Page 54 of Inferno

Manning swallowed nervously. “No.”

“Then answer me.”

The boy shifted from one bare foot to another. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you,” he mumbled.

“Why don’t you start with the truth?” Stan suggested.

Manning dropped his gaze to the floor,thendrew a deep breath as if to shore up his courage. “The other night, Caitlyn came to my room—”

“She climbed up the ladder?”

Manningpauseda beat.“The trellis.”

“What?”

“Caitlyn says it’s called a trellis.”

“I don’t give a damnwhatshe called it. What the hell was she doing sneaking up to your room in the middle of the night?”

When Manning looked at him as if the answer should be obvious, Stan scowled. “Damn it, Manny. Didn’t we just talk about this? What part of ‘you’re not ready to start having sex’ did you not understand?”

“What was I supposed to do, Dad?” the boy countered, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture. “She was there…in my room…naked.”

Stan swore under his breath, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I knew that girl was trouble. Did you at least use a condom?”

“Of course.”

“You’d better have,” Stan growled. “Thelastthing you need is to become a father at fourteen.” At the stricken look Manning gave him, Stan shook his head in angry disbelief. “That didn’t even occur to you, did it? While you were getting it on with Caitlyn—with me and your motherrightdownstairs—not once did you stop to consider the ramifications of what you were doing, did you?”

When Manning’s eyes shifted guiltily away, Stan snorted in disgust. “So much for all those talks we’ve had.”

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

“You should be. I’m really disappointed in you, Manny. I expected better of you.”

The boy, to his credit, looked suitably ashamed. “Are you gonna tell Ma?”

Stan scowled blackly. “I don’t know.”

Although he hated the thought of keeping such a secret from Prissy, he knew she’d be heartbroken if she found out that her baby boy had lost his virginity.

Shaking his head, Stan downed the rest of his beer, then shoved to his feet and stalked to the trash bin to throw away the empty can.

As he approached Manning, the kid looked ready to bolt.

Stan frowned. “Look, son, I haven’t forgotten what it was like to be your age. Your body’s changing, your hormones are running amok and you’re horny as hell.Which isexactlywhy you have no business becoming sexually active.You’re not mature enough to understand what you’re getting yourself into. And you need to realize that women aren’t as casual about sex as men are. They get emotionally attached after sleeping with a guy. So whileyoumight be ready to move on by next week, I guarantee you that Caitlyn will feel differently.”

Manning looked skeptical. “But she’s a junior, and she can have any dude at school she wants.”

“Yeah, and the dude she wants isyou.”

Manning said nothing, his brows furrowed as he absorbed his father’s words.

As Stan observed him, he was suddenly reminded that Manning was the same age he’d been when his parents died. In that moment, he tried to imagine not being there to watch Manning graduate from high school, land his first job out of college, get married and become a father. The thought of missing all of those milestones was so inconceivable that it nearly brought him to his knees with despair.

“I need you to make wise choices, son,” Stan said, his voice laced with sudden urgency. “I need you to be responsible.”

“I know,” Manning mumbled.