He hit me. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.” He lifted his arm to hit me again, but I swooped in. Grabbing his arm and waist, I lifted him in the air like he was a case of beer. Then I hoisted him around my waist, holding onto his legs and under his bottom arm. I started to turn in a circle, then went faster and faster.

“Oh my god. Mason.” He clutched my leg. “Stop.”

“This is for taking my book.” I went faster.

“I’m going to puke.”

I felt him laughing and went even faster. “This is for doing my homework when I didn’t ask and trying to use it as blackmail so you could come with us tonight.”

His hand dug deeper into my leg. “I mean it, Mase. I’m going to puke.”

His body convulsed and I stopped, dropping him immediately. He fell to the floor and rolled onto his back. His cheeks were flushed and he had a sour look on his face. “Shit.” I bent down and nudged his shoulder. “Roll over. If you puke, you won’t choke on it.”

His hand flew up to cover his mouth. He started arching up from the floor, his eyes closed, and I knew it was coming. I started to back away, but then he burst out laughing.

Wait.

Logan flipped his legs in the air and jumped to his feet in one smooth motion. He pointed at me, still laughing. “The look on your face.” He bent over and more laughter spilled out. As he slapped his knee, he shook his head. “That was awesome. I know what to do next time, just puke on you. Best prank ever.”

I hit him on the back of his head. “That’s the dumbest prank ever.” I rolled my eyes, but he kept laughing and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning with him. His laugh was so damn contagious. “Okay. Enough.”

He kept laughing.

“You can’t come tonight, but if you want to in the future, get my book right now.”

He stopped. “Really?”

“Really.” As he started to go, I repeated, “But you can’t come tonight. No way am I letting you drink; I don’t want to hear about it from Mom later.”

He shrugged. “Fine, but she wouldn’t know. I’m a f**king Kade, Mason. I know how to be discreet.” Then he was off. He disappeared down the hallway and I heard him sprinting up the north stairs. That was when I saw the flash of car lights and remembered our mom.

Peeking around the doorway, I saw her standing at the sink. The window overlooked the driveway. The car’s lights were still on and trained on the house, flooding the kitchen before they were cut. The room plunged back into darkness.

As I moved closer to my mom, I noticed her shoulders were shaking. She was so damn skinny. I was starting not to like skinny girls. They needed meat on them. I liked the healthier-looking girls at school. Nate and Ethan liked the other girls, the skinny ones, but they were nuts. Those girls were weak.

My stomach twisted as my mom dropped her hand to the counter. I watched as she bent down, her sobs coming from deep inside her now. She sounded like a dying animal. The pain was too much to hear.

“What’d he do now?”

She froze. Her fingers had a death-like grasp on the counter. Then she let out her breath and sucked in another before she shot back up and ran a hand through her hair.

As she started to turn to me, I shook my head. “Don’t.” It came out harsher than I intended. I cringed. I hadn’t meant to yell at my mother. “Sorry, but don’t. I know you’re crying, Mom. Don’t turn around and pretend that you weren’t.” Lies. The whole house was full of lies, except Logan. He was the only one who had never lied to me.

“Mason.” Her voice trembled. “I thought you were going to your friend’s house tonight.”

I frowned. “I have to do my homework before I go.”

“Oh.” Her head bent down and she tightened the silk robe around her. “I suppose I should’ve known that. I didn’t.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m so sorry, honey. I’ve not been a proper mother to you lately.”

I snorted. Lately? She’d been absent for years. “Whatever. You’re crying about Dad?” Again? I wanted to say, but I held back. She would’ve started lying to me again. She always lied for him, but I caught her this time. She couldn’t lie.

Every nerve in my body was stretched thin. I was so sick of being lied to.

“Yeah.”

The tension left me, but anger filled its spot. She cried every night. She just didn’t know we knew about it. I glanced back and saw that Logan was peeking around the corner. Yes, he knew too. Motioning him back, I glared at him. He stuck his tongue out at me, but disappeared from the doorway. I knew he was listening, but he wouldn’t be able to hear everything.

Moving closer to her, I ignored the mascara running down her face and looked out the window. I saw them too. My dad had a woman pressed against her car. Her arms were wound around his neck. One of her legs had lifted to his waist. He caught it and lifted it higher, pressing her body further against the car. He was almost on top of her.

“He doesn’t even take them somewhere else anymore.” My mom’s voice sounded hollow. “He brought this one here. They came in through the basement doors. I was swimming in the pool, but they didn’t notice me. They were down there for two hours and she’s just now leaving.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” As I asked, I knew her answer.

She laughed, the sound was mixed with pain, grief, and defeat. “What’s the point? Your father’s been cheating on me for years, honey. He’s not going to stop.” She began wheezing slightly. “I’ve tried to protect you guys from it, but I can’t. I won’t. You deserve to know the truth. This is what your father does. He won’t ever stop.”