Page 77 of Drifting

Peter’s shoulders slump once more, and he removes his glasses to rub his eyes.

Mom gets up and hugs him.

“Was I too rough on her?” he asks us.

“No, Dad. As hard as it was, you did the right thing,” Nick says solemnly.

Peter unwinds himself from my mom and sits beside Nick. He rests his hand on the back of Nick’s neck, squeezing. “I’m sorry, son, I’ve never been there for either of you. I have no idea how you turned out so good.”

Nick leans against his side. “I have good friends who care about me. I feel like I should have been there more for Hannah.”

“It wasn’t your job, it was mine. I hope you can forgive me for being such an absentee parent. I’ll try to make it up to you. I promise.”

Nick put his hand on his dad’s leg. “I forgave you long ago. You did the best you could. You forget, you were grieving, too.”

Mom perches on the arm of the couch next to me. “I think we might have to postpone that pool party, Shelby.”

Peter looks up at her. “What?”

She gives him a wane smile. “I told Shelby we should invite some of her friends over and have a pool party.”

“That’s a good idea.” Peter straightens and nods firmly. “Just because Hannah got herself in trouble doesn’t mean our other two kids have to be punished, too. If she’s good, she can join in.”

There is no way I heard him right. Our kids? He considers me one of his kids?

He must have heard my gasp of surprise, because he turns to me. “I’m sorry, Shelby, it just slipped out.”

Saddened by his immediate retraction, I stare at my nails. Yeah, that’s what I thought. Why would he want to have someone like me as a kid?

My cheeks heat with unhappiness. “It’s all right.”

He reaches over Nick to touch my knee. “But I meant it, Shelby. I’d be proud to be your father. If you’ll have me?”

My spirits brighten. “I’m just learning what having a parent means. But if you can bear with me, I’ll be glad to say you’re mine.” I hang my head. “I don’t know if I can ever call you dad, though.”

“Peter is fine.” He smiles warmly at me, then over at my mother. “As for the pool party, when should we have it? I think we have plans this weekend. How about next weekend?”

I nod. “I have nothing planned.”

“Me, either,” Nick says.

“Then, put it on the calendar, and invite all your friends,” Peter says.

I try not to feel bad for Hannah, but I know what it feels like when your entire world comes crashing down. I’m going to need to watch my back more than ever. I have no doubt she’ll be gunning for me now.

* * *

That night, my mind won’t shut off enough for me to fall asleep. Too much has happened today.

Touching my lips, I smile, remembering that not everything was bad. I can’t believe Cam is George Wright’s son. It took everything in me not to go total fangirl on him.

On top of finding out about his family, his revelation that he and Mav have had sex still leaves me reeling. Holy shit, talk about having a dream come true.

From the moment Cam fell on me, I’ve had strong feelings for him. Don’t get me wrong, I have feelings for all of them, but my feelings toward Cam are different. I don’t know what it is about him, but we just click. His eyes. I can spend hours losing myself in them. They’re so blue, with lighter blue specks that seem to sparkle, especially when he’s up to no good.

Shit, I’m so in trouble with him.

I don’t know what time it is when I finally fell asleep. When my alarm goes off, I run my hand down my face, then I reach over and turn my phone off. I yawn, swearing I just closed my eyes. My dream last night… Good God, it was hot as hell. I don’t know how I’m going to look at Mav and Cam without thinking about them together.

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