Desperate for Love

by Aliana James

  Alec

  Alec needed to get his act together. One look at the water cascading down Travis’s chest had him thinking thoughts he shouldn’t be thinking. Had he always looked that way?

  He never noticed the fine layer of hair on Travis’s chest, or the way his muscles moved when he walked. His abs. Good God. The way everything led his eyes to what lay under the towel.

  A glimpse, a quick one, was all he got before Travis noticed and covered himself. Damn, he hadn’t meant to stare but couldn’t help himself. It was one thing for Travis to agree to marry him, another thing entirely to agree to sleep with him.

  Besides wouldn’t that be all kinds of awkward? They’d been best friends for so long, each comparing notes on their own sex lives. He was sure Travis switched—didn’t mind it for the right partner. Alec’s own preferences differed. He loved to top and didn’t bottom after a horrible experience in college.

  His pressed the heel of his hand against his throbbing dick. Thoughts of wet abs, sex, and his hot husband… had him raring to go. A cold shower would help.

  “Hey. Ready to eat?” Travis breezed into the kitchen to open the fridge. A cold drink in his hand, he took a huge gulp and Alec watched mesmerized as he swallowed.

  Christ. He needed to get his shit together.

  The food was still hot, so all they dished it out and ate. Simple enough. Except there was Travis. In front of him, bending over to pick up a fork he dropped. He groaned.

  “You okay?”

  He picked up a fork and shoveled pasta into his mouth. When did he last get laid? They’d planned this so fast that, man, he wished he had time to get the edge off somewhere with someone. There was no way he’d last at this rate.

  But how? The five minutes of pleasure from a quickie wasn’t worth it if some idiot took a cell phone picture of him. Grandfather. His position at Bennett Industries. Travis. Sarah and Henry. This wasn’t about him anymore.

  “So I saw the Yankees made the playoffs,” Travis said.

  Baseball. He could talk baseball.

  “Yeah, I know, right? Must have been luck.”

  “Bullshit, you know their bullpen carried them all season. If they have any chance of winning a playoff game, it’ll be because of their pitching.

  “Basketball is starting up. I’m hoping to catch a Warriors game,” he said.

  “That would be cool. They have that guy who hits all the three-pointers.”

  He rolled his eyes, Travis never remembered player’s names.

  “Torrey. His name is Seth Torrey.”

  “Yeah, that’s him. I guess you were hungry.” Travis gestured to his empty plate. “Do you want anymore?”

  His eyes darted around the kitchen island then back to his plate. It sat empty. A cold piece of fabric grazed his leg as he stood.

  “I need to get out of these clothes.”

  Travis nodded. “I have to go see Tyler. That was my Mom on the phone.”

  He saw Sarah’s name on the screen and forgot to ask him if everything was okay.

  “What’s going on?”

  “They removed one of his drains and have him sitting up in bed.”

  “How is that possible with his leg?”

  “I asked the same thing. They have some special thing to hold it. I want to get up there before he gets tired and needs a nap.”

  Hey, he was an Army Ranger. He could do quick.

  “I’ll be ready in less than ten minutes.”

  Travis

  His parents were still visiting with Tyler when he and Alec entered the room. Tyler, back in bed, spoke to a nurse. For the first time since surgery, his complexion lost its pale color and his eyes were full of life.

  The rest of his body, legs propped up with a machine pumping to prevent clots and his broken arm rested on a pillow, not so much. Tyler’s eyes tracked Travis as he entered and he waited until the nurse left to say anything.

  “So…” Tyler looked from Travis to Alec. “You two have any news you’d like to share with the class?” Travis’s parents chuckled behind him.

  “Mom already spilled the beans, didn’t she?”

  Tyler smiled. “Yup, with photographic evidence.” He tilted his head and patted the bed with his good hand. Travis walked over to that side and perched himself on the edge. The last thing he needed to do was cause him any more pain.

  “We’re leaving sweetie.” His mom shooed Travis out of the way. She leaned in and gave Tyler a peck on the forehead.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “Love you too, Mom,” Tyler answered, his eyes on the doorway where their father stood. “Bye, Dad.”

  His father nodded in acknowledgment and walked out. He saw the hurt on Tyler’s face. What did he expect? He’d messed up and nearly gotten himself killed. Dad wouldn’t give him a medal. It amazed him that their father even came to the hospital; he suspected that was their mother’s doing.

  “And you.” She reached up and pulled him toward her for a kiss. “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Mom.”

  Alec moved to sit in the chair his father vacated, surprised when his mom stopped in front of him. He looked up and almost dropped his phone.

  She leaned in as he went to stand. Travis didn’t hear what she said. Alec gave her a wide smile, a kiss on her cheek, and she breezed out of the room with a wave.

  “So…you two?” Tyler asked.

  “Yup. How are you feeling?” Travis hadn’t had a moment to ask Tyler what happened Sunday morning or even Monday night. There was info he needed and discussing his marriage to Alec wasn’t important.

  “Changing the topic, bro? Nice. I’m okay. The pain is manageable, and they told me that the incision is healing.” Tyler reached for a cup and Travis slid the whole tray table closer to him.

  “Do you remember what happened Sunday morning?” he asked. Alec moved his chair closer to the bed.

  “The police were in here this morning asking the same thing. So was Kane. He was…persistent,” he replied between sips of water.

  Travis glared at Alec, who only shrugged in reply. Alec warned him that once he said ‘I do,’ he’d take care of things. And Kane, he guessed, fell under the heading of “things.”

  “Sorry to make you repeat yourself…”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tyler interrupted. “I thought two men were following me on the subway. Your stop came up first, so I hopped off and ran up the steps trying to shake them. But at the subway exit, there’s nothing but the street, nowhere to hide without being seen. They followed me so I ran, and they caught up to me before I made it to your building. That’s all I remember.”

  “You don’t remember what those guys looked like?” Alec asked. “Or even talking to me in the hallway that morning?”

  “No.”

  Tyler stared at the sheet in front of him and fiddled with it with his good hand. He recognized the gesture.

  “Hey.” He turned to Alec. “Can you get me some coffee from downstairs?”

  Alec nodded and patted Tyler’s good leg. “I’ll be back in a while.”

  He waited a minute before turning back to a grinning Tyler.

  “What?”

  “You two.” Tyler shifted in the bed. “He didn’t even ask you how you like your coffee.”

  “We’ve been friends forever.”

  “Dude, we’ve been brothers forever and I still can’t get your coffee order right.”

  “That’s true.” He hadn’t given it a second thought.

  “This is a surprise. I thought you were still hung up on Peter. Mom mentioned you’ve been seeing each other. I guess since you’ve been friends for so long, it didn’t matter that you were only dating for like what? Two minutes?” Tyler laughed at his own joke.

  An aide entered the room and spent some time rearranging Tyler’s bedding and changing his gown. He stepped out when she insisted.

  “Back to you, what’s going on?” He settled into the chair, his eyes locked on Tyler’s. This was his chance to
get information from him and he wasn’t wasting it.

  Tyler squirmed and rearranged his blanket over the sheet.

  “The bedding is perfect. Stop. Spill it.”

  Tyler pressed his lips into a line and sighed. “One of the guys who hit me worked for one of the loan sharks I owe.”

  “Loan shark? How do you owe a freaking loan shark?” he yelled.

  Tyler grimaced. “You need to keep your voice down in the hospital. I borrowed money to pay off someone and then I lost my job, so I borrowed money again to see if I could win at the poker tables. I may have promised the guy I could win.” The last bit came out so fast that Travis questioned everything he had heard. He couldn’t be that stupid.

  The late nights, the missed calls, the disappearances for long periods of time… it all made sense. His head told him Tyler was gambling again, but he didn’t want to believe it.

  “So to clarify, you owed a guy money, so you borrowed for another guy hoping to win enough money to pay both of them back? And you told them it was a guaranteed win? Is that correct?” He perched on the edge of his seat, close to Tyler’s bed. His voice projected calm, but inside, he churned. No wonder they wanted to kill him.

  “I get it. You’re pissed.”

  “Huh.” He wasn’t sure what was going on but he didn’t want to be in that hospital room any longer. There was still more to Tyler’s story to listen to, and that forced him to sit back in the chair.

  “What else do you remember?”

  “I did it for you.”

  “What?” His body shot out of the chair and he started to pace.

  “Wait, please, Travis. Listen for a minute.” Tyler shifted in the bed and he stopped.

  “Don’t do that. You’ll hurt something.”

  “Don’t leave. please. You’re mad. You have every right to be. I made a mess of my life and you had to clean it up. You went without sleep, you missed the Sullivan’s barbecue and you live for that, Peter broke up with you and it was because of me, because of the debt that you paid. I thought… I know it was stupid, but I thought maybe I could win some money and you wouldn’t have to work so much.”

  “Did you even have a job at the factory?”

  “Yes, I did. But…”

  “But what?”

  “I used my paychecks to gamble…”

  “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  “I was winning, Travis! I figured I’d get the whole thing and then present it to you… Ta-da, here’s all the money you borrowed… I wanted to do that. I thought I could.” Tyler adjusted his arm on the pillow. “The guy was counting cards. Cheated me out of the purse.”

  Travis ran his hands through his hair and closed his eyes.

  “You’ve done so much for me. I didn’t want you to have to do anything else.”

  Too late for that.

  “I even got a new job with a delivery service. I liked it too. The guys were nicer than the ones I worked with at the factory. Shit, I haven’t even told them what happened. Mom didn’t know what happened to my phone.” Tyler reached up and pressed the call button for the nurse.

  “We’ll get you a new one,” Alec’s voice spoke from behind him.

  He shifted to the side for Alec to pass and took the coffee he held out to him. Tyler’s face scrunched up in pain and he nodded at Alec.

  “Thanks. Congratulations, man.”

  Alec gave him a small smile but his eyes met Travis’s.

  “You okay?”

  “No.”

  A knock on the open door caused all of them to glance up at the same time. In the doorway stood Kane, all six feet of condescension and cockiness, with a scowl on his face. The scowl he noticed wasn’t for either Alec or himself but laser beam focused on Tyler.

  “You were doing better. You’re in pain. Have you taken anything?”

  Tyler grunted. “I’m fine, just uncomfortable. I pressed the call button.”

  Kane nodded at him and stalked out of the hospital room.

  “Tyler Andrews in Room 13-123, he’s uncomfortable and in pain. He needs some medicine,” Kane ordered.

  Alec raised his eyebrows at Travis and he shrugged. In all the time he knew Kane, he never gave a shit about how comfortable or uncomfortable a person might be. This was a new development. Tyler had weaseled his way under Kane’s skin like he did to everyone else in his life. The only one immune was their father.

  “We’ll see you soon.” He pushed off the wall and grabbed his coffee from the table.

  “Travis,” Tyler said and help his arm up. “I’m sorry. Please don’t leave.”

  Kane burst into the room and proceeded straight to the other side of the bed. The nurse entered with her eyebrows raised.

  “Mr. Andrews, on a level of one to ten with ten being the highest, what is your level of pain?” she asked.

  While everyone waited for Tyler to answer, he watched Kane. His eyes trailed over Tyler’s body as if at any minute the offending part causing the discomfort would make itself known.

  “It’s an eight.” Tyler closed his eyes and then opened them again.

  “You need to move, Travis, so she can give Tyler his medicine,” he growled.

  Holy shit.

  Alec chuckled as Travis moved out of the nurse’s way. She made quick work of giving him his medicine dosage and Kane visibly relaxed. He still stood close to the edge of Tyler’s bedside.

  “I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

  “Travis.”

  He reached over and gripped his brother’s hand. Even as pissed off as he was, he would never walk out without reassuring him.

  “I’m disappointed, Tyler, but I love you.” He glared at Kane. “Tell Kane what you told me so he can help.”

  “Travis, I’m sorry.”

  Tyler nodded and the tightness in his chest eased. He wanted to strangle Tyler; there wasn’t a doubt in his mind. Gambling was in his blood and he would gamble again. Tyler had to discuss his addiction, he needed real help. He married Alec so Tyler could get help.

  It was time to indulge in the perks of being a Bennett.

  “I know, Ty. Tell Kane everything.”

  He left and walked to the elevators without even glancing to see if Alec followed. His thoughts shifted around in his head and he tried to find a concise way to tell Alec Tyler’s story.

  Alec slid into the elevator behind him and met his eyes in the reflective doors. The doors opened on the next floor and it emptied except for them.

  “Are you okay?” Alec asked.

  “Stop asking me that.”

  He tried to process everything Tyler told him. How he basically took advantage of Travis, used him. And he damn well didn’t want to discuss his feelings with Alec when he wasn’t sure how to feel.

  They entered Alec’s apartment and Alec walked into the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of rum, poured them each a shot, and shoved one toward Travis. The burn was welcome as it drove away the chill.

  He reached for the bottle and Alec held it out of his reach.

  “One more. Getting plastered won’t help.”

  “Huh, you’re one to talk.” He grabbed the bottle and poured a shot. Before Alec reacted, he threw it back and poured another one.

  “Yeah, I know.” Alec rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. “I’m sorry I got hammered. I’m sure it wasn’t fun getting me back to your place.”

  “No, it wasn’t.” He sipped his drink and grinned. “I’m sure there’s a video of you crawling across the lobby on your hands and knees.”

  “Shit. Wow, I—”

  “Don’t apologize again. You’ve said sorry at least twenty times,” he interrupted as Alec gave him a small smile.

  “Okay, but you need to drink water, otherwise you’ll feel like shit tomorrow.” A bottle of water landed on the counter in front of him.

  “And don’t worry about Tyler. Kane will help him. And I’ll take care of the loan shark and whoever else he owes.”

  His eyes widened. “How did you
know…”

  “I sat outside the room for a few minutes so I heard everything. Sorry if that’s considered eavesdropping, but I didn’t want to interrupt and I didn’t want to be too far if you needed me.” Alec explained as he took out the leftovers from earlier.

  After he heated up the food, he dished up two plates with some of everything and handed one to Travis. The warmth of the rum settled his nerves, and he ate without thoughts warring with each other in his head.

  Alec collected the plates, and he cringed as Alec placed them in the dishwasher without rinsing them off. Travis would need time to get used to living together.

  “What time will you be up tomorrow? I want to get an early start.”

  “We agreed you’re moving in here, but there’s no rush.”

  “Won’t that look weird?” Knowing that he still had to pack up his apartment and move everything here bothered him.

  “I guess, but I can tell them we’re doing it next weekend if need be,” Alec said.

  “No, we scheduled the movers for tomorrow. I’d prefer to get it done.”

  Chapter Ten

  Travis

  “Tell me what to pack,” Alec said as he headed to the living room. He still needed to sort through the picture frames on the shelves and the books he wanted to take.

  Alec grabbed a box from the stack and assembled it, taped the bottom before he flipped it over, and grabbed the next one. “If you won’t tell me, I’m just going to grab something.”

  Box in hand, Alec grabbed a stack of books off of the shelf and placed them inside.

  “Wait, I need to sort through those,” Travis said.

  Alec paused and placed the box on the coffee table.

  “How about that stuff?” Alec gestured to the frames on the shelves. “The picture frames and stuff.”

  “I don’t plan on taking them. I need to take the pictures out of the frames.”

  “Get me a screwdriver and I’ll do that.” Alec answered, hands folded across his chest. He opened the cabinet under the television and pulled out a toolbox.