Forsaking Truth (21 page)

Their bodies rocked
and tensed as they closed in on
their finish. When
they came, they did so moments apart. It was beautiful and intrepid. They
rolled to their backs, head to foot, foot to head, and breathed.

Luke’s fingers caught
his and rubbed softly over his knuckles. “Let’s shower and go to bed.”

That
sounded perfect. “Okay. You head up. I’ll meet you in the
shower. I’m just gonna clean up down here real quick.”

Luke carried his
clothes upstairs and Tristan chuckled at the sight of his naked ass. He
gathered their dishes to take to the kitchen and shut
out the lights. The shower kicked on, rattling the pipes in the walls of the
old house. Tristan returned to the living room to gather his clothes and
stilled when the doorbell rang.

He glanced at the
clock. It was almost dark, but not as late as he’d thou
ght. Sliding on his jeans he went to the foyer.

He turned the knob and paused.
“Sheilagh?” She was the last person he expected to see.

“Hey, Tristan.”

She was all gussied
up. Her hair was done, but getting mussed by the slight drizzle in the air. She
ha
d high sandals on her feet and a tight jean skirt.
Why was she there? “What are you doing here? Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine. I
just figured with Pat and the others gone you were probably lonely and I wanted
to stop by to see if you needed
some company.”

Shit. He honed in his
hearing to listen that the shower was still running. “Uh, now isn’t really a
good time.”

She took a deep breath
and smiled. He needed to get rid of her. Quick.

“Look Tristan, I know
you think I’m just Ryan’s little old cousin who doesn’t know what’s good for
her, but I’m here to tell you you’re wrong. I have feelings, Tristan, and I
know you feel them too.”

What?

The drizzle was now
soaking her shoulders through
. She shivered and he
stammered trying to think of a reply. This was not good. Not good at all. As a
matter of fact, this was completely fucked in the eye bad.

“Why don’t you invite
me in and we can talk like two adults?” she purred.

That wasn’t possible.
He swallowed slowly and cursed under his breath. She took a
slow step closer to him and he quickly said, “Look, Shei, you’re an awesome
girl. You're fun and beautiful and someday you’re gonna give some lucky guy a
run for his money, but I’m afraid that guy
ain’t me.”

He saw the stubborn
glint in her jade eyes and feared he might have to actually hurt her feelings
to get rid of her, which was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Can we just talk for
a minute? You don’t need to invite me in, but…” She glanced dow
n at her breasts where her nipples were pressing through
the thin fabric of her shirt. “I’m getting wet.”

“Fuck. Here.” He
stepped back so she could get out of the rain, but still managed to block her
way into the house. She crept closer and he shifted unc
omfortably. The rain picked up to a fast patter and he could no longer
hear if the shower was running or not.

“Look,” she said,
placing her hand on his arm. “Don’t pretend that the two of us haven’t been
dancing around this for the past several months. I k
now
you think I’m attractive and I know you’re aware of what I think of you.”

This was so bad.
“Sheilagh—”

She stepped closer
until her rain dampened breasts pressed against his bare chest. Her arms looped
around his neck and she whispered, “Don’t tell me
you
never thought of just letting it all go, Tristan, and taking what we both know
you want.”

When she pressed her
lips to his he tensed. He gripped her arms in his hands and peeled her off of
him, stepping back farther into the house.

“I can’t do this, S
heilagh.”

“Why?” she asked,
letting go of some of that put on maturity and showing the confused—on the cusp
of petulant—eighteen year old she hid inside.

He should just be as
honest as he possibly could. “Because I’m seeing someone.”

She jerked back as if
he sucker punched her in the stomach, her posture faltering
and her confidence crumbling noticeably. “Who?” Her voice was suddenly strained
and raspy.

Tristan winced. The
last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. But there was no good that could come
out o
f her misconceived feelings. “It’s not
important.”

“It is to me. You told
me it was nothing personal, that you didn’t want anyone, so pardon me if I find
it imperative to know who was able to persuade you otherwise when I, who was
willing to be anything yo
u needed or wanted me to be,
could not."

He’d never said that.
She’d asked why he was single and he shrugged it off, saying he simply liked
being untethered, but she’d never laid herself bare like this before. If she
had, he would have shut it down immedia
tely so
nothing like this could ever happen.

When he saw her
blinking back tears something hard crushed down on his chest. Fuck. Without
thinking, he brushed his knuckle over her cheek.

“Don’t do this,
Sheilagh. When I told you it wasn’t anything personal
I
meant it. You're sweet and one of my friends, but no matter how much you think
you can be what I need, you can’t.”

She whimpered and he
didn’t miss the protective way her hand fluttered to her stomach as though his
confession caused her physical pain. “I
…I don’t
understand.”

He looked down. “Look,
I can’t explain right now—”

She gasped, her
fingers rushing to her lips. “Oh my God. You’re not alone. She’s here now,
isn’t she?”

Sheilagh stumbled back
a step. He stepped forward into the rain to steady her,
but she shoved away his hands.

“Babe? Where’d you go?
I thought you were going to join me in the shower.”

Fuck!

He tensed and so did Sheilagh. His
panicked gaze rushed to hers and he saw recognition take form on her pale face
in the shape of horror.

“Sheilagh, it isn’t what you think,” he
quickly rushed out.

Her shoulders quaked
as she stepped back another pace. “Luke? You and Luke?”

He rapidly shook his
head. “You’re misinterpreting the whole thing, Shei—”

But his false words
fell on deaf ears as Lu
ke opened the door. Everything
stilled, as no one seemed to breathe. Tristan panicked. There was no mistaking
the situation. He was half dressed and Luke was in a God damn towel. This was
bad. This was so bad.

Luke’s easygoing
expression shriveled, the bl
ood rushing from his face
as his mouth opened in shock. “Sheilagh?”

“Luke?” Her face was
devoid of anything other than shock.

Luke’s mouth opened
and closed as he floundered for an excuse. “I…I was doing some renovations at
the guest house and I needed to
shower so I stopped
here to get cleaned up.” That didn’t even make sense.

It was hopeless.
Shutting his eyes and pulling in a much needed breath, Tristan quietly said,
“Don’t bother, Luke. She heard you.”

Luke stiffened as if
Tristan were lying. He actuall
y did a pretty good job
of looking offended at what Tristan was ‘apparently’ implying. But it wasn’t
going to work. Sheilagh wasn’t stupid and no matter how unprepared she was for
this, she knew exactly what it was.

Luke gave him a hard
look, which he kne
w was all a performance. If he
acted indignant he could pretend he was blameless. Tristan understood the knee
jerk reaction, but it hurt all the same, especially since Luke wasn’t the first
lover of his to play that hand.

There wasn’t time to
do the damage
control needed. Sheilagh turned and ran
through the rain to her truck.

“Sheilagh!” Tristan
shouted, but she peeled away, sending puddles spewing into the dark.

He faced Luke who was
white as a sheet. Stepping inside he shut and locked the door. Luke didn
’t move.

Tristan flicked on the
lights. “Should we go after her?”

Luke was catatonic.

“Luke! I need you to
be present right now. What the fuck do we do? She’s really upset and she
shouldn’t be driving.”

Luke blinked. “What
the hell just happened?”

Jesus
Christ. They didn’t have time for baby steps. “Your sister
just showed up offering me quite the proposition when she discovered I couldn’t
possibly be with her because I’m fucking her brother!”

Luke’s neck twisted as
his blinking gaze cut to Tristan. “She
doesn’t know
that.”

“Yes, she does. She’s
not stupid. And why would you come here to shower if you were working at your
house?”

“I just said the first
thing that popped in my head!” he snapped. “Fuck! What are we going to do?”

“There’s nothing we
can do un
less you want to go find her and explain
everything. I don’t think she wants to see me right now. She’s hurt and
embarrassed.”

“I can’t face her.”

Tristan shook his
head. “You’re gonna eventually have to. She knows about us. If you don’t want
her to say an
ything, you need to talk to her.”

Luke’s chest heaved.
He seemed to be hyperventilating. Tristan went to him, but he kept pacing and
he couldn’t get close enough to calm him down.

“What if she tells
everyone?” Luke suddenly blurted.

Tristan rubbed his
palm
s over his face. If she told everyone, then she
told everyone. It had never been his intention to live his life forever in the
closet, but Luke was different. He knew Center County wasn’t the place to host
a gay pride parade, but Tristan truly believed if
the
family knew, they’d be okay with it.

“Then she tells them,”
he said quietly. “It’s been a year, Luke. I can’t act like I regret any part of
it. You’re my partner. I love you. I want a life with you. Forever. People are
going to learn about us
eventually and we need to
figure out how to deal with that as time goes on.”

Luke’s blue eyes
wavered behind a sheen of tears. “I’m scared.” He dropped into a chair and
Tristan went to him.

Dropping to his knees
and cupping the back of Luke’s head, he pres
sed his
forehead to his. “I know, baby, but this is your family. They love you. I think
you should call Sheilagh and try to explain the delicacy of the situation. Ask
her to respect our privacy.”

“I don’t know if I can
do that.”

“You can. It’ll be
hard, bu
t I’ll be right here when you make the call.”
He slipped his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Luke. It took him over
a minute to take it. When Luke held it in his hands, he stared at it as if he
didn’t know what it was. “Her numbers under Devil.”

L
uke nodded and pressed send. He clicked off a moment later.
“It went to voicemail.”

Shit. “Why don’t you
just say what you need to say and she’ll listen to the message when she’s
ready. Maybe that’s the best way to deal with this.”

Luke pressed send
again
and drew in a deep, shaky breath. “Sheilagh.
It’s Luke. Listen… I know you’re upset right now and I’m sorry.” His voice
cracked and his face dropped to his palm as he silently started to cry. Tristan
rubbed his back as he went on.

“I’m so sorry. I know
you
’re mad and hurt. I never meant to hurt you. I
don’t want to hurt or disappoint anyone. I can’t help it. I…love him.” He drew
in a jagged breath. “Please. Please, just… this is the happiest I’ve ever been.
Please don’t take that away from me. I’m not ready
for the world to know.”

His arm dropped and
his thumb slid over the screen, ending the call. Tristan took the phone and
slid it back in his pocket. His hands cupped Luke’s shoulders. “Look at me,
baby.” Luke’s mouth was a tight line, his expression tense
with the effort to hold all his emotions inside. He blinked
at him and Tristan said, “You did good.”