Page 15 of Perfectly Wrong

TEN

TRISTAN

Bishop sits up, pulling me up with him. “Let’s go shower.” We quickly shower and end up lying in bed. “Where’s Trinity?”

“School. She’s getting straight A’s.”

“You guys still friends?”

“Definitely. Without her, I would’ve quit a long time ago.”

“What happened to you?”

“I hate school, Bishop. I hate it. I’m just not good at following all these archaic rules and shit. No matter what I do, I can’t meet the professor’s expectations. So they flunked me.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. I just want to start working, but my dad’s gonna flip. You know how important education is to him.”

“Yeah.”

“Advice?”

Bishop shakes his head. “I think all you can do is be honest and tell him what happened. You’re almost twenty-one now. This is a decision you can make, but just try to help him understand that you’re not him.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Thank you for not sending me away. I was afraid you might.”

“Why?”

I shrug. “You always try.” I roll over on my stomach. “Do you want to know why I stopped calling and texting so much?”

“Yeah. I honestly thought maybe you met someone.”

I shake my head. “No way. It’s because I knew if I talked to you, I would quit and come home to be with you.

There were so many nights I just wanted to see your face or hear your voice and gaze into your eyes.

I wanted to feel your mouth on me.” My eyes tear up as Bishop cups my face.

“I think about you all the time. It never stops. I don’t know how to deal with it except to be with you.

Do you feel that way about me? Even a little bit? Is that why you don’t call or text?”

A tear streaks down my face, and Bishop brushes it away as his eyes soften.

“Babe, Tristan, I don’t call or text so I don’t distract you.

I don’t so I don’t have to lie to your father.

I don’t because I shouldn’t.” I start to speak but he shakes his head no.

“But I think about you every day. I wonder what you’re doing, who you’re with, if you’re happy.

I lie in bed and remember it all… your taste, your kiss, what it feels like to sink inside you.

I don’t know what to do about it either. I don’t know if…”

“What? Tell me, Bishop.”

“Sometimes I feel like I should be a man and face your father and just tell him.”

“Tell him what?”

“Tell him about us. Tell him…” He shakes his head. “Tell him even though I tried, I couldn’t let you go. Even though you tried, you couldn’t stay away.”

“Do you think we should? I hate hiding. I hate lying.”

“Me too.”

“He asked me before I left if you and I had done anything. I almost told him, but he stopped me, and he said he didn’t want to know, but he wanted me to let you go and focus on school.”

Bishop nods. “We had a few words a couple of months ago. He didn’t want to hear anything I had to say about you, unless... unless it was love. That was the same week I came to see you.”

Gazing into his eyes, I want to tell him how I feel. I want to tell him I think I’m in love.

“Interesting.”

Bishop nods. “But now isn’t the right time to talk about us. You need to talk to him about school and your plans. You can’t drop all of this on him at the same time.”

“Right. Yeah. I’ll go in the morning.”

He kisses my forehead. “Okay, babe.”

“I have a thought.”

“Listening.”

“Now that things have changed so much, you know, I won’t be going back to school, maybe you and I can spend some real time together. Just hanging out, you know, like we did that night you came up. The more we do that, the more we know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe there’s nothing to tell my dad. Maybe we just had a physical thing and we fuck around a few weeks, and then we let it go, and we become friends, and it’s okay.”

“Is that what you think will happen?”

No. God, I hope not. “I don’t know, Bishop, but why get dad upset over nothing but fucking? If we’re not in a legit relationship, then it doesn’t matter.”

“But what you’re proposing is a legit relationship. You want to watch movies and shit? Cook dinner together? Go out? Is that what you’re asking for?”

I would love it. “I don’t know. Maybe not that much. I just want to be around you.”

Bishop searches my eyes for a few silent moments. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but so much is happening in his mind. I can see it. Maybe I’m freaking him out. Maybe I asked for too much. Maybe he doesn’t like me like that.

“Okay, Tristan.” My eyes widen. “You’re right. We need more time together. That night we spent hanging out was awesome, but it was just a night.”

“Yeah? You mean it?”

“Yeah. We’ll watch movies and shit.” He pinches my chin. “But chances are high I’m fucking you every night.”

“I’m counting on it.”

He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses it. “I need to run downstairs and put my things away since I was interrupted.”

I grin. “Yeah, I need to call Trinity and tell her the good news.”

Bishop grins. “What news is that?”

“That you liked my piercing. That you didn’t send me away. That you fucked the life out of me.”

“Will you tell her the rest? That you fucked me?”

“Hell yeah.”

We both laugh. “Go tell your girlfriend.”

“Why do you call her that?”

“Isn’t she?”

“I guess.”

He smiles, gazing into my eyes. He sits up, grabbing a pair of shorts from his chair. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Once he’s gone, I grab my phone and dial Trinity.

“Hey, sexy,” she answers. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Just lying in Bishop’s bed after he fucked the life out of me.”

“No shit? You did it? You went to his place?”

“Yeah. I got lucky. He was out in his garage working on something. He tried to resist for about two minutes, and then he told me to get the fuck in the house and he tore me up.”

“Oh my god, I love it! Was it just as awesome?”

“Better. Trinity, listen to me.”

“Listening.”

“He wanted me to fuck him.”

“What?” She screams. “You’re fucking lying!”

“Nope, not lying.” I lie back in the bed with a huge smile on my face. “He was amazing, Trinity. He was dirty and mean and rough and beautiful.”

“Did he like your piercing?”

“Loved it. He wanted to suck it when he saw it.”

“Oh god, you’re making me so hot right now.” She giggles. “Did you tell him what you want?”

I nod, even though she can’t see me. “Yeah. I was brave and told him. He said okay, Trinity. He said yes.”

“Oh, Tristan. I’m gonna cry. That’s awesome. I knew it. I just knew it. There’s no way you two are only physical. You’re destined to be together. I know it.”

“I do too, but there’s so much in the way. I mean, really, what can I do for him at my age? I don’t even have a job.”

“You’ll get one. I saw the way he looks at you. I saw the way he fucks you. Your connection is far deeper than the superficial. Trust it.”

My eyes shift to the doorway when Bishop appears again. “Gotta go, doll face. I’ll call you soon.”

“Are you telling your dad tonight?”

“No, I’m staying here tonight.” Bishop lies down next to me. “I’ll go talk to him in the morning.”

“Okay, good luck.”

“Thanks, boo. Talk soon.”

“Bye. Tell Bishop I said hi.”

“I will.” I hang up and roll over so I’m facing Bishop. “Trinity said hi.”

“Did you tell her all the news?”

“Yeah. She’s happy for me.”

“I heard the tail end.” My brow furrows. “When you asked Trinity what you could offer me at your age.”

“I wonder sometimes.”

“What did Trinity say?”

“She said I should trust our connection. It’s deep.”

He brushes his fingers over my cheek. “She’s right, Tristan.

She’s so right. If this was just sex, at least for me, I’d be over it already.

I already got it. The first time would’ve been enough.

” He lifts my hand and kisses each finger, then slowly sucks my thumb.

“Remember when she told us about our zodiac signs and how much I hate complications?”

“Yeah.”

“She nailed it. Do you think I would do all of this with you just for a fuck?”

“I mean, I am pretty amazing.”

Bishop grins. “Yeah, you are.”

“But I know what you’re saying. I’m coming between you and my dad.”

He nods. “I’m coming between you and your dad. So hear me, loud and clear, Tristan, when I tell you that there must be a reason. Far deeper than that beautiful dick of yours.”

I smile, gazing into the blue of his eyes. “My dad told me you guys almost hooked up once.”

His eyes open wide. “Oh. He did?”

“Yeah. I think it was his way of telling me he understood my attraction to you. He said it didn’t go further because it was like being with your brother.”

Bishop nods solemnly. “Something like that.”

“Is it weird for you? The father and now the son?”

“No. It wasn’t anything like this with me and your dad. We were drunk and kissing seemed like a good idea. He—” Bishop averts his eyes.

“What? You can tell me.”

“It’s weird. He’s your dad.”

“I can handle it. I want to know.”

Bishop watches me for a moment. “He went down on me.”

I let that settle for a second. “I mean, I guess dad has good taste.”

Bishop smiles. “He didn’t finish. It was so weird. We sobered up fast.”

“Was it awkward after?”

“No. We just laughed it off. It was never an issue.” I notice the lingering sadness in his eyes. “When your friendship is strong enough, it can handle shit like that.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“So now you know. That’s all of it. Nothing before and nothing since.”

We lie together quietly for a few minutes. “I saw you once. You were leaving just as my mom drove up to drop me off. I was sixteen.”

Bishop nods. “I think I remember that.”

“I was just a skinny kid, but when I saw you…” I exhale slowly. “Something shifted in me. I was pretty sure at that point I was into guys, but I had never felt anything major. I saw you and it was the first time I wanted to have sex with someone. Like I felt it in my stomach. I felt it everywhere.”

Bishop smiles as his eyes soften. “That’s amazing.”