Page 93 of Drown in You

The equipment manager got the video taken down as soon as I reported it to him, but the damage was already done. Ma called me and Sienna home after three hockey moms asked her if she knew about the sex tape featuring her son and his new stepsister.

Bud is blissfully unaware of the tension in the family room as our parents sit facing us on the opposite couch. He drools on our hands and his tail wags hard enough to knock over an empty mug on the coffee table.

Sienna’s mom has already driven up from Wakefield so we can all figure out how the hell we’re going to handle this situation. Videos like that don’t get posted to social media for even five minutes without getting uploaded to porn sites. Who knows where that video is floating around the internet by now.

On the couch beside me, Sienna is stiff as a board. This is her worst nightmare—our secret being revealed. Now everyone knows what we’ve been doing behind closed doors. And right out in the fucking open, apparently.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Why didn’t I think to lock the fucking door? I screwed up. Even if Marcus was the asshole who filmed that video and hacked the Devils’ social media page to share it for all to see, I’m the one who failed Sienna. I failed to protect her.

All I do is hurt her.

Ma is nursing a dark liquid in her hard liquor mug. Mike is perched on the edge of the opposite couch, dragging his hands over his face. Sienna’s mom paces in the room between all of us. Not exactly how I was hoping to meet her for the first time. Definitely not the first impression I wanted to make. She’ll never think I’m good enough for her daughter now.

Her brown hair is the same shade as Sienna’s but cropped just past her shoulders. Sienna got her willowy build from her mom, but her green eyes came from her dad. As she paces, her mom tucks her hair behind her ears over and over like a compulsion.

“You two are very, very lucky I have connections in law enforcement.” Ma sets her mug down on the coffee table. “We’ll make sure that video is wiped from the internet. We might be able to find out who posted it, but that will be difficult. Best-case scenario: We may be able to charge them for distributing revenge porn, but it’s hard to get justice in these types of cases.”

Sienna shifts uncomfortably at revenge porn. I can’t believe I’ve gotten her roped into this fucking mess.

“What the hell were you two thinking?” Sienna’s mom bursts out. Beside me, her daughter flinches. “This might actually be the stupidest thing I could imagine you doing. Hooking up drunk at a party? You grew up in the age of social media. Even I knew not to do that shit at your age, and we didn’t all have cameras in our pockets.”

“I’m sorry,” Sienna murmurs, gaze glued to the hands clasped tight in her lap.

God, I can’t fucking stand to see her like this. I squeeze her leg, even as she stiffens. “It’s my fault. It was all me.”

Her mom lets out a frustrated sigh. “It doesn’t really matter whose fault it is at this point. You both were there; you both screwed up. What we need to focus on now is getting that video taken down.”

“We’ll get it taken care of, Sarah,” Mike assures her, voice warm and soothing.

He’s practically entranced by her. Now that he’s not dragging his hands over his face, his eyes don’t move from Sarah.

She nods at him, managing a weak smile. Pain lingers in her gaze when she meets his.

Mike looks at Sarah the way my father looked at my mother. The way I look at Sienna.

I still wasn’t really over Sienna’s mom. I wasn’t ready to love again. That’s what he told us when I asked why he and Ma broke up all those years ago.

I’ve spent the years since trying to become better for her, to deserve her. But it wasn’t until I found therapy last year that I was able to really start trying to be the man I’ve always wanted to be. By then, I knew it was already too late.

My hunch was right. Mike doesn’t love Ma the way I love Sienna.

Because he’s still in love with his ex-wife.

And by the looks of it, the feeling is mutual.

“What about these two?” Ma points between me and Sienna. All three of them fix their gazes on us.

Sienna’s leg stiffens beneath my palm, but I don’t move. I’m not letting her go. I’m not letting them rip us apart. This isn’t some fling. We love each other, way more than the married couple in the room.

“I’m in love with Sienna.” I glance at her, but she refuses to look at me. Refuses to look anywhere other than her lap. “I know we screwed up. What we did was stupid, what I did was stupid, and I’m sorry for the mess I made. But you’ll have to pry her out of my cold, dead hands if you want to keep us apart.”

Ma covers her mouth, eyes shimmering.

Mike glances at Sarah, deferring to her to make the call. She frowns at us. My confession doesn’t seem to have warmed her to me. That’s fine. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to win her approval if that’s what it takes to keep Sienna.

“For now, let’s focus on getting that video removed from the internet. After that, we’ll discuss your relationship.” She folds her arms. “You two will stay here until we can get this sorted out. In separate rooms.”

Chapter 26

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