Page 113 of Forbidden Lyrics

My upper lip curls in disgust, and a frustrated growl escapes me as I lean forward and rest my elbows on my knees, mirroring my little brother’s stance. “You wanna know the real reason why Dove and I will never work?”

“Why?”

“Because her sister is Em.”

He jerks back. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“I dunno. We ran into each other when I picked up Dove for work forever ago.”

He leans back and squeezes his neck, searching for a solution, though I know he won’t find one.

I’m screwed. There’s no coming back from a lie like that.

“Does she know?” he asks after a few seconds.

“Of course not,” I scoff. “If Dove knew, she’d be gone.”

“And Em never told her?”

I shake my head. “They aren’t exactly close.”

“But I thought they lived together?”

“They do.”

“Is it for financial shit? Wait.” He pauses before the blood drains from his face. “Didn’t she say her sister’s––”

“Pregnant? Yeah.”

Jumping to the same conclusion I did, his body sags further into the uncomfortable bench. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you––”

“No.”

“How do you know?” Fen prods.

“Because Dove said that Em––who’s real name is Madelyn, by the way––told the real father about the baby, but he wants nothing to do with it. Since I was never told, and Milo was never told, there had to have been a third guy she was messing around with while still sleeping with us.”

“No shit?”

“No shit,” I confirm.

“And you’re positive?”

“As positive as I can be. Em confirmed the same thing to me, which is why we’ve been texting on and off. But I dunno how to really know for sure without a DNA test.”

“So you’re gonna get one?”

“I have to, don’t I? I’m not gonna be a shitty father like ours was. I gotta at least find out. And when I do, Dove will know that I’ve slept with her sister and didn’t tell her about it.” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let the severity of the situation settle into my bones. Saying it out loud makes it sound so much worse. It makes it real. It makes it clear that whatever delusional future I’d concocted between Dove and me is just that: delusional.

“She’ll never forgive me, Fen,” I breathe out.

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