Was it so fucking wrong that he wanted a little more from the two of them? Looking back, he knew he had been the third from the beginning, and taking the chance on this relationship was something he didn’t regret, but he couldn’t help but feel there was something more. Something he wasn’t getting.
He loved Sierra. Loved her to the point of distraction. He wanted to hold her every second of every day. He loved seeing her sleepy, sexy face every morning when he woke up. And his heart tumbled over itself when he saw her holding Hannah.
Then there was Luke. The man held a part of him that Cole would never be able to explain even to himself. He had been in love with Luke for years, yet he had kept it to himself because Luke hadn’t been ready to accept the fact that he wanted something more than he was admitting to.
Cole feared that he longed for something more from Luke for the simple fact that he wasn’t getting it now. With Sierra, he didn’t question how she felt about him, although they had some difficulty in making this a threesome in the relative sense. It was almost as though they were separate couples. Luke still held himself back a little and Cole felt it. He didn’t like it, but he felt it nonetheless.
Grabbing his phone and the small bag he had packed, Cole decided he might as well go into the hotel. The reservations were made, and he just needed to check in. Then maybe he could sleep for a while. He wouldn’t see Jake or Nate until tomorrow because he hadn’t told anyone he was heading down early.
Maybe he could go by and see Travis and check out what they’d done on the resort thus far. He knew it was coming along quickly. Travis Walker wasn’t a man to procrastinate, and he was staying on top of the contractors, ensuring they were doing things the way he wanted. Even though Travis was the type of man who seemed to have everything under control, Cole was glad he didn’t work for him. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to contain his temper quite as well as he usually did. Which even he would admit was less and less these days.
Once inside, he checked in, trying to be polite to the pleasant young woman who seemed to be starved for attention. He wasn’t in the mood to talk, but somehow, with a smile, he managed to get through the ten minutes it took for her to handle the process. As he made his way up to his room on the third floor so he wouldn’t have the interruption of anyone being above him – a gesture made by the lonely woman at the front desk – he couldn’t get away from his thoughts.
He felt like a dick for hanging up on Luke, but the man’s threats had finally pushed him past his limits. It was one thing for Luke to be angry that he disappeared without a word, a decision he still questioned but realized it was too late to change the outcome now. It was something entirely different for Luke to threaten to call Alex. He couldn’t help but feel like a recalcitrant child when Luke acted like that and Cole was as far from being a child as anyone possibly could be.
Once inside the less than spectacular hotel room, Cole placed his bag on the floor by the bed and then collapsed on the king sized bed that filled up most of the room. Staring up at the ceiling, he thought back to what had gotten him to this place.
During the drive down, he’d accepted the fact that he overreacted by disappearing in the middle of the night. He’d been upset, he wouldn’t deny it. At least not to himself.
The fact that Sierra and Luke were both so immersed in themselves had him feeling a little lonely. Not that he’d made the situation any better by leaving, but he knew if he didn’t walk out the door, he’d only miss his daughter that much more and hearing that Sierra didn’t want to come with him and bring the baby had been a knife wound to his heart that still throbbed.
He understood. At least he tried to.
They didn’t need to be traipsing across the state with a two month old baby, but Cole hadn’t had a choice in coming to Austin. He might’ve told Alex that he was done, but he couldn’t leave the man hanging. It wasn’t in his nature. He would handle this last assignment and then he’d figure out what to do next.
He knew what he wanted to do. Now he just had to wonder whether the offer was still on the table.
~~*~~
Luke hated the drive from Dallas to Austin. He hated the traffic, hated the long expanse of two lane highway that felt endless at times.
As he pulled into the hotel parking lot three hours later in the small town of Coyote Ridge, he let out a brief sigh of relief. Cole’s truck was there which meant at least he wouldn’t have to go looking for him. He was too fucking tired to chase the man down.
Grabbing his phone, he sent Cole a text, asking what his room number was. He didn’t expect to get an answer quite so quickly, and he was surprised that Cole didn’t question him when he sent the text back. Without responding, Luke walked into the hotel and headed right for the elevator, not bothering to make eye contact with the woman sitting at the desk.