20. Travis
TRAVIS
W hen we arrived back at the shop, it was almost three in the morning.
Dax and I showered as soon as we got into my apartment.
It felt so good to clean off the sweat and grime from our trip to the bayou.
We fell into bed, and as much as we tried to fight it, we were both too exhausted to do anything but sleep.
Dax assured me Beau wouldn’t expect me at work first thing in the morning and promised to make it up to me then.
As I fell asleep in his arms, I couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said. Had he really meant it when he’d said he loved me, or was he just saying it to get Beau off his case? I hadn’t yet found the nerve to say it back, but I wanted to.
My alarm buzzed as usual a few hours later. I turned it off and considered ignoring it like Dax had told me to, but the shop needed either Beau or me there, and he’d been out as late as I had. I’d worked on barely any sleep plenty of times. It wouldn’t kill me.
I slipped quietly from the bed. Dax stirred, but I kissed his neck and rubbed his back, encouraging him to fall back asleep. When he did, I grabbed a protein bar, quickly slipped into a clean pair of coveralls, and headed downstairs.
Beau was there, so I was damn glad I hadn’t slacked off in bed. Sure, the whole incident had been his fault, but I didn’t want him thinking I wasn’t tough enough to deal with it and show up to work on time.
“Good morning,” Beau called when I entered the garage. Sam and Joey were also there, so all I did was return his greeting. I wasn’t about to bring up what had happened last night in front of anyone else.
An hour or so later, Beau brought me a cup of coffee that was as sweet and creamy as I liked it and set it on the bench behind me. “I was an idiot.”
“Yeah, you were. How’d you find out about us?”
In all the insanity of the night before, I hadn’t asked. I assumed Corbin let something slip, whether intentionally or not. It was always hard to tell with him.
“I overheard Corbin and Lance talking about the two of you. When I demanded they tell me what they meant, Corbin explained that the two of you had been together for days, and I lost it. I couldn’t stand the thought of you being hurt again.”
“You really think Dax would do that?”
“Not on purpose.”
“Did you even stop to think about what I wanted?”
“Fuck, Travis. I’m so used to taking care of you. Now that things are cleared up between us, I feel even more protective.”
I sighed. “At least that’s a hell of a lot better than you not caring.”
“I always cared. Always.” We hugged, only pulling apart when we heard someone enter the garage. It was probably Leland coming to finish up one of the projects he’d started the day before.
Beau let me go. “Get to work,” he said as he walked away. He wouldn’t be my brother if he weren’t bossy.
“Is he on your ass again already?” Leland asked.
“When is he not?” If only he knew the whole story.
“Yeah, what else is new?”
We both focused on our jobs, and I hardly noticed the time passing, but it must’ve been a few hours. My back was aching, and I really needed a break. I decided to head to the front to get a bottle of water and maybe also another cup of coffee.
The trash was full, so I pulled the bag out. Beau had a rule that once the bin started to get full, we should take it out and not wait until the end of the day. I circled around to the back of the building to toss it into the dumpster.
That was when I saw him.
I didn’t know his name, but he had been with Jean-Charles the first time he’d come to threaten Rob. The man aimed a gun at me, and I threw the bag of trash at him, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him over.
The gun flew from his hand, and I managed to kick it out of the way before he got on his feet again.
He came at me, but I was ready. I didn’t care that he was a good six inches taller than me and probably weighed nearly as much as Dax.
I fought harder than I ever had in my life, harder than I’d ever considered fighting with any of the pieces of shit who had mistreated me, because now I truly had something to fight for.
I had the possibility of a future, a real future with a good man, a man I loved and who loved me.
I wasn’t going to fuck that up. I just managed to slam my knee into the guy’s balls when Leland ran out with Sam not far behind him.
They were both yelling, and Sam fired a shot into the air.
The man broke free of my hold, and he took off running toward the front gate.
Sam leveled her gun at him, but she couldn’t risk a shot.
There were customers here—and valuable cars.
I wanted to chase the man, but I knew the best thing for now was to let him go.
There were too many innocent people around.
Beau ran out to us just as the guy hopped the gate. “What the fuck is going on?”
“That guy attacked Travis,” Leland shouted.
Beau looked me up and down. “Are you all right?”
I nodded. I was banged up from the struggle, but I’d be fine.
Dax ran out then. “Travis is fine,” Sam called. “His attacker is getting away. Beau took off after him.”
Dax followed Beau, leaping the fence as easily as my attacker had.
I wanted to beg them not to follow the guy. I didn’t want them putting themselves in danger for me. Thank God, a few moments later, they both returned unscathed.
“He got away?” Sam asked.
“Yes, goddammit.”
“I’ll go see if I can settle everybody down. Leland, come with me.” Leland looked like he’d much rather stay right where he was. I knew he was shaken up.
Dax was scowling at me, and I could practically feel the tension in his body. As soon as he got me alone, he was going to explode.
“What the fuck happened?” Beau asked.
I expected Dax to start badgering me about why I’d gone down to the shop without waking him, but he stayed silent. Somehow that was worse.
I explained about taking out the trash and the man seeming to come out of nowhere.
The whole time Dax watched me, making no visible reaction. By the time I stopped talking, my heart was racing as fast as it had when the man had tried to grab me, and butterflies were having a dance party in my stomach.
Dax glanced at Beau. “We’ll find him. He’s not going to get away with this. And you”—he turned to face me—“I’m getting you out of here right now.”
“What? I’ve got work to do, and?—”
“What about needing protection are you failing to understand? Why the hell did you leave without waking me up?”
“Because there’s a lot to do and?—”
“I appreciate your dedication,” Beau said. “But Dax is right. You need protection, and we need less liabilities.”
Everyone who worked there as well as the customers would be in danger if someone else came after me.
Things could’ve ended much worse today, but being sent away still hurt.
I liked working for Beau. I’d resisted working on cars all through my teens because that was what Beau did.
Mechanics was his thing, and he was so damn good at it.
I wanted something of my own. I’d been such an idiot.
I loved helping figure out what was wrong with a car and even just doing the simplest things.
Beau must’ve seen how upset I was. “This is only until LePlatt isn’t a threat anymore. I’ve gotten used to having you around here, and I want you back.”
“Where am I supposed to go?”
“With me,” Dax said. He grabbed my arm and started walking. I stumbled, then managed to match his pace.
“Don’t we need to?—”
“Beau will take care of everything.”
“Corbin’s already working on increasing security here. Don’t worry about us.”
I looked up at Dax. “Where are you taking me?”
“My house.”
“But then you’ll be a target.”
“That’s exactly what I want. I want them to come for me because I will make them regret it. I want to take them out so they can’t ever come after you again, and you can’t scare the hell out of me like that.”
“And you’re not scared at all, inviting men like them to come for you?”
Dax shook his head. “I’m confident in my abilities. I know what to expect in a fight, but knowing that you… That this asshole could have… That’s what I can’t handle.”
“But then I have to watch them go after you.”
“The hell you do. You will hide and stay where I tell you.”
“Maybe that’s not so easy for me.”
“Travis, I have to know you’re safe. Protecting you is my job.”
“Right. You can’t disappoint Remy.”
He turned to me, and I saw anger blazing in his eyes. “Do you actually think that’s why I’m doing this?”
I ran a hand over my hair and closed my eyes. “No… Yes… Fuck it. I don’t know.”
“Why did you leave this morning? You knew I didn’t want you to go anywhere without me.”
“You were sleeping, and for once you were so calm and relaxed. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“I told you Beau wouldn’t expect you to be there, not after the night you’d had.”
“I know, but I wasn’t sure if he’d be there, and they couldn’t run the shop without one of us. Besides, I was awake and restless.”
“I could’ve taken care of that.”
The husky tone in his voice made me shiver. “Yeah?”
“Don’t do that again. Don’t leave without telling me. I woke to the sound of gunfire and you not there.”
I stared at him. I saw the tension in his jaw. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly the tips of his fingers were white. He’d truly been scared.
“I didn’t think…” He’d said he cared for me, but I never thought my leaving would hurt him that badly. “I’m sorry. I won’t leave again without telling you. At least not until this is over.”
“Until what is over?” Dax asked, anger in his voice once more.
“The shit with LePlatt.”
“Good. Because this”—he gestured between the two of us—“is never going to be over.”
“Dax, you don’t have to make promises like?—”
“How long have you thought I could be the one for you?”
My face heated as I thought about it. I’d admitted to having a crush on him, but I didn’t want to tell him the truth. I didn’t want to tell him how young I’d been when I’d already started to feel that way about him, to wish, to hope. “Since I was eleven.”
Dax smiled. “By then, I considered you my friend. I didn’t understand why Ambrose and Beau were so insistent that you not tag along. I enjoyed you being there. I enjoyed your company, even though you were so much younger than me.”
“So when did you…”
“I thought about you often. When Beau told me what happened with Rob, I was angry, and I felt this weird jealousy. It didn’t make sense to me, but then you came back into my life.
The moment I saw you in the woods and realized who you were, it was like a switch came on.
All that concern and brotherly affection I’d felt for you changed in that instant. ”
“How can you be so sure when it’s only been a few days?”