Forsaking Truth (19 page)

“Does a bear shit in
the woods?” Finn shot back.

He shot Tristan a
glance and caught his quick nod that he wanted to join the others. “Sounds like
a plan,” Luke sai
d. He frowned when he saw Bray.
“Hey, where’s Samantha?”

His stupid brother
looked around as if just realizing she wasn’t there. Jen shot Luke an evil
glare for pointing out her absence.

Luke rolled his eyes.
“Better go find her.”

When they
arrived at O’Malley’s everyone was ready to let loose. Even
the aunts came out. His mum, Aunt Colleen, and Aunt Rosemarie wasted no time
getting pissed. Luke loved how Tristan looked at Aunt Rosemarie as a surrogate
mother since he didn’t really have paren
ts.

The women cackled,
regaling Tristan and Samantha with stories the rest of them had heard a hundred
times.

“He shot him right in
the arse, our daddy did!” Colleen laughed.

“It was not his bloody
arse,” Rosemarie objected. “It was his balls.” She leaned
close to Samantha and whispered, “I heard he only has one
left.”

Samantha blushed a
deep shade of red and Luke’s dad interjected. “You’ve all got it wrong. I’ve
got two balls! He shot and missed me, but I’d let him fill me with bullets if
it meant I still
got to marry his prettiest
daughter.” His dad smiled at his mum and she batted him away.

“Ah, now see. You’ve
gone and filled him full of whiskey and he’s already trying to get me knickers
off!” Maureen squeaked. “Frank! The children!”

Luke rolled his eye
s. That was his parents.

“Did your grandfather
really shoot your dad for eloping with your mother?” Sam asked. Poor little
mouse probably felt like she was in the loony bin.

Luke smiled and shook
his head. “Nah, he might of taken a swing at him for not mar
rying my mum right and proper in a church, but he never
shot him. The story gets more exaggerated every time it’s told.”

“You see,” Kelly cut
in, sliding Luke a fresh beer. “Our mum was seven years younger than our dad.
Our grandfather waited on the porch
of the house
until they returned from their honeymoon. Aimed his colt right between his legs
and pulled the trigger. It’s the God’s honest truth, love. I’ve seen the scar.”
His brother was so full of shit, but Samantha watched as Kelly stepped back and
poi
nted to his crotch. “On a McCullough that’s the
biggest target. We’re all hung well enough to make a Clydesdale jealous.”

“Jesus, Kelly, you’re
scaring the poor girl!” Luke reprimanded, but couldn’t stop laughing.

Braydon came up beside
Sam. “What are we
drinking?”

“Let’s do a car bomb,”
Finn suggested.

Luke looked for
Tristan who was still talking with the aunts. Kelly passed out pints of black
beer and the four brothers dropped in their shots, hooting as each glass was
emptied.

Tristan didn’t join
them
at the bar until the parents were making their
goodbyes. They moved to a large round table and more drinks and shots were
poured.

Tristan and Sheilagh
sat across from him and Luke continuously caught his sidelong glances. It was
hard, in mixed company, not
being able to talk as
much as they wanted or touch each other freely, but they’d gotten used to it.

Colin and Samantha
were at the bar. Probably because Braydon had once again forgotten he had a
guest to look after. Jen Miller was still there and taking t
urns hanging on Finn and Bray. She was such a twit.

When he glanced back
at Tristan he was leaning close to Sheilagh. He whispered something Luke
couldn’t make out and then she laughed. Tristan put his arm around her and
squeezed her shoulders, rocking her
from side to
side.

Luke frowned. He liked
that Tristan got along with all his siblings. Loved that they all seemed to
love Tristan. Sheilagh and Tristan had been close since he first moved to
Center County, but something about the way Sheilagh laughed had
Luke’s hackles rising.

His little sister had
turned eighteen and Luke had yet to see her bring home a boyfriend. He recalled
last summer when she mentioned liking someone, but he supposed that never
panned out.

Maybe she likes Tristan.

He tossed the
thought away. No. They were friends. Tristan looked at Shei
like a little sister. No one, aside from Ryan, knew Tristan was in a
relationship. They all assumed he was single. If she liked him, Tristan would
have said something. Sheilagh wasn’t shy about th
ings
like that. Was she?

As they continued to
whisper and laugh, Luke repetitiously studied them. There were little things he
suddenly noticed that he hadn’t seen before. Like when Tristan talked, Sheilagh
stared at his mouth, her motions suspended as if s
he
breathlessly hung on his every word.

Luke frowned.

His sister went to the
bar to get another soda. She returned and handed Tristan a fresh bottle of
beer, but she didn’t just hand it to him. She dangled it over his shoulder and
Tristan playfully traced
his fingers up her arm.

What the fuck?

Noticing other similar
gestures over the better part of an hour, Luke’s temper flared. He wasn’t sure
if he was pissed because that was his little sister or because he’d never
really seen Tristan flirt with a woman
before. This
was definitely flirting.

When Tristan pulled
the cherry out of her soda and fed it to her, Luke had seen enough. Abandoning
his beer, he walked to the front door and left.

The door of the bar
slammed behind him only to open a second later. The
lot was mostly filled with family cars and vacant of any patrons. He went to
his truck parked in the shadows, knowing Tristan was right behind him.

“Luke. Luke, stop damn
it!”

Luke stopped, rigidly
faced Tristan, fisting his hands on his hips. “What?”

“Do
n’t leave. I’m sorry.” He stepped close.

He was sorry, because
it was obvious what was happening in there. He looked in Tristan’s eyes and saw
he hadn’t meant any real harm. Letting out a deep breath, he dropped his hands
and said as calmly as he could man
age, “I’m not gonna
stand there while you’re flirting with my sister. It’s misleading and you know
it. You wanna play mind games with some girl, pick someone other than
Sheilagh.”

Tristan frowned. “I
was just having fun with her. I wasn’t leading her on.”

“You were, and you
damn well know it. If you like her, fine, that’s a whole other argument we can
have. But you and I both know she’s not your type.”

Tristan stepped closer
and Luke’s body reacted. All day he’d watched him and his desire had built.

In a h
ushed voice Tristan said, “No, she’s not my type.”

Luke breathed in
Tristan’s heady scent. Meeting his gaze, he whispered, “Then don’t lead her on.
She’s my sister. She doesn’t deserve to get her feelings hurt. She’s young.”

Tristan’s hand reached out an
d
captured the fingers hanging at Luke’s side. “I’ll be more careful. I’m sorry.
Please don’t leave.”

Luke nodded. “I don’t
like seeing you flirt with women. I’m not used to it.”

“I wasn’t flirting. I
only do that with you.”

His lip twitched.
“Damn right.
” They were very close, their voices
hushed in the quiet night. He looked around to make sure they were alone.
Unable to resist another minute, Luke ran his fingers through Tristan’s hair
and pulled his face close.

Their breath mingled
and he said, “You l
ooked so good today on the field.”

Tristan chuckled. “You
should have seen my view.” His hand touched his ass. “Love these pants. I could
see
all
of you.”

Luke brushed his lips
over his. “You owe me. Do you know how much I got my balls broken for wearing t
hese?”

“Game’s over. Why you
still wearing them?”

“Because I love when I
catch you watching me and get that look in your eyes like you can’t wait to
fuck me.”

Tristan’s hand gripped
the back of Luke’s neck yanking him close. His mouth closed over his in an
aggressive kiss. They didn’t have much time, but he needed
to feel his lips on him, just a taste to hold him off until later.

Tristan jerked back.
“Did you hear something?”

Luke listened,
quieting his breathing. “Probably just a deer in the woods.”

Tristan kissed him one
last time. “Love you.”

Yeah. That’s what he
needed to hear.

“Come on. Let’s head back in. You go
first. I’ll follow in a few.”

He watched as Tristan
headed back in and gave himself a minute to collect his head and cool his body.
The
re was definitely something nosing around in the
woods. His scalp prickled as he had the strange sense that he wasn’t alone.
Frowning, he turned and looked around the lot one last time. He didn’t see
anyone. All the cars were dark.

Shaking
off the eerie
feeling that he was being watched, he
went back inside.

Luke saw Sheilagh
climb out of his parents’ car and went after her. He wanted to get her alone
for a few seconds to feel her out about Tristan. If she had feelings for his
lover, she
needed to curb them. He couldn’t explain
to her why that wouldn’t work, but she really needed to set her sights on
someone else if that was the case.

His father grabbed a
sack of groceries out of the car and trailed his mother. Luke jogged over to
the ope
n tailgate and scooped up a bag. “Hey.”

Sheilagh jumped as if
she hadn’t seen him approaching. “Hey.”

He followed her into
the house.

Snatching an apple out
of a basket, she wiped it on her shoulder. Luke placed the bag of groceries on
the counter and frow
ned when he saw they weren’t
alone. This was why he moved out. People were always everywhere in the big
house.

Sheilagh bit into her
plundered apple and slid onto a chair at the table beside Bray, Kelly, and Sam.
“Luke, you wanna go to the lake today? Pat
and Ry are
going.”

“So really,” Kelly
butted in, “you’re planning on displaying your jiggly bits in a bikini for
Tristan, is what you’re saying.”

Luke frowned. Shit.
Did they all see it?

Sheilagh lobbed her
half eaten apple at Kelly who laughed, caught it
, and
took an appreciative bite.

Luke needed to think.
He couldn’t talk to his sister with everyone around. “I think I’ll hang back
today. I have some stuff to get done.”

Sheilagh shrugged, his
presence obviously not that important to her. “How about you,
Samantha? Wanna come to the lake?”

He only half listened
and his siblings discussed their plans. Braydon seemed to want to take the boat
out. Luke could get into some fishing, but he’d just told Sheilagh he had stuff
to do. She didn’t seem to really give
a shit. Maybe
he’d spend some time with Bray since he wasn’t always home.

The kitchen door swung
open and Colin stepped in. Luke slipped out to check what Tristan had planned.
He was still in bed fighting a hangover.

When Luke returned to
the barn, he nudg
ed him. “Hey.”

Tristan grumbled.

“Listen, Bray’s taking
the boat out, but some of the others are going to the lake. You feel like
fishing?”

“I feel seasick
enough. No boat.”

“Do you care if I go?”

Tristan peeked his eye
out from the pillow. “Will you be a
ll day?”

“Probably a few hours
at least.”

“No, you go ahead. I
need sleep. If I feel better maybe I’ll head to the lake with the others.”

Luke wanted to warn
him to stay away from Sheilagh, but he didn’t want to be dramatic. “Okay. I’m
gonna get ready.” He
placed a kiss on his shoulder.
“Sweet dreams.”

Twenty minutes later
he had the truck packed with his gear and was waiting for Bray.

Tristan didn’t get out
of bed until noon. He showered and cleaned himself up and went to the lake to
find the oth
ers. When he arrived, he found Samantha,
Shei, and Pat, Ryan’s brother, playing cards on the sand. He’d sort of
regretted not going with Luke on the boat that morning, but his gut was rotted
from too much whiskey and he needed the sleep.

He dropped his thi
ngs on Sheilagh’s towel and walked into the lake. The water
was warm and felt great. He dove through the surface and swam about fifty feet
out to where the floating dock sat. Pulling his body out, he lay down on the
planks and let the sun bake the booze ou
t of his
system. He was never drinking again.

He could hear the
radio from the beach, but not enough to fully make out the song. Drifting off,
he enjoyed the peace for about twenty minutes. Then he heard Sheilagh’s mouth
as she raced Pat into the water.

They swam to the dock
and he smiled as she splashed him. “Devil!” he teased, splashing her back.

She spun her hand over
the surface and propelled a deluge over Tristan. Her laughter carried over the
lake, echoing off the trees in the distance.

“You’re gon
na get it if you keep it up.”

“Oh, am I, Tristan?”
she purred. “Are you gonna give it to me?”

He shook his head,
resting his face back in the shadowed pocket of his folded arms. She swam away
only to return a few minutes later, splashing him again.

“That’s
it.” He stood. “Cannonball!” Throwing himself off the
dock, Sheilagh screamed as he landed next to her, propelling water everywhere
in his wake.

She laughed and
climbed out of the lake. Her bikini bottom slurped back as she raced up the
ladder of the dock
.

“I see your hiney,” he
called in a singsong voice.

She shot him a devious
look over her shoulder and flashed him a butt cheek. He laughed and she
cannonballed into the water. When she popped through the surface, he splashed
and dunked her.

They horsed a
round, racing from the water to the dock. Eventually they
fell into a contest of who could do the most creative dive. Pat waded in the
distance shouting out scores.

As Tristan stretched,
preparing to do his ultimate corkscrew swan dive, Sheilagh shoved him
. He tensed as his body nearly toppled into the lake.
Turning, he grabbed her by the waist and tickled all that skin showing.

She squealed and
called mercy. He made her really beg for it. They were all laughing and, when
he let go, she lost her balance. He
laughed
ruthlessly as her arms pin wheeled out and she fell backwards, plunging into
the water.

Pat clapped and called, “A perfect ten!”

They played in the
water for most of the afternoon. When they heard the boat buzzing nearby,
Tristan’s ears perked up
. Finn, Luke, and Bray waved
and killed the motor, the boat rocking close to the dock.

Tristan asked about
their success and Luke was being his quiet, observant self. When Sheilagh
climbed up on the dock, her brother said, “Bathing suits a little small, is
n’t it, Shei?”

She frowned at him.
Finn and Bray didn’t comment outwardly on their sister’s teeny bikini.

“You guys done for the
day?” Tristan asked.

“About,” Bray said.
“Kelly texted me. He wants to do a bonfire tonight.”

“Sounds good,” Tristan
said.
“I’ll see you guys then. I’m gonna head home
for a while.” He met Luke’s gaze. They were fairly good at reading each other’s
subtle looks. Tristan would see him a bit before the bonfire and then they’d
head over together. He’d text him when he got back to
his
belongings on the beach just to make sure they were on the same page.

When Tristan finished
getting ready that night, he grabbed a sweatshirt and headed downstairs. Ryan
was sitting in the living room watching TV. “Hey, we’re all having a bonfire at
th
e lake tonight if you wanna come,” Tristan invited.

“Nah, Sarah’s coming
over soon. I think we’re just gonna hang out here since we won’t be here for
most of the summer.”

That was right, they
were all going on their family vacation, something Tristan had b
een invited to, but politely declined. He loved them for
letting him stay in their house, but he didn’t want to intrude on their family
moments.

“How come you didn’t
ask her to go?”

“Not there yet,” Ryan
said. “Maybe as it gets closer.”

Tristan hoped Sarah
was a decent girl. Ryan wanted to be in love and he didn’t
blame him. Life was so much easier when you had a loving partner to share it
with.

He grabbed his
sweater. “Well, have fun tonight.”

“You too.”

When he reached Luke’s
he parked on the other side
of the windy road where
trees blocked anyone at the big house from seeing his truck. So many trips
through the bramble and woods had cut a beaten path directly to the barn.

He let himself in and
heard the shower running. Dropping his keys and sweater on th
e counter, he went to the master bath. Ah, there was the
sexiest bum in the entire universe. It was tempting to strip and join him, but
Tristan held strong. “Hey.”

Luke turned. Water
cascaded over his curved, toned shoulders. His body could have been cut f
rom stone it was such a piece of fine art. “Hey. Missed you
today.”

No matter how much
time passed, hearing a man like Luke openly share his feelings always did
extraordinary things to him. “Missed you too, baby.”

Luke reached back and
killed the water. Tr
istan tossed him a towel and he
ambled out of the shower alcove, grazing his lips with a kiss. “I’ll be ready
in ten.”

He watched as Luke
dressed methodically in jeans and a t-shirt. His feet slid into a pair of
Reefs. They’d come so far over the last year
. “You
know,” Tristan said reminiscently. “We’ve known each other a year now.”

Luke’s smile was
telling. His dimple winked as he grinned with bashful charm. “I know. Do you
consider our anniversary when we first kissed or when we first decided we were
a co
uple?”

“I think we should
celebrate all of it. All the firsts mean something to me.”

Luke stuffed his
wallet and keys in his pocket and swaggered over. He met Tristan’s gaze and
whispered, “Me too. It’s all special.”

Leaning in, Tristan
pressed his lips to
his. “I love you.”

“Love you too, cowboy.
You ready?”

They took Luke’s truck
to the lake and parked. “I told Ryan I’d take his truck down to the body shop
tomorrow. I think they can buff out that dent fairly quick.”

“What about going to
Wells County? I th
ought we were gonna pick up the new
flooring for the guestroom.”

“If we’re gonna turn
it into a computer room, you should start calling it that.”

“Whatever. Are you not
going to be able to go with me?” Luke asked as they strolled through the grassy
path to
ward the lake.

“I told you I would,
babe. I’ll head to town tomorrow and pick up the truck and we’ll get it done
this week.”

Luke squeezed his
hand. “Thanks. I’d do it myself, but I gotta get—”

All words cut off as
they spotted Colin standing in the shadows by the dunes.

Luke released his
hand. “Oh hey, Colin. I didn’t see you standing there. What are you doing?”

Colin shifted
awkwardly, which was strange. Of all the McCulloughs, he was probably
the least flawed. He was becoming a priest and, while he
drank with them on occasion, his life and priorities were elsewhere. “I was just heading down there. Hey,
Tristan. How ya’ doing?”

Tristan nodded. “Good,
man. You?”

“Good.”

He felt Luke’s
paranoia
and tried to remain calm. It was always
tricky when they ran across someone and their guard was down.

Colin must have
noticed Luke’s change in demeanor. “What’s up, Luke? You look like you’re about
to be sick.”

A hollow laugh rolled
out of Luke’s mouth. “
Uh, nothing. I’m gonna head
down to say hi to the others. I’ll catch you later, Tristan. Colin.” He took
off.

Colin frowned. “Is he
all right?”

Tristan shook his
head, but continued to watch Luke go. “Yeah, he’s just…Luke.”

Colin shrugged and
they headed t
oward the fire.

Tristan sat next to
Colin who was talking with Kelly. Luke was across the fire from him, next to
Bray who was cuddling Samantha on his lap. He didn’t really know the girl, but
she didn’t seem Bray’s type. Sheilagh sat by his side roasting m
arshmallows, which really meant she was being lazy and
catching them on fire. After she blew out each cindered sugar torch, she
offered it to him.