“What?” Deke winced and rubbed his eyes. “I remember… some of it, but… but who threw beer cans at you?”
“Ryan.”
Deke sighed. “The guy’s a dick,” he mumbled.
“He must be contagious,” Graham replied with a cold edge.
“Look, I…” Deke shook his head and grimaced. “I don’t remember everything that happened. I know we were assholes, but… so were you.”
“Whatever. What do you want?”
Deke looked at the lake, confusion pinching his face. “What happened…” He faced Graham. “… to the pontoon?”
Graham licked his lips. “What do you mean? You took it when you left.”
“No, I didn’t,” Deke said. “Something… weird happened… I think.”
“Weird? Weird, how?”
“I don’t fucking know,” he snapped. “I remember we were partying on the boat, and then… something… tipped the boat, knocked us into the water.”
“Like what?”
“I don’tknow,”Deke said. “Like a fucking wave or something.”
Graham stared at him, deadpan. “That doesn’t make sense. It’s a lake, not the ocean. It doesn’t have waves like that.”
“I get that,” Deke growled. “But something fucking tipped it over. And then…” He crammed his fingers into his eyes as if trying to force the memory. “I don’t fucking know. I think the boat… sank.”
“Are you sure you weren’tsmokingsomething last night, too?”
“Look.” Deke glared at him. “I don’t know what the fuck really happened. But I know you weren’t drinking like the rest of us. What did you see?”
“After myfriendsthrew me off the boat?” Graham shrugged. “I didn’t see shit. I came back here and went to bed. I didn’t even hear you leave. I woke up this morning, and you and the boat were gone. And frankly, you have some fucking audacity to even come back here after the bullshit you pulled last night. I’d thank you very much to get off my property. I don’t have your fucking boat. If it sank, it’s gone. More likely, you took it with you, parked it somewhere, and forgot where you left it.”
Deke stepped back. “We didn’t take it with us,” he muttered, casting another glance at the lake.
“If it sank,” Graham said, “It was probably the fault of some drunken asshole. You were all shit-faced.” Graham paused, then added, “I do remember a lot of shouting just before I went into the cabin last night. A bunch of you guys were trying to see how much you could rock the boat. I’m guessing you managed to flip it yourself and damaged the hull or something.”
The uncertainty on Deke’s face eased Graham’s tension; he didn’t remember much, and Graham’s story was entirely plausible, as it was exactly something they would do while drunk.
Deke rubbed his face. “Fuck,” he mumbled, and walked back to his truck… no apologies for the things hedidremember. It didn’t matter; Graham had learned everything he needed to know about his “friends” last night.
Graham remained on the porch until the pickup turned around and drove into the trees, trailed by a light dust cloud, then he looked at the lake. Ripples resurfaced, swirling gently toward the shore, ebbing the algae-slick pillars beneath the dock. Graham swallowed as a soft gust of warm air sifted through his hair like sensual fingers, and a different tension pressed into his bones. He backed up, his bare feet sliding across the rough-hewn boards, and entered the cabin, closing the door behind him.
Sitting on the bed, Graham held the journal in his lap, his fingers tensely gripping the leather cover. Something splashed in the lake, and he flinched, then squeezed his eyes shut, his heart racing. Another splash. Graham’s heart thumped harder as he had the inexplicable feeling that whatever was out there… was trying to get hisattention.
An odd sensation quivered through Graham, causing a flurry of tingles to skate across the surface of his skin. A sudden, unexpected warmth spilled through his loins, startling him. Though he couldn’t deny he was afraid to go out there—a part of him wascompelledto go, as if something was pulling at him from his core,drawinghim to it.
Graham rolled his shoulders against the sensation as if trying to rid himself of a bug crawling up his spine, and looked down at the journal. His fingers trembled as he opened the book and reread the very first entry.
‘The cabin is finished. I will spend my summers here, writing and spending time with Lochlan. I can only see him in the summer, but our time together is special. He is special, so much more than I can put into words. I’ve never felt so connected to another soul. Most wouldn’t understand our love, and that’s okay. He’s my beautiful secret.’
My beautiful secret.
Graham raised his eyes to the window on the far side of the room where morning sunlight spilled into the cabin, dust particles dancing in the soft rays, and the shimmering lake beyond. His insides began to churn and tremble as his mind fractured a little with a reality he didn’t know how to process or accept.
Lochlan wasn’t aman.
