Free Summer Love (First Love Book 1) by Harley Turner

drove to Chad’s old house to drop off Brayden. They pulled into the driveway just as Melanie had arrived with the stroller.
    The car stayed silent as Chad and Marissa drove away. She lit a cigarette and rolled down the window.
    Marissa looked over at her boyfriend as he drove. His knuckles of both hands were scabbed over and bruised. His pinkie on his right hand didn’t completely wrap around the steering wheel, leading Marissa to believe it was broken. His jaw still had a faint yellow bruise from the previous weekend. His eyes, looking more haunted now than when they first met, were swollen and red. He looked exhausted from not sleeping and worn out from crying all night.
    Chad drove for forty-five minutes before turned off the highway. He remained silent until he pulled the car into a park. Once the car was off, he turned to her.
    Before he could say anything, Marissa held out her hand, “Chris told me to give you one of these this morning,” she told him, revealing the pill in her hand.
    Chad shook his head. “I don’t want it.”
    “You have got to be hurting,” she argued, looking at his hands. “Is that finger broke?”
    “It might be. Or it might just be dislocated. And yes, it hurts like hell, but I’m not going to take anything for it.” He reached out toward her. “I’m not turning to drugs anymore, and it’s not going to be easy. You saw how bad I was last night, just because I knew what was there. I know I scared you, and I’m sorry. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I know it’s no excuse, but finding out my own brother was with my girlfriend was probably the most painful thing I ever had to deal with.”
    “If he was with her, does that mean…”
    “That Anthony might not even be mine,” Chad finished for her. “That’s the part that kills me. The fact that I will never really know.”
    “Would it really matter?” she asked.
    Chad was confused. “How could it not matter?”
    “If for some reason, you found out that he wasn’t yours, would that really change how you feel about him? I’ve seen how you are with him. That little boy is your world. Yes, I’m sure he has made things difficult, but would you give that up?”
    Chad was quiet for a moment. He lit a cigarette and stared out the window. “I guess you’re right,” he told her. “He has been mine since the day he was born, and nothing could change that. It doesn’t change the fact that my own brother completely betrayed me. Tamara never actually told Eric that he was mine when she called to tell us about Anthony, we had all just assumed he was. No one knew that Dravyn was with her too.”
    Marissa reached out for him, but she was afraid to hurt him by touching his hands. She rested her hand on his knee. “He did that when he introduced you to the world of drugs,” she pointed out. “No one would want their little brother to become an addict.”
    “You don’t want to feel, when all you feel is pain,” Chad told her. “I was able to escape the pain. As soon as Dravyn and Eric left home, everyone knew I was the new family screw up. Chris was always perfect. Melanie was the youngest and the only girl. The only thing I was ever any good at was wrestling. I was always getting into trouble, even for things that I didn’t do. My older brothers saw that and knew how I felt, because they were treated the same way. They gave me the escape that I needed.”
    “Is Eric into all that as bad as Dravyn was?”
    Chad nodded, sadly. “Not quite as bad, I guess. He doesn’t keep anything but beer in his house, but I’m sure there was probably some of his shit in that box that you took care of. I don’t even know what was in there. I just knew I had to get rid of it, because if I would have opened it, I probably would have done whatever there was, not caring about any of the consequences, just looking to escape how I was feeling.”
    “Is that why you wanted me to come instead of Brayden?”
    “You have never