Page 78 of Scores Of The Heart

“Yeah, both of our parents did. I was sick of covering for him and Jessica, and I couldn’t hide how upset I was. Dad overheard me and Damon arguing about it, then the whole thing unraveled.”

“Fuck, I would hate to have been in his shoes when that happened.”

“Yeah, Dad called a meeting at our house where his parents came over. He tried to grovel back, of course. Then later, when I wouldn’t take him back, he started dating Jessica. They’ve been on and off since that day.”

I stare at her, feeling shocked by her confession, but glad she told me. “I can’t even imagine what that must have been like from a young age, Cind.”

“We were best friends,” she sniffs. “It was so unjustified. He never said anything to me about being so desperate to go against the church and have sex. We were saving ourselves for marriage, for heaven’s sakes. He just didn’t want to wait. Or maybe he just wanted his cake and eat it too.”

“He should have told you.”

”That was the part that got to me the most. The lies and going behind my back. So I guess from that experience I haven’t had a good run trusting people. I mean, you just never know.”

“Well, I can honestly say I’ve never cheated on a partner,” I say. “Ever.”

“That’s good to know,” she says, with a sense of relief in her voice as she sighs ever so lightly.

“I could never do something like that, and to my high school sweetheart!”

“Yeah, it was bad for a long time,” she sighs. “I was so glad when Dad stuck up for me, and then a few months later he announced we were moving for his new job. I couldn’t wait to get away. My mom, however, did nothing but make excuses for Damon and sided with his mom. It made me feel so bad.”

“So she wanted you to forgive him?”

“Yeah, she kept trying to make me believe it was an accident, a mistake. Like he didn’t just knowingly have sex with her on his own accord. The devil got to him and all of that.”

“Holy shit.” I can see where the conflict stems from with her and her mom not being on good terms. I can’t even imagine my mom doing something like that. “She never stuck up for you, Cindy?”

Cindy shakes her head. “No,” she says sadly. “She never did. We fought about it just the other day, actually. That’s one topic she loves to bring up. She still thinks we were meant to be and keeps in constant touch with Damon’s mom.”

“That’s fucked up,” I say. Knowing I probably shouldn’t be dropping the F bomb every second, but that’s all I can use to describe it. “So he gets to have his fun with someone else and break your heart in the process, and you get to just take him back because they all want you to?”

“It went a lot like that.”

“I’m glad you stuck to your guns. It would have taken a lot of strength to kick him to the curb and go against your mom.”

“It was awful. She’s always been a little on the cold side growing up, but I didn’t think she was capable of sticking up for someone who cheated on me and broke my heart.”

“I can totally understand why things are strained with her. Thank goodness for your dad in all of this.”

“He’s been my rock,” she says as we pull up out front of her apartment. The drive distracted me most of the way. “Honestly, I would’ve thought I was going insane without him.”

“I’m glad you’ve got a dad like that. He’s a good man,” I say, reaching over to squeeze her hand as she shuts off the engine. I don’t let go, linking her fingers with mine. “I’m sorry you went through that so young, baby. People can be so shitty it’s unfathomable. I can understand if it’s put you off ever wanting to even put yourself out there again.”

“Thanks, Ty. It has been difficult. As much as I try not to drag it around through my adult life anymore, it hurt. The lying was worse than the act of what he did, though that comes a close second.”

“I don’t know why people just don’t say what they want or don’t want anymore. I’ve never understood that. Even if that hurts the other person, if you’re having doubts, it would save the lying and cheating thing before it began.”

“I agree,” she says. “It made me feel very inadequate, too.”

I stare at her, bringing out clasped hands up to my lips, kissing her on the back of the hand. “You’re not inadequate, Cind. You could never be. He wasn’t truthful, that’s what it is. Sounds like he wanted to have his fun, then marry the girl he grew up with after she saved herself for him.”

“That’s very much what it was like. And I worry even now,” she says. “Because I’m not experienced, Tyler. It’s embarrassing to tell you that, but it’s true.”

“Nothing to be embarrassed about,” I tell her. “I mean it Cindy. You’ve had me gaga for weeks, just being yourself. It doesn’t phase me by what you’ve said, not one bit.”

“I guess it is a little intimidating, given who you are,” she says.

“I’m just the guy who defends the puck and has a sore back most of the time.”

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