Page 92 of Lies Like Love

My glare should be enough for him to realize he needs to fuck off, but like the idiot he’s always been, he doesn’t budge. Instead, he dares to open his mouth and continue digging his grave.

“Can’t say I’m surprised that shit with your parents didn’t work.” Parker grins, skimming Fel’s dress, pausing a second too long where it dips between her breasts. “I mean we all remember your dad being kind of a creep. That shit with your mom and all.”

Fel’s grip on my arm is all that holds me to the earth. Gravity might as well be sucked from the room as my vision goes black.

“Parker…”

“Your mom?” Fel’s voice squeaks with her question.

Two years we lived under the same roof and there is one person we never talked about—her.

Parker opens his mouth to say more but I step between them before he can answer her seemingly simple question. “Nice seeing you, Parker.”

He lifts his eyebrows, finally taking the hint at my callous tone. He’s lucky I’m not beating him to a pulp to let out some of my rage.

Whatever he was about to say is bullshit Fel doesn’t need to hear. Parker wasn’t one of the guys on the team I actually confided in. He’s repeating rumors, passed on and diluted so many times, it won’t do Fel any good to hear them.

Not that it matters. The dirt’s been moved, and as much as I’d like to bury this, Fel will continue to dig until she uncovers every body.

“Yeah…” he shakes his head, stepping back. “Good seeing you too.”

If only his walking away was enough for Fel to let his comment go. She won’t. Her eyes work my gaze over. Questions she probably let dance in her head for years, while knowing better than to ask them.

Pain in her eyes because my mom is a weakness. A soft spot. She senses it.

Fel’s gaze liquifies as she holds onto the good guy in me like she did back then. The little crease between her eyebrows gives everything away.

It’s too much. I turn away, but she grips my arm tighter in response.

“What was he saying about your mom?”

“Come on, Fel.” I shake my head. “Parker’s full of shit. Always has been. Let it go.”

“Why would he bring her up then? You never—” she stops her sentence mid-thought and swallows hard. “Why are you always hiding things from me, Jude? You never talked about what was going on with our parents. And you never mentioned her. What really happened back then?”

“Don’t try to make me a good guy here.”

She scoffs, too smart for her own good. “Unless you are, and you just want me to think you’re not.”

“Parker doesn’t know shit.”

“You always said you were protecting me. What were you protecting me from?”

I try to walk past her, but she follows me. She’s on my heels, and I’m tempted to get us both out of the club before one of us explodes. Firecrackers in the palm, a spark away from going off. But like the walls closing in on all sides, the farthest I make it is the hallway to the bathroom before she’s grabbing my arm and trying to stop me.

“You just let me think you were the villain back then, didn’t you?” Her pace quickens to stay on my heels. “What did your mom have to do with any of this when you never talked about her?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What if it does?” She tries to reach for my arm again.

I shake her off because this isn’t the time or place. “You can’t handle it.”

“What makes you think I can’t handle it?” She follows me into the bathroom and the door slaps shut behind her. “Don’t think I didn’t see things falling apart. Was your mom the reason our parents were always fighting?”

“If only.” I can’t help the sick laugh that bursts from my chest. Darkness bleeding out. “Just drop it.”

“No.” She grabs my arm and steps in front of me.

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