"And it's not weird? Knowing that they've been in these same situations before, but you haven't?"

"When you lost your virginity, was the guy you were with also a virgin?"

Kylie didn't even have to think about that one. "No, he wasn't."

"Did it bother you that you were giving up your virginity to a man who'd been with other people?"

"No, but it's not the same thing."

"No? Sure sounds like the same thing," Sierra said, the inflection of her tone never wavering. She was calm and incredibly sweet, and it was obvious she was trying to give Kylie some sort of message here.

"The men you're with have pasts, just like you do. Gage happens to be friends with a woman he's been intimate with. But Zoey happens to be married to a guy she loves who happens to be Travis' brother. There's nothing you can do to change who they were before."

Hearing Sierra use Gage's and Travis' names made her heart hurt. The few days she'd been separated from them hadn't helped to ease any of the pain either. In fact, the longer she was away from them, the worse it seemed to get.

"I don't want to change them," Kylie retorted.

"But you'd like to erase their pasts, right? At least, the part where they experienced something that you had no clue about?"

'No, that's..." God that was exactly what she'd been doing. Kylie had been so selfish that she walked away from Travis and Gage because of what they'd done before her. And the worst part of it, she walked away without giving them any explanations.

"Now, I'm not here to tell you how to live your life, but I want you to know that you aren't the only woman who has been in your situation. I've lived it and like I said, I love Luke and Cole very much, and we have a daughter together. We've had some bumps along the way, but we're solid. It has never been easy, nor do I expect it to always be.

"And just like you said, although it is relatively the same thing as when you lost your virginity to a man who wasn't a virgin, you still can't compare your unique relationship to a traditional one. Things will be different. It's expected," Sierra reached over and put her hand on Kylie's. "But when you love them as much as you do, it's totally worth it."

Kylie stared down at the small, soft hand resting on top of hers. The tears came, and no matter how hard she tried to stop them, they wouldn't listen. She tried to keep her sobs to herself, but the pain overwhelmed her and she couldn't hold it in any longer.

She was the one who brought this on herself. She'd not only hurt herself, but she hurt the two men she loved more than anything in the world.

"Where's Sierra?" Travis asked Luke when he dropped into the seat across from him at a huge table at the back of the diner. He ordered a coffee when the waitress passed by, then looked at Luke as he waited for an answer.

"She'll be here in a few minutes."

"How's the baby?"

"Perfect as ever," Luke said and his whole face lit up as he answered.

When it appeared Luke wasn't going to initiate further conversation, Travis figured he'd fill the silence. "What business did you have down here?"

"Needed to talk to a friend," Luke said. "His family's worried about him, and they thought it might help if I talked to him."

The hair on the back of Travis' neck stood on end. It was a warning because as soon as the feeling came on, he looked up to see Gage and Cole heading their way.

"Sierra's not coming, is she?" Travis asked Luke, feeling blindsided.

"She's here. She's talking to someone at the moment," Luke explained as Cole sat down beside him. Gage took the seat beside Travis, and it felt as though the four of them were facing off.

No one could ever accuse Travis of being stupid and he was getting pissed that Luke would think he could pull one over on him. "What the hell is going on?" Travis barked, trying to keep his voice low so as not to alert the entire restaurant. Leaning forward, he pinned Luke with a glare as it dawned on him what Luke said. "Fuck, I'm the friend you needed to talk to, that it? Since when did we become friends, McCoy?"

Luke leaned forward, his eyes glowing with the same frustration currently lighting Travis up from the inside. "Since we went into business together," Luke stated matter-of-factly. "And for the next few minutes, you're going to sit here and act civil. You can thank me later."

"Thank you? For what? Interfering when your advice isn't needed?"

"That's what you think," Cole interjected.

The four men sat back as the waitress set four coffee mugs and a carafe on the table before shuffling off. Travis didn't blame her, the tension at the table could be cut with a knife.

"Enlighten me then," Travis told the two men when they were alone once again. "You here to save the world?"

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Cole and Luke were there. They were the only people Travis knew personally who were in the same sort of relationship that he had been. Then again, that was where they differed. Travis was no longer in that sort of relationship, so their advice wasn't going to help them much.

"Dear Abbey I'm not," Luke said as he poured coffee for himself and then Cole before passing the carafe to the other side of the table. Gage didn't say a word, but his body language said he didn't appreciate the way these two men were inserting themselves in their lives when they knew nothing about what was going on.

"That's for damn sure," Cole joked, resting his forearms on the table and looking far more laid back than Travis had ever seen him.

"Shut it," Luke told Cole, but the smile on his face belied his caustic remark.

"I think it all comes down to one thing," Luke said as he leaned back in his chair, his hands wrapped around the coffee cup steaming on the table in front of him.

"What's that?" Travis asked.

"You two love her?"

You could've heard a pin drop as the table fell silent. Travis didn't say a word and neither did Gage. Luke didn't look at all intimidated by their nonresponses either.

"How 'bout each other?"

Nothing again.

"That's what I figured."

Travis bit his tongue to keep from making a snide remark. Although he didn't appreciate Luke's interference, especially right now, he still had to work with the guy in the future, and he knew that blowing up at him wasn't in his best interest.

"Ok, so I'll give you an easier one," Luke grinned and the smirk pissed Travis off more.

"Why haven't you told each other yet?"

"Man, you're seriously starting to piss me off," Travis said, his voice barely heard above the clang of silverware against plates that echoed throughout.

"Good. It means you're alive," he retorted.

What the fuck was wrong with all these people today? Sawyer hadn't said a single word to him which was worse than if he had. Then Braydon confronted him, offering up his unsolicited opinions. And now, Luke and Cole were sitting him down like he was a child and needed a lesson in how to make a relationship work.

Travis was just about to give them both a piece of his mind when something caught his eyes. Or rather someone.

Kylie.

Oh, God. She looked so beautiful, and she was coming toward them. Sierra was walking along beside her, her face expressionless. That's when Travis noticed that Kylie had been no, she was crying. He pushed to his feet, sending his chair over backward and without thinking he walked right up to her and pulled her into his arms.

"Oh, God, Travis. I'm so sorry," Kylie sobbed against his chest.

Travis pressed his lips against the top of her head as Gage walked around to his side. Without hesitating, Gage put his arms around her too. Kylie released one arm from around Travis and wrapped it around Gage, her face still buried in Travis' shirt. She trembled as she cried, and Travis' heart broke again.

He met Sierra's eyes over the top of Kylie's head, and she gave him a small smile. This was the reason they were there. Luke, Cole, and Sierra had come down to help Kylie. Luke and Cole had been a distraction. The real conversation had been between the two women.

When Kylie pulled back a couple of minutes later, wiping her eyes with the heels of her hands, she turned to face Sierra.

"If you ever want to talk, call me. And I'm serious, you guys should come visit the new club. Anytime you want," Sierra said as she hugged Kylie as though they were long lost friends.

"Or better yet, hang out at the resort if it ever opens," Luke joked.

Travis mouthed a "Fuck you" to Luke and got a one finger salute in return.

"Look, we do need to get back to Dallas," Luke said as he pulled Sierra up against him.

"Oh, and Gage, if you're interested in a job, I know this resort who needs a security team. I heard that the owner was actually thinking about hiring an out of work cop to manage things for him."

Gage flipped his gaze to Travis', his eyebrow going up in question.

Hmmm. Did he fail to mention that to Gage?

Travis and Luke had talked about Gage managing the resort shortly after they found out he was undercover. Since he was a friend of the family, Travis had wanted to bring him on if he was interested. He just never got around to discussing it yet.

"Thanks, I'll have to talk to the guy," Gage told Cole as they shook hands.

Luke slapped Travis on the back and leaned down close to his ear, "Whatever you do, don't fuck this up."

Travis laughed. "Pot. Kettle, right?"

"Damn straight."

Chapter Fifty.

After Luke, Cole and Sierra made their exit, the three of them stuck around long enough for Travis to drop cash on the table to cover the coffee and that was it.

Now, as Gage stood on his front porch, he watched Kylie's truck pull down the driveway with Travis at the wheel. Because they had all arrived at the diner in separate vehicles, and neither of them wanted Kylie to drive when she was so upset, Travis decided to leave his, and he called Kaleb and asked him to get it when he could.

Gage felt a wave of deja vu. Kylie was suddenly back in their lives after what felt like forever and a day, but had only been less than a week. The only difference now was Kylie was coming to see them on her own. For once, neither Travis nor Gage had interfered. And now Gage was ready to have that conversation they should've had before this all happened. The one that might've prevented any of the suffering that they'd had to go through to get here.

Gage walked out to the truck and opened Kylie's door for her, taking her hand in his as they headed into the air conditioned house. June was in full swing, and now that the storms weren't blowing in cooler air, it was downright uncomfortable to be outside for more than a few minutes.

Once inside, Gage led her to the living room and let her crawl up onto the couch. He watched as she kept her eyes down and curled her feet up beneath her. She looked so broken, and he had to fight the urge to want to pull her into her arms and tell her everything would be ok.

As much as he wanted that to be the case, they still had to talk.

"Need anything?" Travis asked Kylie, and when she shook her head, he sat on the couch beside her, but not too close.

Gage sat down beside Travis. For some reason, he felt as though he needed to keep some distance between him and Kylie. She'd hurt him and the throbbing ache was still alive in his chest, even if seeing her was the closest he'd come to any sort of relief in several days.

"For the record, we had no idea they were going to do that," Travis told Kylie as he crossed one leg over the opposite knee and reclined back into the couch.

"I know."

"Do you?" he asked, his temper rearing its ugly head.

Kylie met his gaze head on. "I do. I talked to Sierra, and I think they did it because Zoey asked them to." At the mention of Zoey's name, Kylie looked at Gage, but he didn't say anything.

What could he say? It wasn't like he could change the past, no matter what Kylie wanted.

"I owe you an apology," she told Gage. "I was so shocked to find out that you had been with her..." Her words died off.

"We know this is new to you, Kylie," Gage began, unsure where he was even going with this. "And maybe we should've told you that we had a history with this sort of thing. For me, because nothing I've ever experienced came even close to this," he said as he waved his hand to encompass the three of them, "I didn't even consider the subject relevant."

"So, it is different from when you were with her?" Kylie sounded surprised.

Gage glanced between the Travis and Kylie. If he was going to lay it all on the line, now was his opportunity. He could tell them he loved them and be done with it. Whatever their reaction, he'd have to live with it.

When he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out.

"It's a lot different," Travis said calmly, speaking directly to Kylie. "Like I told you before, until you, I had never loved anyone. And until Gage, I hadn't loved anyone after you."

Gage was staring at Kylie as Travis spoke. When the last words came out, he jerked his head in Travis direction. Gage's heart skipped a beat. Maybe two. He stared at Travis, replaying what he'd just said over in his mind, trying to figure out if he'd misinterpreted it. When Travis turned to meet his gaze, he knew he hadn't.

"I should have told you before," Travis said, his voice low. "I've spent the last three days trying to come up with the way to say the words, but I chickened out."

Gage couldn't say anything at all.

"And I should've told you, too," Kylie added. "Both of you." She angled her body on the couch to face Travis more fully and said, "I loved you the very first day I met you. I spent ten years hoping I'd stop loving you. The day Gage took me to see you, I realized it hadn't worked."

The room was so quiet, the only sound was the air coming through the vents from the air conditioner.

"And Gage, I fell in love with you before you brought Travis back into my life. The day you came to my house, and we made love for the first time, I knew I'd never stop loving you. No matter how badly you hurt me."

"I'm sorry," Gage said automatically.

"I'm not," Kylie added. "I didn't like it at the time, but if you hadn't dug around in Travis' past and found me, we wouldn't be here. And I don't even know exactly where we are at this point, but I can tell you, I..." Kylie stopped as a sob tore from her chest.