Dustin stood up. His dick was still hard, and I saw then that he didn’t have a condom on. Motherfucker!

“Oh shit, he ain’t wrapping that thing up,” Preston said, pointing out the obvious.

“You selfish asshole! You’re cheating on Sienna and you’re not protecting her? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Dustin looked down at his dick and groaned. “Shit. I forgot. I was drinking and she was stroking me outside, and then I was up here and inside her. Forgot about the condom.”

“You gotta tell Sienna. She needs to go get checked. Get dressed. I’m taking you home.”

Dustin’s eyes went wide. “I ain’t telling Sienna this shit! She’ll break up with me. She won’t forgive me, and I need her. She’s my girl. Always been my girl. Besides, she’s got the best damn titties of any girls I’ve had.”

I took a step toward him, needing to slam my fist into his face, when Preston jumped in front of me and pushed Dustin back. “He’s sixteen and he’s drunk. Really damn drunk. Calm down. You can make sure Sienna gets tested. Just don’t beat the hell out of him while he’s like this. He can’t fight back.”

“No. Can’t tell Sienna. Love her. She’s my girl. Love her. You can’t make her leave me. She’s my one and only. You know. You love her too. We both love her. The Falco boys love Sienna Roy. And her pretty titties. Fucking perfect titties.”

“Can y’all leave so I can get dressed?” Kimmy asked in an angry screech. “I’m sick of hearing about his love for Sienna and her damn titties. It’s me who’s pregnant with his baby. Not her. Me. Me who he fucks whenever he needs to get off. Not her. He treats her like a porcelain doll. She’s not gonna be his baby momma. I am.”

Present day . . .

SIENNA

Dewayne had actually shown up instead of texting me to take Micah to his parents’ on Saturday morning. Then he’d driven me to work, with Micah sitting between us in the truck, excited about going to get breakfast with Dewayne after they dropped me off.

It was easy enough. Micah being there made it easy. I didn’t make eye contact with Dewayne if I didn’t have to, and I focused on Micah. That was why I was even in this truck with Dewayne: Micah. He did it all for Micah, and I understood that. He’d made sure I understood why he was doing this.

However, when Dewayne came walking into the shop at lunchtime to pick me up, he didn’t have Micah with him.

“Where’s Micah?” I asked as I picked up my purse.

“My parents have him. We have to go get your car,” he replied.

Oh. Well, that was good. I thought. I just hoped I had enough money. I still owed for the towing, too. I wasn’t sure who I owed it to and how much. I would find out once Dewayne and I got in his truck.

“Hey, Dewayne,” Gretchen said, and wiggled her long pink fingernails at him, then winked.

He didn’t do anything more than nod at her, and then he motioned for the door. “Ready?” he asked.

I waved at Hillary and Gretchen, although at the moment I wasn’t in the mood to do anything but scowl at Gretchen. I wished she’d never told me about her and Dewayne. I followed him outside. He opened my door for me, and I climbed inside and buckled up.

Dewayne got in on his side and we were on the road without a word from either of us. I hoped this wasn’t going to be a long, awkward ride.

“Reckon you’re not gonna be happy with me, but you’re gonna have to get over it and understand that I’m doing what’s best for Micah.”

I tensed up. This didn’t sound good.

“I had your car towed to the junkyard where it belonged. It’s now scrap metal. Seeing as how I did that, I owe you another car. I’ll gladly replace your old one, and although you’re ready to punch me in the face right at this moment, you’re not going to because I’m driving and because you and I both know Micah needs a safe vehicle. He also needs his momma in a safe vehicle. What you were driving was as unsafe as it gets. And it was polluting the earth.”

I just stared at him. He’d had my car turned into scarp metal. My only means of transportation. My paid-for car was now gone. “I can’t believe you did that,” I said, still in shock.

“I want you and Micah safe.”

We were safe. Well, maybe the car breaking down at night hadn’t been safe, but otherwise that car had worked just fine. “I can’t just let you buy me a car,” I said, my voice raising a notch from the panic. “I can’t . . . That isn’t something someone else buys you. It’s my job to supply a car for me and my son. Not yours.”

Dewayne pulled into the Chevrolet car dealership. He was really doing this. I wasn’t going to let him. I couldn’t.

“I’m buying my nephew a safe vehicle. You can’t stop me. I can buy his mother something to safely carry him around in. Someone needs to take care of you, both of you. I’m the uncle. It’s my job.”

I fisted up my hands and hit my thighs in frustration. “No, it isn’t!”

“Yeah, Little Red, it is. Now, I did some research on good family SUVs, and the Tahoe ranked really well. It’s safe, and they have one here that’s two years old and in great condition. I want you to come see what you think. If you like it, then it’s yours. If you don’t, then we will go to car lots all damn day until you find something you love.”

“You can’t afford this,” I argued.

He cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, babe, I can. Now get your ass out of my truck and go look at that Tahoe. They’re bringing it around now.”

Okay. Fine. I would look at it. But he was not buying it for me. For Micah. This was ridiculous.

* * *

An hour later I drove my new Chevy Tahoe off the lot and was completely in love. It had everything. Even a sunroof. The radio worked and it had seat warmers. Micah was going to be giddy with excitement over the television that flipped down from the ceiling.

When I had finally given in and admitted to loving the Tahoe, Dewayne had grinned like a little boy on Christmas morning. He had been happy about it. How he was happy about dropping this kind of money on someone made no sense. I was stressing out over the price, but Dewayne assured me that he had the money and could pay cash. That he wanted to do this.

The title would be sent to me with my name on it in a few weeks. I owned this Tahoe. I could drive it for at least the next ten years. The relief made me want to weep. I owned a house and a safe, dependable car now. It made me feel humbled. I had never expected this. Ever.

I glanced in my rearview mirror and watched as Dewayne turned left at the red light, headed to wherever he lived. I had never seen his place. I doubted I ever would unless Micah went there to visit him.

The idea made me sad. I wanted to know what Dewayne’s house looked like. I wanted to see his world. His life. But I wasn’t ever going to get that privilege. He had made sure I understood that.

I pulled into my driveway, and the front door flew open as Micah came running out with a huge grin on his face. Tabby stood in my doorway, beaming. Dewayne must have called her.

I opened the door, and Micah jumped up in my arms. “Dewayne bought us this? For real? It’s awesome!”

I nodded and blinked away the tears in my eyes. It was awesome.

“It even has a television,” I told him, letting him crawl inside to inspect it.

Tabby walked up, wiping her tears and grinning. “He’s a good man. He just doesn’t realize it. He doubts himself, but my boy is as good as they come. Always has had a heart of gold. Just need him to wake up and see that.”

“This is too much. I can’t believe he bought this. I’m in awe, and I feel guilty for letting him,” I admitted.

She laughed. “Girl, you didn’t have a choice. Once Dewayne decides he wants to do something, then you’re sunk. He’s gonna do it. And he wanted you and Micah to have a safe vehicle. Besides, if he saw how much fun Micah was having checking it out, he might go buy him another one.”

She was right. Dewayne was a good man. Much better than he let himself believe. Was it possible that he needed someone to show him that he was special? Was that it? No woman had ever tried to make him see how wonderful he was inside. Could I?

DEWAYNE

I had finished loading my dishwasher and was headed to the shower when a knock on the door stopped me. I turned and went to open it. Sienna stood there holding a cake box and wore a nervous smile. I was not expecting to see her at my door.

“Hey. Uh, Micah and I made you something. He loved the Tahoe. I had to force him to get out of it. He wanted to stay in it and watch a movie tonight.”

That made me smile. We would have to take a road trip in it soon so he could watch his movie. “I’m glad he approves,” I said, then stepped back to let her inside.

She looked around, and I could see the surprise on her face that it was clean. I didn’t do well with messy shit. I liked my stuff put away. It was one reason I didn’t do roommates. I’d tried that once and almost threw Preston’s crap out the window and into the parking lot one day, I’d gotten so sick of it.

“Your mom told Micah you like chocolate. So we made you a chocolate cake. The icing was Micah’s job, so it’s creative,” she said.

I took the box from her hands and nodded toward the kitchen. “Come on,” I told her.

I needed to set the cake down and decide how I liked having her in my space. I had imagined her here before, but then, those fantasies normally took place with her naked in my bed or shower. Once she’d even been bent over my couch.

“You’re really clean. I don’t think I expected that,” she said, looking around.

I shrugged. “Don’t like things messy. Never have. Well, some things I like to get messy with.” I shouldn’t have gone there. Not with her here in my place alone. I wanted things, and thinking about doing messy things with her was too damn tempting.

“Oh,” she said, blushing, and looked away from me. The pink in her cheeks always was one of my favorite things to see. That and her smile. Her eyes always twinkled in a way that could make everything else okay.

“When you look at me like that, it makes me forget that you just want to fuck me one time and nothing more.” Her words came out of nowhere, and hearing her say “fuck” didn’t help me.

“It’s hard not to look at you,” I admitted. “Always has been.”

Sienna let out a nervous laugh. “Well, it’s always been hard not to look at you, too. So I guess we both have a problem. If we slept together, I’d want more of it. Once would never be enough. One kiss wasn’t enough. I don’t think I could ever get my fill.”

What the hell . . . ?

Sienna was just laying it out there. Why? I’d told her that I couldn’t be what she wanted. I had tried to hold her at arm’s length, so why would she walk into my apartment and tell me she could never get enough of me? That was brave. Unbelievably so. It was time I admitted the truth too.

“If I get a taste of what it feels like to be inside you, I won’t be able to stop. Ever. I’ve been addicted to you since I was seventeen years old. I fought it because you were my brother’s. Then I fought it because I wasn’t worthy of you. It’s my fault he wrapped his car around that tree that night. I’d threatened him, and he was drunk and ran off.”

I couldn’t tell her the rest. That I had been mad that he had gotten Kimmy pregnant and had been cheating on Sienna for over a year. I never wanted her to know that. Ever.

“Dustin made his own mistakes,” she replied. “He chose to drink and party, and he chose to drive his car when he shouldn’t have. I begged him not to drink, but he always laughed me off, saying he was only having fun and wasn’t hurting anyone. I let myself believe him. But in the end Dustin made the reckless decision that took his life. He missed out on knowing our son. He missed out on his future as a star. He missed out on so much. But it was no one’s fault but his. I blamed myself for so long, but I know now that he made that decision. Not me. And not you.”

No one had ever told me that. I knew it was true, but no one had ever said those words to me. Still, I knew what I’d said to Dustin to send him racing back to Sienna in a panic. He was worried I was going to tell her what he was doing. He wanted to stop me. I’d never imagined he would get behind the wheel.

“I loved him. I miss him every damn day,” I said, gripping the edge of the countertop. I never talked about Dustin like this. It hurt too much.

“I loved him too. He was my best friend. He gave me the greatest gift on earth before he left me. I have Micah.”