In the Fishbowl - 20. Chapter 20

A/N: Thanks to Jim for editing!

Kyle didn’t get it to begin with. Travis was taking care of a woman at the Francis Center. He supposed that there could be a rational explanation for that. There was no telling how many people Travis had met or knew, that Kyle didn’t even know about. The reason Travis had wanted to keep her a secret, however, baffled Kyle. It seemed like a nice thing to do--taking responsibility for someone who wasn’t well. Though, Kyle had no idea what was wrong with her. But then, when Travis explained to him exactly who Sara was, it made sense that Travis wouldn’t want to mention it to anyone who knew of his past because, well, it made no sense that he’d want to help her. Kyle didn’t get it all over again. He was also surprised when his anger came back with a vengeance and he looked incredulously at the woman across the room.

“That’s the woman who let her boyfriend beat the shit out of you?” Kyle demanded.

“Yep. Sara.”

“Kyle shook his head, the only thing he seemed capable of for a few moments. “Why?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask her that. But like I said, don’t expect her to say much.”

“I don’t have anything to say to that bitch, and I meant you. Why are you paying her goddamned bills after...”

“She can hear you, Kyle,” Travis cut in, though he himself didn’t seem very bothered by that.

Kyle looked towards the woman, wondering if he minded. Turned out, he did. He suddenly left the room, not even knowing if Travis was going to join him. He supposed it didn’t matter. Truth be told, while he hadn’t known what to expect, it certainly wasn’t this. He was beginning to wonder if he really knew Travis Beltnick at all. He thought that maybe, that’s what bothered him the most. When Travis did leave the room, leaving Valentine behind, Kyle shook his head at him again. He had so many questions, but didn’t have the faintest idea which one he should ask.

“What’s wrong with her?”

Travis thought that over for a moment. “Nothing.”

“What?”

Travis shrugged, leaned back against the door. “Nothing. Everything.”

“Travis.”

“I went looking for her,” he said, ignoring the look Kyle was giving him. Ignoring everything. His eyes had drifted, and even as he spoke to Kyle, he seemed to be in a different place entirely. “I was fifteen, and this... I guess he was a friend of mine... we were in a foster home together before I became too much for the family to handle and I landed myself in a group home. He sent me a letter, asking if I’d come to his adoption.” Travis met Kyle’s eyes suddenly and smiled, but it was a sad smile. “That family wanted to adopt him. I didn’t really care, I didn’t. But then I started thinking about how someone wanted him, and no one wanted me. Except Sara. I remembered that when she first took me in I was scared. Allan told me it would be okay because she wanted me. But that was before.... I shouldn’t have gone looking for her. In her spare time, Sara used to make these gift baskets. Every once in a while she’d put an ad out in the paper, no name. I started to look, and when I saw one, I knew it was her. I paid some guy ten bucks to call the number for me. Made him say that he needed this stupid basket right away, so she couldn’t mail it, and when she agreed to meet him, I showed up instead. I thought I wanted to see her. I thought I missed her, until I actually saw her, and then I was just angry.” Travis made a face. “But that’s okay, because she didn’t want to see me, either. Said she couldn’t look at me. I was the one who should’ve got to say that. Anyway, she took off, I threw a rock at her car, broke the back window. Ended up in kiddie jail for it. Two months before they let me go back to the home. I got Sara out of my head, and I didn’t see her again until I turned eighteen and she found me.”

“She came to you?”

Travis nodded. “She was in the middle of a breakdown. I thought she was using. Probably was. But, she said she wanted help, and she was going to admit herself into a hospital. Asked if I’d come visit her. I told her I wouldn’t, but then I did. Every week. I think it was about six months, and we didn’t talk about... the past didn’t matter, you know? We just talked. She was interested in what I was doing, and when she got out, we kept in touch until...”

“Until what?” Kyle asked.

“She doesn’t stay away from drugs all that well. Lost her job, her insurance. She wanted help again, but she didn’t think the state-run programs were good enough, and she said she’d never feel safe unless she was in a place like...”

“Like this one?” Kyle asked.

“I transferred her here when I moved to town,” Travis explained. “I moved here for this hospital. It’s like a damned hotel. Expensive room and board, and they’ll let her stay. Put her on antidepressants, had her going to group therapy. I think she liked it. But she stopped talking over a month ago. Hasn’t said a word to anyone.”

“Why?” Kyle asked.

Travis shifted to his side, looked at the door he was leaning on and thought about the woman behind it. “I don’t know.” It was a damned lie. He knew exactly why. That woman behind the door--he despised her. Sometimes he thought he loved her, but mostly he despised her. He hated her for making him wait. That’s the word he used. Wait. But most of the time, he had no idea what he was waiting for. Through every smile, every conversation he’d had with her since she’d come back into his life, he’d waited. Some days he’d come to visit her and enjoy it. Like talking to an old friend. And some days he’d come and he hated her so much that seeing her locked up in a hospital with a bedtime and an ugly nurse having her dragged to the showers when she didn’t want to take one at the designated time made him feel utterly... satisfied. The flower-patterned bedspread on her pillow-top mattress, the television with ninety-eight channels and the books they brought her once a month... it was nothing more than a prison, and he was helping her stay there. It was just a month ago, on a day when he decided to hate her, that she’d stopped talking.

He’d been having the nightmares. No sleep. He never got to sleep. And because he’d been sleep-deprived and living off one meal a day so he could afford to pay her bills, he’d gotten the shit knocked out of him by one of Phil Clayton’s friends--also to pay her bills--and now that he thought about it, he never should have gone to see her that day. She’d been so happy to see him, too. He remembered her going on and on about a new book she was reading; wanted to share it with him. Travis remembered. He remembered the way he told her to shut up. Just shut up, Sara. Then he’d ripped her book in half. The hospital billed him for it later. Then he told her... he said it. He’d been so calm about it, too. I don’t feel like listening to you talk. You’re the bitch who ruined my life. And Sara stopped talking.

Travis didn’t know who he hated more. Sara, for punishing him because he’d finally let something out, or himself for driving her to punish herself. Because sometimes when he caught her eye and knew that even in her silence she was still there... sometimes he thought that was what she was trying to do. It made him feel guilty. Feeling guilty made him feel angry when he remembered that he had nothing to feel guilty for. When Travis went to visit Sara... he was just lost. Lost. And now he just wanted her to start talking again. He’d tried everything. Except an apology. That, he couldn’t give her.

“Travis,” Kyle said carefully, dragging him from his thoughts. “You know how ridiculous this is, right? Your supporting her. That’s not your job, and I doubt she deserves it. Cut her loose.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Travis met his eyes again. “Because I don’t want to.”

Kyle opened his mouth to argue, but let out a breath and took a different approach instead. “Who else knows about this? You said you have a brother? Are you in touch with him? Is he in jail? What would he think...”

“I had a brother,” Travis corrected, his earlier anger returning to his voice. “And he can’t really give me his opinion on anything, seeing how he’s dead.”

Travis waited the moment it took him to confirm that Kyle had no idea how to respond to that, and then he slowly turned and went back into the room. Alone. He closed the door softly behind him and stood there for a long time watching the woman near the window. She hadn’t moved. She hadn’t looked at him, nor would she during the next hour as he picked up a random book to read to her. But, while he was gone, she’d pulled Valentine into her lap and every once in a while, her thin fingers would move over the space behind the canine’s ears.

Kyle never came back inside. Travis didn’t go looking for him when he made his own exit.

Visiting day was over.

***

In a stranger’s backyard, Dennis knelt down to greet Valentine for both of the two seconds she’d been excited to see him before she went back to her spot, curled beneath a tree. Travis had obviously worn her out, and Dennis was a little curious to find out what they’d been up to all day. But, before he could bother asking out loud, his eyes found Travis--much more of him than he’d bargained for.

With his back to Dennis he was bare beneath his t-shirt as he tested the temperature of the water with his hand, and then stretched to remove his shirt, leaving Dennis to nervously look at some of the neighbor’s second-story windows, some of which glowed with light. “What are you doing?”

Travis hadn’t heard Dennis enter the backyard and was startled when he turned, but then he smiled. It was a serious smile as his eyes drifted along the lines of Dennis’s clothes as if he wanted to ask the same question. He took a few steps forward, his bare feet mindful of the rugged ground beneath his feet. Dennis was beginning to recognize the look he was faced with, the one Travis seemed to develop whenever he was on a mission to pounce, and he quickly became wary of it.

“We’re not doing anything here,” Dennis warned.

Travis’s smile grew wider, and Dennis’s words didn’t stop him from crossing the yard until he was directly in front of him, and despite saying those words, Dennis didn’t move when Travis kissed him. He was distracted, though; busy being on guard, making sure that the backyard was as secluded as Travis seemed to think it was. Dennis didn’t close his eyes until Travis’s hands lifted to hold his face, and Travis didn’t step away until Dennis kissed him back, and he only did that to flash a mocking grin.

“If you say so,” Travis remarked.

Dennis’s eyes narrowed, but before he could cram his lecture on where it wasn’t appropriate to make out down Travis’s throat, Travis waved away his concerns and headed back towards the hot tub, saying, “You’re early.”

Dennis just watched him for a second, mostly insisting to himself that Travis’s nakedness shouldn’t make him so uncomfortable--which it was, anyway; after all, Travis was the one risking an indecent-exposure charge if anyone happened to look into this particular backyard. And when it came to Dennis’s discomfort, it didn’t even occur to him that he could credit it to the fact that he couldn’t help looking. He didn’t even notice that when Travis was in the water up to his waist--and only then--he was able to order his thoughts, and quickly found it odd that Travis hadn’t used his dismissal as an opportunity to call him a prude. Travis hadn’t tried to bait him into a provocative argument, or even tried to convince Dennis to get as naked as he was. That would have been the Travis he knew, after all. But it seemed that Dennis had put his defenses up for nothing this time, and it left him wondering if something was wrong.

Besides asking if Dennis was going to get in the water and leaning over the edge of tub with unashamed interest as Dennis did strip down (drawing the line at his boxers, of course) Travis didn’t seem to be acting very much like himself at all. Something about his mood was off. He was friendly, sure. And he wasn’t silent and brooding, the way Dennis had witnessed before. In fact, maybe noticing something was wrong was all in Dennis’s head, which is what he told himself a few times before he changed his mind again and came to the steady conclusion that Travis was aggravated about something.

It wasn’t that obvious. Travis was still the one who refused to accept uncomfortable or boring silences, starting off their conversation by bombarding Dennis with questions about what he’d been up to for the last few days. But by now Dennis knew well enough that when they were alone anything out of Travis’s mouth was beyond borderline flirtatious, and today that was just as absent as the constant teasing that had become more familiar than he wanted to admit. But Dennis couldn’t bring himself to ask the question outright. If Travis wanted him to, he’d bring it up himself. But there was nothing stopping Dennis from asking where Travis had been lately, which he did as soon as he got tired of answering silly questions about one of the stylists at the salon he’d been washing hair at every day in the afternoons. Not that she wasn’t interesting enough to talk about at sixty-two years of age and a mouth full of fourteen-carat-gold teeth.

But she was off Dennis’s mind soon enough when Travis started talking, and it didn’t take long after to figure out why he seemed aggravated. Travis didn’t so much tell him what he’d been up to than go on an hour-long tirade about Kyle Davis. Dennis didn’t know what exact incidents had led to the trouble, but he got the point that Travis valued his privacy, loud and clear.

By the time Travis had slowed down and started talking himself into the possibility of calling Kyle tomorrow, wanting to work things out, Travis had had enough of the heat from the water and was sitting on the edge of the tub, while Travis just bobbed out every now and then. Dennis wanted to ask him how much redder he was going to let his pale skin get before he realized he’d had enough, but never did when Travis finally wet his face and released an exhausted breath before saying, “I’m so tired. I don’t even wanna think about going back to work tomorrow.” He paused to look at Dennis, a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes hinting that he was feeling more like himself again. “Wanna play hooky with me? I can think of a few things that could keep us busy.”

Dennis shook his head. “Can’t.” And honestly, he didn’t want to, but it had nothing to do with dreading a day with Travis. The fact was he was finally beginning to feel a little more secure with his numerous part-time jobs. He even found himself enjoying the variety, and he was no longer worried about whether or not he’d have his rent on time.

“Spoilsport,” Travis remarked. “What about after work?”

Dennis raised an eyebrow at that. “You mean you want plans that don’t involve showing up on my door three days later?” The moment he’d said it, he knew it was a mistake. His tone had been teasing, but he’d given away a little too much of how he’d been feeling, and Travis was quick to catch on as he smirked and drifted across the tub until his hand found Dennis’s ankle beneath the surface of the water.

“Was that you saying you miss me, Dennis Gordon?”

Dennis scowled. “I wasn’t saying anything.”

Travis laughed. “If you say so...but you know, it’s not like I try to avoid you.”

“Forget it, Travis,” Dennis said sharply. Discussing his own feelings was the last thing he wanted to do, and things seemed to be turning in that direction. “I don’t care, okay?”

“But I care,” Travis responded. “You have no idea... I’ve been busy. I don’t even have time to go out and make a decent buck anymore because...”

“You mean fighting?” Dennis asked, crushing down the sudden urge to tell him he liked his face much better when it wasn’t bruised, anyway.

“I mean anything,” Travis replied, avoiding the disapproval he heard in Dennis’s voice. “And I can thank your dear ol’ dad for that. The man’s lost his fucking mind, you know. He’s been worse than a fifth grader.”

“So quit.”

Travis’s thumb, which had just begun to trace Dennis’s ankle stopped, and he pulled his hand away. “I told you I can’t.”

“You can. You don’t want to,” Dennis said carefully. “Why? If you’re finally figuring out he’s a jackass, why stay and...”

“I’m not quitting,” Travis cut him off. His tone was friendly enough, but the subject was obviously closed. Dennis would have accepted that and changed the subject, if Travis hadn’t suddenly turned the tables on him. “I think he misses you.”

“What?”

Travis frowned, growing silent for a moment as he thought something over. It looked almost as if he regretted his words, but then he suddenly grew determined. “I think your dad misses you. I’m not saying it to start trouble, I just think it’s true. Thought you might wanna know.”

“I don’t,” Dennis snapped, and then lowered his eyes at his own sharp tone and took a moment to shake off the sudden burst of rage that had struck him. For Travis’s part, he wisely kept quiet before Dennis met his eyes again. “I’m ready to get out,” Dennis said, and made a move to do so, but suddenly Travis had his ankle again, and then the other one. Dennis looked down, green eyes warning him not to bring up his father again, but it seemed Travis had already thought not to do that on his own.

“I think I do.”

“You do what?” Dennis asked.

“I want plans,” Travis said. “What are you doing on Thursday night?”

Dennis thought about it, but not for long. He rarely worked evenings.

“Nothing. I think.”

“Let’s do something on Thursday.”

Dennis thought about that, too. Or, at least left the impression that he was thinking. “Fine. Thursday.”

Travis smiled and tugged at his feet, forcing Dennis to hold onto the edge of the hot tub to stay out of it, though, the cold air on his back made him want to sink back in again. Only the sudden, pointed look on Travis’s face kept him from doing just that. This wasn’t the safest place for them. Travis may not have agreed with his way of thinking, but he seemed to understand it because he asked, “Wanna come home with me tonight?”

Dennis didn’t have to think about that. “Nope.”

Travis frowned. “Right. Forgot. I live in the enemy camp, don’t I?” He only looked disappointed for a moment, and spoke again before Dennis had the chance to agree. “Can I go home with you?”

If Dennis didn’t know any better, he would have said that Travis looked a little nervous during the minute it took him to get a response. Strange, because going to meet him, it had never occurred to Dennis that he might be going home alone tonight after Travis had called him that afternoon. He shrugged. “Yeah.”

***

Plans. Plans on Thursday. And it was Thursday, and Dennis had plans. He wasn’t used to having plans two days ahead of time when it wasn’t work-related. He didn’t know if he liked it. Plans, he told himself, not a date. Date was a terrible word. It implied stuff. It implied date-like stuff. And in this case, it implied it with another guy. He didn’t think of dating when it came to guys. What he and Travis were doing... well, there wasn’t a word he could think of that quite fit it. Date, wasn’t it. He would have completely vanished it from his thoughts if he hadn’t been worried about Travis thinking it since that morning. Because it was Thursday. Not Friday, or Monday, or even Thursday of last week. It was this Thursday, which also happened to be Valentine’s Day. That little detail had only been brought to his attention after going upstairs that morning just in time to find Mr. Chesley surprising Mrs. Chesley with flowers and a bracelet that had her calling her mother and everyone else she could think of.

Dennis had plans on Valentine’s Day. He wondered if Travis knew what day it was. He wondered if Travis had known when he’d asked him. He wondered if the day even mattered to Travis. He supposed not. It just didn’t sound like Travis, and Dennis took some comfort from the thought. It also helped that Travis sounded casual about it all when he called at lunch to make sure they were still meeting, but that could have had something to do with the way John Gordon had been shouting about something in the background; a voice Dennis could have gone without.

He’d been trying not to think about his family. Things had been pleasantly quiet where his mom and brother were concerned for days now, and Dennis had been doing his damnedest to stop comparing himself to his father. But even hearing his voice on the other end of the phone line when it wasn’t even addressing him brought Dennis back to what Travis had told him. First his mom missed him. Now his dad missed him.

And it was all complete bullshit. Bullshit. Empty words. Nothing worth thinking about.

So he didn’t know why it bothered him so much.

He supposed that with his mother, it was easy to figure out. She didn’t miss him. She missed the idea of her perfect family. Dennis was mostly annoyed that she hadn’t figured that out. But with his father... ludicrous. He supposed that what bothered him about the notion was that it had come from Travis. And whatever had made Travis even think that was... well, Dennis didn’t know. Maybe he should have asked.

Dennis didn’t like to think about it, especially when they were anywhere near each other, but Travis really did spend a lot of time with his dad. It was odd. Dennis didn’t realize that it was possible for someone other than his brother to stomach that much exposure. But most of the time, Travis seemed to do just fine. Dennis hated it, of course, and even felt a little satisfied every time he heard Travis was getting tired of John Gordon. Mostly, he tried to forget that someone he’d been spending time with also spent time with his father on a daily basis. At least Travis had quickly learned not to bother him with the details. Dennis knew Travis was careful not to say too much about his father, and when he did he dropped it as soon as it became a problem. Dennis appreciated that, but unfortunately, Travis’s good behavior in that area gave Dennis a reason to think that Travis never would have told him his dad missed him if he didn’t have a reason to think it was true.

But that didn’t mean that Travis was right, and Dennis didn’t want to think about it.

At around six o’clock the sun started to set, and the overcast sky made it appear darker than it really was as Dennis crossed his room to get dressed after a shower, it only just occurring to him that he hadn’t bothered to ask Travis where they were going, or what they were doing. That started to bother him, too. He didn’t like surprises anymore than he liked having plans.

He stopped halfway to the closet, the scent of the soap he’d used hitting his nostrils, and something else. He frowned to himself. In the bathroom he kept cologne next to his deodorant, and it was habit to use one after the other. The deodorant he didn’t mind, but suddenly the pleasant, mild scent of the cologne was making him self-conscious. It didn’t matter that he put it on every day, tonight it seemed inappropriate somehow. It was something most guys put on before a date. Dennis didn’t have a date. He had plans. He returned to the bathroom to wash it off.

Thirty minutes later he got caught upstairs when Mrs. Chesley wanted to show him her bracelet again, and from there he left to meet Travis at the gym a mile away from the dealership. Travis had worked, and while Dennis would have picked him up straight from the dealership, he didn’t offer, and Travis had insisted the gym would be better. Dennis figured that Travis was trying to be helpful in keeping the distance between himself and his father, and while he didn’t thank Travis for it, he was appreciative.

Any tension Dennis had been feeling faded when Travis was in his car and he decided that things between them were business as usual. Travis didn’t even mention he’d thought about it being Valentine’s day... until he broke the news about where they were going.

“Don’t get mad.”

“Then don’t make me mad,” Dennis warned as he turned right out of the gym parking lot as Travis had instructed. Travis smiled at him.

“We don’t have to stay long. I just promised I’d stop by... and it kind of sounds like fun.”

“Where are we going?” Dennis asked pointedly, not willing to let Travis skirt the question.

“I picked up another job,” Travis explained. “Legitimate and everything. I get to do it in my free time.”

“I’m taking you to work?” Dennis asked, glancing over at him.

“No... but I’ve been promoting Chris Dovan’s club. There’s something going on tonight and I said I’d stop by.”

Dennis was silent for a moment. He wasn’t surprised, but he couldn’t say that he wasn’t disappointed. The only time he didn’t mind going down to the Dovans’ club was when it was closed and he was stopping by with Owen. He didn’t like crowds, and he figured there’d be one there tonight. The day before yesterday fliers and posters had mysteriously appeared everywhere he went in town for a Valentine’s Day party that was going on there, and because of The Shadow’s popularity, that pretty much guaranteed a crowd. He glanced at Travis, wondering if he’d had anything to do with those posters and was surprised to find his passenger regarding him expectantly. Apparently, Dennis was supposed to say something about Travis’s plans.

“Okay,” Dennis said cautiously, silently adding, just don’t ditch me. He surprised himself with the thought. He knew well enough that over the last year he’d become accustomed to being a loner; even liked some aspects of it. But as Travis had rightfully put it a few nights ago,this was enemy camp. Dennis had grown a soft spot for Owen Dovan. Truth be told, he didn’t really mind his brother, either. But the rest of that crowd he could have gone without. Unfortunately, he knew well enough that the rest of those people tended to show up when one of them was throwing a party. Travis was social, and Dennis didn’t doubt he had a knack for being ten places at once. He didn’t know how he felt about losing him in the crowd and being left to his own devices, and when they arrived he was already dreading it as his suspicions about it being a busy night proved to be right.

People were arriving so early that there was already someone outside the door handling the crowd. Dennis was a little relieved thinking that he’d have to wait in line for at least twenty minutes before he had to go in there, but that luck didn’t last as soon as he discovered that Lacy was the one handling crowd control until the rest of the staff arrived and Travis bypassed the line, stopping only to talk to the blonde at the door. She seemed to be in a chipper mood, informing Travis that he was going to dance with her when she got inside, and she even said hi to Dennis, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about seeing him there.

Inside, the lights had been changed to shades of red and manufactured decorations and banners covered every table. Dennis was quick to notice that they’d been arranged differently, too. A band was currently making its presence known on the stage, but the dance floor had been cut in half, and he was a little surprised to find that the club was serving dinner. The stairs which were normally blocked off for private parties was open, and there was a steady stream of people moving up and down them; and in two corners of the club there were smaller, makeshift stages and arranged chairs for matchmaking games as Travis explained it before he asked Dennis if he’d be willing to auction himself off for charity. Dennis politely declined.

He was just beginning to relax as he made his way around the club with Travis, checking out everything that was going on, when the discomfort he’d been waiting for presented itself when Travis spotted Ryan Sader holding one of the larger tables and headed towards him. Ryan, with his dark hair and easy smile was grinning ear to ear as he waved off a group of girls, leaning far back in his chair as they walked away from his table. By the time Travis managed to sneak up behind him, he was sorting small slips of paper, each one carrying a different name and number. Travis plucked one right out of his hand.

“You don’t waste any time, do you?”

Ryan looked over his shoulder, first surprised, and then decidedly pleased with himself. “Dude. Chris has speed dating going on upstairs. You should check it out.”

Travis laughed. “No thanks. One a night’s all I can handle.”

Dennis frowned at the remark, wondering exactly what Travis meant by that, and if Ryan suspected something was off when he glanced in his direction. It seemed he didn’t when he just shrugged his shoulder. “You guys wanna sit? I’m kinda waiting around until everyone gets here.”

Travis pulled out two seats and looked at Dennis, but Dennis only looked at the chair as if it might bite him. He was too busy wondering about everyone to be polite, and found himself headed to the bar while Travis helped Ryan sort through his numbers, the two of them comfortably laughing as Ryan explained the chaos he’d already created, and claiming the night had only begun.

Dennis ordered two beers, and something stronger--which he swore he was going to need--from a redhead with glasses. He swallowed down the stronger one on the spot, rolling his eyes when the redhead chose that moment to card him. It occurred to him that this was his first time buying alcohol since his last birthday, and when the bartender warned him not to distribute to minors, he found himself wondering how old Travis was. He’d never bothered to ask, and suddenly wanted to make a point to do so. But, as he headed away from the bar with every intention of handing the second beer he was holding over to Travis, he stopped as something else occurred to him. A small detail that had stuck, though he didn’t remember where he’d heard it. Travis didn’t drink. This seemed to warrant another trip back to the bar for a bottle of water, and when Dennis reluctantly returned to the table he was carrying three drinks. And he felt a little stupid about it as soon as he dropped the water in front of Travis--something he hadn’t been asked to do in the first place--and Travis shot him a look that was unmistakably teasing when he thanked him. Dennis was pretty sure that the only thing that stopped the color from rising in his cheeks was the bewildered look on Ryan’s face when he slid the second beer across the table to him.

Ryan looked at the unexpected peace offering skeptically, but then silently lifted it in Dennis’s direction before taking a drink. If Travis noticed the tension between the two, he didn’t let on as he warned Dennis to run if he saw Owen, who it seemed was in charge of signing as many people up for his charity auction as he could. It just didn’t seem normal that Ryan was already signed up and looking forward to it.

Dennis was just about to take his seat when a blonde head suddenly brushed past him; Lacy had made her way back into the club. She moved right up behind Travis, slipped an arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Ready to get your feet sore?” she asked him as he turned his head and smiled at her. Dennis noticed that across the table, Ryan suddenly had his head down, avoiding eye contact with the blonde as much as possible. Lacy seemed to notice him there quite abruptly, and before Travis could answer she straightened herself. “Hi, Ryan.”

The way Ryan’s head snapped up in surprise and he nearly choked on his drink might have been comical if he didn’t look so surprised. “Hey.”

And Dennis noticed that was all that was exchanged between them. Lacy was suddenly pulling Travis away from the table, and while Dennis didn’t mean to, the look he had for Travis when their eyes met was desperate, at best. Travis responded with a helpless shrug and an amused smile, and then he was gone, and Dennis was... ditched. He felt completely ditched, and now he was standing in front of Ryan Sader’s table, drink in hand, wondering how he was supposed to tactfully walk away.

For a moment, Ryan didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy watching Lacy walk away with a thoughtful look on his face, but suddenly and without even looking at Dennis, said, “Sit down, man. You’re making me nervous.”

Dennis looked behind himself, considering the possibility that he’d meant someone else, but when he disappointedly found no one, he took his seat slowly, and quickly pretended to be interested in the band on stage as he took large swallows of his drink, in a hurry to excuse himself for another one. He was about a swallow away when a waitress ruined his excuse by showing up at their table. He went back to a stronger drink as soon as she asked him what he wanted and she then spent a few minutes flirting with Ryan.

Uncomfortable and wanting his drinks, Dennis ignored them so well that he didn’t even notice that she’d left until she returned with two shots and a soda for Ryan, who disavowed anything to do with the beer sitting in front of him until she left and he picked it up again, the issue of being underage not a problem when no one was looking over his shoulder. Dennis had downed one of his and was working on the other when Ryan finally spoke to him.

“You’re gonna miss half the fun if you don’t slow down,” he remarked.

Dennis looked up and couldn’t help himself when he smirked. Back in high school, Ryan had the reputation of an avid partier and often claimed that no one could drink him under the table. But then, he’d never bothered to drink with Dennis, who’d spent so much time with Lyle and his friends that it was a rarity when he got drunk enough to notice. Dennis swallowed down half of his second drink and shrugged. “I’m just catching up.”

Ryan looked at him curiously for so long that Dennis had to look away before Ryan finally said, “That bad, huh?”

Dennis looked at him. “What is?”

Ryan shrugged. “Being here.”

Dennis tried not to frown. “It wasn’t my idea.” He suddenly felt defensive, trying to figure out of Ryan was accusing him of invading his territory. The two of them had always played that game well with each other. For as long as he could remember, there’d been lines drawn between them carved out with pure testosterone, even back when they’d been on speaking terms.

“You’ve been hanging out with Travis,” Ryan said. Dennis couldn’t tell if he was trying to state the obvious, or merely asking a question. He couldn’t decide if he should feel threatened that Ryan might be implying something or not, so he just shrugged.

“What about it?”

“Nothing,” Ryan replied, shaking his head. “I’m just trying to figure out which one of you is supposed to be the bad influence.”

Dennis’s brow knitted, but he wisely help back a rude retort as he realized that he wasn’t being met with Ryan’s usual hostility, and finally remarked, “You could flip a coin.”

Ryan actually smiled. “A double-sided coin is my guess.” He went back to his drink, as did Dennis as they fell into a silence that each of them pretended wasn’t awkward.

Thankfully, it didn’t last long, and Dennis felt the relief as soon as he spotted Lacy and Travis headed back to the table, hand in hand, but unromantically. Something about the two of them suggested a strict friendship, and Dennis would rather not think about why it came to his attention that he wasn’t threatened by it.

“Are you guys sticking around for a while?” The unexpected question came from Ryan, and Dennis looked back at him.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly, wondering if Ryan was already in a hurry to get him out the door. Dennis thought so. But before he could think about it further, he was distracted by the small hand which was suddenly plucking his drink out of his hands, and he looked up at Lacy Chapman as if she’d lost her mind, more so when she grabbed the same hand and gave it a firm tug.

“Your turn,” she informed him.

“What?” Dennis demanded, standing before she pulled his shoulder out of its socket.

“To dance,” Lacy informed him.

She was already pulling him away from the table, leaving no room for the protest on the tip of Dennis’s tongue. One look at Travis’s face, flushed from dancing and definitely pleased by something was all Dennis needed to know who’d put Lacy up to this, and by the time he’d worked up the nerve to try and get out of it, they were already lost in the small sea of dancing couples.

Dennis wasn’t the least bit thrilled. Given the occasion, most of the songs were slower, and he wasn’t sure that he even remembered how to dance. But, as soon as Lacy’s hands were on him he tried his best, trying not to look too distressed as he moved his feet and wished she’d ditch him for Chris, who’d appeared across the room to smile back at her.

She didn’t, though Dennis noticed that Lacy seemed distracted with him, and while she was distracted with him, he desperately looked down at his feet, wondering what was wrong. Something didn’t feel right, and soon as he figured out what it was he found himself scowling, perturbed at being dragged across the floor and being forced into a position that made him uncomfortable. His annoyance sparked a moment of assertiveness as he suddenly grabbed Lacy’s shoulders and brought them both to a startling halt.

Lacy’s attention snapped to him, her eyes wide.

“Stop leading,” he snapped.

In return, Lacy regarded him oddly, and then suddenly burst out laughing. “Sorry,” she explained. “It’s a battle of wills with Travis. I do it annoy him.”

Dennis nodded at the excuse and felt himself relax as they tried again with more success. But, he hadn’t gotten anymore comfortable as Lacy slipped her arms around his neck and smiled in a genuine way that made him wonder if she was drunk. He’d been pretty sure that given a choice of bathing in acid or dancing with him, the acid would have won out any day of the week, so this was certainly a strange experience. And, she didn’t seem inclined to remain silent until the deed was over with, either.

“At the last dance we were at together, you punched my date in the face,” she casually remarked.

Dennis frowned as he thought about it. “Owen. We weren’t there together.”

“No,” Lacy agreed. “But we could have been. You asked me, remember?”

Dennis looked at her oddly, wondering if she was attempting to get a rise out of him, but then shrugged one shoulder beneath the palm of her hand. “I think I told you that you were going with me,” he corrected. “You were smart to say no.”

Lacy grinned at him. “I think I like this new you,” she remarked, and Dennis uncomfortably avoided her eyes, no longer sure what to make of her. There’d been a time when he happened to like Lacy Chapman, and had taken it as a direct hit to his ego when he moved beyond the point of standing a chance with her. She was a nice girl, always had been, and he found himself wondering if she would have made a difference for him when he was younger before he realized there was no point in dwelling on the past.

She tried to talk him into another dance when they were finished, but he got out of it easily enough and they headed back to the table together. Ryan was still there, but Travis had disappeared and Chris Dovan had taken his place. Dennis was quickly aggravated by the disappearance, and told Lacy he was heading to the bar for another drink. He wasn’t happy when it provoked her to grab his hand and pull him along after her.

“You left your drink on the table,” she reminded.

“I want another one.” He needed another one. But if she heard him, there was no indication as he trailed along after her because the girl had a grip like a python. If he didn’t consider himself so manly, Dennis might have complained that she’d bruised him. Unfortunately, he was more concerned with how bruised his comfort levels were about to be as they reached enemy territory and he sat down at the table.

***

Travis grinned down flirtatiously at the table of girls he stood in front of, knowing full well that he’d just made at least two of them blush at the spot. It didn’t concern him much, though. He was just waiting for them to return the cards he’d talked them into filling out. Owen Dovan had ambushed him and Ryan at their table about ten minutes before. Someone at the grill had slipped and sprained an ankle, and Owen was recruiting help. Ryan had the excuse of holding the table, and refused to go anywhere near a grill; Travis had taken over recruiting for the charity auction. Owen said they wanted at least fifteen more people. The crowd had grown much larger, and he had no trouble talking most people he talked to into it. He was determined to use all cards after Owen told him to sign himself up if he had any left over. Maybe on another day Travis wouldn’t have minded in the least, but not today.

He looked over his shoulder. Since he’d left the table he’d been keeping an eye on Dennis and Lacy, wondering how much that arranged dance would cost him later. The last time he’d looked to see them dancing, Dennis didn’t look as put off by it as he had when Lacy walked away with him, but Travis felt the need to keep checking back. He knew Dennis wasn’t thrilled to be there, but he’d been hoping that he’d change his mind if they all could just have a good time. When Travis no longer spotted Dennis dancing and saw him back at the table instead, he realized that the chances of that happening had just plummeted. Even across the dimly lit room, Travis could tell that Dennis was doing his best to fade into the background. Besides Ryan and Lacy, Chris and Nicky had shown up. Dennis was out of his element, and Travis felt eager to get back there. He was annoyed when he realized that he still had one more card to fill out.

But, his solution came quickly when he spotted Kyle Davis near the bar with a redheaded girl, probably Lacy’s roommate. He looked like he was having a good time, and remembering his hostility towards his friend, Travis became determined to ruin it for him. Travis quickly handed the girls at the table their numbers, and then took a few more moments there to fill in Kyle’s information on the last card. He tore off the strip with the number, and headed pointedly across the room. When Kyle spotted him, the smile on his face faded and he regarded Travis warily as Travis held out the number.

“I’m auctioning you off,” Travis informed him.

Kyle looked at the slip of paper being forced into his hand, and then looked at Travis as if he’d lost his mind. But before he could say anything, his date laughed and took the number. “Does this mean I need to get out my wallet?”

“No,” Kyle told her. “I’m not...” He stopped when he glanced at Travis, the look on Travis’s face warning him not to complete that sentence. Kyle sighed, still looking at his friend. “Fine. But then your revenge is over.”

Travis thought about that for a moment before a slow smile curled his mouth and he clasped Kyle’s hand as a quick sign of a truce between them. “I’ll see you later,” he told him, and then headed back to the table where Dennis looked like he was being held hostage. Travis soon wished that he’d arrived sooner.

There were more new arrivals who’d made the tension there far too noticeable. Ryan’s cousin Leo was there, as was Ben. Leo was keeping up a conversation with Chris, but a deep glare continuously moved in Dennis’s direction. Dennis was doing his best to ignore it, and from the looks of things, Ben was trying to ignore it, too. Leo’s boyfriend also seemed to be trying to ignore Dennis at the table. He had his chair, on the other side of it, turned sideways towards Nicky and looked comfortable with his boyfriend’s arm around his neck. But even as he tried to ignore it, he too looked at Dennis every so often, though his glances were decidedly less hostile.

Travis didn’t bother to ignore anything. He understood that Dennis had problems with these people, and while he may not have been before, Travis felt a little threatened by it now. Receiving icy stares all night was not about to help Dennis relax, and instead of seating himself in one of the available chairs near Ryan, he picked one up, walked it around to the corner of the table and placed it between Lacy and Dennis, successfully blocking out Leo’s view of Dennis when he sat down. Despite his thoughtful efforts, Dennis regarded him stonily when their eyes met. Travis just smiled at him. “Miss me?” he remarked. Dennis waved down the waitress and ordered another drink.

Travis sighed and looked up to see what Ryan was saying that everyone found so amusing, but instead he found himself meeting the cold stare of Leo Sader, though it wasn’t directed at him. Leo seemed determined to stare down Dennis, even when he couldn’t see him. Travis pulled his chair even closer to the table for it. Leo’s eyes suddenly shifted, and Travis met them head on, unintentionally raising an eyebrow in a silent challenge. Leo looked mildly surprised by it, but more amused than anything as he whispered something in Ben’s ear that made him laugh and wink in Travis’s direction. Travis picked up on that little action quickly, purposely misinterpreting it by flashing a very apparent flirtatious look in Ben’s direction. Leo stopped laughing, and Travis joined in the conversation around the rest of the table as if his work there was done.

Minutes passed by quickly, and a few times Travis thought of excusing himself and Dennis from the table, but he kept getting sucked into one conversation after the other, and when Kyle joined them with his date, Heather, he stayed just because he liked the way that he and Kyle were back on normal speaking terms. Travis regularly looked at Dennis, waiting for a sign from him that he’d had enough, but Dennis only responded with, “I’m fine.” Over and over... and over again. Travis stopped trying to count the drinks Dennis was knocking back, but he figured he shouldn’t be too worried about it. Dennis’s eyes were clear, there were no signs of slurred speech whenever he ordered another drink, and it seemed the only thing hurting from it was his wallet. Travis idly wondered what John Gordon would think if he knew his son could hold his liquor better than he could. Travis noticed that others at the table weren’t doing so well. Lacy was insisting that Chris was getting a little too tipsy--she didn’t want him impaired when they went on the date he’d promised her later that night. Travis noted that Ryan didn’t seem the least bit bothered by this. In fact, he kept smiling in her direction even when she wasn’t looking. Leo and Ben, the other two who were old enough to drink while under Chris Dovan’s watchful eye, had been drinking, too. Leo had cut himself off after two drinks, and cut Ben off as soon as he got the hiccups and started giggling like a madman. This got a good laugh out of almost everyone, and when the music stopped and the first auction of the night started, people seemed to be relaxing.

Ryan was one of the first to go, taking center stage like he was born for it, only being thrown off once when Ben bet on him, insisting that he needed a houseboy for when Leo was away. The laughter that went up around the club was mostly do to Ryan’s murderous threats as he warned his cousin to keep his boyfriend under control--obviously Ryan was more interested in the pretty brunette who’d raised the bank over a hundred dollars. Kyle’s number didn’t come until much later, and Owen, who was running the microphone, made an effort to point out his sudden bashfulness should appeal to the ladies. Kyle didn’t look to thrilled about being called a sensitive type of guy. Lacy handed Heather a loan to make sure she’d get her date back, and in the end she claimed her sensitive kind of guy with a firm kiss that had Kyle turning red. Travis thought revenge was pretty sweet.

During the chaos and interruption to normal club activities, Travis noticed that Dennis seemed to be relaxing. His lip even twitched a few times, hinting at an oncoming smile that never quite happened, and every once in a while the two of them would take the time out to exchange a few words, having fun with what was going on around them. Travis was just beginning to think he’d successfully gotten Dennis to loosen up a notch when their waitress brought him another drink. Dennis hadn’t asked for it, but he shrugged and took it, anyway. He remarked he was going to have to piss after that one, making Travis laugh at the certainly that had been in his voice, and two seconds later, Leo Sader had to ruin the calm mood which had grown over the table.

Leo didn’t say it pointedly to Dennis. In fact, his words were for Chris; but there was no doubt in Travis’s mind that he’d meant for everyone to hear him, and everyone did.

“Maybe it’s time to cut him off, Chris. We all know how Gordons handle their drinking.”

Travis didn’t have to look at Dennis to know that his fingers were going white around his glass. He was more interested in glaring at Leo in Dennis’s defense. Unfortunately, Leo still looked as annoyed to have Dennis in his company as he had all night, even with Ben rubbing his arm in an attempt to draw his attention elsewhere. At least Chris had the common sense not to make the situation worse. He even sent Leo a warning look.

“Leo,” he said.

Leo shrugged. “Just don’t start crying when your tables start getting turned over. It’s not like it would be the first time one of them started doing that.”

Travis looked at Dennis. He was obviously being compared to someone else in his family--maybe more than one of them--and he wasn’t taking it well. But, despite all the eyes that were suddenly on him, he swallowed back his drink and suddenly looked almost challengingly at Chris. “Am I cut off?” he wanted to know, no indication that he’d had anything to drink at all.

“Are you drunk?” Chris responded.

In response, Dennis waved for another drink. He wasn’t drunk, but Travis had a feeling that he wished he was. Leo was still glaring at him, whispering profanities to Ben, who was still trying to calm him. Leo didn’t seem to mind that everyone at the table could hear him, either.

Dennis’s eyes were down. Travis could tell he was fuming, but determined not to help along the oncoming trouble. Unfortunately, matters weren’t helped at all when Leo’s temper got the best of him and he finally addressed Dennis directly. “What the hell are you doing here, anyway? Aren’t you worried about someone seeing you with... what was it? The fag patrol?”

Travis glanced at Dennis, deciding that Leo must be using the opportunity to throw some of Dennis’s own words back in his face. For Dennis’s part, he was now looking at Leo, but he seemed determined to take everything thrown at him without giving anything back. Travis wasn’t feeling as generous. “What’s your problem?” he asked, his words directed at Leo.

“Hey guys...” Kyle started in, knowing full well that things were escalating too fast. He’d heard of Leo’s temper, and had gotten a good glimpse of Travis’s lately. Everyone else around the table seemed to have the same sentiments. Ben now had a good grip on Leo’s arm, and Chris looked about ready to restrain him if necessary. But as Kyle looked at Travis, he wondered if they were worried about the wrong person.

“There’s always a problem when he’s around,” Leo informed Travis.

“Really?” Travis replied, his voice deceptively calm. “Seems to me the only jackass causing a problem is you.”

“Excuse me?” Leo demanded. He seemed about ready to rise up out of his chair, but Travis sat back calmly in his and crossed his arms.

“Jackass,” Travis repeated. “You. So shut the fuck up.” He successfully brought a tense silence to the table, knowing full well that Leo was suddenly doing his best to restrain himself. Likely, because Chris was eyeing him again. Travis had no desire to provoke him further, but couldn’t seem to help continuing as he nodded in Dennis’s direction, still eyeing Leo. “He might be okay taking your shit, but he’s being nice. I’m not, and I don’t care if you think you could knock the shit out of me all the way to the next life, he’s not taking your shit when I’m sitting right here.”

“Are you threatening me?” Leo asked, looking as if he wanted to laugh at the notion.

“Sounds like, doesn’t it?” Travis responded easily.

“Okay, no one’s threatening anyone,” Ryan spoke up, reaching across the table to give a friendly squeeze to both his cousin and his roommate’s arm. He took on a serious expression, but the words he used were utterly ridiculous. “Travis, stop or I’ll eat everything you’ve got in the refrigerator. Leo... I’ll tell my mom on you.”

Leo scowled, Travis smirked, and Lacy Chapman was the first to let out a giggle. And Dennis stood up and left the table without a word. He’d paused as soon as he stood, probably as all the drinks hit him, but he didn’t seem impaired in the least when he walked away, and Travis frowned after him before he stood slowly, moving away himself after leaving Leo with one final glare. Kyle started to call after him, but Travis wasn’t hearing it. He was too busy fighting off the feeling that he’d done something wrong as he went after Dennis. In fact, he knew he’d done something wrong.

It had been a mistake to bring Dennis into a situation that he clearly didn’t like. Travis should have up and left with him the moment Leo started looking at him wrong. Instead, he’d let the situation play out and as a result his nose had firmly planted it somewhere that it didn’t belong. He figured Dennis would tell him so as soon as he caught up to him across the room and grabbed his shoulder. He was right.

Dennis had turned, obviously expecting to find Travis, and no one else behind him, and his tone was controlled and unarguable when he spoke. “Don’t ever defend me to him,” Dennis snapped. “Don’t defend me to anyone.”

Travis sighed. “He was being a dick.”

“And he has reason to be!” Dennis responded, leaving Travis to frown at him.

“So you just take it?”

“Mostly I try to avoid it,” Dennis informed him, and tried to walk off again.

“Where are you going?” Travis asked, moving ahead to cut him off. “Look, I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s not,” Dennis agreed. “Get out of my way. Please,” he added, when Travis didn’t budge.

“If you wanna leave, I’ll go with you... unless you don’t want me to.”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Dennis said coldly. “Right now I need the bathroom. I don’t need your help in there.”

Travis frowned, and then pointed towards a smaller table, well away from the one they’d been at. “I’m gonna go sit over there. Will you come find me? I wanna talk to you. We don’t have to stay here. Please.”

Dennis frowned, and then only said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Travis let him go this time, feeling skeptical that he’d see him again tonight if he went to that table. He went anyway, deciding to give Dennis the space he obviously wanted. Travis might have felt some responsibility towards his bad mood, but most of the blame he was willing to give to Leo, and realized that he needed a few minutes to calm down over that himself.

Travis sat at the table. He didn’t watch the restrooms. It was up to Dennis to find him, if that’s what he wanted. Travis hoped he would, though. As he recalled, it hadn’t been the easiest task--getting on good terms with the youngest Gordon. The sudden worry in the pit of his stomach suggested that he’d miss it if it all went away over something as stupid as this. That’s exactly why he wanted to talk to Dennis. Maybe Travis had no right being in his business--he sure hated it when people did that to him--but now that he’d firmly put himself in it, he would have liked to know why Leo Sader hated Dennis so much, and why Dennis thought that was okay.

For a while Travis became distracted as he realized that the band wasn’t retaking the stage after the auction. Chris had found a comedian, and people were beginning to sit down for the show. Owen announced it, and while he was on stage he’d noticed Travis, though Travis didn’t realize it until Owen Dovan was suddenly standing in front of his table, looking at him oddly.

“Everything okay?”

Travis looked up into the blond’s blue eyes, and suddenly wanted to tell him that Leo Sader was a jerk. “Yeah. Fine.”

“Really?” Owen asked, and nodded towards the table that his brother and the rest of his friends occupied. “Then why does Leo wanna kick your ass?”

Travis actually laughed at that as Owen took a seat turned towards him. “Is that guy always so...”

“No,” Owen said quickly, and Travis got the feeling that he meant it. “Leo’s one of the nicest people I know... he just... has a hard time letting things go. He makes friends for life... he makes enemies for life, too. Maybe you should apologize.”

Travis raised an eyebrow at that. “Do you even know what I’d be apologizing for?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

Owen studied him for a moment, and then took on a knowing look. “It was Dennis.”

“Yeah...” Travis started, and then stopped himself. He wanted to ask Owen about what was going on between Dennis and Leo, but was quick to decide that he’d rather hear the whole story from Dennis--if he was willing to explain, that is. “Anyway, let’s forget it... You’ve been busy tonight.”

Owen smiled. “Yeah. It’s been a good night--thanks for helping out. I’m really glad you came.”

Travis shrugged. “That’s no problem. Most of it was fun. I heard the speed dating was particularly interesting.”

“Ryan liked it,” Owen commented.

Travis nodded in agreement. “That he did.”

“So how late are you sticking around?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Travis replied, glancing back towards the restrooms. He couldn’t help it, wondering if Dennis had already left.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Owen said, drawing back his attention. “You know when you told me I should surprise Aiden? Like, that’s what he wanted?”

“Yeah. Why? Did you try it?”

Owen sighed, looking thoughtful for a moment. “No. Actually...”

“You’re letting him go?” Travis asked, a little surprised. He’d figured those two would have worked things out by now. To his way of thinking, they needed to either fuck like rabbits, or kill each other. The look on Owen’s face suggested neither would happen.

“It’s like I said, I don’t like who I am lately. I’m making some changes.”

Travis nodded. “Good for you, I guess. So what did you wanna know?”

“Do you think it’s just Aiden who likes to be surprised, or all guys?”

Travis grinned, suddenly leaning forward like an old woman ready for a juicy piece of gossip. “Why? You got someone in mind?”

Owen opened his mouth to reply, but something stopped him as his expression grew serious. A little too serious. Travis was slow to recognize it, and when he finally did, it sure as hell took him by surprise. Owen Dovan was attractive to begin with. Certainly not the kind of guy who seemed to send off the fuck-me vibe without even meaning to; not like Aiden. But Owen, when he meant business, Travis realized, it was probably much too hard to turn him down. The cute blond with the winning smile had, in an unexpected turn of events, developed smoldering, direct eyes that were likely to burn anyone who got too close, and Travis only realized that he was the victim of all this attention a little too late.

Owen tasted like fruit punch, and that was the only warning he had to the fact that Owen’s mouth was on his. His lips were soft, but not at all hesitant, and when he pulled back, he looked so satisfied with himself that Travis wanted to slap him on the back with admiration. He also wanted to run like hell. Fortunately, Owen Dovan made that unnecessary as he stood, meaning to go himself. “I’ll see you later,” was all he said, and all Travis could do was watch him go, his lips still slightly parted in bemusement. He lost focus on Owen, however, along with the confusion running through his mind as his eyes suddenly came into contact with the green ones connected to the shadow standing over his table.

Dennis Gordon was shaking his head. He looked annoyed. Very annoyed. Not jealous, Travis couldn’t bother hoping for that. Not from Dennis, who crossed his arms and released a well-it-is-what-it-is sort of breath and finally bothered to say, “What did you do?”