Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) Read online

  "I'm practically dead to the world when I sleep." She turned her attention to MJ and Derrick. "Good Morning. Did you sleep well?"

  Mary Jane grinned, "Yep. Tristan said you two had no troubles either."

  It had taken a moment before Lanie looked up at me with shock. I held my hands up in surrender. "I don't kiss and tell. Macy barged in this morning and saw us in the bed together." Lanie sighed with relief. I could see that some of that distrust came to the surface again for a moment.

  Mary Jane gathered up a tote bag with some snacks and cold waters from the fridge. She turned to me and suggested, "Why don't Derrick and I take the girls to hike down to the falls and give you two some alone time?"

  Before I can say that sounds like a good idea, Lanie piped up and said, "I'd like to walk down to the falls too." She moved away before I could touch her and the rejection stung a bit. "I'll be right back; I'm going to change."

  When she went into the bedroom, I turned back to Mary Jane. "Can you guys go on so I can talk to her. I'm not sure what's wrong."

  Mary Jane placed her hand on my shoulder, kissed my cheek, then nodded as she helped get everyone out the door. Lanie came out of the bedroom a moment after they'd left. She looked around the room and asked, "Where did everyone go?"

  "They went to do their hike. I asked them to so we could talk. Why are you avoiding me this morning?"

  Lanie's eyes welled up as she pushed through the door and went out to the deck overlooking the lake. She stared out at the water without speaking when I stepped up behind her. Her body shook as I wrapped my arms around her. It wasn't from being cold; it was from the emotions taking over. When I moved to look at her face, it was soaked in tears. With my thumb, I wiped away a few then kissed the spot where they'd fallen. She closed her eyes with a sigh of release.

  "Why are you crying, Lanie?"

  She pulled away from me and sat on a wooden bench next to the door. She patted the seat next to her. Once I sat down, I wrapped my arm around her again. "I've never had much to be happy about in life, Tristan. My parents were never around for me. My dad has never been in my life because they never married. My mom has been a drug addict for as long as I can remember. The only people that ever cared about me were my older brothers, but they all have their families now, and I rarely see them. When I turned eighteen, I qualified for a full scholarship to college, and I worked my butt off to graduate with honors in childhood education. Teaching children had been my dream because I had a teacher that had been better to me than my parents ever had, and I wanted to pay that forward to another child. Falling in love had never been in the plans."

  Falling in love? Oh no, she is in love with Derrick, and this weekend made that even clearer for her it seems. I moved my arm away from her and put a little space between us. What a disaster; I could feel the anger bubbling inside me. Lanie would be the second girl that I lost to Derrick Collins. It isn't his fault, but it still hurt.

  "After college I found a job with a local elementary school. I was the youngest teacher they had at only twenty-two. They started me out with another teacher, Bradley, which I shadowed for my first year. During that year, we grew closer and then one day…"

  Her words trailed off, and I tried to make sense of everything in my head. "Wait, so Bradley is the one you fell in love with, not Derrick?"

  Lanie's head whipped around, "What? Tristan I told you, Derrick and I went out one time. There are no feelings there."

  "I'm confused. I still don't understand why this story is making you cry?"

  "I'm getting to the point," she promised sincerely. "I fell in love with Bradley, head over heels. He seduced me then trashed me to the principal afterward. He told them that I came to him and offered my body in exchange for help during the year. They fired me for fraternizing with a colleague and said I needed more time to mature. The next year I took a job at Katelyn's school. You'd think I'd learned my lesson about mixing business and pleasure, but I still asked Derrick out. The reason I'm upset is that I like you."

  "Women are confusing," I said shaking my head. "I'm so lost."

  "The one time I've been in love, he demolished me, Tristan. He trashed my dreams and broke my heart at the same time. After my date with Derrick, I knew that it was a bad road to go down again, and part of me was glad that he didn’t want to go out a second time. Now I'm falling in love with one of his best friends. I can't let the fact that I dated a parent get back to my school, or I could lose my job again."

  "I don’t think you'd have to worry about losing your job for dating a parent. Is it in the rules?"

  "They say it's frowned upon. There was another teacher who fell for a student's parent, and she quit to marry him. I'm not sure if they would've fired her or not but…Tristan it scares me. For the first time in my life, I'm happy, and if we don’t work out, I can't have you use this information against me."

  Tracing my thumb across her cheek, I said, "I'd never use it against you. That's not who I am." Pausing I thought about everything she said and something dawned on me. "You're falling in love with me?"

  "I think so." She bit her lip as a smile spread across her face. With my hand behind her neck, I pulled her close capturing those sweet cherry lips with mine. I pushed my fingers through her hair as she moaned against my mouth. She lifted herself up and straddled my waist on the bench.

  "Do you want to go back inside?"

  "Yes."

  That was all I needed. We stood with our hands clasped as she pulled me into the cabin and straight to our bedroom.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Getting to know you

  "Was Mary Jane the first girl you fell in love with?" Lanie asked as her finger traced lines across my chest. She noticed that I tensed up at the question. "I'm sorry."

  "No, don’t be. My feelings for Mary Jane were different than I ever had for anyone. I'm not sure now if it's that our friendship is so strong that I confused it with love or what. The truth is, what I'm feeling for you now doesn’t feel anything like what I felt for her which makes me think that I'm falling in love for the first time now…with you."

  "Tristan, I…so, is it too early to define what we are?"

  "If it's ok, I'd like to call you my girlfriend."

  "It's more than okay."

  Lanie took a shower while I started fixing us a snack of some of the fresh fruit MJ had packed. Picking up my cell phone, I sent her a text to let her know they could come back whenever.

  Me: Thanks for the time alone.

  MJ: Is everything good between you two?

  Me: Better than good. We're officially exclusive now.

  MJ: That's great! I think you two are cute together

  Me: She may just be the one, MJ.

  MJ: Aww, T, that's awesome. I'm happy for you.

  Me: Thanks. I'll see you guys soon

  MJ: K. We're about to start our hike back up so we'll be at the cabin in another hour or so. Love you

  Me: Love you too.

  Once the message was sent, I realized that it didn’t hurt to say that I loved her anymore, and that was a big accomplishment. It felt like a new day; the sky seemed bluer, the lake clearer, the trees a deeper shade of green.

  As Lanie strolled out of the bedroom, even she seemed clearer to me. The deep auburn of her hair against her pale porcelain skin, the shape of her breasts, her hips, her toned calves. There wasn’t a flaw that I could find on this girl. I appreciated everything about her down to the spattering of freckles under her eyes.

  "You're staring," she said with a smile that met her eyes. She's happier than I've seen her since we met. It made me feel good to know I put that smile on her face and that she's finally beginning to trust me.

  "You're beautiful," I replied stepping up to her.

  "Good response. Do you still want to go for a hike or stay here and get to know each other better? And by better I mean talking," she said with a knowing grin as to where my mind went.

  "Let's stay here. I do want to know one thing abo
ut you first."

  "What's that?" she asked.

  "I noticed your tattoo last night when you were sleeping, and I wanted to see the full picture."

  She grinned and swiveled around to raise her shirt and display the intricate wing design that spanned across her lower back.

  I traced my fingers over the design causing her skin to tremble at my touch. "How long have you had this?"

  "Since my eighteenth birthday. It was a spring break girl's bonding thing. My best friend and I each got one. She got the name of her boyfriend, whom she broke up with a year later, and I went with these wings."

  "Why'd you choose a tramp stamp?"

  Lanie cringed and lowered her shirt, "I hate when people call it that. I wanted it somewhere unnoticeable by most people. A place of intimacy for my lover I suppose you could say."

  "You can see it when you're wearing a suit though?"

  "Did you notice it when I was in my bathing suit yesterday?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. When I stopped to think about it, I hadn't noticed. Her small bikini shorts went a bit high on her hips covering it from view.

  "It's very sexy," I purred against her ear.

  We curled up on the couch; I laid back, and she sat with her back against my chest. Her fingers intertwined with mine as she compared our hands.

  "Tell me about your roommate. You never mention her."

  "Angel?" Not the topic I wanted to explore because there are too many secrets that I've promised to keep for her. "She's Mary Jane's best friend. They lived together down in Florida and originally we planned to all rent a place when we moved here. They lived in Nashville for years and only moved for MJ's internship at Disney. Derrick proposed after MJ came home, and that left the two of us to figure out our housing. Angel and I decided to go ahead and live together so we could afford a nicer place. She's now one of my best friends, practically a sister." Saying she's like a sister has a bit of a creep factor to it since we slept together, but it's not something I want to get into with my new girlfriend.

  "So…nothing romantic has ever happened between you two?"

  The last thing I ever want to be is a liar, especially when it came to my relationship with Lanie. The tough part is that I promised Angel I wouldn't tell anyone about our drunken roll in the hay, and I also don't break promises.

  "Nope, nothing romantic." Technically I didn’t lie. What happened to Angel and I wasn’t romantic in the least. In fact, if we hadn't woken up naked in the same bed I'd never have known we slept together. That night is still a blur to both of us.

  "Does Macy get along with Angel?"

  "Oh yeah. They love each other. Angel helps her with her honors Spanish classes, and they do all that girly stuff like painting nails and crap like that."

  Lanie laughs at my creative phrasing. "You're poetic, Tristan. You should be a writer." She shifted her weight slightly and brushed up against my shorts causing my body to respond to her. "Oh." She blushed, obviously noticing the arousal.

  As she turned and leaned forward to kiss me, the door opened, and Derrick called out, "We're back, put your clothes on!"

  He came around the corner with a smirk. "No worries, the girls are outside, so they didn’t hear me."

  "Thanks, D. Did you guys have fun?"

  "Yep. Don’t freak out, Macy has a bandage on her head." Before I went into panic mode, I took a few deep breaths to give Derrick time to elaborate. "As we hiked back up from the falls she fell forward and smacked her forehead on some rocks. She didn’t lose consciousness or anything, but she has a nasty gash on her head. There was a nurse behind us on the trail, and she took a look and said it didn't need stitches."

  "Where did you get the bandage?"

  "I carry a first aid kit with me pretty much everywhere I go," Mary Jane said as she came in the door with Macy, who looked embarrassed more than anything.

  Carefully I lifted the bandage and saw that the cut wasn’t bad, not that I didn’t believe Derrick, but I needed to see for myself. "How's your head feeling, kiddo?"

  Macy shrugs indifferently, "It hurts a bit, but I'm fine. Can I take a nap?"

  "No." Mary Jane and I echo.

  "Why not?" Macy asked looking exhausted.

  "I'd rather make sure you don't have any symptoms pop up that would mean we need to take you to a doctor. For now, I need you to stay up so you can tell me if you start to feel nauseated, or your vision gets wonky." Mary Jane was right. If she demonstrated any symptoms, we might have to take her to the hospital to check for a concussion.

  "Wonky?" Macy asked.

  "It's a fun word," Mary Jane said with a shrug.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Two's Company Three's Complicated

  When we returned from Fall Creek Falls, Macy and I took Lanie to our house so she could pick up her car. Macy helped Lanie load her trunk while I took mine and Macy's luggage inside.

  I dropped the bags by the door and turned to go back when I found Angel passed out on the couch. The scene before me was very familiar. Macy came in behind me and ran up the stairs shouting she'd be right back down in a minute; completely missing the sight in the living room.

  As soon as I approached Angel, I could smell the alcohol wafting from her body. I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and poured it over her face. She jumped up screaming. “What the fuck, Tristan?!” I heard Macy’s footsteps running back down the stairs, but it was too late to cover this up.

  “You were passed out again, Angel. Have you been like this all weekend?”

  Angel stormed past me, “None of your fucking business.”

  I grabbed her arm and said, “It is my business when I share a house with you and my sister. And watch your mouth.”

  Angel stepped up inches from my face and shouted, “Don't tell me what to do. Just because we fucked one night doesn’t give you the power over me.”

  I heard a gasp of shock and turned to see Macy and Lanie standing at the door. Macy’s look was one of a surprise while Lanie’s was one of hurt and betrayal. “Lanie, it’s not…” Before I could get out the terrible cliché I began to spout, Lanie flew out the door and jumped in her car. “Damn it, Angel! You’re ruining my life. I wish I’d never met you!”

  She stumbled back at the tone in my voice. Through all of this, I raised my voice but never gotten truly angry with her until now. I couldn’t take back what I said by blaming a drunken tirade. Also, you can’t take back the truth. At this point, I truly wished I’d never met Angel Simmons.

  I couldn’t leave Macy alone with Angel, but I needed to go after Lanie and explain things. Macy agreed to be dropped off at Gracie and Ashton's for a bit. Gracie said she'd use the opportunity to talk with Macy about her feelings over our mom's situation.

  Lanie’s car sat in the driveway when I arrived at her house. Part of me thought she’d go somewhere to avoid any chance of me finding her. My fist had hit the door with one knock before it swung open with ferocity. “What?” She asked annoyed. Her eyes were red; her cheeks puffy, she’d been crying.

  “Can I come in so I can explain things?”

  Her hand swung past her body in a sweeping motion to silently allow me entrance. She sat on the couch as far from me as possible with her arms crossed and her eyes looking at the floor. “I didn’t lie to you.”

  Her head whipped up in shock, “You told me that you’d never slept with Angel; that wasn’t a lie?”

  I sighed, “You asked me if anything romantic happened between us and I said no. That was true. We got drunk one night and ended up in bed together. Neither of us even remembered having sex. We were both naked, and there was a used condom, deductive reasoning says we did.”

  Figurative smoke poured out of her ears from the heat enveloping her face at this moment. “Excuse me for not being more specific in my question. I should’ve asked, ‘have you ever screwed your roommate’, but I wanted to show more tact than that. Next time I’ll remember that you need specifically worded questions.”

  Her voice cracked,
and she began to cry again. I hated seeing her hurt. “This all happened the night of MJ and Derrick’s wedding; it was at least a month before I met you.”

  Lanie stood up, “It's not about when it happened. I don't care who you slept with before we started dating. You lied to me Tristan. I asked you for honesty, and you lied. I hate liars. I’ve dealt with liars enough in my life, and I don’t need that anymore. I want you to leave.” I stood up reaching for her. She eased away from my touch. “Now. Leave. I need a little time and space.”

  Dropping my head in defeat, I began my slow retreat from her house. “I care about you Lanie, more than you know.” Her eyes dipped to the floor as I saw the emotion roll over her face again. Before I could cause her anymore pain, I turned and walked away from her.

  At home, Angel waited in the living room for my return. When I walked in the door, she called out my name. “What do you want?” I asked disdainfully.

  Angel had sobered up some now looking guilty. “I’m sorry Tristan.”

  “Save it,” I stated indignantly. “Save it for someone who cares. I’m going to my room. I’d appreciate you leaving me alone until I am ready to speak to you.” She had dipped her eyes to the floor sadly before I added caustically, “And stay away from Macy.” That caused her to look at me with such hurt in her eyes. It was different than seeing Lanie hurt. I wanted Angel to hurt for what she’s put me through lately. It isn’t mature or sophisticated to act this way, but who can be mature when they’re in this much pain.

  My room looked like a bachelor’s pad, something I felt like I’d be forever at this point. Clothes were strewn over the chair in the corner and thrown near the hamper, not on it but near it. In the bathroom, a towel draped on the floor from when I took a shower before I left; I had forgotten to hang it up.

  As I stared in the mirror, my fingers scraped down my face then pushed my hair back. My hair had gotten thick again now that Macy’s was all grown back. Thinking about the story made me miss my old friendship with Mary Jane. Days like today I'd curl up on the couch with her griping about my problems while we ate pretzel M&M's and buttered popcorn.