“Yeah? Well, I thought so, too. Then what’d she do? Ignored us for ten months and then hopped right into bed with us only to haul ass when things got too hot.”
Kaden hated that Keegan was attempting to cheapen what they’d shared, but he knew his brother and he knew there was only one reason he would do that. Had it been a run-of-the-mill experience, Keegan would’ve looked back on it fondly, brought it up a few times before it died a natural death. Something along the lines of:Hey, remember that hot chick we had sandwiched between us? What was her name? Eh. Doesn’t matter. Damn, but I liked the way she screamed.Or:What was that girl’s name? We should look her up again, see if she wants to get nekkid.
That was what Keegan did. The encounters they had with women weren’t exactly memorable, but they weren’t forgettable, either. Except that was exactly what Keegan was doing with Bristol. Putting her in the past as though he needed her to stay there.
Kaden never knew what to expect from Keegan, but he wasn’t all that surprised that his brother had written Bristol off. In a way, he understood his reasons, even though he couldn’t bring himself to do the same.
That night with her had sealed his fate. It might take time, but he had every intention of getting in her good graces once again and convincing her that, despite evidence to the contrary, they weren’t jackasses. And he fully intended to do so with Keegan at his side. They had vowed never to let a woman come between them, and Kaden wasn’t about to start now.
But that didn’t mean he had to give up the one woman who made sense in their lives, the one he could see a real future with. Bristol was different from Kim or Meredith. Kaden had never been as into them as he’d tried to be, because deep down, he had known they weren’t fully on board with the idea of living a life with two men. He had a feeling Bristol saw them as a whole, not as individuals. Which was something else they would have to deal with when the time was right, but first he had to get the three of them back to where they were.
Sooner rather than later would be nice, but Kaden was purposely holding off. No one knew Keegan better than he did, and if he were to move too quickly, it would only set Keegan off. But he wasn’t an idiot. He knew Keegan’s attitude problem was directly related to that night. More accurately, to what he’d realized that night: that he had feelings for Bristol.
Only something intense and emotional could get Keegan to react in such a rude manner, especially with a woman. Kaden had to suspect his brother was as in love with Bristol as he was.
Question was: would Keegan accept it?
Bigger question: could they convince Bristol?
*
“What are you workin’ on?”
Travis looked up from his computer screen, watching as Kylie stepped into his home office. His wife looked tired and perhaps a bit stressed, something he’d noticed was happening quite frequently as of late. He figured he was to blame for some of it, thanks to his obsession with finding Juliet Prince.
“Research.” He closed his laptop, pushed back from his desk, and patted his knee, using the distraction as a way of escaping himself for a little while. “Come here.”
Kylie strolled over, brushing her hair back from her face before settling on his lap, her head instantly dropping to his shoulder.
“We missed you yesterday,” she said softly.
Travis grunted. He didn’t know what to say to that. He’d gone and done the one thing he promised himself he wouldn’t. He had allowed something else to keep him from his family. He’d managed all these years not to get sidetracked by his business, and here he was, letting some crazy bitch throw him off his game. Unfortunately, he had the feeling it was going to get worse before it got better.
“I finally got Avery down,” Kylie added when he didn’t say anything.
“She still runnin’ a fever?”
“Right at a hundred. Doc said it’s an ear infection.” She sighed. “I was so scared she was gonna tell me it was strep, and I’d wake up tomorrow to find out the rest of ’em had it.”
Travis brushed her forehead with his lips. They’d been through this numerous times before. Both ear infections and strep throat tended to run their course through the kiddos nearly every time one of them came down with them. And it had only been a few days ago when Haden had been running a fever.
“Antibiotics?” he asked.
“Yep. Hopefully she’ll sleep through the night.”
“Well, you let me and Gage worry about that.”
“I don’t think I have a choice,” she said with a yawn. “I’m so tired.” She shifted. “How’d Kate do today?”
Travis relaxed into his chair, curling his arm around her. “Better. I dropped her with Ethan and Beau for a bit. They made her the honorary babysitter. She spent a couple of hours bein’ the boss.”
“She gets that from you,” Kylie said with a chuckle. “Wantin’ to be the boss.”
Yes, she did. And like him, she was good at it.
“She had a good time with Kaden and Keegan, too,” Kylie continued. “They took her to McDonald’s. Stayed with her the entire time.” Kylie laughed. “You should hear Kate tell how Keegan was climbin’ all through that indoor playscape. Guy’s a nut.”
He was. But Keegan was damn good with kids, and Travis was grateful the twins were there for Kate when she needed them.
