“Princess, quit complaining. They are shelf-stable, they last a long time and even though they may not taste the best, they are nutritious and an acceptable store in a house only meant for emergencies.”
I nodded. “Fine.”
We opened our packs and ate silently. The food was hardly delicious, but as he said, it would sustain us, so that was all that mattered. Beggars can’t be choosers and all that. Once we were done, he led us to the bedrooms upstairs. He pointed out the bathroom on the way. There were two bedrooms, across the hall from each other. They were identical, with the same layout and furniture in each. Kait went in the room on the right. “This is the one I usually sleep in. David, you can sleep in here with me tonight. Travis, it’s your night to stay with Evalia. I don’t have extra clothes here, although if you want to borrow a t-shirt to sleep in, Princess, I do have that.”
I nodded. I really didn’t want to sleep in my clothes if I was going to have to wear them again tomorrow. He dug in a cabinet, and threw a plain white undershirt at me. “That’s the best I have. I am going to step out the back door and give Janelle a call. I will arrange to meet her somewhere tomorrow to pick up the groceries, so we don’t have to keep eating MRE’s.” He smirked at me. I just stared back blandly. I wasn’t going to be ashamed of my picky eating in this case.
Travis spoke up. “Kait, can I go with you? I’d like to call Sarah.”
He nodded.
As usual, my brain was throwing out worst case scenarios, so I asked about one of them. “Kait, where does the doorway open to? I mean, you said earth, but is it close enough to where we started that we have to worry about them attacking you guys?”
“It comes out in Russia, on a back alley in Moscow. It’s not the safest place, but it is one of the last places the Svikari will look for me.”
“Oh! I would love to do some sight-seeing there! The architecture is beautiful in Moscow.”
David gave me a funny look. “I thought you didn’t care about architecture?”
I put on a haughty look. “I’m not as much of a country bumpkin as you seem to think. I like to look at pretty buildings. I don’t care about the math and science behind it, but the buildings are gorgeous, and the history is amazing.”
David laughed and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. “I love you, Sugar.”
“I love you, too, David.” I glanced around at Travis and Kait, who were frozen. Oh shit. “I love you guys, too, you know.”
Kait smiled. “We know, Princess.”
Travis smiled too, but it looked forced. David and Kait both kissed my cheek and David went to his room. Kait and Travis walked away, I assume to go make the calls they talked about. I went to another room and took my shoes off. A few minutes later, Travis came back in and started getting ready for bed. For some reason, I was incredibly nervous, but I couldn’t figure out why. When I looked over at him, it was apparent that something was bothering him.
“What’s the matter, Travis?” I walked over while I was speaking and put my arms around him.
He sighed into my hair as he wrapped me up in his arms. “You couldn’t see David’s face. When you said ‘I love you’ to David, he looked at me, and he was gloating. When you added that you love us, too, he looked lost. It bothers me that it bothers him so much. I don’t want to lose my best friend. He is pulling away from me, and I can’t figure out how to stop it.”
It felt like my heart was breaking. I didn’t want to be the one to break up their friendship. David had sworn to me that he wouldn’t leave me, but it was quickly becoming apparent that he was not able to handle the current way the relationship was set up. My breath hitched as I struggled not to cry. “Travis, I don’t want to cause a strain on your friendship. I love you both and can’t see living without either of you. But I don’t want David to resent you either.”
His arms tightened on me. “I know, Babe. I just don’t know what to do.”
I jumped when I heard the door close behind me. “Why don’t you talk about it with me, then?” David’s voice was bitter.
“David! We were just…”
“I know what you were discussing. Neither of you had your mental blocks up. I heard everything.” He glared at Travis for a minute, then added, “Everything, Travis.”
Travis blanched and stepped away from me. It made me wonder what he had been thinking. It didn’t seem like it could be good.
I put a hand out. “David, what can we do, what can I do, to make this easier on you? I need all three of you.”
He prowled up to me, pinning me against the bed. Oddly enough, I felt my body warm. He was sexy when he was mad. He snorted. “Really, Sugar?” I felt myself turn red. He turned to Travis but didn’t step away. “I’m not mad at you. Not at either of you. I understand that you need all of us, Sugar. I told you that I needed time.” He paused and looked away, running his hands through his hair. He seemed to be debating something in his mind. Then, he glanced back at me, his eyes swirling. “Kait gave me an idea that I want to test.” Travis looked surprised for a minute, then raised an eyebrow and shrugged. David leaned in close
