“Oh shit,” Cam said. He swung around and caught Lia in his arms as she stormed into the circle.
Travis’s fists clenched in his gloves. He wanted to be the one to hold her. Fuck, he wanted them both to hold her.
He moved in next to them and pushed the hair that had slipped from her ponytail behind her ear.
Cam’s eyes shot to Travis’s, but instead of being pissed, he looked upset.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re stopping, don’t worry,” Cam said, trying to calm her.
Lia shoved away from them both.
“Don’t worry? Don’t freaking worry? Are you serious?” She slammed a hand on each of their chests and looked from Travis to Cam and back again. “I don’t know what you think you’re proving here, but consider it over.”
Travis’s lips tugged with a smile. He felt like the last hazy filter that had clung to Lia had been ripped away. She was standing there, thrumming with life—and seemingly oblivious to the guys standing around them. Travis couldn’t help but stoke her emotions higher.
“Calm down, baby. No harm, no foul.”
Travis could’ve sworn that every man in the circle—and the sole woman—groaned. But he’d broken the cardinal rule—never tell a woman to calm down when she was pissed—on purpose. He’d lit the fuse with intent to watch her burn as brightly as she could.
“Calm down?” Lia’s attention swung to him, and her hand dropped off Cam’s chest. “You two are acting like I’m something you can fight over and win, and you want me to calm down?”
Cam laid a hand on Lia’s shoulder and squeezed. “Let’s take this somewhere less public.” Travis was only partly surprised when Cam’s eyes met his and held. “All three of us.”
“Fine,” Lia said, spinning and heading back to the wall. “I don’t want the rest of the guys to hear what I have to say to you, so we can definitely do this in private.” Her words were tossed over her shoulder as she stalked away, worn jeans clinging to her lusciously rounded ass.
Travis was still grinning at the feisty side of Lia that had come out full force when Cam punched him in the shoulder. “What the fuck are you smiling about? You just lost.”
Travis shook his head. “Fuck no, brother. We both just won.”
Cam frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You’ll find out. Just … promise me you’ll keep an open mind. Come on. Let’s not make her wait.”
Lia seethed over the ridiculousness of what she’d just seen. They were so damn adolescent. Boys fighting over her like she was some kind of prize. Lia stomped back to the corrugated metal wall and pushed open the heavy porthole-style door. Footsteps crunched behind her. Good. At least they followed directions.
She went straight to her cabin and stood by the door. Erica was still outside the wall, and knowing what she knew, she’d keep her distance from their cabin.
Cam and Travis walked side-by-side, heading in her direction. She studied both men—Cam with his dark brown hair, curling over his ears. In another life, she’d been a hair stylist, but those days were long gone. Now, she looked forward to the times when Cam and Travis let her cut their hair. Allison handled all the others. Travis’s coppery brown hair was now short? so Lia buzzed it almost every other week to keep it the length he liked it. He could’ve gone three, but Lia was pretty sure that his more frequent-than-necessary haircuts were because he liked how she massaged his head and neck. It was one small service she could offer in exchange for the roof over her head and the food in her belly.
They closed in on the cabin, and Lia stepped back, holding the door open.
“You sure you want to do this here?” Cam asked, looking uncomfortable as he stepped inside the obviously feminine space.
“My turf seems about right since you two decided I was worth starting a fight over.”
“Lia—” he started, but broke off.
“What? No explanation?” She looked from one to the other. “One of you is going to tell me what the hell you were thinking.”
Travis stepped closer and cupped her cheek. His possessive gesture—in front of the man he’d just been willing to go toe-to-toe with over her—sent shivers coasting down her spine.
Her eyes darted to Cam, and his frown made it abundantly clear that he didn’t like the move at all.
“What makes you think you’re not worth fighting for? Because I’m here to tell you that you’re worth more than a fight. You’re worth everything.”
His words slid through her and settled somewhere in the melted puddle that used to be her heart. He lowered his hand, but the heat of his palm on her cheek remained.
“What was the point of all that?” she asked quietly.
“Lia, we need to talk,” Cam said.
She raised her hand to stop him. “I … I think it’s my turn to talk.” Grabbing all the courage she possessed with both metaphorical hands, she plowed forward. “I’m not broken. I mean, maybe I am, but I don’t want you to think of me that way anymore.”