Forsaking Truth (20 page)

Colin seemed down and
Tristan tried to keep conversation going with Sheilagh to give him and Kelly
privacy as
they whispered back and forth. Finn and
Erin were another strange couple. They looked good together, but that was it.
Erin was always in a pissy mood and the group of them rarely acknowledged her.
She and Finn had dated since high school and everyone beli
eved they’d eventually marry. It was odd that Samantha, who
just showed up a few days ago, seemed to fit in better than Erin who’d been
around longer than him.

They drank and laughed and told stories.
It was a peaceful night, the kind Tristan liked. He lo
ved
this family and couldn’t imagine how dull his life would have been without
them.

Snagging Luke’s gaze
across the flames that licked into the black sky, he tipped up the corner of
his mouth and winked. Luke winked back and Tristan savored the realizati
on that life was pretty good.

A while later Colin
stood and announced he was calling it a night. Tristan wasn’t really paying
attention, but he turned at Colin’s offer to take Sammy home so Bray could
stay.

The whole thing was
casual, but there was someth
ing strange happening.
Sam was there as Bray’s girlfriend, but for some reason Tristan had an easier
time seeing her with a guy like Colin. But that couldn’t happen. Colin was
three months from becoming a priest, something he’d wanted to do since he was a
teenager, according to Luke.

He shook off his
suspicions and went back to whatever the rest of the group was laughing about.
All in all it had been a fantastic weekend. Summer had officially begun and
once Ryan’s family was gone on vacation, Tristan and Lu
ke would get a change of scenery.

They decided to take
the following Friday off for a little them time. Friday morning, they’d been
packing up the truck with supplies for a day on the boat, just the two of them,
when all hell broke loose.

The do
or to the big house whipped open and Colin stormed out.
McCulloughs were always loud and rowdy, but never Colin. Luke frowned at
Tristan who was loading the cooler into the truck bed. Colin marched into the
yard and let out a frustrated roar.

“What the fuc
k?” Luke muttered under his breath, confusion clear on his
face.

“Should you go talk to
him?”

Before Luke could
answer, Kelly came out of the house and walked straight to Colin. They watched
from the barn as the two talked. Kelly appeared calm, but Colin
was anything but.

Tristan stood, unsure
what to do as their voices carried. Their words weren’t clear enough to make
out, but the two brothers were definitely arguing.

The door swung open again and Braydon
stormed out, a dark scowl on his face. Luke’s po
sture
tensed. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Maybe
you should go see,” Tristan suggested under his breath so their presence
remained unobtrusive.

Bray marched directly
to Colin. “Yo, Colin! I need to have a word with you.” He didn’t stop until
he was in Colin’s face, hands on his chest, shoving him
hard. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I think you should go
over there,” Tristan said. “This is bad.”

Luke took a step
forward as Bray shouted, “I ought to kick your sorry ass! What the fu
ck did you think would happen? It would all just go away?”
No one ever talked to Colin like that.

Kelly said something
and Bray turned and snapped, “Stay out of it.”

Tristan watched as
Kelly stiffened. Things were getting ugly. “Fuck you, Bray. And fuck y
ou too, Colin.”

Braydon turned back to
Colin and pushed him again. “She’s up there about to cry, and it’s all your
fault.”

“Shit,” Tristan
cursed. “Go break them up before they kill each other, Luke. This isn’t good.”
He knew he saw something the other ni
ght he shouldn’t
have. He wasn’t sure what happened, but this definitely had to do with
Samantha.

Luke walked over to
the three of them, but kept his distance. If anything actually shook down he
was the muscle capable of putting a stop to it. They continu
ed to argue. Things were chaotic and they each shouted over
the other. Luke closed in like a jungle cat prepared to pounce at any moment.

Braydon shoved Colin a
third time. “You had no right to play with a girl like her knowing you were
never going to chan
ge your plans! She fucking loves
you, asshole. And you're so God damn pigheaded you’re going to let her go so
you can go play monk and take vows of poverty and celibacy and any other
sacrifice that makes your pompous ass feel more like a righteous martyr.”

What happened next was
something Tristan never expected to see. Colin turned on Braydon, his arm
snapping back with shocking speed, fist tight, and slammed a jab square in
Bray’s face.

“Holy shit,” Tristan
hissed and absolute mayhem erupted.

Punches flew
and the sickening whack of knuckles collided with flesh.
Kelly dove into the melee just a second before Luke ran at the group, shouting
and ripping them all apart.

“What the bloody fuck
is going on?” Luke roared, gripping Colin and Bray by the scruff of th
eir necks.

Colin’s shoulders
heaved as he glared at Bray who had blood smeared from his nose to his cheek.
Kelly swaggered back a few feet appearing completely unharmed.

“What the fuck?” Luke
shouted again.

“Sorry,” Colin said to
the three of them.

“What
the hell happened?” Luke demanded.

“Nothing,” Braydon
snapped, averting his gaze as he wiped his face on his shirt.

Luke cut his hard
glare to Kelly who held up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I was dragged into
this.”

Colin turned on his
heel and stormed o
ff. What the hell happened? As he
marched toward the woods, he passed Tristan standing by the truck and he
snapped, “If you’re looking for Luke, he’s that way.”

Bray threw up his
hands, got in his car and took off. That left Kelly. When the coast was clear
, Tristan slowly walked over to them. “What was that all
about?”

“Nothin’,” Kelly said,
shaking out the grass in his hair. “Sammy had an anxiety attack and apparently
her and Bray aren’t all they’re chalked up to be.”

Luke frowned. “What’s
Colin got to do
with it?”

“Everything,” Kelly
said.

“Whoa. What are you
saying?” Luke asked. “He’s making his vows in August.”

“Exactly,” Kelly said,
his irritation clear. “I’m gonna go check on Sam. Two fucking men sniffing
around her and they both take off like pussies
when
she needs them.”

Kelly headed back to
the house and Tristan looked at Luke. “Colin and Sammy?”

Luke shook his head as
if it simply didn’t compute. “No. That’s impossible. He’s gonna be a priest and
she’s Bray’s girlfriend. Colin wouldn’t do that.”

“I’
m of the belief that people can shock the shit out of you
when it comes to love,” Tristan said.

Luke caught his
meaningful look. “True. Let’s get out of here. I need a break from all the
crazy hospitality.”

The day on the lake
was the escape they needed. They brought rods to fish, but ended up simply
lounging in the sun as the boat floated calmly over the lake. They talked about
what happened that morning and neither of them could make a bit of sense out of
i
t. It was impossible to imagine Colin as anything
but a priest.

The following weeks
rolled by with little drama compared to how explosive the summer had started.
Samantha eventually went back to wherever she lived and Braydon apparently
moved on. Colin bu
ried himself in community service
for the church and everyone was chugging along as usual.

Finn and Erin broke
up, but got back together two weeks later, which was the norm. Kelly was
booking new bands at the pub where everyone frequently passed time. And
Sheilagh had been accepted into three top-notch colleges,
each one offering her a full scholarship. She had her pick of the litter, but
had yet to decide.

There wasn’t anything
spectacular that happened, but Tristan recognized those warm months as the best
time of his life. He’d never been more settled or content.
He and Luke rarely fought. Sure they argued, but they’d learned how to talk
things through without letting their emotions take the lead. They discussed
their feelings easily and every heart to hea
rt
confirmed Luke was the only man for him.

He wanted to marry
Luke, but that wasn’t an option. Still, he sometimes daydreamed about
committing their lives to one another in front of those they loved. He didn’t
know if they’d ever get there or if Luke want
ed such
things, but it was a private fantasy Tristan entertained often.

Early August was hot.
The days at the lumberyard were brutal and their nights usually resulted in
laying around in the air conditioning at the house. Ryan’s family would be back
from t
he Outer Banks soon and Tristan was sad to let
their little haven at the empty house go. He liked having Luke there, in his
bed, around his things.

They’d each hinted
around a desire to live together, but both seemed to think it was too soon.
Tristan would
do it in a heartbeat, but that would
definitely lead to questions and explanations would be necessary, explanations
Luke was not ready to give.

They talked about
setting up the guest room at the barn and saying they were simply roommates,
but Tristan did
n’t like that idea. They could carry
that lie forever. It would be too easy for Luke to go on acting like they were
never anything more than roommates. Tristan was selfish enough to say no,
hoping that eventually they’d come clean with the McCulloughs and
be able to live, as they wanted, openly, with no lies.

It was the last
weekend before Ryan’s family returned and they decided to spend it locked away
from the world at the quiet house. They had a peaceful dinner, watched some
television, and relaxed, leavi
ng the rest of the
world behind.

Luke snuggled into the
crook of his arm and sighed. Tristan pressed his lips to his hair. “Tired?”

“No. Just comfortable.
This is nice.”

It was nice. Even
though they had Luke’s place, they were always conscious of others
nearby. He ran his fingers over Luke’s arm and burrowed
closer. “I had a nice day with you.”

Luke turned and smiled
at him. “Me too.” Their gazes held as he slowly leaned over and placed his lips
to his. “Wanna go to bed?”

Tristan ran his tongue
over those
full lips. “Yes, but I don’t want to
sleep.” His hand traveled over Luke’s chest to the crotch of his jeans. He
rubbed and Luke stretched back on the couch, giving him room.

Tristan lowered
himself to the floor and glanced shyly up at Luke as he undid his
pants. Luke got comfortable, reclining on the couch and
watched as Tristan slowly withdrew his cock.

Leaning forward,
Tristan licked over the tip and slowly took him to the back of his throat.
There was no rush. They had all the time in the world. He wor
ked his mouth over Luke’s flesh as he sighed with pleasure,
softly running his hands through Tristan’s hair.

Tristan leaned back
and pulled Luke’s jeans all the way off.

“Take yours off too,”
he rasped and Tristan did as he said.

They lay on the floor,
ha
nds pulling, caressing, mouths kissing, and soon
they were twisted on top of each other, each pleasuring the other with their
mouth. Tristan’s body arched as Luke sucked him with long, slow strokes of his
tongue.

It was languid and
sensual and divine. He
loved the soft tease of Luke’s
hair at his thighs. When they were each close, things became a bit hasty. Luke
pulled at Tristan’s sack, causing him to moan, long and hard as he deep
throated Luke’s cock.