Sweeping glass from underneath stools, Josh hummed along with the jukebox, but his mind was elsewhere. He had warned Tristan, begged him to leave, and yet the man hadn’t been able to hold his temper long enough to get out of the bar without blowing his cover entirely. So much for keeping a low profile. So much for keeping Josh safe.

Several days had passed, but Josh was still finding glass under things from that nasty barfight, and whenever he did, he thought of Tristan. Where was the man now? Far, far away, hopefully, for his sake and Josh’s.

Senior had ripped Josh a new one for lying to him about Tristan, and although Josh was a grown man, he didn’t like being yelled at by his father, and he hated being caught in a lie. He shouldn’t have lied at all. It was for nothing, considering Tristan had gone and revealed himself to half the town, anyway.

Josh was just telling himself that he wouldn’t lie for Tristan again, when Sheriff Briggs and a man in uniform walked into the bar.

“We’re closed till 2,” Josh said, “But I might be able to offer you guys a beer on the house.”

His father kept a good relationship with the Sheriff, and Josh didn’t want to endanger that. Besides, he generally liked the Sheriff. He was a handsome alpha wolf with kind brown eyes, and he didn’t wave around his power like some alpha wolves did.

“We’re here on business, actually, Josh. I have to ask you a few questions.”

Josh sighed and nodded. “I see. Just let me get this glass thrown away.”

He swept it neatly into the dustpan and dumped the dustpan’s contents into the garbage, setting the broom aside to perch on a stool by the bar.

“What do you need to know?” Josh asked.

His eyes were drawn to the soldier, and his nametag. Sanchez. Hadn’t Tristan written about a Sanchez once or twice? He looked at the man’s face, and his buzzcut, and his determined, dark eyes, and he knew he was there for Tristan. Why else would he be there?

Sheriff Briggs glanced at Sanchez, whom Josh didn’t trust as far as he could throw, and obviously decided that he’d better ask the questions, himself.

“When is the last time you saw Tristan St. John?”

Josh was relieved when he didn’t have to lie.

“Here, at the bar. He got involved in a bar fight.” Josh avoided the actual question.

“Who was the bar fight with?” the Sheriff asked.

Josh shook his head when he realized that he was asking who started it. “Tristan didn’t have much to do with it. Garrett James, he was being drunk and disorderly, and his mates tried to tug me over the bar. My father stepped in, some of his friends got involved, and Tristan was on the outskirts of the tussle. Just a regular night at the saloon, honestly, Sheriff. But Tristan was wearing a hood. He didn’t want to be seen. I think his temper got the better of him, or we might never have seen him in here. It was a busy night.”

The Sheriff nodded thoughtfully.

“And you haven’t seen him since?”

Josh could honestly reply, “No, sir.”

Sanchez didn’t seem to believe him, but Josh and the Sheriff had been through enough together that the Sheriff would see if he was being less than truthful.

“Do you know where he went?”

Again, Josh was relieved to honestly say, “No, sir.”

“I heard from Hank,” Sheriff Briggs admitted, and Josh could see he was reluctant to push, but found it was his duty. “That the two of you were out in the bush together, and that he’s been in town over a week. Now Josh, I know you two have a complicated relationship, but are you sure, absolutely certain, that you have no idea where he might have run to after the fight here?”

Fucking Hank. Josh should give that man a piece of his mind. He’d done nothing but get Josh in trouble for weeks.

“Honestly, no. I know where he was staying about half a week ago, but there’s no chance he’s still there.”

The Sheriff nodded. “Fair enough. Try me.”

“In the hills south of here, maybe twelve miles,” he said. “But I’m sure he’s not there anymore, Sheriff.”

“That’s all we need for now. Thank you, Josh. I’ll come by for that beer later.”

The Sheriff left, and Sanchez gave Josh a smug nod that made him pray he hadn’t just given away Tristan’s location.

Josh wasn’t alone at the bar for much longer. Senior showed up less than an hour later with a truck load; they had inventory that needed to be loaded in the back, and Josh went out to help him.

“Got a visit from the Sheriff today,” Josh told his father. They hadn’t been speaking much, since Senior had found out Josh had been lying to him about Tristan, but he figured his father would probably want to hear about this one.

“Is he looking for Tristan?”

Josh sighed and nodded. “He came with a soldier, they were asking questions.

Senior gave him a stern look. “I hope you told him what you know, boy. If he shows up, I’ll tell him what I know.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “Pa, I’m almost thirty-five, when are you gonna stop calling me ‘boy’?”

Senior shook his head, handing him a heavy case of beer rather roughly.

“When you stop acting like one,” he growled.

That wasn’t the last he heard about Tristan that night, but Josh was surprised by the last encounter. A stunning brunette had taken up residence on the edge of the bar for most of the night, and although she had happily made conversation with everyone who tried, she shot down all attempts to turn the conversation into something else, and many men tried. After most of the patrons had left, she ordered a whiskey sour and shifted closer to talk to Josh.

“You’re a very quiet bartender,” she noted.

Josh smirked a bit. “A lot on my mind, I guess. I didn’t mean to offend.”

She laughed softly, twirling the ice in her drink.

“You didn’t offend me. I’m just curious. Do you know a man named Saint?”

Josh stopped in the middle of slicing a lime, and stared at the woman. He hadn’t expected that at all. Tristan had told this woman his nickname? A twinge of jealousy went through him, but he tried to ignore it. Why should he care? Except that Tristan was his.

“Do you know him?” he asked. “Who are you?”

“Eva,” she said. She smiled at him, offering him a slender, manicured hand to shake, but he held up his hands, which were covered in lime juice, apologetically. She shrugged. “And you are… Josh,” she guessed.

Josh nodded, still suspicious. “How do you know Tristan?” And who really was this woman? Another cop? He didn’t recognize her.

“We met in Mexico,” she explained. “I guess you could say I haven’t been able to get him off my mind.” She smiled. “He told me about this bar, and you. But he didn’t describe you as quiet. Or sad.” The woman looked at him like she could see through his soul, and it made Josh very uncomfortable.

He looked at her, frowning.

“So you’ve got the hots for him?”

She shrugged, but her smile said yes. Josh didn’t like that at all. He felt jealousy bubble up in his chest, and he violently stabbed the lime in front of him.

“I thought you might feel that way,” she said. “Tristan said you weren’t together, but I never believed that. You have a claim on each other’s souls, don’t you?”

Josh growled. “No,” he said seriously. “You can have him. And I’ll tell you the same thing I told the cops who were after him today. The last time I knew, he was living as a wolf, in a dirty cave, twelve miles south of here along the hills.”

That was actually more information than the cops had gotten from him, and his anger had made him spit it out. Of course Tristan had told the beautiful woman that he was available. Why wouldn’t he? He didn’t belong to Josh. He never would.

Eva raised an eyebrow, as if she was surprised by how easy that was, and finished her drink.

“Thanks,” she said, and gave him a smile. “I’ll see you around, Josh. Don’t worry, I promise not to do anything to Tristan that he won’t enjoy.”

Josh glared at her as she left. “Be my guest,” he growled, trying to convince himself that he didn’t care.

* * *

“Tell me you don’t love me, and I’ll go,” Tristan said, looking down at Josh.

Tristan had accepted a new tour of active duty—four more years. Josh could barely look at him. “You still love me, don’t you?” Tristan had asked. Josh didn’t have a good answer for that. Of course he still loved Tristan, he loved him more than anything else, but how could he forgive him? He had waited for years for Tristan to finally be done, to be home, on reserve, at least, but instead, Josh was looking at another four years of Tristan being gone all the time, possibly dead.

“You can’t do this to me,” Josh said, shaking his head. “I want you out. I don’t care what you do with your life from now on, I want you out of mine.”

“Josh, just listen. If I stay on, I can work my way up, get more promotions, earn enough money to buy a house for our family. This is a viable career for me, you can’t tell me you would have said no.”

“I would have said no!” Josh yelled, absolutely certain. “You could offer me a job at Disneyland for four years and if it meant being away from you for just one more moment, I would have said NO!”

Tristan sighed, rubbing at his face.

“My Captain said that you’d understand, that I could explain it—”

“Well, your Captain clearly doesn’t know me, and maybe neither do you, if you thought I would put up with more of this crap. This is bullshit, Tristan. Families belong together, and it’s time for us to have a family.”

Tristan took Josh’s hand, squeezing it. “Just a few more years,” he begged.

Josh shook his head. “No. No. You can go, I know you don’t have a choice now, you set that up nicely. But I’m not waiting anymore. I’m gonna find someone else, Tristan, and you can’t blame me. You can’t.”

“So you don’t love me anymore?” Tristan accused, looking down into his eyes. “You don’t love me enough to wait anymore?”

Josh felt his heart breaking in his chest, and fought off tears. That wasn’t fair. That wasn’t fair at all, and Tristan knew it, and he was still using Josh’s feelings for the beautiful alpha against him.

“I didn’t say that. You know, you haven’t grown up at all. You’re still such a brat. You’re still a child. I don’t even want a baby with you. You’re not mature enough to raise a kid.”

Tristan shrugged. “Then just say it. Say you’re done with me, and that you don’t love me anymore, and I’ll go.”

In that moment, all Josh wanted was the pain to go away. Part of him knew that saying it wouldn’t make it go away, but it would make Tristan leave, and leave him alone, and maybe that was the best he could get.

He rubbed tears off of his face and steeled himself, looking up into Tristan’s eyes.

“I don’t love you anymore,” he said softly, and it was a lie, but the worst part was, it was a lie Tristan was ready to accept.

Josh would remember the look in those bright blue eyes, so heartbroken and hopeless, forever.

“Then it’s done,” Tristan whispered. “I hope you have a good life, Josh.”

Josh crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, watching Tristan swing his bag over his shoulder and open the door. He went over to the door to shut it behind him.

“You too,” he whispered, and the loneliness set in the moment the door closed behind his alpha.