Page 97 of Give You Up

As for Dare, I do something we are both ready for. I’ve been teaching him how to play the piano. Eventually, he will be able to play whichever song soothes his soul. I hope to get him good at playing before the baby is born.

The baby . . .

In our sex class, I avoid Taron. There is no need to speak or work on an assignment together. We turned in our last paper the Friday before the football team’s second home game. I also don’t give too much thought to how with every touchdown his team makes, he kisses his fingers and points them at the cameras. If I do, I’ll want to run back to him, into his arms, and I can’t do that knowing he cheated on his pregnant girlfriend with me.

Why isn’t she in Dumas with Taron? Did he pay her off like Beau did with my mom? That’s what Mom said. Mom. Her secrets. My running away rather than sticking around Mossy Rock and facing the judgement from the other kids.

It’s time I stop avoiding the issue and speak with Taron. Yes, that’s what I’ll do. Tomorrow, I’ll text him and ask if we can talk.

Tired from my shift and making all those trips to the bathroom, my bladder shrunken to the size of a pea with the pregnancy, I make my way up the sidewalk to my front door.

There is a large figure sitting on my porch, beneath lights that turn on on a timer. I reach for the mace in my bag.

“I’ve missed you, baby.”

Deep. Weary. Hopeful.

“Dad?” My chest aches. Tears burn the back of my throat.

Gary rises off the porch and opens his arms. Overcome by emotion, I rush over and clasp my arms around his waist.

“I’m so sorry.” My words muffle on his shirt. “So sorry I left like that.”

He smooths his palm over my back.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I wasn’t around for you to tell anyway.”

I inch back and nod at the door. “Should we?” Except he’ll see the pictures of me and Gunner. “Dad, please don’t ask about the little boy in the pictures.”

“Gunner, isn’t it?”

“What?” My head snaps up.

“Syn, I know about your dad and half-brother. Beau sends me updates on you. Before I went to prison, I asked my friend to have Hunter contact Beau. I also sent a letter to Beau in case Hunter didn’t do as I asked. I’ve been in prison the last four years, love.”

“Prison!”

He lets go of me. Blows out a breath. Clamps his big paw on the back of his neck. Gary is taller than Taron. Is a big man. He is what my mom called tall and wide. Beau and Gary are as different as night and day.

He isn’t clean-cut and sophisticated like Beau. Tats line Gary’s neck and arms. He has a full beard, pierced left brow, and a septum ring with a ball in the middle.

I pace on the small porch and shove my fingers in my hair. “What’d you do?”

A three-second beat before he answers.

“I beat a man within an inch of his life for talking bad about a woman I care about.”

He got out of prison two weeks ago for aggravated assault. Some guy mouthed off about his old lady. Gary went after him with a metal pipe. Beat him within an inch of his life. You willing to risk putting Syn between a rock and a hard place and hope Gary doesn’t come for you?

What Taron told Hunter. But he said he made it all up. Wait until I tell Taron it’s all true. I should be freaked out that my dad spent time in prison. Instead, I am so proud of him for defending a woman.

“Do I know her, the woman you defended?” Was my mom speaking the truth? Is my dad in love with Taron’s mom? Then that would mean my mom slept with Taron’s dad. Gah! A headache starts. I rub at my temple.

“Baby, you okay?”

“Headache.”

“How about we go inside?”

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