Chapter Fifteen

Jaron wrung his hands as Travis parked his truck in Gloria's driveway but didn't shut off the engine. Tension hung in the air, pulling tighter the longer they sat there, waiting for the other to speak. Or maybe Travis waited for Jaron to get out of the truck. Maybe dating was off the table since Travis had seen just how difficult dating a man was in Pickleville. God, Jaron didn't know.

Jaron sighed and took off his seatbelt. When he reached for the door handle, Travis stopped him with a hand on his arm. Jaron looked at that hand, watching as Travis rubbed circles around the shirt fabric with his thumb. When he met Travis' gaze, he knew right away he pegged the tension wrong.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

Oh God, there went Jaron's heart. The tension disappeared, and Jaron slid across the seat, getting as close to Travis as he could. The center console stopped him from moving in even further.

Jaron cupped Travis' cheek. "I thought you were gonna kill him."

"As long as you're not scared of me."

"No. I'm not."

"I wouldn't have. Just wanted to make sure he knew not to come near you." Travis released his arm and slid his hand around Jaron's waist. "That wasn't the first time Brad's pissed me off. He's an asshole when he drinks sometimes, and he drinks a lot. He has family issues and uses alcohol to forget. Just want him to remember, even when he's shitfaced, what will happen if he comes near you again."

"You know him pretty well, huh?"

"I knew we'd have issues and I know we still will."

"I hope you don't fight again." Jaron ran his thumb over the bruise just starting to bloom below Travis' right eye. A bloody cut ran across the top of the bruise, but Jaron didn't touch it. "Come inside and let me clean you up."

Travis nodded and smiled. He took Jaron's hand, pulling it away from his cheek and held onto it briefly before letting him go again. He shut off the engine and pocketed his keys before getting out of the truck.

Jaron followed suit, taking Travis' hand in his own. It took him a second to get the door's lock open. The whole time he worked to open it, Travis stood behind him with his hands around Jaron's waist.

Their body heat mingled. Jaron leaned against Travis with his hand around the doorknob. "You make me feel safe." He hadn't felt safe since Tracy's death. Even moving to Pickleville hadn't helped that because Pickleville had never truly been safe. The situations with Elmer and Brad drove that home, but he had more allies than bullies. "It's unexpected."

Travis kissed him on his cheek. "I have your back. You can count on that."

Jaron turned the knob and led Travis over to the kitchen table. He pushed Travis down into one of the chairs. "I'll be right back." He whispered the words, not wanting to wake up Gloria or Bobby.

He checked on Bobby first. Bobby was a little lump under the covers, his blond hair the only thing Jaron saw. He didn't want to wake him up, so he pulled the door closed, leaving it open a crack.

He gathered what he needed from the bathroom and took it back into the kitchen. He placed it on the table beside Travis before putting some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. "This will burn. Sorry. It's all we had."

Travis let Jaron tilt his head to the side. "Won't hurt as bad as Brad's punch."

Jaron smiled. "No. Probably not." He bent down, dabbing at the cut with the soaked cotton ball.

Travis hissed and jerked back.

Jaron blew on it as he dabbed, trying to relieve the sting. "Just a little more and then we're done." He didn't pay attention to any other part of Travis but the cut. He threw away the cotton ball before coming back to him.

Travis wrapped an arm around Jaron's waist and reeled him in like a big fish.

Jaron smiled and straddled Travis' lap, knowing that's what he wanted. He grabbed the antibiotic ointment and put some on the tip of his fingers before applying it to the cut.

Travis jerked again but otherwise didn't make a move or protest.

When he finished, he wiped his fingers on the washcloths he had brought out with everything else and tried to stand, but Travis held him in place. He put the washcloth back on the table and smiled, meeting Travis' gaze. "I need to get you some ice for the swelling."

"It'll keep." Travis looked at him as if he were the only other person in the world. His whole face softened, and his eyes sparkled with something that went beyond lust. Travis was every romantic movie ever made.

Jaron couldn't help the heat from creeping into his face. He couldn't meet Travis' gaze.

Travis tilted Jaron's chin up when he averted his gaze. "What?"

Jaron smiled. "You."

"What did I do?"

"Let's just say, I completely understand why so many girls in our class drooled over you."

"Meaning."

"Meaning you're hard to resist, sir."

"That's funny. I was thinking the same thing about you."

Jaron leaned forward and kissed Travis, first on his bruise before moving to his lips. He kept the kiss gentle and didn't try to make demands. The kiss was meant to soothe some of the tension building between them. He wanted to take the edge off the burn. Nothing more. All the kiss did was fan the flame.

Travis worked his tongue around the rim of Jaron's lips, opening him up.

Jaron allowed him access. Whether Travis broke his heart or not was irrelevant. He waved the white flag and became a prisoner to whatever came next. Breaking away from the kiss, he was a little breathless, and a lot hard. "You are very good at kissing."

Travis smiled. "So are you." He pulled Jaron closer until their chests connected. Pressing his cheek against Jaron's, he took a deep breath, taking in Jaron's scent as if he needed to memorize it.

It wasn't until his mom entered the kitchen that either of them moved.

Jaron sat up and moved off Travis' lap even as he watched her get a cup from the cabinet and filled it with tap water. She drank from it and then put it on the counter beside her.

His mom turned and leaned against the counter, looking from Jaron to Travis and back again. She gave him the mom glare right before she spoke. "I expected you home later than this. You don't intend to have sex in my house, do you?"

Oh, God. If the floor opened and swallowed him whole, he would count it as a blessing. "No. I brought him inside to clean up his face."

Mom came off the counter and tilted Travis' face up to get a better look at the cut. "What happened?"

"Got into a fight, Ms. McAllister." Travis let her search his wound, and when she poked at the swelling around his cheekbone, he let her do that too.

"Get a freezer bag and fill it with ice, Jaron. Then grab a clean cloth from the bathroom."

Jaron smiled and obeyed her, getting a plastic bag from the drawer.

"Does you two snuggling up on each other have anything to do with the fight?"

"Yes, ma'am." Travis' politeness was cute.

Jaron put ice in the bag.

Mom focused on Travis' gaze. "You defended my son?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She smiled. "I hoped you kicked the other guy's ass."

"If I'm honest, ma'am, Brad's a better fighter. He didn't try that hard."

"You sent a message. That's the important thing."

"I agree."

Mom held out her hand for the ice pack, and Jaron handed it to her. She placed it on Travis' cheek and held it there. "Go get that cloth, Jaron."

Jaron shook his head but walked out of the room. He had just rounded the corner when he heard his mom speak again. "My Jaron has a good head on his shoulders and doesn't need you derailing him. If you're not serious about him, then you need to head out the door right now."

"My intentions are honorable."

"Then you can spend the night in Bobby's room." His mom had never said anything like that about him before. She certainly hadn't given anyone the protective parent talk.

Jaron sucked in a breath, his hand going to his chest when the ache set in. He hadn't been sure he made the right move when he came back home, not until he heard his mother's side of the conversation.