Page 83 of The Trouble with Players

His eyes shot to mine. “What? No.”

I huffed, frustrated with his inability to come straight out with the truth when it was all that I wanted from him. “I came here for answers. Not to try to guess what’s going on with you.”

“I don’t want you to feel the way I do.”

Nothing he was saying was making any sense. I stood and crossed to his bench, sitting down beside him. My arm brushed his, and he shifted away from me. I ignored the literal brush-off and persisted. “How do you feel?”

His eyes cut to mine. “Confused…Sad…Sick.”

My head hitched back. “Sick?”

He nodded slowly as if he wished I could read his mind.

“Crew.” I placed my hand on his thigh and he jumped up as if electrocuted by my touch. My eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

He melded the brim of his hat into an arc, visibly pained by whatever he had to say. “You were convinced your father cheated with other women.”

I nodded.

“Well…he did.”

I tipped my head to the side, trying to follow.

“He cheated with my mom,” he explained.

I froze as visions of the woman in the kitchen flashed in my mind. “Okay…” I said, trying to be rational though my thoughts and emotions battled for control. “So, I was right about her being there for that?”

He shook his head. “What happened between them happened in the past.”

I exhaled, trying to be sensible. “I knew there had to be others…it’s why I had the dreams. None of this is really a big surprise.”

“But it was my mother.”

“Your mother. Not you,” I assured him.

“Peyton,” he pled.

“It’s okay. You didn’t do this. He did.”

“You’re not listening to me.”

“I am! And I’m okay. The reason you left makes sense now, but you didn’t have to leave. We could’ve dealt with it together. We still can.”

He closed his eyes.

I stood up, feeling the need to console him. I cupped his cheeks with my hands. “We can make this work,” I whispered. “Look. I’m not even having a panic attack.”

“He got her pregnant,” he said, his eyes still closed.

I bent at the waist and braced my hands on my thighs, my head beginning to swim. “There’s another kid out there?” I murmured, trying my hardest to keep my breathing steady.

Crew didn’t respond.

My eyes lifted to his. “You have a sibling?” I asked.

He shook his head.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

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