Building Bridges (Sater's Creek Book 4) Read online

  CHAPTER FOUR

  LACHLAN LAUGHED AT Kian and shook his head. “It had to be Flynn.”

  “At least he’s open about it, and he has exactly what he wanted.”

  “Will it last, though? The threesome he’s in?”

  Kian shrugged and pursed his lips. “It seems to be, but who knows? He said they talk about everything, and that helps. Communication is important to them, and if one of them is upset, they talk about it.”

  “He does seem happy.” Lachlan sipped his beer, then put it down on the bar. “I hope it works for him.” He glanced around to the bar door when he heard it open and sucked in a breath when he saw who walked in.

  What the fuck was he doing here? Lachlan thought, glaring at the man in question. His eyes traveled down Elias’s arms, noticing the tattoos decorating them, and he licked his lips. Damn, he stretched that T-shirt just right.

  He licked his lips again, then growled at his own response. Elias, the boy who had bullied him in high school, was now in Sater’s Creek. Why?

  Elias glanced his way, his eyes passing over him, then slamming straight back to him. Lachlan saw them widen, and Elias smiled. Lachlan growled again. The fucker had a great smile. Bastard.

  Elias nodded at something the man next to him said, then walked over to Lachlan, his long legs eating up the ground between them. Lachlan glared at him, hoping he’d get the stay‑the‑fuck‑away message, but Elias kept on walking right toward him.

  “Lachlan. It’s great to see you.” Lachlan could hear the happiness in his voice and gritted his teeth. Happy?

  Lachlan grunted. “What do you want?”

  Elias glanced down, biting the corner of his lip. It gave Lachlan a chance to look him over. Dark hair cut short and hazel eyes Lachlan had only seen when angry or filled with hate. He’d filled out from the bully Lachlan knew him as, his biceps straining his T-shirt, with colorful tats covering them.

  Lachlan’s eyes moved further down, taking in the flat stomach and narrow hips. Shit, he looked good, and if it was any other person, Lachlan would be flirting with him, hoping for a good time, but not him.

  “I came to apologize.”

  “Really?” Lachlan tilted his head to the side and watched Elias squirm.

  “I wasn’t fair to you back in school. I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did, and for that, I’m sorry.”

  Lachlan inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. Took balls to come over and apologize. Didn’t mean Lachlan had to like him. “Okay.”

  Lachlan spun around on the barstool, pointedly giving Elias his back. Kian arched a brow, then sipped his beer, watching them out of the corner of his eyes.

  “Er, okay, then. Guess I’ll see you around.”

  “Guess you will.”

  Lachlan glanced at Kian, who stared back at him. “Who was that?”

  “Elias. The kid who made my life hell in high school.”

  “That’s Elias?” Kian leaned back and licked his lips. “He sure filled out.”

  “Yep, but he can still fuck off.”

  “He’s exactly your type, Lach.”

  Lachlan glared at Kian. “And he made my life hell. I hated school. I had to constantly be on the lookout to avoid him and his friends. The things they said to me, the shit I took from them.” Lachlan shook his head and glared over his shoulder at Elias. “He was the worst one.” Elias glanced over at him and smiled. Lachlan turned back around and muttered, “Why’s he back?”

  “Only one way to find out, Lach. Ask him.”

  “Pfft. Like I’m gonna start a convo with him.”

  “Isn’t that his brother? The older one? What was his name?”

  “Baxter.”

  “Both of them here in Sater’s Creek, where they grew up.” Kian nudged Lachlan’s shoulder. “I wonder if they’ve moved back here.”

  Lachlan grimaced. “Fuck, I hope not.”

  “If they have, you’re gonna see him all the time.”

  “How so?” Lachlan asked. “I’ll be working on the farm. When will I get the chance to see him?”

  Kian tapped his lip with his finger and made a show of looking at the pub. “Gee, I don’t know. Where could you possibly run into him?”

  “Shut up,” Lachlan muttered, ignoring the fact that Kian had a point.

  “Clear the air. Talk to him. You’ve both grown up since then. I heard he’d joined the Navy.”

  “How do you know so much? He’s older than us.”

  Kian shrugged. “I was at Wes’s and heard them talking about him and Bax.”

  Lachlan snorted. “You were checking out the talent.”

  Kian shrugged and grinned. “Good thing too. From what I heard, he and Bax have a computer game business or something.”

  “So?” Lachlan sighed. He didn’t need to know this much about the sexy fucker. Ugh! Now he was thinking of Elias as a sexy fucker. He glanced over at Elias again and licked his lips, then gritted his teeth.

  Okay, Elias was hot as fuck, but he was on the ”stay the fuck away from” list. No way was Lachlan going home and jerk off to thoughts of Elias’s naked body. The man had made his life hell, and he thought a simple apology would make everything okay.

  “He’s coming over.”

  Lachlan jerked and sat up straight, pretending to ignore Elias when he stood next to him and placed his order.

  “Can I get you two anything?”

  “Nope.”

  Lachlan replied to Elias’s question at the same time Kian answered, “Two beers, please. Local brew.”

  Lachlan slowly looked over at Kian and arched a brow, mouthing, Why?

  He heard Elias place the order, and his body shivered in response to the sound of Elias’s voice. Smooth and deep, it felt like it had caressed Lachlan’s skin, and he hated the way he responded to it.

  “Here.”

  Elias placed a glass of beer in front of Lachlan, and he nodded, mumbling, “Thanks.”

  “So, I heard you’ve moved back?” Kian asked.

  Lachlan glared at him, his lips thinning, and Kian ignored him, his eyes dancing. Lachlan was going to kill his brother when they got out of here.

  “I have. Me and Bax. I’ve bought a place not far from here and turned the garage into an office.”

  “I heard you did something with games.” Kian batted his eyelashes, and Lachlan barely contained the growl. Kian was dead when they got home. What kind of brother flirted with the fucking enemy?

  “We design games for some of the major retailers.”

  “Really? I thought you’d joined the Navy?”

  Lachlan dropped his head, his shoulders tensing. Elias needed to leave so he could bury Kian’s body. He had two other brothers. He wouldn’t miss Kian at all.

  “I did my four years, then went to college. I needed to get out of Sater’s Creek for a while.”

  “Why?” Lachlan speared Elias with a look full of anger. “Needed new victims to bully.”

  Elias actually paled, and Lachlan grinned. “No.”

  Turning on the barstool, Lachlan folded his arms over his chest. “What? Met someone bigger and badder than you? The bully became the victim?”

  Elias watched him for several seconds, then said, “I bullied you because I hated myself.”

  “How much did you pay a therapist to work that shit out?”

  “I was gay and couldn’t admit it, so I punished you for my inadequacies.”

  Lachlan stilled. What the fuck? Had Elias just said what Lachlan thought he’d said? “What?” he whispered.

  Elias nodded. “It’s the truth. I hated how strong you were, how you could stand there and be honest about who you were.”

  Lachlan worked his jaw from side to side, his body hot as anger burned through him. Elias was gay? The fucker who’d made his life hell was gay? “You bastard.”

  Elias winced but nodded. “I’m sorry, Lachlan.”

  “You’re sorry?” he whispered. In a louder voice, he said, “You’re sorry?”

  Elia
s winced again. “You have every right to be angry after—”

  “Of course, I have every right!” Lachlan shouted. The background noise dimmed as everyone turned toward them. “You fucker!”

  Elias nodded. “Lachlan—”

  Lach slid off the barstool, ignoring the fact that Elias had a good couple of inches on him, and swung, grunting when his fist connected with Elias’s jaw, snapping his head to the side. He shook his fist out and hardened his jaw, clenching his hands into a fist.

  Elias slowly lifted his hand and rubbed his jaw as he turned to Lachlan. “You can have that one, Lach, for what I did, but don’t do it again.”

  Lachlan scoffed. “Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?”

  Elias was pulled back as Bax grabbed his arm. “Eli?”

  “No, we’re good, Bax. Aren’t we, Lach?”

  Lach pointed at Elias. “We will never be good. Stay the fuck away from me.”

  “Or?” Elias stood straight and stepped closer.

  Lach grabbed his glass of beer and threw it into Elias’s face. He stormed out of the pub and over to his truck. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind and shoved up against the side of a car in the parking lot. Elias towered over him, his face hard, his eyes narrowed.

  “Get the fuck off me!” Lach pushed at Elias, but he refused to move.

  Getting in Lachlan’s face, he muttered, “Never do that again.”

  “Or what, Eli? Gonna call me a fag, a butt muncher? Gonna spray graffiti on my locker or slash my tires?”

  “I was a kid! I was stupid,” Elias snapped.

  “And I had to live with it. Every fucking day. You made my life hell!” Lachlan shouted, ignoring the growing crowd.

  Elias deflated in front of him and, with a nod, stepped back. “You’re right. I did, and I apologize. Again.”

  “You think saying sorry will make up for it?” Lachlan shook his head and jabbed his finger in Elias’s chest.

  “No, but I hope with my actions, you’ll come to realize I mean it.”

  “Stay away, Eli. I want nothing to do with you.”

  “Sater’s Creek isn’t that big a place for you to avoid me. It would be better if we could put the past behind us,” Elias reasoned.

  Lachlan gritted his teeth and ground out, “Better for who? You? Of course it would. Then no one would know that because you couldn’t admit you were gay, you had to make my life hell because I could.”

  “I apologized.”

  “You made my life hell!”

  “I know, and I’m sorry.” Sighing, he admitted, “I was jealous.”

  “What…”

  “You were out and proud and didn’t care what anyone thought.” Elias shook his head as he put his hands in his pockets. “I couldn’t even admit it to myself.”

  “You’re gay?” Lachlan asked. “You’re really gay?” He needed to be certain Elias wasn’t lying to him. When Elias nodded, he shook his and said, “Fuck off.”

  “No, I am.”

  “Lach—”

  “Shut the fuck up, Kian.”

  “Rory’s here.”

  Lach glanced over to where his brother stood in his uniform. Of course someone had called the sheriff’s office, and of course, his brother just had to be working. “Ro.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Elias stepped back and shook his head. “Just a misunderstanding.”

  “It was reported that punches were thrown.”

  “No, we’re good.” Elias stared at Lachlan. “Aren’t we?”

  “Yeah, no problems here.” He met Elias’s eyes and held them, refusing to back down. Elias nodded slightly and turned to face Rory. “Just a misunderstanding.”

  Rory watched Lachlan, and Lachlan struggled not to fidget on the spot. Ro had the look down to a fine art! He pursed his lips and waited. “Go home, Lach,” Ro said.

  Lach nodded and brushed past Elias, pointedly ignoring him, but he couldn’t ignore the muttered, this isn’t over, Lach. He stiffened but carried on walking over to his truck and waited for Kian, who walked over to him instead of getting in.

  “Don’t say a fucking word.”

  Kian rubbed the back of his neck. “Why didn’t you tell us it was that bad?”

  “Didn’t you hear me? I said don’t talk!”

  “Just go home, Lach.” Kian sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll try to sort this out.”

  Lachlan got in his truck and started the engine. With a final glare at Elias, who watched him, he pulled away. He wasn’t going to give the fucker another thought.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ELIAS RAISED HIS hand to rub his sore jaw. Man, he threw a mean punch. “Eli.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at Bax, then at Rory, who was writing notes and watching them at the same time. “Rory. Officer Doyle.”

  Rory glanced up and arched a brow, then walked over. “What happened?”

  “It’s my fault.”

  “Ro, don’t.”

  “Zip it, Kian.” Staring at Elias, Rory asked, “Want to tell me what happened?”

  “Nothing happened.”

  Rory glanced at his jaw, then back up. “Really?”

  “Ro—”

  “Kian. Go home unless you want to clarify the situation?”

  “Er, nope. Nothing happened. I’ll just get going.”

  Elias heard the hurried steps of Kian as he briskly left, and he watched Rory as he watched him. “Elias. Long time no see,” Rory muttered, a brief flash of anger crossing his face.

  “I apologized.”

  Arching a brow, Rory asked, “To whom and for what?”

  “To Lachlan for how I treated him.”

  “And he punched you for it.”

  Wincing, Elias shook his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. “No, not for that.”

  “So, he did hit you?”

  Elias quickly looked up at Rory, who had his pen poised over his pad. “I admitted I was gay, and that was why I had bullied him.”

  Rory grimaced. “Yeah, that would piss him off.”

  “I apologized, but obviously it didn’t help. I won’t press charges because if I’m honest, I deserved it. Now, I’m going home, Ro, unless you need me for something else?”

  “No, I think we’re done here.”

  Elias nodded and followed Bax over to the car. Bax drove away but only lasted a minute before asking, “Lachlan?”

  “I was young, stupid, and jealous.”

  “A Doyle? I mean, how stupid must you be to bully a fucking Doyle.”

  “I was young and stupid.”

  “Why him?”

  “You heard why!” Elias snapped. “Because he was everything I was too scared to be. He was out and proud, living his life, and I was stuck in the fucking shadows, pretending to be someone I wasn’t. He was everything I wanted to be. He was strong, Bax. No matter what I did, he fucking took it, then stared down his nose at me like he knew I was hiding.” Elias shook his head and sighed wearily. “I wanted to be him. I wanted to be able to stand there with my head held high and admit I was gay.”

  “Shit, Eli. Why didn’t you say something to me? I would have kept your secret or had your back.”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted quietly. “Small-town people with their small-town minds, only I was the person treating Lachlan like he was a piece of shit. He was true to who he was, and I…” He trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.

  “You were scared. I know Mom and Dad haven’t exactly accepted it.”

  Eli snorted and folded his arms over his chest. “Ya think?”

  “Eli. They aren’t that bad.”

  “No, they could be much worse. I heard Tucker Ozark’s parents don’t talk to him at all since he started his relationship with Rory Doyle.”

  Bax hissed. “That’s just fucked up. Some people need to move into the current century. We left the 1800s behind.”

  “Some people haven’t gotten the memo yet,” Eli grunted.

  “So, Lachlan.”
r />   “I always liked him, you know. That was another reason why I treated him like shit.”

  “Still?”

  Elias shrugged. “Does it matter now? He would probably shoot me before talking to me again. I made his life hell, Bax.”

  “At least you can see you did, and you have apologized. Maybe avoid him for a while and let him come to terms with what you told him. If you made his life hell because of his sexuality, it must feel like a punch to the gut to know you’re gay and made his life hell because you couldn’t admit it.”

  Elias nodded and rubbed his lips. “I know,” he admitted quietly. “I hate who I was back then, you know. Hate who I became.”

  “I know.”

  “When is Dex coming over?”

  Bax snorted. “When he’s finished banging that woman he met.”

  “I thought it wasn’t serious?” Elias asked, furrowing his brow at Bax. His youngest brother was a bigger man whore than Curtis, from what Elias had heard since his return to Sater’s Creek. “I thought it was like a one-nighter or something.”

  “It was, but you know Dex. He decided he liked her pussy too much to just have one night at it.” Bax glanced at Elias, then back at the road. “His words, not mine.”

  “Some woman is gonna destroy him.”

  “Fuck, I hope so. He needs to be put in his place.”

  “He’d deserve it too.” Bax pulled into Elias’s driveway and turned off the engine. “Come on.”

  Elias grunted and got out, stretching tall as he moved his head from side to side. “Man, I feel my age today.”

  “You’re twenty-seven, Eli. I’m thirty-five. Give it a few years, then you can complain.”

  “I served our country; you sat on your ass.”

  “Waiting for you, bro.”

  Elias grinned and slung his arm over Bax’s shoulder. “We make a good team.”

  “We make a shit-ton of money designing games. Could have been doing it sooner.”

  “I needed to go, Bax,” Elias reminded him. “I needed to do something about the mountain range on my shoulder, as you called it.”

  “You did good, Eli. I’m proud of you. Not of how you treated Lach, though.”

  “I’m not proud of who I was back then, but we both know that person is long gone. Give it time. I’m sure I can win Lach over with my sparkling personality.”