Page 37 of Brutal Little Secrets

A shiver goes through me. “Not during practice.”

“Thought I’d offer to take the edge off.” Hawk starts to stand but leans over me. “You need me, I’m yours.”

He walks off, taking with him that scent of citrus and leaving me a little needy. I cross my legs.

I drink the soda, which I did need, and curse my work ethic before returning to reviewing my notes.

Keira returns to the table and claps her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Two minute warning.”

She sinks into the chair beside me at the table. “How’s it going?”

I smile. “Pretty good, actually.”

“Didn’t you and Chase break up Friday night?” She taps her pen on the table.

“Oh, yeah.” Maybe I should act more broken up, but honestly. “I think it was for the best. He wanted something I wasn’t willing to give him.”

“Guys can be dicks sometimes. I didn’t want to say anything, but he hit on me last week.” Keira shudders like it wasn’t a good time. “I was going to talk to you this weekend about it, privately. I thought you should know he was trying to get with other girls.”

He definitely succeeded on other girls.

“I appreciate you saying something.” I blow out a breath. No one else did. “Yeah, apparently he had a different idea of what our relationship meant.”

“For what it’s worth, Hawk seems really into you.” Keira blushes and looks down at her paper. “Not that I’m the best judge of things like that, but...” She shrugs.

I glance over to where Hawk is working with Sophia on their parts in the play. She giggles every time he speaks. Hopefully she gets over that by the time we go off book.

I’m home in time for dinner. When I walk into the dining room, Adam and my mom sit at the table.

“Hi, honey.” Mom stands and gives me a hug. “I feel like I never get to see you anymore.”

We sit down, and Mom turns to Adam.

“Play rehearsal takes all her time. It’s hard to find moments to reconnect.” She reaches over and takes my hand, squeezing it. “The occasional meal.”

Normally, I’d get her attention post-breakup. Her staying with a guy this long and moving in is definitely new. I missed our couple weeks of binging romcoms and breakup movies. We always find time for dinners during plays, though. Right now, we’re definitely seeing less of each other than usual.

I glance toward the rest of the house. I haven’t seen Damon today. Not since this morning. I don’t really want to ask where he’s at. What would they do if they knew we were sleeping together?

“Hockey takes up all of Damon’s time.” Adam smiles as he looks at my mom. “He’s always doing extra training, but fortunately most of it he can do in our home gym. I’ve probably seen him at more dinners since you two moved in than I did last year.”

“He seems very devoted to the game.” Mom nods and picks up her fork.

I wish I knew more about where he was supposed to go this year. But I don’t want to seem too interested and arouse suspicion with my interest. They have to know it’s not normal to put two teens together like this.

But I’ll be sleeping in his bed tonight and maybe doing more. Anticipation buzzes through my veins.

I’m lifting a forkful of food to my mouth when Mom says, “I’m surprised he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

“That’s one thing I’ve been grateful for over the years.” Adam leans back in his chair. “No girl drama.” He glances at me. “No offense, but relationships at your age tend to go sideways quickly.”

Now would be the perfect time for me to tell Mom about my breakup. But what if part of the reason they feel comfortable putting Damon and me so close together is because I have a boyfriend?

“I don’t know,” Mom says with a smile. “Evan really didn’t have a boyfriend until last spring, and he’s been a good guy. No trouble at all. Isn’t that right, Evan?”

I clear my throat. “No trouble.”

Adam chuckles. “That’s good then. Hopefully when Damon goes to college, he’ll meet a good girl. That’s how I met his mother. Beth was a pre-law student.”