Forsaking Truth (10 page)

He was grateful they
were almost home, but he slowed down, because that was a question that needed
his full attention. “How old?”

She shrugged. “It’s
just a question.” She was lying. She had her eye on someone older.

“You aren’t an adult
yet.
It’s statutory rape for a man to be with you.”

She rolled her eyes.
“It was just a question, Luke.”

“Bullshit. How old?”

“Just a few years. It
doesn’t matter anyway. At the pace he’s moving, it’ll take him eight months to
get there. By then I’ll be an adu
lt.”

“No one’s moving
anywhere. Especially not some old clown after your V card.”

“How do you know that
card’s not punched?”

He growled. “Not
funny, Sheilagh.”

She snickered. “It’s a
little funny.”

“Jesus. Just...don’t
rush into anything.”

He pulled up in
front of his parents’ house and she hopped out. “I won’t.
Thanks for talking to me, Luke.”

He hesitated. He
didn’t want to suffocate her or himself, but this was his baby sister.
“Sheilagh, if you ever need anything, even if it’ll make me mad to hear about
it, you know you can count on me.”

She smiled and he felt
like the biggest prick in the world. Whatever he’d just said, he meant, but it
seemed like his little sister had been waiting a lifetime for that reassurance.
“I love you, Luke.”

“I love you too, S
hei-Devil. Now go say the rosary or something.”

She laughed and shut
the door. He drove to the barn and sighed. There. That wasn’t too difficult. He
actually felt a little proud of himself. He’d done something good for a member
of his family and it had not
hing to do with stats or
touchdowns or colleges. It only had to do with him.

Tristan slipped up the
stairs and into the bedroom that had become his over the past few months. His
head was spinning from the overflow of relatives there for Rosemarie
’s birthday. It was only polite that he help out and share
the meal, but after that part was over he wanted to flee. It wasn’t his family
anyway.

Once in his room, he
sifted through his drawers and pulled out a thick sweater. In his closet he
found his sle
eping bag. As autumn was closing in, he
felt a pull to be outdoors before the snow came and made that impossible.

He had everything
together and was lacing his boots when there was a knock at the door. “Come
in.”

Sheilagh, Luke’s
little sister, slipped ins
ide and shut the door. “Hi,
Tristan.”

“Hey, baby girl.
What’s happening?”

She looked at his bed
and saw the rolled sleeping bag. “You going somewhere?”

“Just taking a little
overnight trip.”

Her smile faltered.
“Oh. With a girl?”

He laughed. “Nah. I
don’t
got a girl.”

Her grin returned.
“Oh, well, in that case… Where’re you going?”

“Wherever I land.”

“Can I come?”

Fuck. “Uh…” He stuffed
his keys in his pocket and pulled her to the bed, wedging the pile of his
things between them. “Look, Sheilagh, I think yo
u’re
real sweet, but you’re not my type.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one, you’re
still young. I don’t think your family would appreciate that.”

“I won’t be a kid
forever.”

“I know. And I bet,
when you’re older, you’ll be fightin’ off more guys than you can handle.
But do me a favor and just be a kid for now, okay? All the
other stuff can wait. Have fun and be young. You only get one shot at it.”

She nodded quietly and
he noticed how different she looked from the first time he’d met her. She had
the perfect complexio
n of lily-white skin. Her lips
seemed permanently stained with berries and her hair was the most radiant shade
of copper. He had no doubt she’d be fighting them off.

He squeezed her hand.
“We’re friends, right, baby girl?”

She gifted him with a
brilliant s
mile. “Of course.”

“Well, as your friend,
I wanna tell you that if you ever need anything, I’ll be there. One of those
boys your age comes knocking and you want them to leave you be, you tell me and
I’ll handle it.”

“Okay,” she said
almost breathlessly.

He
stood. “Now I gotta get going, but you come talk to me
whenever you need a good ear.”

“What if I can’t find
you and something’s wrong?”

He went to his
nightstand and jotted down his number. “There. Now you’ll always be able to
find a friend when you need
one.”

After she left, he
sighed. He knew the girl had feelings for him, but she was too young. It didn’t
matter what type he liked, she was far too young to even think about, so there
was no point in telling her he liked men. She’d eventually get over her
little crush and find a nice boy her own age.

Grabbing the last of
his things, he slipped out the back of the house and found his old bomber truck
parked in the midst of the rest of the cars. He managed to back out without
doing too much damage to the law
n, and as he took to
the road he sighed at the sense of freedom approaching.

He didn’t know where
he was heading, but once he found it, he’d recognize it. There was plenty of
open state land in Center County and he was bound to find a small place to
hunker
down for the night.

As he waited at the
light at the edge of town, he spotted Luke’s truck and his gut clenched.
Moisture beaded his brow as every emotion elicited by this man’s presence took
over his body and his conscience battled to logically outsmart
chemical attraction. Luke equaled rejection and pain.
Self-preservation had him gritting his teeth and refusing the temptation of
vulnerability.

Even from across the
intersection, heading in the opposite direction, that man triggered something
inside of h
im. But that was just it. They were headed
in the opposite directions.

He was done playing
games. Luke clearly regretted their encounter and Tristan had no desire to see
him take off with yet another willing female. It hurt, but the pain was slowly
subsidi
ng. Or so he told himself.

Luke’s truck idled on
the other side of the traffic light, likely heading to his Aunt Rosemarie’s for
the party. As they waited for the light to turn green their eyes met. He kept
his expression blank and prayed the light would c
hange
soon.

When it did, he let
out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and proceeded on his way. The sound
of tires squealing pulled his gaze to the rear view. Luke’s truck fishtailed
and was suddenly barreling after him. “What the fuck?”

Tristan tried
to ignore the truck trailing him.
He
probably just forgot something and was heading back to the barn.

When he pulled onto
the jug handle leaving town, he was surprised to see Luke speed up. The road
opened up and Tristan increased his speed. Luke trailed
him for a quarter mile then moved to the passing lane. Tristan’s truck
couldn’t go past sixty-five and Luke probably had places to be.

When Luke cut in front
of him in the pokey lane he frowned. “Come on, man, don’t be a dick.”

His taillights kicked
on and
Tristan pressed his foot into the brake. Their
speed dropped down to forty. When
the blinker went on, Tristan slowed some more. Luke’s truck pulled onto the
shoulder several yards ahead. Was he having car trouble? Should he keep going?

He didn’t know wha
t to do and really didn’t feel like fighting. It would be
dark soon and he wanted to find a place to settle in. With a tightness in his
chest he didn’t like, he hit his turn signal and pulled up behind Luke’s truck.

He waited and the knot
in his chest cons
tricted. When Luke’s door finally
opened he stopped breathing. Their eyes met and Tristan couldn’t make sense of
the blank expression on his face.

Nerves knotted his
stomach at the thought of a possible oncoming argument. He got that the guy
wasn’t gay. It
wasn’t like Tristan needed the message
drilled into his head.

He rolled down his
window as Luke approached. “Party’s that way,” Luke said.

He kept his tone light
and non-confrontational. “I have somewhere to be. They’re all still there.”

“Where?” Luke as
ked, his jaw tightening.

Tristan frowned. “At
the party. It’s still going on.”

“No. Where do you have
to be?”

“It’s personal.”

His eyes narrowed.
“Meetin’ someone?”

Seriously?
“What if I was?”

“Who?”

“Jesus, Luke, why do
you care?”

“Just curious?”

He shut
his eyes and counted to ten. If he wanted to count higher
he could just count all the woman Luke had fooled around with in the past
month. “What do you want?”

Luke didn’t answer.

“Look, if you don’t
need help and you just pulled over to interrogate me, I g
otta go.”

“You.”

Tristan turned at the
whispered word. “What?”

“You. I want…you.”

His stomach dropped
out. He couldn’t go through this again. “I’m not some thing you get to play
with and toss away when you’re bored, Luke. Go find someone else to occupy
your time.”

He shook his head and
worked his jaw. “It doesn’t work. I know I’ve been a complete asshole these
past few weeks and I’m sorry. This isn’t me. None of it is.”

“Do
you
even know who you are?”

“No!” he said, staring
back with such desperation his
fear was obviously
genuine. “I don’t fucking know. I thought I did, but then everything changed.
Then you came along and I don’t understand any of this. I don’t look at men. I
don’t notice them. It’s always been women, but you…you I see. I see you in my d
reams and I see you when I’m lying in bed at night wishing
you were there. It doesn’t matter who I’m with. I shut my eyes and I know it’s
not you and I hate myself that much more in the morning.”

Sometimes emotions in
a relationship took time to develop, b
ut sometimes
they didn’t. In cases like Luke McCullough, the chemical reaction was
impossible to ignore. However, Tristan spent weeks convincing himself those
feelings were one sided. What if they weren’t? It was a risk linking his
happiness to someone as
confused as Luke. The man
changed his mind as often as most people changed their socks.

“And what if I believe
you? You gonna run the next time things get a little hard?”

“No.”

“I don’t know if I can
trust that, Luke. You fucking hurt me.”

His sad gaze set
tled on Tristan. “I’m sorry.”

Tristan sighed, his
head falling back. Shit. “Luke…I know this is all new to you. I know you aren’t
gay,
all right? But I need to know you at least have an open
mind. There are gray spots. No one ever said sexuality was black
or white. Maybe you’re bi.”

“Maybe I am.”

That surprised him. He
hadn’t expected his agreement. Pressing his luck, Tristan went all or nothing.
“I don’t do casual.”

Luke’s jaw twitched
and his nostrils flared. “Good, because the thought of you runnin’ off
to meet someone else puts me in a rage, Tristan. I don’t
play well with others and I’ve never been much for sharing.”

Something fluttered in
the pit of his stomach and his cock twitched. “Women either, Luke. I won’t be
filler.”