Page 45 of Reckless Encore

“Get out of here.” He lifted her, placing her out of the path of the storm.

She swung around, her mouth agape. But he didn’t acknowledge the heartbreak pummeling his peripheral vision. He focused straight ahead. On Blake. On the punishment he deserved.

“I’m to blame—”

Maya ran into the clearing, Beth following close behind with his dad and Sophie’s mom.

“What’s going on?” Gabi’s face contorted in wide-eyed fear as she rushed ahead, grabbing her husband’s hand that still clung to Tyler’s shirt. “Let him go.”

Blake conceded with a small shove. “This little fucker slept with our daughter.”

A maternal gasp split the air.

His father swore.

Beth and Maya hung back near the tree line, and Chase and Ethan slunk through the clearing to join them. But Sophie didn’t move. She remained near his side, not acknowledging her parents or his father.

Instead, she stared at him. Stared like the world hung in the balance instead of their seventeen-year friendship. She killed him slowly, softly, with the most peaceful punishment he knew he would never recover from.

“Is that true?” His dad came forward. “Did you sleep with Sophie?”

The answer couldn’t be explained with a simple yes or no. But he forced himself to meet his father’s concern with a nod.

“Jesus Christ.” Disappointment crinkled his dad’s forehead. “When? Where? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s nobody’s business.” He kept his head high. They weren’t children anymore. Then again, he had successfully screwed this situation like an ignorant kid.

“Is that why the two of you aren’t talking?” his dad asked. “What went wrong? You aren’t hiding something else, are you?”

“Motherfucker.” Blake lunged toward him, only to be cut off by his wife stepping in front of him. “Did you get her pregnant?”

“No.” Tyler winced.

“Then what happened?” Gabi asked softly.

His heart lurched. His cheeks heated.

“Nothing happened,” Sophie lied for him, sparing him the humiliation he deserved. “It didn’t work out the way we’d planned. That’s all.”

“You better have used protection, you slimy little fuck.”

“We did. I wouldn’t take a risk like that.” Not with Sophie. Not when he loved her to hell and back.

“Then why are you two fighting? What did you do?”

“He didn’t do anything, Dad. Leave him alone.”

Tyler lowered his gaze. He couldn’t look them in the eye. Not Blake. Not his dad. And definitely not Sophie. “It didn’t turn out the way we thought it would.”

“Playing adult isn’t all fun and games, is it?” her dad spat.

Gabi swung around to her husband. “I’m serious, Blake. You either calm down or leave. This isn’t the time to run your mouth.”

Blake snapped his lips shut but straightened his shoulders in an act of defiance.

“And you kids can leave.” His dad jerked his head at Tyler’s friends. “Show’s over. Go back to the house. But don’t you dare breathe a word of this until we get there.”

All of them nodded, solemn and wide-eyed, as they made for the trail.

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