanted him to believe.

Before he could get another word out, whether it was to defy him or to beg, Travis’ mouth came crashing down on his. A blatant claiming that took Gage by surprise, but not for long. Instinct kicked in and he kissed Travis back, one hand snaking into Travis’ hair, an attempt to hold him close.

God, this was beginning to tear at him. The teasing kisses, these promises of what might happen in the future. It didn’t matter that his body damn near melted from the heat churning between them, there was still this little niggling voice deep in his subconscious that suggested Travis was just fucking with him. 

There was no doubt that Travis wasn’t a man who was searching for a forever kind of love. He was a  one-time   only kind of guy, and since Gage had had his fair share of meaningless sexual encounters, he wasn’t currently in the market for another. 

No, what he wanted he seriously doubted Travis could ever give him. Which made this – whatever it was – all the more disappointing. 

Before they broke apart, a fleeting thought sprang to mind as though it had been planted there: a flickering image of him and Travis and a beautiful woman trapped between them, her body coming apart as they both fucked her. At the same fucking time.

His dick twitched, a warning that he was about to get in over his head.

Their mouths separated, their gazes locked as they both worked to suck in air, and Travis said, “Will. Happen. Again.”

A promise that Gage prayed  Travis would keep, but one that still pissed him off, making him crave revenge against this man for putting thoughts in his head that he knew were better left alone.

Damn Travis Walker.