28. Travis
TWENTY-EIGHT
TRAVIS
The last few days had been crazy busy, and I’d barely seen Finn or Jasper other than to pass them in the kitchen as we were coming and going. I’d been out with the research centre’s team and Jasper had been doing whatever he did these days and Finn had been going over their data and systems with a fine-tooth comb while we worked out what was going on because from what I’d seen, there was no way their finding of totally different data from the rest of the world was correct.
I’d just got back from a submersible dive and was sweaty and tired and in need of a beer when I found Finn sitting in the living room wearing a crop top and shorts, sending a shot of arousal straight to my dick that perked up in reply.
“Hey,” I said as I adjusted my cock, hoping he couldn’t see it.
“Hi.”
He looked sad.
“Everything okay, Twinkle?”
Looking up, he tightened his jaw, probably at the nickname. “Meh.”
“Spill,” I commanded as I dropped my bag to the floor and went to get a beer out of the fridge. I held one out to him and he nodded, so I opened them and carried them back, slumping into the seat next to him. He glared at me, eyeballing the other seats I could have taken, but he looked like he needed cheering up, and despite my initial reaction to him, he appeared to have grown on me because I didn’t want to see him upset.
“Where’s Jas?” I asked.
“Out with Gregory Green. They had a meeting about budgets and funding.”
“And he is?” I asked, taking a swig of my beer.
“He runs the PR team for one of the oil companies that helped pay for the research expansion. He’s never been a fan of the project—doesn’t believe in global warming, and rumour has it, he’s a Flat Earther too. He keeps trying to reduce the costs as his predecessor agreed to pay a percentage of the overall budget. So, the less the Deil Project spends, the less they have to commit.”
“That sounds dull as dishwater. I don’t know how Jasper does it. That man was never happy unless he was in the water or on the water. How’s he been since he got back?”
“I mean, fine. I think.”
“He’s still seeing his therapist?”
Finn’s face fell. “Therapist?”
“Yeah, for his… He’s not told you?”
He put his drink down on the table with a bang, and I waited for it to explode all over the place, but it didn’t happen. “Told me what?”
I rubbed my hand down my face. “Shit. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Travis…”
If looks could kill, the one he was shooting my way would have me dead in seconds.
“Fine, but you didn’t hear this from me. He has depression. I only found out before he left, and apparently, he’s had it for years. Never mentioned it, and I didn’t notice. What with that and then everything else, it made me wonder if I ever really knew him at all.”
Finn reached for his bottle and leant back in his seat. “He does like to bottle things up, but maybe now he’s out of the closet, he’ll feel a little more like himself, and that will help.”
I shrugged. “Do you really think so? I mean, has he mentioned what happened between us the other night to you?”
Finn took a sip of his drink, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob. “No.”
“Me neither.”
“And?”
“Well, I don’t know. I just think this,” I pointed between us both, “and him coming out, the new job, back living in the UK, the problems here, well, it’s a lot, and he’s not good at sharing how he’s feeling or asking for help. I worry about him.” As soon as I said it, I realised just how worried I was. It was easy to ignore those feelings when I was angry, but now, well, now, my concern for Jasper was front and centre in my mind.
“I know what you mean.”
“Maybe he does need both of us to take care of him,” I joked.
Finn turned, his eyes widening. “You hate me. The three of us would never work.”
“It was fun, though, right?” I nudged him, and his head came to rest on my shoulder.
“It was fun.”
I liked the feeling of him so close. “And FYI. I don’t hate you. I was hurt, upset. I said some pretty shitty things, but I don’t know if you remember that we made a deal when the bee brutally attacked you.”
“We did?” He didn’t lift his head.
“I promised if you lived, I’d be nicer. Well, you kept up your end of the deal, so now I need to do mine.”
Finn laughed and sat up, but I didn’t want him to put space between us, so I threw my arm around his shoulder in what I hoped was a friendly ‘we’re fucking the same man, can we be friends’ gesture.
He didn’t look at me like I’d lost my mind or push me off, so I ghosted my fingers up and down the column of his neck and along the curve of his exposed shoulder. He closed his eyes and let out a contented hum.
“Well, I mean, I did keep up my end, didn’t I?”
I took another sip of my beer. “So I will be nicer.”
“I can be a lot,” he whispered. “Just so you know.”
I shrugged, settling back and pulling Finn with me, my hand still stroking along his skin. “I can be a lot too. Ask Jasper about my need for hugs. It’s off the charts. But we can try to be friends and get along. For Jas’ sake, can’t we?”
“Yes, my lord. We can.”