Page 85 of The Art of Drowning

His face morphed from shock into disbelief, and maybe even disgust.

“I mean, lying is bad. And they shouldn’t have done it. But imagine having a kid and having to tell that kid that he’s not really their kid. That your parents were their horny best friends who died when you were a baby. And for years, they were operating under the assumption that your dad might have been your dad. I don’t think they ever intended to find out for themselves.”

Callum shook his head. “You don’t get it. They lied to me, Damien. My parents. For my whole life. You don’t know how much that hurts.”

“You’re not the only one with a fucked-up family, Cal. My parents might not have lied to me, but that’s because they don’t talk to me. I’ve been invisible to them since I could forge my mom’s signature on school forms and feed myself. So yeah, they didn’t lie to me, but they sure as fuck didn’t love me.”

“And love makes it okay?” The vein in the side of Callum’s head bulged out.

“No, it doesn’t. But you being hurt now doesn’t mean other people have never hurt before. Or will never hurt again. You’re hurt, but you’re not the only person in pain.” I took a deep breath and lowered my voice. “Sam told them you’d hate them if you found out. Was he right? Were their fears founded?”

His jaw snapped shut and then he glared at me. “Fuck you.”

“They stayed quiet because they didn’t want to lose you. And you’re proving that their fears were justified. I’m not saying you have to forgive them now, or ever.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you’re not the only person who’s fucked up about this. They’re just as messed up over it as you are. Maybe more, because they’ve had this sword hanging over their heads for years. That’s a lot of stress and a lot of sleepless nights. They kept that secret a long time. Remember when we had a secret? How it ate us up inside?”

That stopped Callum dead and he stared at me for a long time, like his brain was buffering trying to process everything I said. His shoulders slumped, and he let out a sigh.

“I am too sober for this.”

Before I could flag down the server, the woman Cal had been sitting with the last time I was here plunked down on the other side of the booth with a bottle in one hand and a few glasses in the other.

“Ginny!” Callum grinned at her, and his smile only widened when someone sat next to Ginny. “Zeke!”

“Hey, butthead. Heard you were in town a while ago and had drinks with Ginny, but fucked off before I could get my ass down here.” Zeke took the bottle from Ginny and cracked it open. “I’m Zeke, by the way.”

“I know who you are.” I’d recognized him from high school. He hadn’t changed much, really. He’d filled out and gotten a little better looking, like he finally grew into his features.

Zeke looked at me and squinted, then his face split into a huge grin. “Damien Flynn, as I live and breathe.”

His face went through several emotions all at once. “Are you two back together?”

I wanted to say yes, but were we? Callum and I had reconnected, but we hadn’t had enough time together to get to the part where we started talking about our future. How could we when we were still dealing with the past?

From the corner of my eye, I saw Callum shrug and Zeke carefully steered the conversation out of the awkward corner he’d just driven us into. Well, at least he tried. It wasn’t his fault that he picked the exact wrong thing to say.

“How are your parents holding up?”

Callum reached for his drink. “Funny you should ask.” He tipped the glass and drained it, then set it on the table and motioned for Zeke to give him another one. “Turns out, my parents were kinky swingers and I’m not even their real kid.”

Zeke’s arm jerked and he barely managed not to spill booze everywhere. “What?”

“Yep. My parents were swingers with their best friends, who tragically died just after I was born. I don’t think Mom even said how old I was. Not very old.”

Ginny and Zeke gaped at Callum.

“Holy shit,” Ginny said, topping up her drink.

“You can say that again.” Callum started to lift his drink but set it down after a moment of hesitation.

“Holy shit,” Ginny repeated.

That almost made Callum smile, but he ended up letting out a huge sigh. “Everything is fucked up.”

I tried not to take that to heart because, to him, his world was falling apart. The news he’d gotten had been terrible. Sam’s death had essentially robbed Callum of his entire family. I wasn’t sure how he was still standing. I’d have been in a corner rocking back and forth by now.