Page 129 of Brutal Little Secrets

But fuck, I love fireworks.

“How was rehearsal?” Heather asks as the server begins to bring our meals out.

Evan’s cheeks glow a little brighter. “Interesting. Apparently, Chase had a party last night and showed up late to rehearsal. He may have been a little drunk still. I had to send him home.”

Heather frowns. “Your boyfriend, Chase?”

“Mm-hmm.” Evan takes a drink of water. Apparently, Evan isn’t ready to give me up either.

“Isn’t this the weekend Tom and Jess were supposed to be out of town?” My dad glances at his phone, but Heather puts her hand over the screen. He smiles at her and puts it face down on the table.

“I think so.” Heather’s gaze flicks between me and Evan. We’re not even close enough to touch.

“I guess Tom will have to deal with that when he gets back.” My dad shakes his head. “At least you weren’t there. Either of you.”

“I’m not much for the party scene.” Evan takes a bite of her pasta.

“Evan’s a good girl.” Heather smiles and clears her throat like that reminded her of something. She sets her fork down and looks at my dad with an expectant look.

He smiles and looks at us. “Heather and I have been talking.”

I brace myself because if this is an engagement announcement, I might need to leave the table. Fuck, I might need to leave the country. I told Evan I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her or her mother, but this would be way too soon. Even Evan has to realize that.

She glances my way, and her fingers twitch like she wants to reach for me.

“We know moving in together was sprung on you two fairly quickly.”

Heather blushes and glances at Evan. Yeah, Evan didn’t know until the week prior. At least I had a little more heads up.

“And that the two of you are both busy with school and your extracurriculars,” Dad continues.

I almost laugh at extracurriculars. Her directing and my hockey are our futures. Not something we do just to get out of the house. I put my fork down and lean back in my chair. Part of me wants to reach across the table and take my dad’s drink.

“But we feel we need to work on our family. So we want to make sure to schedule two dinners a week. Wednesdays and Sundays. If you can make others, great, but we figured those nights are the best for you two.”

Heather squeezes my dad’s arm before she looks at both of us. “We really want you to get to know each other and us.”

I almost laugh, but that would blow things up. Evan and I know each other very well. Spending time with our parents won’t solve anything. It won’t wipe away the pain and anger I carry, or the years of neglect Evan dealt with.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Evan sits back in her chair. “I don’t have any issue with it.”

“It’s doable with my schedule.” I noticed Evan hasn’t said anything to her mother about her and Chase breaking up or that things are even rocky between them. I get it. We’re sleepingtogether, and if our parents look too closely, they might figure it out.

That doesn’t mean I like it though.

Heather releases a breath like this will solve everything. Fix the fact her daughter was so fucking lonely, monsters sought her out. Granted, I was one of those monsters, but now I have to deal with the other ones.

We continue to eat, and Heather asks Evan more about the play. Evan and Heather keep the conversation going while my dad sits back and watches me. Does he suspect anything? It’s reasonable to assume I’d ignore the hot little piece he moved in just out of spite.

I don’t give anything away though. Not even when I look at Evan while she’s telling a story about rehearsal this past week.

“I’m so glad we’re doing this.” Heather sounds overly excited about the dinners. “We should schedule a movie night too.”

“Just like a happy little family.” I stand with a glare at my father. What I want to say is, this is your girlfriend. Stop trying to push me to be family with her. It’s not going to happen.

But Evan seems happy, so I don’t let the vitriol I feel come out my mouth.

“My schedule is still seriously swamped with homework and the play.” Evan glances at me. It’s brief but loaded, and I hope Dad doesn’t notice.