“I’m fine,” Tristan responded. He sounded anything but fine, but when I reached out to touch his arm, he stepped away from me and said, “I’m going to go lie down for a bit.”
“Tristan, wait,” I said as I stepped in his path. “Talk to me…what’s going on?”
“Really? Now you want to talk?” he asked, his voice pained.
He tried to push past me again but I grabbed his arms. “Wait, are you mad at me or something?”
Tristan didn’t respond at first, but then he shook his head. “No…I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well so I went down to that park by Union Bay and walked around for a bit.”
“Tristan-”
“Brennan, look, I’m happy for you, okay? I just wish you hadn’t felt the need to keep it a secret from me.”
“What?” I asked, though I knew what he was talking about.
“You met someone. I think that’s great. It’s just…you didn’t need to hide it from me.”
The hurt in Tristan’s voice was palpable and I felt like a complete asshole. “Shit, Tristan, I’m sorry…it’s just…it’s new and I don’t know if it’s going anywhere.”
“Is it one of your clients?” he asked. “From the shop? Is it because you don’t want Uncle Ren to know?”
I swallowed hard. Tristan’s reasoning made sense since I’d usedwork as an excuse so often. I didn’t want to lie to him anymore, but Memphis had been clear that no one could find out about us. Tristan had been told about the shooting by his fathers after they’d picked him up in New York, but he didn’t know who Memphis was.
Bile rose in my throat as I nodded my head. The silent lie was still a lie and the fact that Tristan seemed to accept it didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, it just made me feel worse and all the pleasant sensations that had still been lingering inside of me after my night with Memphis disintegrated.
“I won’t tell Uncle Ren,” Tristan said quietly.
“I’m sorry, Tristan,” I said again, though it was pointless. I was apologizing for something he didn’t know I’d done.
“It’s okay,” he murmured. “I really am tired so I’m going to go lie down.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” I asked, my concern for him returning.
Tristan nodded. “I’m good.”
“I could bring you some tea,” I offered. Tristan had never been a big coffee drinker.
“Um, yeah, thanks.”
“How about something to eat?” I asked as Tristan moved past me.
He shook his head. “Just the tea would be great. Thank you.” He sent me a smile, but it was clearly forced and I felt my insides knot. God, I was a shitty friend.
I set about making the tea, but by the time I got it to Tristan’s room, he was asleep. He hadn’t bothered taking his shoes off so I worked those off and dropped them on the floor. He was wearing a light jacket that was clearly designed for wet weather, so I carefully eased him out of it. It took some maneuvering with Tristan more asleep than awake so I had to put my hands all over him to get him so that he wasn’t lying on top of the comforter. But when I went to pull the comforter over him, he shifted at that exact moment and I saw a flash of blue beneath his shirt. I carefully pushed his shirt up and felt my stomach roll at the sight of a large bruise on his side, just under his ribs.
It looked to be several days old and I tried to think back to earlier in the week. I hadn’t noticed anything off with how Tristan had been moving in those days, but then again, I’d been preoccupied. I knew the bruise could be from a fall, especially if today wasn’t the first time Tristan had gone walking in the early morning hours in the nature park near campus. The area had some spots where the terrain was a little more awkward to maneuver, so it wouldn’t have been unheard of for him to have fallen and gotten hurt.
I pulled the shirt back down, but instead of leaving the room, I carefully crawled over Tristan and got under the covers next to him. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do since I could end up making him feel uncomfortable if he happened to wake up and find me in bed with him. It was one thing for us to sit on the same bed while watching TV, but it was entirely different when it was under the covers and one party wasn’t even aware of the other. But I didn’t give a shit because besides the possibility of a fall being the cause of the injury, other, more disturbing thoughts were rolling through my head and I wanted to ask him about it the second he woke up.
Because I was done being a shitty friend.
“Talk to me, Brennan,”Memphis murmured against my hair as his hands stroked up and down my back. Humiliation coursed through me at my behavior, but I couldn’t get a hold of myself. Even though I’d been with Memphis just this morning, I’d been thrilled when he’d told me he’d be spending another night in Seattle and I’d thought that meeting him again would help distract me, but the second he’d opened the door, I’d walked into his arms and stayed there. He certainly hadn’t decided to stay in town one more night to listen to me unload my sorrows.
I shook my head. “Sorry,” I whispered against his neck. “I should have told you to go home. I…I’m just too distracted.”
Memphis gently tugged on my hair until I lifted my head. Hislips found mine, but the kiss was chaste and sweet. “Tell me what happened.”
“It’s Tristan,” I began, but I stopped as soon as Memphis’s whole body locked up tight. Pain flashed through me as I remembered Memphis’s unspoken accusation about me being with other guys. Not to mention the way he’d questioned me about Tristan when we’d gotten together at the motel after the wedding.
