Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 93312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Because he’s my son.”
I jump at the sound of August’s voice. It takes a second for his words to sink in, but when they do, my world tilts on its axis. My ears ring and I’m suddenly dizzy. No. No. I look over at Thayer who looks about as horrified as I feel. It’s not true. It can’t be true. But when I see Grey’s face harden with contempt, I know it is. Slowly, everything starts to click into place. My stomach rolls, and I legitimately think I’m going to throw up.
“Breathe, Shayne. I’m not your father,” August says knowingly, putting me out of my misery. “But I am his.”
“You knew,” I say to Grey. That’s why he’s been acting so strange. Well, that and the fact that he was the one to discover Danny’s body. That would fuck anyone up.
“Danny found out somehow and told me about it a few days prior. I didn’t believe him. I wanted to confront Mom and August, but Danny wanted me to wait until we had all the facts.”
“You’re my half-brother,” I say to Grey as it dawns on me. Why would our mom keep something like this from us?
I look over at Thayer and Holden to see how they’re handling the news, but they both stand there, stoic, not giving anything away.
“So, we’re back to square one,” Thayer says as if he didn’t just find out that his dad fathered another child, clasping his hands behind his head. “We still don’t know who killed Danny.”
“We don’t know that someone killed him,” August says, sounding surprised.
“I need to get out of here,” I mumble, my brain on information overload. I need air. I don’t give anyone a chance to respond before I’m heading down the stairs and out into the fresh air. I inhale deeply, pulling as much air into my lungs as I can, and then the dam breaks. I’m crying, again, and I can’t stop it.
“Shayne,” Thayer’s voice calls out behind me. I turn around, meeting his eyes. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“Then imagine what would happen if you actually tried.”
Shayne
Thanks to Taylor’s creative expression on my locker, I had to go see Miss Thomas and the principal the next day. I honestly couldn’t even tell you what was said. I sat there, nodding at the right times, giving yes or no answers. My locker had been cleaned over the weekend, but I didn’t care. The damage was already done. The days pass by in a blur. I walk through life on autopilot, feeling that same detached feeling I felt last time I had my heart trampled on. I can’t concentrate in class and I’m off my game when it comes to volleyball. I wasn’t exactly Miss Personality when our team visited colleges either, so I’m sure I made a fantastic impression on the coaches. That coupled with the fact that I didn’t play my junior year—which is arguably the most important year when it comes to scouting—doesn’t bode well for me.
After my mom got home from her trip, Grey finally confronted her. All this time, he knew August was his biological father, and he never once let my mom in on that fact. The longer she kept it from him, the more his resentment grew. She finally broke down, confessing all the details she’d kept to herself for so many years. Apparently, she and August were having an affair even though he was already married to Thayer’s mom. My mom is a few years younger than August, so a teen pregnancy and adultery weren’t a good look. Especially back then. Her parents told her she had two options: get an abortion or get out.
She chose to get out.
But here’s the real kicker. August never knew. My grandmother called William, August’s father, to fill him in on the scandal. Instead of confronting August with the information, he opted for bribing my mom with a nice stack of cash if she left town. William told her that it was what August wanted, and since she was pregnant and on the verge of homelessness, she accepted his offer. Then came my dad, whose identity is still a mystery to me. Honestly, I haven’t had the desire or the energy to ask her about it. I have enough drama in my life as it is, and you can’t really miss someone you don’t know.
My mom was never close with her parents after that, but eventually, they were able to be civil for our sake. That is, until my mom ran into August the first time we ever came to visit Sawyer Point. He took one look at Grey and knew he was his. Cue another fight between both my mom and grandmother and August and William once they put the pieces together. From what my mom says, August wanted an opportunity to get to know Grey. My mom wasn’t ready to tell him, and August wasn’t quite ready to claim him. So, they got engaged, and he supported us financially, sent Grey to a good college, and the rest was history.