by Shannon West
As if in a direct, albeit negative response to his prayer, Emma Sutherland stepped out on the porch behind Spencer, her face as dark as a storm cloud and her eyes spitting fire. Thank you, God.
****
Hawke and Travis walked up to the porch. After one contemptuous look at Travis, Spencer directed all his attention to Hawke. “Hey, Hawke.”
Emma angled past him and grabbed Travis by the arm, pulling him up beside her on the porch before turning on Hawke. “Why in the hell are you harassing my son, Hawke Sutherland?”
“Harassing him? Damn it, Emma, I’m trying to save his life. Look at the condition he’s in!”
She pulled Travis closer to her side. “He looks fine to me. He’s had the flu, that’s all, so he’s still a little pale. He’s always been delicate.”
“Mama!” Spencer and Travis said together and then glared at each other. Spencer blew out a long breath. “Don’t tell lies for him, Mama. Can’t you see what kind of shape he’s in?” She made a snorting noise and pulled Travis’s head down on her shoulder. She was over six feet tall, and as strong as a woman half her age, so Travis probably couldn’t have easily gotten away if he’d tried.
“Thanks for bringing him home, Hawke,” Spencer said apologetically.
“No, problem,” Hawke said, his lips tight with anger. “I could have taken him to jail for DUI, but since we were this close to the house, I decided to just bring him on home. Another DUI and he’ll lose his license. Not that he wouldn’t deserve it. You need to chew his ass out, Emma, not baby him. He reeks of alcohol and marijuana.”
Travis pulled his head off his mother’s chest and tried manfully to get away, but she clung to him like a monkey to a cupcake. “You two know that I’m standing here, right?” Travis cried, still trying to fight her off. “I can hear you.”
Hawke laughed shortly and Spencer turned to Travis. “Just get your ass in the house, and thank God Hawke didn’t take you to jail.”
“Yeah, well, he still didn’t have to tow my car. I told him he could call you!”
Emma’s head snapped up, and she fixed a withering gaze on Hawke. “And how damn much is that going to cost? You might be made of money, Hawke Sutherland, but we have to work for a living!”
Hawke rolled his eyes and blew out a long-suffering breath.
“You know my boy is between jobs right now!” Emma cried.
“To be between jobs, you actually have to have had one at some point, Mama,” Spencer said softly, and Travis struggled again to get away from Emma, probably to tell Spencer what he thought of him too.
“Fuck you, Spencer,” he said in a voice muffled against Emma’s shoulder. “And the horse you rode in on!”
Hawke and Spencer looked at each other and Spencer shook his head. “You know, I never understood that expression. Why the hell would he want to fuck me or my horse?”
“Oh go to hell, Spencer!” Travis finally wrest himself out of his mother’s embrace and stomped in the house, slamming the door behind him. His mother gave Hawke one more evil glare before she followed him inside.
“Whew, I know that we’re not that much older than him, but he seems like such a spoiled brat to me,” Spencer said.
Hawke laughed. “Maybe we were, too, at that age, Spencer. We just choose not to remember it. Anyway, I’ve got to go. My shift is over and I want to get on home. Jace went to Huntsville today to check on taking some classes, and I want to see how that went.”
“Yeah, right. Still in the honeymoon phase, huh, Hawke?” he taunted.
Hawke smiled and said, “Jealous you don’t have anybody waiting on you at home?”
“Hell, no. You know that I don’t want to be tied down to one person. I like my freedom too much.”
“Mm-hm. Just you wait, bud. If the mating call hits you, there won’t be a damn thing you can do about it. It’s powerful stuff.” Spencer shivered and Hawke laughed, throwing up his hand in a wave as he walked back to his vehicle. “Good luck with your boy in there. Better go in and tell him a little bedtime story and tuck him in tight. Tomorrow’s the dark moon, and the way he’s been acting, things are liable to get rough.”
Spencer walked back into the house and straight toward Travis’s room. His brother was already lying across the bed, the pillow over his head as their mama fussed at him to take off his clothes and get under the covers. She never stopped talking long enough to get a full breath. Despite the way she’d defended him to Hawke, she was chewing him out now, and in no uncertain terms. Spencer noticed the door to his parents’ bedroom was firmly shut. His dad knew when to take cover. After all, he’d had a lot of experience over the years.
Spencer went into the kitchen to get something to eat, thinking about his little brother. He looked young and innocent, with his soft hair and his big moss-colored eyes, but what a joke that was. He was way too good-looking for his own good and always had been. If he’d been a girl, you would have called him beautiful, and Spencer wasn’t sure the word still didn’t apply.
He was tall and lean, almost deceptively so, because Spencer knew how strong he was. He had a shock of sandy colored hair shot through with platinum blond highlights. It was usually too long and continually falling across his eyes. Spencer had seen more than one person reach over to brush it back out of his face and watched his brother flirt outrageously with them when they did, whether they were male or female. Though with males—especially good looking males—he really laid it on thick. To top it all off, he was way too used to getting his own way. He should have been disciplined more as a child, but Spencer was afraid that it was too late now.
When Travis was a baby, he’d had rheumatic fever, and afterward the doctors noticed a heart murmur. It was only a mild one—an “innocent” heart murmur, they’d called it, and he’d since outgrown it, but their mother had acted as if the kid were an invalid ever since. Despite the doctor’s assurances that an innocent murmur was harmless, she made it her life’s work to see that her child wanted for nothing. Every little whimper that came out of his mouth elicited a response, and she sat and rocked him for hours on end in the hospital, as if he were at death’s door. When their dad remonstrated with her, she’d turned on him fiercely. “He has a heart condition,” she’d pronounce in stentorian tones, effectively bringing the argument to a close.
Not that she’d neglected Spencer—he got his own share of her smothering love, but poor Travis bore the brunt of it.
Actually, it wasn’t all his mom’s fault. Spencer figured that the whole family was to blame for how Travis had turned out. After having Spencer, his Mom had had several miscarriages, and his parents believed that Spencer would be their only child. Eventually, Travis was born when his brother was ten years old and they’d all doted on him, including Spencer.
Through the years, none of his family had been able to discipline him or deny him anything he wanted. Spencer included himself in the blame for how Travis had turned out and hoped that it wasn’t too late. He was going to have to talk to his parents about what they should do. His father would be easy, but Lord, he dreaded talking to his mother.
He hoped he’d have a chance to talk to his parents before Travis could worm his way into their mother’s good graces again. For such a strong woman, she was an absolute marshmallow around his brother and could be manipulated by him shamelessly. He smiled, thinking that he had done his own share of manipulating her himself. One thing was certain, she loved her boys—to a fault.
Spencer sat down at the table and waited for his mother to come back out of Travis’s room. She’d called him to come over earlier, when Travis hadn’t returned home at the time she thought he should, and now that Travis was here and safe, there really wasn’t any reason to stay. Of course, Hawke was right, he didn’t have anything or anyone waiting on him at home so he might as well spend the night now and make sure that Travis didn’t get back up and leave again. It would be just like him.
Chapter Two
Travis woke up feeling like hell. His hea
d ached and he had that dry, cotton-mouth he always had after drinking too much, but he didn’t feel disoriented anymore at least. There was no sound coming from his parents’ room, so they must have already left for work. Thank God for small favors.
After going to the bathroom to relieve himself, he rummaged around in his dresser until he found a pair of sweat pants. He slid them on and went in search of aspirin, water and food, in approximately that order.
Walking into the kitchen, he was startled to see Spencer rummaging in the refrigerator. “Shit, you scared me, Spencer. What the hell are you still here for? Where’s Mama and Dad?”
“They’ve already left for work, but I decided to stick around to talk to you. I wanted to make sure you didn’t get up and do something else stupid. You’ve been on a roll of stupid behavior for a while now.”
“Oh, hell, are you my keeper now?” Travis pushed past him and grabbed a bottle of juice from the refrigerator, turning it up and drinking in long gulps.
Spencer watched him broodingly. “No, but it sure seems like you need one.”
“Spencer, I’m not a baby anymore. I can take care of myself and make my own decisions.”
“Yeah, I can see how well you’ve done with that. If Hawke hadn’t been the one to stop you last night, you’d probably be sitting in jail right now.”
“Go to hell, Spencer.” Travis gave the insult without real heat. He’d always admired Spencer, though he tried to boss him way too much. He took his juice to the table and sat down.
“Trying to keep you out of trouble is hell, Travis. And just what do you think you’re doing going around with Holden MacKay?”
“If it’s any of your business, which it’s not, I like Holden. He’s fun to be with and he treats me like an adult, unlike everybody else in my family.” Travis burped and threw the container into the trash can.
“When you start acting like an adult, we’ll treat you like one.” Just then, a funny look popped onto Spencer’s face. “Oh, Jesus, Travis, you and him don’t like—have sex, do you?”
Startled, Travis looked at his brother with wide eyes. “You know, Spencer that really is none of your business.”
“Well, I know that the urge to have sex starts coming on pretty strong after your first shift and you’ve had a couple of shifts now.” He looked at him suspiciously. “Please God tell me, that Holden and you aren’t fooling around! He’s made no secret of his hatred for the Sutherlands. There’s absolutely no future with him.”
“No, we’re not fooling around, as you say, not that it’s any of your business. Well, maybe we are a little, but it’s only some of the Sutherlands he hates. He’s always been fine with me. Besides it seems to me that you’ve been able to handle the need for sex without any problems, and you’re a lot older than I am.”
Spencer glared at him. “I’m not that much older than you, and I guess that I’ve been lucky so far. I haven’t had any desire to settle down yet, which is good because I’m not ready for it.”
“At your age? When the hell are you going to be ready? Hawke’s as old as you and he found somebody. Anyway, how do you know that you aren’t going to get a mating call like Hawke did?”
Spencer shrugged. “Lord, Travis, I’m only twenty-eight. I’m not exactly on social security yet. Besides, they say that you’ll know when it hits you, but since I’ve never felt it, I have no idea. Hawke says that he knew the instant that Jace walked into his office. Hell, even before. He said he was looking out the window, saw him pull up and get out of his truck, and he just knew. Hawke said you can’t stand to be away from them, and there’s even a scent around them sometimes, if it’s a strong call.”
“Yeah, well, anyway my love life is none of your business.”
“All I know is, even if you’re just messing around with Holden, there’s going to be hell to pay. You know how Mama feels about the MacKays, and it won’t matter if you are her little baby boy. She’ll whip your ass.”
Travis sighed tiredly. “Why don’t you go home, Spencer? I’m fine now, and I don’t plan on going anywhere else today. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking about taking another nap before the shift tonight.”
“I hope you’re telling me the truth, because I do have a couple of things to do before I can actually go home and rest myself.”
“Okay, then just go, will you? I’m fine.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going, but you’d better behave yourself.”
Travis turned to go back to his bedroom. “Whatever.”
He was already back on his bed when he heard the front door closing behind his brother. He wasn’t really sleepy, he just needed to think—and get away from Spencer. He hated to admit it, but his brother was right. He needed to get up off his ass and get a job and his own place. Someday real soon. Maybe one day next week.
He yawned and got up again, drifting back into the living room to fall down in a big chair in front of the TV. Maybe he’d talk to his dad tonight about working in the hardware store here in town. Or tomorrow—whatever. No rush.
His dad owned a hardware store in Huntsville, though Spencer mostly ran things. He had one here in town too, but only opened it a couple of days a week. His father had talked to Travis about opening the store in town full time and letting him run that one, so that Spencer wouldn’t have to worry about it. Travis had been going to college then and hadn’t wanted to spare the time, but since he’d flunked out of school a few months before, he had nothing but time on his hands these days.
While he was lying there, mulling these plans over, he thought he heard something outside. He started to get up just as someone knocked softly on the door. That’s when he felt the weird tingle run all the way down his spine, making him shiver.
He had felt something like it earlier, when he was sitting in Hawke’s vehicle, after the tow truck arrived. As a matter of fact, it was around the time that Camron stopped to talk to him. He was too fucked up at the time to be able to remember it clearly until just now.
He shivered again and opened the door. Camron stood on the porch, and he was looking fine. Travis looked him up and down and felt his mouth go a little dry.
“Hey, Camron, what’s up?” Travis was trying to remain cool, but it was hard when he had this overpowering urge to wrap his arms around the man.
Travis noticed that Camron gave him an odd look. “Uh, Travis, I brought your keys by. I didn’t realize that I’d taken them with me till just before I closed the shop.” He held out the keys and Travis took them. Their hands brushed each other’s and both of them jumped. Travis could have sworn he saw a spark leap up between them. Must be static electricity.
“Thanks,” Travis said, his voice suddenly unsteady. “You want to come in for a few minutes? Have something to drink?” Travis realized that he really didn’t want Camron to leave. He looked up from under his eyelashes at him, instinctively flirting with the man. In the next instant, he realized what he was doing—Camron was well known for being straight. Travis would be lucky if Camron didn’t beat the shit out of him. He straightened up and brushed his hair out of his eyes. He touched his tongue to his dry lips and saw Camron watch him do it and then narrow his eyes.
“No, thanks. I need to get on home, but maybe some other time. Here’s my card if you need to get in touch with me about anything. It has my cell number on it.”
Travis couldn’t imagine any reason that he would need to get in touch with Camron, but he took the card and held onto it like a lifeline. Jesus, what was the matter with him? “Okay, thanks.” He couldn’t seem to get much volume in his voice. The words came out breathy and soft.
Camron gave him one more unreadable look and then turned away. Travis shut the door and walked back to his bedroom, still clutching the card. He sat down on the bed and opened the drawer of his bedside table, putting the card in there where it wouldn’t get lost. Hell, why should he care if it got lost? He had gone to school with Camron, after all. In all the years that they had known each other, Travis had never felt the ne
ed to call Camron and certainly the reverse was true.
He lay back on the bed, wondering why he had been so sorry to see Camron leave. Sorry, hell, it was gut wrenching, like he was losing something really important to him—something vital that he needed to live. His heart was beating wildly and his cock had started aching as soon as he had seen the other man standing at the door. Well, a little before that, actually, like when he felt that shiver just before he opened the door.
Travis rubbed a hand over his erection and closed his eyes. All he could see in his mind was Camron, tall and muscular, with dark brown hair cut short in that high and tight style he favored and those pretty hazel eyes. Yeah, hazel, that’s what you called them. Kinda green but not exactly. More gold colored. God, he was sex on a stick, but Travis had never reacted this way to him before. He couldn’t figure it out.
He found himself wondering what Camron’s body looked like naked now. When they had been on the team together, he had seen him several times in the shower and in the locker room, and his body was hot even back then. He used to sneak looks at him when he thought he wasn’t looking. It didn’t look like his body had changed much, just a little more muscular. He was maybe an inch taller than Travis and weighed a little more. He looked like a man who worked hard for a living. And there went his cock again, standing up and tenting his pants.
He yanked them off and lay spread-eagled on the bed, giving his dick some room. Then, he reached down and began stroking it slowly, picturing Camron’s face and body as he did, picturing Camron naked and hard. He let himself imagine that it was Camron’s hand on his shaft, squeezing it, stroking it, teasing the slit. A wave of longing swept over him like a tide, and he came uncontrollably. When the last of the little aftershocks shuddered through him, he gradually became aware that he’d come all over himself with his bedroom door standing wide open. Thank God he was home alone. He definitely had to talk to his father about a job so he could move the hell out of this house.
