Page 99 of The Trouble with Players

“Watch it Peyton. I’m still your father.”

“And Crew’s the guy I fell in love with,” I blurted.

His head cocked to the side. “Come again?”

“We were together this summer.”

“Jesus Christ,” he reproached. “What were you thinking?”

“What was I thinking? That’s classic coming from you.”

He shook his head as if he wasn’t the cause of all of this.

“How would I ever know my father cheated on my mother with yet another woman and had yet another kid—oh, and this time the kid would end up living in my house? And, he’d end up being my age and athletic and charming and someone I fell for?”

“You’re not to see him again,” he ordered.

“Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I feel sick over what happened?”

The look of disgust on his face rubbed me the wrong way. I needed him to understand how his selfishness affected everyone around him. “I still love him. Imagine having to figure out what to do with those feelings. It’s awesome.”

He dragged in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “I paid her a lot of money. I never could’ve imagined she would have kept the money and the kid.” He shook his head as if disgusted by Crew’s mother when he was the one who was disgusting. “I’m not even convinced he’s mine,” he said offhandedly.

A piercing sound rang out in my ears. “What?”

“She slept with a lot of players. Women like her are always looking for a payday and will do and say anything to get one. At the time, it was just easier to pay her to leave me alone.”

“Are you saying you never asked for proof?”

“Why would I? I thought she was getting rid of it,” he countered.

I couldn’t believe my ears. “How about when she showed up at the beach house? You didn’t think to ask for a DNA test then?”

“I just wanted her gone.”

I closed my eyes and pressed my palms to my forehead. “Jesus Christ.”

“Look, I had no idea you and Crew even—”

“I need you to take a paternity test,” I said, my head spinning with the possibilities. But I wouldn’t give myself false hope. I couldn’t afford to. I jumped up. “We’re getting the test right now.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

I knocked on the front door of a small beach house with the paternity test in a bag in my hand. DePetrillo opened the door.

“Is Crew here?” I asked.

He pointed up to the stairs behind him.

“Thanks.” I sprinted upstairs and knocked on the only closed door. When there was no answer, I opened it. Crew lay on the bed with headphones on and his eyes closed. Not wanting to startle him, I crept over and carefully lowered myself down on the edge of the bed. When he felt the bed dip, he opened his eyes and ripped off his headphones. “Hey,” he said, visibly confused by my presence. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw my father today,” I said.

“Okay,” he said, waiting for me to elaborate.

“He said he wasn’t sure you were his.”

He sat up with wild eyes. “What?”

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