Thomas’s eyes shoot to Mom’s again, and he visibly swallows. “Is that true?”
She looks to the ground and gives a tiny nod.
My gaze flits between my family in shock.I was born. He might not be my dad. My mom cheated. I was born.I never stood a chance. It was all beyond my control. Bile rises in my throat and my stomach churns. I can’t watch this anymore. Can’t be here anymore. “Enough.” I find my voice. “I’m going home.” This is too much to process right now.
I turn to walk toward Thomas’s and Dylan’s trucks, not caring who follows to take me home but hoping at least one of them does. After a few seconds, I hear multiple sets of footsteps and sigh in relief.
“This is all your fault, Summer. It all happened because of your stupid crush on those boys. On him. That was the last straw,” my dad calls out, obviously needing to get it all out of his system.
I stop and turn around to see him pointing at Dylan. He must be feeling more confident now that Dylan’s stepped away. He looks me dead in the eye as he speaks. “You embarrassed our family by sneaking out and drooling over them. You always rebelled and I had to deal with it, time and time again. I’d had enough. And don’t tell me you were there because you wanted to play; come on, you can’t expect me to believe that. You were always nothing but trouble.”
“Are you serious right now?” Thomas asks, his face full of disbelief. “Shewaswatching the game because she wanted to play. We talked about it. She wanted to watch so she could learn the game. So she could play with us, withyou. She just wanted your attention. Why would you think she was there for Dylan? She was ten, for fucks’ sake.”
“Then why didn’t she watchyoutrain, Thomas? Ever think of that? If she wanted to learn, she could have watchedyou.”
“She—”
“She’s a tramp, just like her mother. Sneaking out and making me find her all the time…”
He says the last part almost to himself and looks at me in disgust, causing me to flinch.God, he’s irrational. I was a kid. And he’s wrong. I had wanted to play. I wanted to bond with him. At least in the beginning.
Thomas begins to speak, but Dad cuts him off again. “And then you,” he yells, turning his attention to Dylan, “you had to send your dad after me. You both ruined my life.”
“How?” Dylan yells and I turn to look at him, seeing his face redden in anger. “You beat Summer. My daddied. How the fuck didweruinyourlife?”
“Because I watched him die!”What? ”He was my idol, and I watched him die. The guilt ate me up inside.”Jesus.
Dylan’s jaw drops, and he starts moving toward my dad with a menacing gaze. “Did you cause the accident? Was it your fault?” he yells as his pace increases.
Thomas grabs him at the last second. “It’s not worth it. He’s not worth it. Hurting him won’t change a thing.” Thomas then turns to Dad. “But you better answer him, or it won’t be Dylan you have to worry about.”
“I didn’t. I…”
“He just told him to leave, chased him off our property. That’s all,” Mom adds, defending Dad and confirming she kneweverythingall along.
I stare at Dylan in shock. Despite what they’re both saying, I’m sure my dad had a hand in the accident, even if not directly.
Dylan stands behind Thomas. He’s looking up to the sky and gripping his face in obvious anguish. I want to move toward him, but I’m frozen in place.
“If all this is true, why the fuck did you hurt Summer again and kick her out at sixteen?” Thomas says, and until this point, the thought had never occurred to me. After the first incident, which we now have a reason for, Dad sobered up. So while our relationship never improved, I’d at least been living without fear. Then when I was sixteen, Thomas brought his college friends over, and everything changed. I hadn’t even realized he’d seen me watching them. But was that it?
Dylan’s eyes snap to mine and then Dad’s, and then he lets out a string of curses I’d rather not repeat.What’s going on?
He drops to the ground with his face in his hands.
“Oh, fuck.” Thomas curses before crouching beside him, gripping his shoulder. “Don’t. Don’t blame yourself. She won’t.”
“What the hell am I missing?” I question, but it’s loud enough for them to hear.
Dylan looks up at me with bloodshot eyes. “I was at the party, Summer.”And?“He beat you because of me. Because of the guilt over my dad.”Oh, hell. My heart breaks for him, not me,himas I stare into his shattered, soulful eyes. None of this is his fault. I’m even starting to realize none of this is my fault either.Seems we were all holding on to something from that dreadful day.
I ignore my mother and father and walk over to Dylan and Thomas. I drop beside Dylan and frame his face with my hands. “This isn’t your fault. The only person to blame for all of this is my father. I’m sorry for his part in your father’s death. I’m sorry for the guilt you hold over the day you saw him hurting me, and I’m sorry for the extra guilt that I know you’ve now added to the pile.”
I rest my forehead against his and block out the world around us. “Dylan, when you hurt,I hurt,” I say, repeating the words he once said to me, because they’re one hundred percent true. That’s when it hits me.God, how did I not see it sooner?How did it take so long to figure out thatDylan is my person. He’s the one. He’s my everything. “I’m falling—”
“Don’t. Please,” he says, cutting me off. I hadn’t even realized I’d said those words out loud.Was I about to say I was falling in love with him? Am I?
I feel a warmth spread up from my chest until it hits my face, and I’m thankful it’s now dark, so no one can see me blush with embarrassment.