Page 102 of Kylie

Now, as I stood beneath the spray in Travis and Gage’s bathroom—it still didn’t feel like I belonged there—I tried to clear my head. I was tired of obsessing over everything. Exhausted from picking apart every reaction, every look from my children, trying to figure out what they were thinking about the stranger in their house. And sadly, I was definitely a stranger to them. I could see it when they looked at me. They had questions, even if they had no idea how to voice them. In a way, it was good that they weren’t asking because I wasn’t sure I had answers.

Once the clean routine was completed, I got out and dried off before pulling on the T-shirt Gage had set out for me. Although I now had clothes thanks to Travis’s many Amazon purchases and Gage’s inability to toss out my belongings, I preferred to sleep in their T-shirts as I had back before…

I wondered whether I would ever stop splitting my existence into the before and after. At some point, surely I would find my footing and fit back into the life I’d missed for so long. I had to because I couldn’t keep going like this. Couldn’t keep tiptoeing around like I was a guest. And that was what I felt like. A guest.

Rather than go downstairs and interrupt their nightly routine, I crawled into the big bed that I once again shared with Travis and Gage. That part of it felt normal. At least once the lights were off. While they didn’t touch me the way they used to, didn’t seek pleasure from me as they had in the past, there was a familiarity to our sleeping pattern. Mostly. Back then, I rarely went to bed before them. Now, that was my only option because they seemed to want to give me space.

Curling up beneath the blankets, I rested my head on the pillow and stared at the bedroom door, wishing one or both of them would come in here, climb into this big, empty bed with me, and hold me until I fell asleep. While I was still adjusting to being in the company of so many people, I was comfortable with them in that regard. They had always made me feel safe. They still did.

But I wasn’t about to ask them to do that. I figured my mere presence was enough of a disruption. No sense in making it awkward.

I must’ve fallen asleep because I woke up as I rolled over, attempting to get comfortable. But there were no warm bodies in the bed to snuggle up to, no safety and security to be found in the form of Travis or Gage.

The clock on Travis’s nightstand read 11:47 p.m., which meant I’d slept for a couple of hours.

Curious as to why neither of them had joined me, I climbed out of bed to find out. I took a brief detour in the bathroom, then down the hall, noticing all the bedroom doors were closed. Now wanting to open them and risk waking a kid, I made my way downstairs. The house was dark, with the exception of a few nightlights plugged into outlets that illuminated my path. I stopped by the kitchen first, but found it empty. The same was the case with the living room, the television off. I went to Travis’s office next, but the door was locked, and there was no light bleeding through the blinds covering the French doors.

Hmm.

I stood in the foyer. Perhaps I’d missed them upstairs. More than once, Gage had fallen asleep in the rocking chair in Maddox’s room as he was waiting for him to settle. And I’d found Travis sprawled out on the floor of Avery’s room when she claimed she couldn’t sleep. They could very well be passed out⁠—

A soft sound coming from the direction of the guest room caught my attention.

I made my way to the door under the stairs, listening intently for more noises.

Well, I found them. Now the question was: did I interrupt or head upstairs and pretend I never woke up?

As I stood at the door, I could hear them talking, their voices soft and deep. What were they talking about? Me? Maybe they were chatting about how weird it was that I was back in their house after all this time? Or how I’d come along and disrupted their new normal?

My belly churned, not for the first time since I’d been at the house. While they were doing their best to treat me as though I was welcome, I couldn’t help but think I was disrupting their lives. And finding them here, hiding out in this room … that was proof.

I considered making my way upstairs, crawling into bed, and waiting for them to eventually come up there. But what if they didn’t want to? What if they preferred to sleep together? Without me?

I should’ve considered that before making myself comfortable in their bed. Maybe I should be the one sleeping down here in the guest room. They could share the big bed upstairs.

Swallowing, I rested my hand on the doorknob. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I knew they would be more comfortable upstairs.

There was a pause in the conversation.

Assuming they were going to sleep, I turned the knob and gently opened the door, peeking inside.

I swallowed a gasp when I saw Travis’s big body looming over Gage, his muscled arms propping him up, the smooth slope of his back erotically charged as the muscles bunched and rippled with every flex of his hips.

They definitely weren’t going to sleep.

“I want her with us,” Travis growled softly as he thrust his hips, his cock tunneling inside Gage.

A soft grunt was Gage’s response.

“I ache for her,” Travis mumbled. “I’ve missed her so fuckin’ much.”

He was talking about me while he was making love to Gage, and there was something intoxicating that came with that realization. It wasn’t enough to have me opening the door to join them, but it did help alleviate some of the doubt that had plagued me through the week.

Because I was intruding on their private moment, I gently closed the door, careful not to make a sound, before hurrying up the stairs and crawling back in bed. As I lay there, attempting to sleep, my thoughts were filled with images of them together. I had missed that so much. Missed being with them like that. I wasn’t sure I was supposed to want that intimacy this soon after coming home, but I did. I longed for it, in fact.

Anything that might help me settle the rough waters in this sea of chaos.

Gage