This gave Aidan a gut ache. Track him down? Christ. Just the thought brought a tidal wave of memories. It’d been hot as hell that night he’d found his dad cheating. He could remember the sweat pouring down his face after having the shit beat out of him. Nearly passing out walking home to his mom. But what he remembered most was the look on his mom’s face when he told her his dad was cheating on her. Which had been nothing compared to her expression when she discovered Richard had laid his hands on Aidan. He’d never intended for her to know that. Had wished she hadn’t figured it out. Because as he’d known it would, it just about killed her.

And then Richard had shown up and that was when Char clocked him with her frying pan …

Gray had been away at camp. He had no idea that a thirteen-year-old Aidan had been the catalyst for the fight. No one but Char knew. Shortly after that, she’d found out about the other kids Richard had deserted, which further cemented her hatred of the man who’d never lived up to his own responsibilities.

One year later the twins had shown up in Cedar Ridge, and Char, being a better person than anyone Aidan had ever known, had taken them in as hers. And then Kenna had come along a few years later.

Aidan had been doubly resolved to keep what had happened between him and Richard a secret after that. Hud and Jacob were so messed up from taking care of their mom instead of the other way around, the last thing Aidan wanted to do was destroy any fantasy memory they had of their dad as well. And then there was Gray. If he ever found out, Aidan probably wouldn’t be able to keep Gray from hunting Richard down and killing him.

Nope, the secret was still his alone to keep. “I told you to forget it,” he said to Hud. “We don’t need him. We never have.”

“Yes, we do,” Hudson said. “He got us in this mess, and he can figure a way to get us out. His fault, his problem.”

“His fault,” Aidan agreed. “But our problem. Trust me, bringing in the man who’s abandoned everything and everyone in his life will be a joke. We’ve never been able to count on him, how much help do you really expect him to be? No, we do this as always—on our own.”

While he and Hudson were going back and forth, they lost Gray, who was staring down at his phone, shaking his head.

“Seriously?” Hudson asked him.

“I’m still listening,” Gray said, but thumbed something on his phone.

Two seconds later his phone buzzed again. He looked pained as he read the response.

“Care to share with the class?” Aidan asked banally.

Gray turned his phone to reveal the text conversation: