Page 16 of Scores Of The Heart

“Cindy just said you had sex with Jessica? I assume you mean Jessica Plath?” Dad grits out, looking from Damon to me, then back to Damon again.

Damon hangs his head in shame. His face is as red as a beetroot. No words are needed, he’s guilty as charged. I facepalm myself.

Oh Lord, no. Dad really did hear what we were fighting about.

This is all one colossal disaster after another.

“Where are your parents?” Dad grunts, looking over his shoulder. “I think we need to sort this mess out once and for all—is this why you’ve been ill all week?” He asks, his dark eyes darting towards me. He’s practically shooting daggers out of his eyeballs and I feel a surge of pity for Damon for what’s coming, but not really, not when I think about their disgusting grunting and groaning. Not to mention the lies and cheating.

I know right now that this is it for us. There’s no going back, no matter what anyone says.

“Please don’t involve my parents,” Damon stutters. “We’ll be kicked out of the church. My parents will never live down the shame!”

“You should have thought about that before you decided to sew your wild oats on church property!” Dad booms. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Dad grabs him by the scruff of the neck and hauls him around to the front of the church, where half of the people are still mingling around.

Does nobody have any better place to be?

Now everyone is going to know, and that’s not what I wanted.

Thankfully, though, Damon’s mom and dad come racing over as soon as they see the commotion going on. My mom included. Caitlin is playing around with her friends out of earshot.

“Clive, what the heck are you doing?” Mom asks, wide-eyed. “Put Damon down!”

Dad finally lets him go as his mom and dad try to work out what the hell is going on.

“Tell them!” My dad prompts, giving Damon the floor.

I glance over my shoulder, and sure enough, the other parents are all looking over at us, trying to work out what’s going on. I see Jessica and her family watching. She looks about as guilty as Damon does and can’t look me in the eye.

“I really don’t think we should do this here,” I say to my dad, tugging on his sleeve.

He glances down at me and sees my pleading eyes and finally manages to rein his fury in. “Fine,” he snorts. “Damon has been seeing someone else in the parish, and he has a confession which can be voiced over at our place immediately.”

Damon’s parents are standing there completely bewildered as they look from my dad to Damon, and then to me.

“Is this really necessary?” His mom Sheila’s haughty voice is enough to tip me over the edge.

“Oh, trust me, you’re going to want to hear this,” I say. Even though I’m dreading it, he should be made accountable. It’s not a small thing. He’s broken my heart and betrayed a promise we made years and years ago.

Once again, I have done nothing wrong.

“Anything you have to say can be said now.” Damon’s dad, Mike, stands with his hands on his hips. There’s no way Mike is any match for my dad, so I can only imagine how this is going to go. My dad isn’t by any means a violent man, but his face is as dark as thunder right now.

Damon shakes his head. “I’d rather not, Dad. I’d rather talk in private.”

Finally, something smart has finally come out of his mouth.

“Let’s go,” Dad says, ushering me protectively forward as my mom tries to get Caitlin’s attention and pry out of my dad what the hell is going on at the same time. “We’ll talk at home,” he tells her.

Dad’s words are final, and nothing more is said about it until we get home.

CHAPTER 4

Tyler

It must be my lucky day. I knew it when I wore my new Nike Air Max 90 shoes, that something good was going to happen. I guess it doesn’t hurt the fact I’ve been loitering around the offices a little more than I usually would, finding any excuse to walk to Coach’s office.

Monday meetings are usually pretty intense, and depending on the mood he’s in, they can go for a while. However, now I know first hand Cindy is going to be there, it puts a spark in my step. I mean, she’s always at the meetings, but usually she has her head buried down taking notes and listening intently.

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