Page 7 of Whisper Pretty Lies (Lust & Liars #1)

I spent all of class trying to figure out who to pick for my assistant director.

There are three remaining seniors and five juniors.

This could be the seniors’ last chance to really shine while at Anteros.

We’ll all have smaller plays in the spring.

It would make sense to help one of them, but the juniors need the opportunity too.

Last year, Erica Bartlett chose me, a junior, as her assistant.

I really want to pay that forward. It would be easier to decide if I knew who Brandt was picking.

Though one of his followers would make sense.

I’m no closer to a decision than when it was announced I’d be the fall student director at the end of last year.

I’ve had all summer to figure it out, but I just can’t. There’s no one I really connect with in the director program. At least not any seniors.

As I head to my car, I get a text from Mia. We exchanged numbers earlier. My stomach buzzes.

Mia:

OMG I’m so happy to be here and can’t wait until we can hang

Me:

I’m excited you’re here too

The dots appear, but before she sends her message, my phone rings. Mom’s calling. I draw in a breath, ready to handle whatever she is about to throw at me, but also bracing myself, because Mom is fully engaged after a breakup until she finds a new man. And she always finds a new man.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Are you on your way home, honey?” Mom sounds harried.

“I’m about to get into my car.” I open my car door and throw my backpack on the passenger seat. “What’s up?”

“I have some exciting news to share with you!”

Okay, wasn’t expecting happiness. Maybe she hasn’t quite decided to pull the trigger yet with the latest guy. I figured the honeymoon phase had finally ended when she spent most of last week at home instead of out with her boyfriend.

“I should be home in ten,” I say. Maybe she’s excited to see this one go. That would be a change. Or maybe she has the next guy already lined up.

“Great.” She disconnects the call.

I don’t like this any more than all the other changes in my life. Mom’s acting weird and happy. Chase is clingy. The Devils are paying attention to me. None of this makes sense.

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end again. If I turn, will Damon or one of the others be standing there watching me? Or is it just all in my head?

It’s probably all in my head. I’m psyching myself out. Fuck, I need to know.

I hold my breath and turn, scanning the parking lot. Over by the doors to the ice rink, I can see three figures. It’s too far away to tell who they are, especially since they’re geared up for hockey practice.

A shiver works through me. Maybe this year will be a little more complicated than I initially thought, but I’ll figure out why they’ve suddenly taken an interest in me. One way or another.

I get in my car and head home. Well, to our rental house. We haven’t had a real home since Dad passed away. For all I know, that was a rental too, but we’d been there for a while. Mom moved us into apartments until two years ago, when she found this house for rent.

I know it’s only a rental, but it feels like home. It’s safe. My room is decorated the way I like it. I even got to paint the walls a pale blue. It’s like we finally have a place of our own. We know all the quirks. We’re settled.

As I pull up, I notice the truck in front of our house. A worker steps out the front door, and Mom follows, thanking him.

He doesn’t look at me as I get out of my car. Mom turns when my door shuts. Her grin spreads across her face.

“Evan!” She walks down the steps and crosses the yard to reach me. We’re about the same height now. I share her blond hair and light blue eyes, but I have my grandma’s smaller nose and dimpled chin. Not main character energy. Maybe best friend energy, but definitely behind-the-camera energy.

“What’s going on, Mom?” I sling my backpack over my shoulder.

“I’ve got bad news and good news.” Mom doesn’t look devastated, so maybe this won’t be as hard as last time she ended things with a guy.

She rarely tells me the guys’ names, sometimes the first, and then in passing like they aren’t important enough for me to know.

I stopped trying to remember them after guy number five.

In my head, I’m already queuing up a few romantic comedies we can watch over the next few nights while I do my homework. We have a few favorites that always help pull her from her slump.

“Okay, let’s have the bad news.”

She turns to walk with me back toward the house. “Our house is being sold.”

Whoa. I stop and turn to face her. I must have heard her wrong. “I’m sorry. What?”

“The owners are selling our rental.” Mom links her arm with mine and pulls me toward the house. “I know it’s crap timing, but they already have a buyer with a cash offer who wants to terminate our lease. And since I hadn’t renewed yet...”

“Uh, we need somewhere to live.” My head is spinning. There’s always open apartments at the last complex we were in, but the main reason we moved away was neither of us felt safe there. It had been time to leave.

“That’s the good news.” Mom squeezes my arm. “We’re moving in to my boyfriend’s house.”

My brain goes into a fog. Her boyfriend.

They’ve barely been dating, maybe the summer, maybe a little longer.

And she’ll probably dump him soon. This is a bad idea.

She could blow it up within a week of moving in, and then we'll be even more desperate for a place to live.

Maybe we have time to find someplace else.

Time enough to not end up at those apartments again.

Mom’s still talking to me, but I blanked it all out. I clear my throat to get her attention. It’s better if I take this easy.

“Do you think that’s a good idea? Do you want to move this fast?”

Mom laughs. “Haven’t you been listening, Evan? Adam has more than enough room. Besides, we’ve been dating for a while and we’re ready to take the next step. You’re only around for one more year. Then it will be only me when you go off to college. I need to move on with my life.”

“What happens if it doesn’t work out, Mom?” I’ve never known my mom to be an optimist when it comes to guys. Normally, she has one foot out the door.

“We can at least try, Evan.” Mom opens the front door. “We’re having dinner with Adam and his son tonight. We’ll get a lay of the land and figure out how to move forward.”

His son? This is such a bad idea. What if the son gets attached to my mom and then she does what she always does? She hasn’t said this time is different. What makes this Adam different than the dozens of guys she’s dated before?

I hear what she says, but I just can’t believe this. I walk into the cozy living room that’s been home for two years. Dammit. I’m not ready to leave, but what choice do I have?

“Please, honey, give it a try for me.” My mom’s eyes are more hopeful than I’ve ever seen them before. “If it doesn’t work out, we’ll find somewhere. Adam says it would be fine for us to stay with him while we look, but we both really want this to work.”

“I haven’t even met him, Mom. How do you know this will be a good fit?

” I set my bag on the chair and turn to face her with my arms around my waist. This house has become comfortable.

The years of moving from apartment to apartment weighed on me.

I didn’t even realize what I was missing until we moved in here.

The stability I needed.

“You’ll adjust. You always do. We’re survivors.” Mom smiles and brushes my hair behind my ear. “One step at a time. We’re meeting them at their house for dinner. Adam will give us a tour, and then we’ll sit down and answer any questions you might have.”

She smiles, and it’s so hopeful I don’t know how I can say no. In all these years after my dad passed, she’s never been this happy. Maybe she’s jumping on this opportunity because we don’t have a lot of other choices. Or maybe this guy is the real deal.

I’m still wondering how to say no when we pull up in front of a house three times as large as the house I grew up in. There are multiple garages off to the side. When Mom holds out a controller and presses a button, one of the doors lifts.

“Who is your boyfriend?” I don’t hide the skepticism from my voice. Will he even realize we’re living with him? There must be at least twenty rooms in a place like this. I don’t like it. Is this why she’s staying with him?

I dismiss that idea as soon as it enters my mind. He may be rich, but that can’t be all there is to him. That’s not my mom.

Mom laughs. “Come on. You’re going to love it here. You’ll never want to leave.”

I will want to leave. This all feels wrong, and after the day I had where something unusual happened at every turn, I’m not looking forward to even more changes. Mia was a good change. A new friend.

But Damon, Hawk, and Cam’s attention was alarming and disturbing. Chase suddenly being all touchy-feely made me uncomfortable. This change might be too far for me.

Mom never introduces me to her boyfriends, claiming she’s overprotective of me. But not only is she introducing me to this guy, but we’re apparently moving in too.

Mom leads the way across the driveway to the front door, where a man stands in the shadow of the doorway. Her smile is so genuine, so pleased, I stumble a little.

I don’t know what I was expecting. But I think she really likes him.

“Adam.” She reaches out both hands and he takes them, pulling her in for a hug, before moving her to his side with his arm still wrapped around her.

I follow a little slower, dragging my feet. When I climb the steps, Adam looks vaguely familiar. I can’t place why though. I don’t think I’ve ever met him before.

“You must be EvanAnn.” He holds his free hand out to me with a warm smile.

I take his hand and shake it like I’ve been trained to do. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“I’m Adam Storm. You can call me Adam.” He gestures for me to follow him, but my feet are rooted in place.

Storm? It can’t be that common of a last name, right? It could be a coincidence. Maybe it’s not even spelled the same. Mom glances back at me with this hopeful smile that somehow gets my legs moving, following her into a foyer straight out of a movie.

Luxurious marble floors with a beautifully crafted round table topped by a vase brimming with fresh-cut flowers centered in the space. I swallow as my gaze lifts to the two-story ceiling and the crystal chandelier lighting the entryway.

A door opens somewhere in the house.

“Oh, good. My son says you know each other from school.” Adam’s tone is all pleasantry.

Son? Mom said it before, but I didn’t think about what that would mean. That it could ever be...

My heart is going a mile a minute. I need to run away.

Now.

I’m not supposed to be here. This shouldn’t be happening. But my feet are glued to the floor, knowing no matter what, this is a horror I’m going to be forced to face.

“Damon, come meet EvanAnn.”