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Eric sighs just as dramatically. “I don’t know. He hasn’t responded to any of my advances either.”
“Advances?” Zoey asks with betrayal and a gasp. “You’ve tried?”
“I gave him my number. Twice.”
Carter laughs softly, feeling more normal than he’s felt in a long fucking time. “Twice?”
“Um? Because he might have lost the first one?”
“Oh my god, Eric,” Zoey says with a laugh.
They all laugh with her, even Eric.
And then -
Oh god…
And then Carter sees who they’ve been talking about. Who they must be talking about. Who - even if they’re not talking about him - is still the most noteworthy person in the entire place.
“That fucker.”
Casey jolts, eyebrows going high. “Woah - who are-”
But Carter is already out of his seat and storming across the bar.
Travis slumps back and takes his hat off, running a hand through his hair and sighing as Carter approaches him. If he wasn’t so angry, he’d let himself appreciate the view of Travis in a ball cap – which is a sexy one, if anyone wondered – but he refuses to let the thought bounce around in his head.
When Carter reaches the man, he’s so pissed that all he can think to say is, “You fucker.”
“I know.” The skin around Travis’s eyes pulls tight. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“What are you-” Carter stops, turning to look over his shoulder at the table of his new - and old - friends. Thankfully, it looks like Casey is keeping them from coming over to investigate, though Zoey looks very close to coming anyway. Carter takes a step closer to the table before looking back at Travis and trying again. “What are you doing here?”
Travis winces. “I’m being really fucking creepy and watching you.”
“I - you - well, okay.” Carter laughs, a little thrown off by the honesty. “Just… watching me?”
“Maison told me you got this job and I just - I wanted to see it. See you. Being… free.”
"And you ruined it."
Carter hadn't meant to say it. He hadn't even been thinking it, really.
But there it is.
The look on Travis's face is awful. Carter can't decide if he feels smug or guilty about that.
"I'll go. I'm going." Travis stands up, pulling his hat back on and tugging his wallet out of his pocket. He slaps down a stack of bills and gives Carter a guilty smile that leans more toward a grimace. "I won't come again."
And Carter almost lets that be it. He almost lets Travis leave. Almost allows him to not come back.
But then his hand reaches out and grabs Travis's sweatshirt, tugging until he turns back to look at him. The hope on Travis's face is heartbreaking. Especially since Carter can feel the same hope blooming inside himself. "Maison said there would be an update on Elliot. Do you know anything?"
It's a flimsy excuse. They both know it. Carter has been busy, so Casey has been doing the check-ins with Jake instead, but all he'd have to do is call - or even text - his brother and he'd have any possible update.
But Travis doesn't point that out. “We have a system to narrow down his possible buyers. Hopefully we’ll know soon who first purchased him, then we’ll see if they’re still who has him or if he’s been resold. We have a guy on the inside in Europe who’s trying to help, too.”
"Could he be…" dead? Carter can't say the word. Just thinking it burns like acid.
