I understand his conundrum. Dylan’s mom died when she was eight, and her father—if you can even call him that these days—has ignored her ever since he got out of prison and ran off with his despicable wife and new baby…leaving Dylan in the dust.

Dylan’s aunt was the adult she went to for everything and her proverbial mother figure…

Until the night she walked in on auntie dearest fucking her teenage stepson while her husband was upstairs.

Oakley made Dylan promise not to tell her uncle or confront Crystal, but it’s safe to say Dylan will never look at her aunt the same way again and she’s lost a tremendous amount of respect for her.

As much as I hate keeping secrets from Dylan, it’s obvious Oakley needs someone to lay his shit on and confide in.

“Fine. I promise not to tell Dylan. Unless what you’re about to tell me is something that could ruin her life.”

“Trust me, I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s life.”

Just his own.

He slumps against his car. “The year before last, my dad was putting a lot of pressure on Crystal to have a baby. Things got pretty tense between them after a year went by and she never got pregnant.” Wrapping his lips around the joint, he takes a long pull. “They went to a few more fertility doctors, but nothing was working, and no one knew why. I felt so bad for Crystal, because I knew she was trying to do everything possible to get pregnant and give my dad the baby he desperately wanted. However, it was like my dad had tunnel vision and couldn’t see how much the baby shit was stressing her out because all he cared about was having another kid.” He gestures to himself. “Looking back, I can’t really blame him for wanting a do-over since the kid he already had was a royal fuck up.”

My heart twists. “Oakley—”

“Anyway, one night they were fighting so bad it woke me up. I walked down to the kitchen where my dad was drinking—like he always does when he’s stressed—and I overheard him screaming that it was her fault she wasn’t pregnant. He said she didn’t take care of herself properly, and maybe if she fucked him like she used to when they started dating and she was after his money, they’d have a baby by now.”

I wince. “That’s horrible.”

“Right?” His eyebrows pinch. “She started crying and apologizing, even though it wasn’t her fault. I couldn’t take it, so I got in his face and told him if he didn’t stop treating her like shit, his new wife would end up turning into an addict and leaving him for drugs…just like his first wife.” Pain flashes in his eyes. “My dad loves Crystal, but my mom…she’s…when she left us it really fucked him up.”

Something tells me it fucked Oakley up too.

“I’m sorry.”

It’s all I can manage to get out.

He shrugs. “He got upset and left…and then it was just me and Crystal. As usual, she tried to pretend like everything was fine, but I knew it wasn’t.” I’m not sure what to make of the look on his face. “I should have gone back upstairs, but the more I saw her cry and the more I thought about how much it hurt that he wanted to replace me with a new baby, the angrier I became.”

I’m pretty sure I know where this is headed. “And I guess that’s when you two first…you know.”

Grinning, he nods. “Right there on the kitchen table. I made her come where—”

I hold up a hand before he finishes that statement. “Whoa there, cowboy. I don’t need all the details.”

Some things are better left unsaid.

He exhales a cloud of smoke. “After we were done, she said it was a mistake and it could never happen again…but it did. Every day for the next four months.” He rubs his jaw. “Before I knew it—we were no longer banging just to get back at him—we were doing it because we were in love.” A woeful smile touches his face. “We used to talk about what we were going to do after I graduated. Our plan was to take the money she’d get during the divorce and live on some exotic island—where no one would judge us for being together—and survive off coconuts.”

I fight the urge to point out that theoretically speaking, one can only live off coconuts for five to ten years tops.

And that this plan sounds way more like a fantasy than reality.

“But that’s the thing about falling in love, Sawyer.” Reaching inside his car, he pulls out another blunt and lights it. “Sooner or later…someone always gets hurt.” His expression turns pained. “And it’s never the person you expect.”

“It must have hurt like hell when she told you she wanted to stay with your dad.”

“Hell yeah it did.” He laughs sardonically. “But as long as I knew it was what she truly wanted, and she was happy, I could deal with it.” Another billow of smoke leaves his mouth. “What I couldn’t deal with was finding out that everything between us was a lie, and she was only using me.”

“Using you for what?”

“To get pregnant.”

There’s no hiding my surprise. “What? How—”

“I found a positive pregnancy test in the trash.”

“Shit.”

Another nod. “When I confronted her about it, she told me it was mine since her and Wayne hadn’t had sex since their big fight. I was scared, but I told her I’d do whatever it took to take care of them. I’d quit school, tell Wayne the truth about us, join the military if I had to…anything.”

It makes even more sense why Oakley’s so messed up over this. He was all in with Crystal and the baby.

“You wanted to step up and do the right thing.”

“Yeah, but I never got the chance.”

I urge him to keep talking.

Pain flickers in his eyes. “She ended up having a miscarriage a few days later.”

“Oh.” It’s all I can do not to wrap my arms around him. “I’m so sorry, Oakley.”

“Yeah, it really sucked, but in the end, it was for the best. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.” Blinking rapidly, he averts his gaze. “A few days before the miscarriage, I overheard her trying to convince my dad to ship me off to military school.”

Record. Skip. “What?”

This time a single tear makes its way down his cheek. “The walls are paper thin upstairs and the latch on their bedroom door is broken, so I not only heard…I saw. She was riding him, really giving it her all—no doubt so she could convince him the kid she was carrying was his—and persuading him to send me off to military school. She claimed having me around was stressing her out and it’s why she couldn’t get pregnant. She said their lives would be perfect once I was gone because I was such a fuck up.” His laughter is cynical. “It’s kind of funny, you know. She was having sex with my pops, but it was me she was really fucking.”

The swell of anger that rises within me is enough to make me shake.

I can’t believe Dylan’s aunt—the woman I used to think was so perfect and put together…is nothing but a two-timing snake.

“But my dad…” he continues, his voice cracking. “He told her he couldn’t do that because I was his son…and no matter how bad things got, he’d never abandon me like my mom did.”