Devotion (Club Destiny #5)(54)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Granted, he recognized that this wasn’t the traditional relationship and considering Sierra was raised by a single mother, Cole had had loving, but not overly doting parents, and Luke had been raised by his grandfather for the most part, none of them truly knew what a real relationship was supposed to be like in the first place. On top of that, they had a daughter together. Initially, Luke thought Hannah was going to bring them all closer together, but for some reason, he felt as though they were all purposely putting a little distance in there somewhere. He knew he was partially responsible on that front as well.

Opening the French doors, Luke walked out onto the patio, and Cole turned his head to look at him. The sadness he had witnessed only seconds before was quickly masked, and Cole attempted a smile, although it fell flat.

“Nice night,” Luke said, moving around to perch on the corner of the retaining wall that surrounded the patio.

Cole didn’t respond, just nodded his head and then tipped his beer back.

“Want to talk?” Luke asked. The words sounded strange even to his own ears. He hadn’t been one to talk much when he met Sierra and Cole, but somewhere along the way, he’d learned how. No, he wasn’t the mushy type, and he kept most of his feelings to himself, but he was learning to be more open. At least with the two of them. Or at least he was trying.

“Nothing to talk about,” Cole stated firmly.

Damn, the man looked so vulnerable sitting there, his bare feet propped up on another chair, his jeans molded to his impressive thighs and his bare chest and ripped abs on full display. Luke couldn’t help but let his eyes wander over the various angles and planes that sculpted the most impressive physique he’d ever seen.

It was true, he might’ve taken a while to accept what he was feeling, but Luke was finding himself wanting more from Cole as each day passed. Or maybe he was finding he wanted to give more of himself to him.

Hell, who was he kidding? He wanted everything from Cole. They had pledged their love for one another and Luke knew that hadn’t changed, but he sometimes worried that their individual fears might possibly push them farther apart. It seemed to be happening already, and they weren’t but a year into this relationship.

“How’d it go with Alex?” Luke suspected part of Cole’s mood was related to the meeting he had with his boss earlier that day.

“Like usual.”

Luke didn’t know what that meant. If he had to guess, Cole was about to be off on the road again, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Part of him wanted to have a discussion with Alex personally and tell him that this needed to stop because Cole seemed to be away more than he was home these days. The other part of him knew it wasn’t his place to interfere with Cole’s job.

Instead of questioning him further, Luke turned slightly and faced the pool, hoping Cole would decide he wanted to talk. After several long minutes of silence, he realized it wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m gonna turn in,” Luke finally said, feeling his exhaustion overtake him suddenly. Sleep was critical if he expected to function tomorrow or any day after that. Who knew what Trent might throw at him then?

Cole nodded again, and Luke chose not to bother him. He didn’t hurry inside, hoping Cole would decide to join him. It was clear he wasn’t going to do as much, so Luke opted to give him some space.

A few minutes later, Luke was crawling into bed, spooning up against Sierra’s warm, pliant body. She murmured something, but didn’t wake completely, and Luke didn’t want to bother her. The last thing he remembered, before he drifted off, was looking over at Cole’s pillow and wondering what was going through his lover’s head.

~~*~~

Sierra woke before Luke or Cole the following morning. Before she opened her eyes, she listened to see if she could hear Hannah on the monitor.

All was silent.

Snuggling into Luke’s warm body at her back, she reached out to touch Cole, but found his spot on the bed empty. Her eyes flew open, and she noticed he wasn’t there. She also noticed that the blankets were still untouched on his side, which meant he never came to bed.

Luke mumbled as she tried to turn over, and when she managed to flip herself over, she noticed his eyes were open. “Where’s Cole?” she asked, suddenly worried.

“Don’t know,” he murmured before closing his eyes again.

“Did he come to bed last night?” she asked, knowing he hadn’t, but hoping Luke would wake up enough to tell her something.

“He was sitting outside when I got home.”

“Doing what?”

“Hell if I know,” he groaned as he rolled over.