Lies Inside

by Lindsey Gray

  “I’m sure they would, but we feel horrible about everything you all have been through. Everything we let happen.” Claire wiped a tear from her cheek as Murphy’s arm wrapped around her shoulder.

  “We accept as parents we are partly responsible for what happened. Now we need to start making it up to each of you.” Murphy put his hand up before Rylan could protest. “Just let me finish. Jack, son,” Murphy turned to Jack, sitting beside him with Rylan. “Since you’ll miss playing this season and lose your scholarship, Claire and I want to pay your tuition for the spring semester.”

  Jack shook his head vigorously. “No, absolutely not. I can’t let you do that.”

  “It’s just until you get your scholarship back. This way the four of you can start in the January if you want.”

  “Yep, the four of them.” Aiden sat lazily tracing his finger around the rim of his half-empty glass. “I’m stuck back in California for at least a year.”

  Rylan took Aiden’s hand in hers. “You know you will always have us, no matter what. After everything you’ve done and you’re family too, you’re stuck with us.”

  “Thanks.” Aiden kissed Rylan’s hand before putting it down, causing Jack to scoot a little closer to her. “I’m not sure how I’m going to face everybody. A lot of people from Two Roads are going to UCLA. What am I going to say when they all start asking questions?”

  “You can talk to Finn. They’re getting to the point where they can handle everything.” Rylan smiled, trying to reassure Aiden.

  “That’s another thing we need to work on.” Murphy’s words brought everyone’s attention back to him. “We’ve kept them in this bubble since they came home. We’ve got to get them around people again, without pushing them.”

  Jack rolled his eyes. “I’m sure Rylan could think of a few hundred things for them to do.” Rylan glared at him before he settled back in his chair.

  “We did bump into Dave when we were at the mall. He says a lot of the gang wants to see us. I could give him a call.”

  “Walters?” Jack laughed, which earned him a smack on the arm from Rylan. “What? The guy is a total tool.”

  “He is, but he’s really harmless. I’ll call him. Maybe we can get together next week.” Rylan stuck out her tongue at Jack before continuing. “Then it’s settled. Aiden will have some Finn and Lucy time while I call and set things up with Dave.”

  Finn awoke the first afternoon of his new life with Lucy’s bare body wrapped up in his arms. Her face pressed up against his chest, those glorious auburn locks flowing across her smooth back. He slowly ran his fingers through her hair and heard her hum at his touch.

  “Good afternoon, wife.”

  She placed a kiss above his heart. “Afternoon, husband.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  She stretched one arm across his chest as she let out a yawn. “Still a little tired and hungry.”

  “Let’s get back to the house. It’s after noon.”

  “Well, someone kept me up rather late last night.” She smiled before kissing him softly.

  “I promise a second honeymoon as soon as this is all over. For now, it’s back to Casa O’Malley.”

  “Alright, but only because you promised me a real honeymoon. I have all the best hotels in Rome saved on my computer.” She rolled out of bed and pulled some clothes from her bag.

  “Only the best for my wife.”

  “Damn straight.” She laughed as she slipped into her jeans and pulled down her shirt.

  He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Why don’t I go and rummage some food up for us while you get unpacked?”

  “You’ll have to face everyone… alone.”

  “I’m sure I can tame the lions. I’ll promise the boys a play-by-play later. You, my dear, need to relax. Remember, this is technically the first day of our first honeymoon.”

  “Why, Mr. O’Malley. What on Earth do you have planned?” She gave him her best come-hither look as her bottom lip jutted out in a perfect pout, waiting for him to take it between his lips.

  He granted her only a small reprieve by kissing her quickly. “I might have a few more surprises for my lovely bride. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Okay.” She let out a high, squeaky yawn. “Only because you’re going to feed me.”

  Finn didn’t encounter another soul until he made it down to the kitchen. His parents were sipping their coffee while giving the girls brunch.

  He crept behind Chloe, giving her a peck on the head. “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Finn!” She jumped up to stand on her chair and gave him a tight squeeze around the waist. “Where’s Lucy?”

  “She’s unpacking so I’m going to take some food up to her.” He sat Chloe back down in her chair.

  “We had so much fun at your party. Lucy was so pretty.” Chloe smiled before shoving another spoonful of oatmeal in her mouth.

  “I would have to agree. Very pretty.” He grinned as he kissed the top of Olivia’s head. She was too enthralled in her food to even notice.

  Finn made his way over to the kitchen island where his mother had an array of muffins and pastries already set out.

  “Quite a spread. You expecting the whole town?”

  He looked to see a slight blush creep up on Claire’s cheeks as she held her coffee cup just in front of her mouth. Murphy looked at him with both eyebrows raised to suggest a question Finn wasn’t sure he wanted to answer.

  “What?” Finn laughed a little at his nervousness.

  “Everything go okay last night?” His father took a sip from his cup as his eyes met Finn’s for an answer.

  Finn thought he couldn’t very well go into detail about how amazing it was to make Lucy moan all night long. He felt a slight bead of sweat gather on his brow as he finally decided on his words. “Everything went as planned.”

  Murphy let out the breath he had been holding in. “Good. Glad to hear it.” He nodded with a look of pride as if he really had anything to do with Finn’s performance. Claire’s face was crimson at that point. Finn couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh as he shook his head. “Will Lucy be coming down sometime today?”

  “I’m sure. First she needs to eat then maybe take a nap.” Finn couldn’t stop grinning at the thought of what they had done to expend so much energy. He had always been terrified of having that kind of physical relationship. But with Lucy, it was like their bodies were made for each other. The only way they worked right was when they were together. He began to see their physical relationship in a completely different light once he’d experienced it with Lucy. He truly understood why it was called making love. He wanted so badly to make her feel as good as she made him feel. They were finally over a huge hurdle. He was looking forward to expending a little more energy, but right then his stomach was calling.

  “There’s a tray on the stove if you want to take it up with the food.” Claire had finally found her voice.

  “Thanks.” He loaded the tray up, but was a little afraid to try to attempt taking hot coffee up the stairs. “Can I just take the jug of orange juice?”

  “Sure, honey.”

  He grabbed the tray and shot them all a smile before making his way upstairs.

  He thought he was home free, only feet away from his door, when the door to the guest room opened up. Jack and Aiden came stumbling out.

  “Hey,” Aiden yawned.

  “Hey.” Finn only managed a few more steps before Aiden was pulling him back by the shoulders.

  “That’s it? That’s all we get?” Aiden sounded disappointed, but Jack was just smiling, shaking his head.

  “Your gifts were put to good use, well except the feather. I’m, um…working my way up to that one.”

  “Congratulations!” Aiden shook him, and he almost lost his hold on the tray. “Details?” he pleaded. Finn never had to ask him for details. Aiden was always more than willing to share.

  “All in good time. Can I please go feed my wife now?”

  “You
better let him go. Luce can get pretty nasty when she hasn’t been fed.” Finn heard Jack call as he disappeared down the stairs. “We’ll get all the details later from Rylan, anyway.”

  Finn opened the door carefully. Lucy sat with her back resting on the headboard, waiting for her husband to come feed her.

  “I was beginning to think I was going to have to come after you.”

  He walked over to the bed and put the tray on the nightstand before sitting down with her. “Lions, remember?”

  “You look unscathed, but I can’t be sure.” She pulled herself up on her knees.

  She scooted over to him, grabbing at the hem of his shirt. She lifted it up and pulled it over the top of his head, tossing it to the floor beside the bed.

  “Nope.” She leaned over to trail a few kisses up his neck. “Not a single scratch on you.”

  His head was swimming by the time she was fully pressed against him, her breasts firmly caressing at his chest, her tongue finding all the sensitive spots on his throat. “It was just Mom, Dad, and the girls in the kitchen. It wasn’t until”—God, I love it when she sucks on my earlobe like that—”until I came up the stairs that I ran into the guys coming from the guest room.” He took a hold of her shoulders as he felt her tongue trace the shell of his ear. “Lucy, we need to eat.”

  “I like what I’m tasting right now.”

  She was trying to drive him insane. “Food, Lucy. Food.”

  “Alright.” She stripped herself away from his chest. Even though his stomach was growling, he was saddened by the loss. He brought the tray to sit on the bed beside them. “This better be good.”

  Finn picked up a muffin, and her eyes went wide. “Only the very best. One of my mother’s world famous cranberry, white chocolate chip muffins.”

  She grabbed it from his hand and took a bite from it.

  “A little hungry, are we?” He picked up another and tasted it.

  “So good,” she moaned with her mouth full.

  “I didn’t trust myself carrying the coffee, so you’ll have to settle for—”

  She instantly grabbed the jug of orange juice from the tray, ripped off the cap, and took a swig.

  “Wow. That was incredibly sexy. I hope you know.”

  “Ah.” She let the sigh pass her lips after she swallowed. “It’s just the beginning, Mr. O’Malley.”

  He’d held her off long enough. His lips were on hers, savoring every bit of the berries and oranges lingering there.

  They had rather enjoyed their brunch. Lucy knew that if they tried to make love another time, there was no way they would make it out of bed that day. She was sure Rylan was going out of her mind. She wondered what Finn had actually told the boys.

  After they dressed, Lucy helped Finn take the tray downstairs to the kitchen.

  Empty.

  They went into the living room.

  Empty.

  Lucy heard a squeal that could have only belonged to Olivia come from the behind the house. They ventured out to the back terrace to find everyone assembled there.

  “And the newlyweds finally grace us with their presence.” Aiden ran to Lucy, giving her a huge hug.

  “Easy, man,” Finn said. “I would like to keep her in one piece.”

  “Sure, all right.” Aiden let her go, but not before pecking her on the cheek.

  Rylan latched onto Lucy’s arm and pulled her down into the chair as soon as Aiden let Lucy go.

  “Come on, spill. I’ve been waiting for hours.” Rylan’s sparkling smile put Lucy perfectly at ease somehow.

  Lucy pulled them in a little closer as she saw the guys drag Finn off.

  “The negligee was a major hit.”

  “I knew he’d love it.” Rylan wiggled in her seat. “What else?”

  “We…well…we made love.”

  “Was it okay? Did it hurt very much?” She was noticeably worried, afraid that Lucy might be broken or something.

  “Only for a second. He was really careful. It was really slow at first, but once we got going, I never imagined feeling anything that good. Then the second time…God, it was even better.”

  “Second time?” Rylan questioned with her cute little eyebrows raised.

  “Yep.” Lucy’s smile reached from ear to ear at the thought of her first night as a married woman.

  “Go Finn!” She nodded as she saw Lucy was unconsciously fanning herself. “I’m glad that talk with the boys helped.”

  “What did you do?” Lucy stared her down.

  “We just wanted them to give him a nudge in the right direction. A few pointers.” Rylan dipped her head to the side. “Oh, and don’t be surprised if you find a feather lying around. I had Jack give him one. You will so thank me for it later.”

  Lucy laughed at her new sister as she saw Finn coming towards them.

  “Now you know a lady shouldn’t kiss and tell.” Finn looked back and forth between the two ladies.

  “Lucy doesn’t keep any secrets from me, Finn. You’ll have to get used to the fact that I know what a great lover you are.”

  “Rylan!” Lucy smacked her on the arm.

  “What? No, seriously Finn. You should have seen her face when she started talking about-”

  Lucy cut Rylan off when her hand flew in front of Rylan’s mouth.

  “Bragging about me already? Guess I must be doing something right.” He took Lucy’s hand off of Rylan’s mouth and pulled Lucy out of her chair. “Hate to tell you, but this is our honeymoon so she won’t be spending it gossiping with you. Hopefully she’ll be spending it making more memories to gossip about.” He wrapped his arms around his bride’s waist as hers went to his chest. She got up on her tiptoes, letting her lips caress his. The tip of her tongue lightly swept across his bottom lip before she pulled back.

  “Another memory.”

  “I’m so going to have to try that one on Jack.” Rylan bounced out of her seat with a soft laugh.

  “We have a couple things we need to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We need to talk with Aiden. He has to leave this afternoon and he kind of wants to talk with the both of us alone.”

  Lucy knew what was coming. What would Aiden say to all of their friends? Did he want them to tell him what to say? Lucy didn’t even know what she wanted him to say.

  “He’s waiting for us in the den.”

  “I don’t want to do anything to upset the two of you. I’m not sure what to say. I don’t want to go, but I have to honor my scholarship for at least a year.”

  “I know I’ve put a terrible burden on you. I’m so sorry.” Finn dipped his head down.

  Aiden put his hand firmly on Finn’s shoulder. “You are my best friend. I would kill for you. For both of you.”

  “And you are family to us, Aiden.” He took his hand from Finn’s shoulder to rest in-between Lucy’s. “We trust you. We know whatever you say will be fine.”

  “I wanted to make sure.”

  Lucy rubbed the back of his hand as Finn’s arm went around her shoulder. “You can always call us. We’re here for you as much as we know you’ll be there for us.”

  “Yeah, man. We’re just a phone call away. You’ll be coming with us in September, then there is Christmas break. The semester will be over in no time.” Finn’s other hand was on Aiden’s shoulder.

  “I can’t believe you two are the ones reassuring me.”

  “Look, we know it hasn’t been easy for you either. You were a big part of all this before I even came in the picture.”

  “You were part of the reason I kept getting up every day.”

  “Only because I kicked your ass out of bed.” Aiden let the corner of his mouth creep up.

  “Yeah and you never gave up on me even though you knew I was holding something back. I don’t think I could have got through this without you.”

  Aiden let a tear fall from the corner of his eye, which caused Lucy’s dam to break.

  “We are so lucky to have you in our lives,�
�� she sniffled. “Now stand up and give me one last hug.”

  They all stood up and Aiden pulled Lucy into him tight. “I love you guys.”

  She pulled back from him and wiped a stray tear from his cheek with her thumb. “We love you, too.”

  He let go of her to pull Finn into one of those manly hugs. “I’m going to miss you guys.”

  Finn pulled Lucy into their hug. “We’ll be the three musketeers again in no time.”

  “Yep.” Aiden laughed. “All for one and one for all.”

  They hadn’t been married long, but Finn had learned so many ways to push just the right buttons to make his wife sing. He thought they were both a little shocked and surprised by how much they were enjoying exploring their new physical relationship. So much so, they had only left their room for an hour or so here and there to eat.

  “I guess we have hit our groove.”

  She flipped over to rest on her stomach. “Whatever you call it, I really don’t care. Just as long as we keep doing it. You are totally spoiling me.”

  “Me?” Finn turned on his side and trailed his fingertips up her spine. “I think you get the award for fastest learner. The things you can do with your body.” His thumb caressed at her jaw as she smiled wide at him. “I never knew you were so…flexible.”

  “I got some pointers, just like you did.”

  “What?” He suddenly realized that she too had gotten pointers from his sister. He prayed that his mother was not part of the conversation.

  “Ry told me that the boys talked to you about our wedding night and warned me about the feather.” She lifted her eyebrow as if she was intrigued. “Where are you hiding it anyway?”

  “I was saving it. If either of us can walk tomorrow, maybe we can work it in.”

  She lifted her head to bring her lips to his before sinking back into her pillow. “I think I might have the most perfect husband on the face of the planet.”

  “Lucy, how would you know? We’ve hardly even made it out of our room.”

  “I know.” She winked at him.

  “You are so bad, Mrs. O’Malley.”

  He went to roll over on top of her when he heard his cell phone ring.

  “Round four postponed until further notice.”

  Lucy let out a slight pout before letting her lips turn into a smile. Finn grabbed for his phone on the nightstand before pulling what there was of the sheets over them.