torched// kayce dutton

4

"Only when I drink"

Kayce reached his hand out towards me, silently asking for a puff. I handed it over to him, our fingers brushing against one another.

"I didn't know you smoked" I huffed, my tone filled with sarcasm.

"Only after a shitty day" Kayce replied, breathing in the smoke.

I hummed in response, I wondered to myself what could have been so bad but one look at his face told me everything I needed to know. He had a look of defeat on his face, whatever had gone down when dropping Tate off it couldn't have been good.

"Wanna make it a little less shitty?"

"And how do I do that?" Kayce asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Come inside the bunkhouse, have a beer and let me beat your ass at poker." I said simply.

Kayce looked conflicted at the offer, he glanced away from the bunkhouse. "I think I might just head back to my cabin."

"And what're you gonna do there? Sit around being alone and sad?" I challenged.

He looked surprised at my outburst. But alcohol made me pushy and it was the truth, isolating himself would only make himself feel worse.

"I thought we already had our heart-to-heart about living in the moment?" I said with a mischievous smile and slight puppy dog eyes.

"Oh fuck off" Kayce huffed with no heat behind it. He shifted from one foot to the other, trying to make his mind up."Okay, fine but I'm only committing to one round." He decided as he fought to keep a smile off his face.

At his agreement, a bright smile spread across my lips. I stomped out my cigarette and motioned for Kayce to follow me.

"I'll introduce you to everyone."

"Gabby, I've known most of these people my entire life."

I turned quickly towards Kayce, hushing him into silence. "Let me have my moment."

I beamed a smile at him and opened the door. Kayce followed closely behind me, shaking his head at me.

As we walked into the large room, the party seemed to pause for a moment as everyone tried to gauge why Kayce was here. As he nodded to them, they all went back to their previous tasks.

Kayce pulled up a chair to join the game, as I walked to the fridge retrieving two beers. I handed his to him and walked over to my own seat.

As I sat down and started looking at my cards, I felt an intense gaze on me. I lifted my head to find Rip sending daggers my way with a 'what the fuck' expression on his features.

I looked over to Kayce who was in the middle of conversing with Lloyd about god knows what.

I shifted my gaze back to Rip and shrugged my shoulders. He didn't seem satisfied with that response and leaned over Jimmy who was seated between us. I spared him a glance and he looked like he had already picked up on Rip and I's vibes and wanted to be anywhere else.

"What in the flying fuck is he doing here, Gabby?" Rip whisper yelled to me.

"I saw him outside and thought I'd be nice" I whispered back, smiling sheepishly at him.

"Being nice huh," Rip nodded his head, letting out a slight humorless laugh, "Well when this whatever the fuck y'all got going on implodes. I'll try to remember that, to be nice." Rip went to sit back in his seat.

"There's nothing going on, Jesus Rip, I heard you before okay? I promise ain't shit going on."

With that Rip nodded, seeming satisfied with my response. "Okay, I'll trust your word, but if you fuck me on this you're done here." Rip lended back into his own space.