Practice to Deceive

by Olivia Evans

  Copyright © 2019 by Olivia Evans

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Editor- Lisa A. Hollett Silently Correcting Your Grammar, LLC

  Cover Design- Jada D'Lee Designs

  Interior Design and Formatting- Lindsey Gray Formatting Services

  This is for Kelly. Without her help brainstorming at Chili’s while drinking two-for-one margaritas and eating their awesome chips and salsa, this story would have never come to life.

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” ~Sir Walter Scott

  April 2016

  I jogged up the stairs to my apartment, hoping to find Skylar there. When I rounded the corner, the door was ajar. A sense of unease crept up my spine, and the fatigue I’d felt seconds before melted away. Sprinting down the hall, I rushed into the living room. I wasn’t sure what I expected to find, but nothing could have prepared me for the scene in front of me.

  Skylar was on her knees in the middle of my living room, sheets of paper clutched in her hands. I took a quick look around the room. Paper was scattered everywhere, balled up and ripped. My heart clenched when I spotted a familiar, well-worn book lying haphazardly on the floor.

  Every muscle in my body protested as I looked back to Skylar. The tears dripping from her chin when she lifted her head caused my vision to swim. I felt the color drain from my face as realization of what she’d found set in.

  “Baby,” I whispered, moving toward her.

  “Don’t!” she spat, jumping to her feet. “Don’t you fucking dare call me that. You don’t get to call me that ever again.” She clenched her fists, the paper crinkling as she stared at her hands.

  A sob tore from her throat, and it caused my stomach to drop. She needed to know I was sorry. Things were different now. I was in love with her. When she lifted her eyes, the dead, lifeless glaze on them was like ice in my veins, stealing the breath from my lungs.

  “So, I was revenge.” The flat, monotone pitch of her voice matched her amber eyes.

  “No, Skylar. No, no, no.” This wasn’t how she was supposed to find out. I couldn’t lose her; the thought alone was crushing.

  “And all this?” she asked with a humorless chuckle, her arms sweeping wide over the destruction of my living room where she had ripped out page after page of my journal. The journal that detailed every thought, every secret, every wrong I’d ever done to her.

  “That was before,” I choked, stepping closer to her, unable to stay away any longer. “I was going to tell you everything, I promise. I can’t lose you. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

  I reached up and swept the pad of my thumb across her cheek, cupping the underside of her jaw with my other hand, absorbing the feel of her skin against mine. She sighed and closed her eyes.

  “It’s too late. You already have.”

  “The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” ~Oscar Wilde

  May 2015

  Sweat dripped from my brow as I pulled the last box out of the bed of Dad’s truck. I wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt and groaned when I stretched. My back was fucking killing me.

  “You sound like an old man,” Rachel teased, moving closer to me. Her face was a mask of innocence. I was in trouble. I caught a glimpse of my brother, Drew, behind her, a wide smile on his face. Shit.

  “Don’t do it!” I threw up my hands, but it was too late. The pop came seconds before water covered my shirt, and Rachel let out a peal of laughter. I shook my head and chuckled. “Dammit, woman! I just put on dry clothes.” I’d been immersed so long, my entire body felt pickled. The last thing I wanted was more water.

  Rachel moved to pick up another water balloon, but before she could launch it, Drew plucked it from her hand. I lifted my brows in amusement when her expression morphed from playful to indignant.

  “What the hell, Drew?” she asked, hands on hips.

  “Thanks, bro.” I smirked at Rachel, which only intensified her ire. Drew held the water balloon above his head as she jumped to reclaim it. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and the evil smile that crossed her face told me everything I needed to know.

  “Let me show you how to do it,” he said before hurtling the balloon in my direction.

  “Shit,” I laughed, diving out of the way, but not before it slammed and burst on my shoulder. “You guys suck.”

  Rachel and Drew high-fived each other, pleased with their double-team. When I looked up, I had to fight to hold back my own smile. Jared had a water balloon in each hand and was creeping up behind them. In a split second, they went from congratulating themselves on their fantastic aim to screeching as water exploded over their heads.

  “Thanks, man,” I said with a nod as Jared helped me to my feet while Rachel and Drew stared at us slack-jawed.

  “You did ask for it,” Mom said as she walked across the yard carrying a stack of towels. She passed them around, patting Jared on the head for coming to my aid. “Now, don’t leave all this mess in my yard. Get it cleaned up, and come in for lunch.”

  “I see those two are still ganging up on you,” Jared said, picking up the tiny pieces of balloon. I shrugged. Drew and Rachel had been together for more than five years and were completely perfect for each other, even though their height difference was downright comical.

  Drew was a big guy, just shy of six and a half feet. His sandy-blond hair was a mess that stuck up in every direction, and he had these deep-set, dark-blue eyes. Rachel, on the other hand, was tiny and petite with dark brown hair that fell to her waist and bright-blue eyes that could be as cold as they were warm. Both were pranksters who loved telling dirty jokes and having burping contests while watching football in their sweat pants. I didn’t get it, but it worked for them, and that was all that mattered.

  “When are you guys heading back to Seattle?” Jared asked.

  “In a couple days. Dad asked us to stay and help with the last day of the fair before we go back.” Finals were the following week. I should have been studying instead of sitting in a dunk tank so kids could laugh their asses off every time I
plunged into the water, but it was for charity and something we’d always done as a family.

  “Where’s Terri?” Jared asked just as Drew and Rachel walked over to us. I sighed.

  “She had stuff she needed to take care of. She wanted to be here.”

  “Bullshit,” Rachel muttered, earning a warning glance from me.

  “Don’t start,” I exhaled. It was no secret how Rachel felt about Terri. That didn’t mean she had to broadcast it in skywriting every time Terri’s name came up.

  Rachel played with the ends of her hair. “I just find it convenient that she has something super important to do every time the fair comes around. I mean, please tell me you’re not that blind, Brennan.”

  I smirked. “You almost sound like you’re upset she’s not here.”

  Rachel’s face twisted with disdain. She would never give me a real reason for her feelings about Terri. When I’d ask, she’d always say, “There’s something not right about her.” Whatever the fuck that meant. I’d given up trying to figure it out a long time ago.

  “I mean, it is a little suspicious she always finds an excuse not to come,” Drew commented, ever the supportive boyfriend. I was too tired for this shit today.

  Jared clapped me on the shoulder and pulled me toward the house. “Come on, man. I know you have beer around here.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, grateful for the interruption. Jared and I had grown up together, and we’d always been good friends. He knew Terri was a sore subject with my family. Unfortunately, Jared was all too familiar with family drama. His was pretty fucked up. His parents had split when he was younger, and his brother had been in and out of jail for as long as I could remember.

  Jared couldn’t enroll in college with the rest of our class. He had to take a year off to save money. A lot of people didn’t think he’d ever make anything of himself, but I knew better. After a year of working his ass off, he saved up enough money, combined with loans, to start college with us in Seattle. He pledged my fraternity, and the rest was history.

  We walked into the kitchen and popped the tops off a couple beers just as my dad walked in through the back door. “Got one for me?” he asked with a smile. I grabbed another beer from the fridge and tossed it to him.

  “You did well today, son,” Dad said, easing onto a barstool at the island.

  I groaned again when I sat next to him. “All I did was let kids drop my ass in water over and over. As hot as it was today, I think I got just as much out of it as they did. Although, I’m going to be sore as hell tomorrow. Drew might have to take over.”

  Dad laughed. “You were a good sport.”

  “It was fun. I like seeing them smile.” Our family had sponsored a charity fair in Aberdeen since I was a kid. Dad worked in the cancer unit at the local pediatrics center. I didn’t understand how he could deal with seeing all those sick kids, knowing some of them never had a chance. If he could do that every day, the least I could do was sit in a dunking booth.

  “When are you going to get in there, Dr. Dad?” Rachel asked, causing my dad to chuckle. She’d called him that since the day they’d met and refused to call him anything else.

  “Are you ever going to call me Clint?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Not a chance.”

  “He doesn’t get in there because I don’t want to have to beat off all the single women in the city,” my mom said, ruffling Dad’s silver hair. It almost matched his eyes, which were the same silver-blue as mine.

  “What about me?” I asked, my hand over my heart like she’d wounded me. Mom shook her head, her bright blond hair falling around her face.

  “You’re still young and single. Women can ogle you. I’m sure once you get married, your future wife will be looking for other people to climb in that booth.”

  “I’m young—but not single,” I reminded her.

  Mom rolled her eyes. “You’re not married either.” Not yet, I thought just as my phone rang. A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth when I saw Terri’s name on the screen.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said, standing and walking out of the room.

  “Hey.”

  “Are you done with your thing?” she asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

  “Yeah, we just got back. Everyone asked about you.”

  “I’m sure they did,” she deadpanned. She knew Rachel didn’t like her.

  “Don’t be like that.” At some point, I was going to have to lock the two of them in a room and just let nature take its course. They’d either work it out or kill each other. I wasn’t prepared to deal with those two sniping at each other for the rest of our lives.

  Terri let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry. I just wish you were here. I’m so bored.”

  I furrowed my brows. “I thought you were busy this weekend.”

  “My plans fell through, so I’ve just been sitting here all alone. I miss you.” I smiled. There was my girl. She was like a hard-shelled candy. Tough exterior but all sweet and soft on the inside.

  “You should have driven down. You could have helped me with the dunking booth.”

  She hummed into the phone. “Now that I think about it, I really wouldn’t have minded seeing you all wet.”

  I laughed. “We have one more day. Why don’t you hop in the car and come down?”

  She sighed again and asked the one question I was hoping to avoid. “Have you talked to Matt yet?”

  It was my turn to sigh. Matt was my roommate and best friend. We’d met during rush week our freshman year and immediately hit it off. He was laid-back, funny, and a genuinely nice guy. After sophomore year, we got an apartment off campus and had lived there for the past four years. Which was why I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation we were going to have when I got back to Seattle.

  “Not yet.”

  “Brennan,” she snapped. “You have to tell him. This is ridiculous. Are you having second thoughts? Do you not want to live with me?” By the time she stopped speaking, her words had softened, and I could hear the hurt in her voice.

  “Of course I do. I’ll talk to him after finals, okay? I just don’t want to tell him we’re moving in together before. I don’t want to stress him before exams.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  “I’m going to go. Love you.”

  I blinked at her abrupt end to the conversation, and before I could speak, she’d already hung up.

  “Please tell me you’re not moving in with her.” I jumped at the sound of Rachel’s voice.

  “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me.”

  “Brennan. Are you? Are you moving in with her?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “But I thought you weren’t going to live with her before…” Her eyes widened as she connected the dots. “You’re going to ask her to marry you.”

  “It’s what I want, Rachel. I know you don’t like her, but please don’t ruin this for me. We’re good together.”

  Rachel shook her head, her eyes glassy. “She’s not the one for you, Brennan. You deserve so much better.”

  “Let’s not fight.” Rachel was like a sister to me. I hated to see her upset, but I wasn’t going to let her dictate my life. Marrying Terri was the next logical step in our relationship. There wasn’t any point in putting it off.

  Rachel nodded, and even though I could tell she wanted to say more, she didn’t. I threw my arm around her shoulders and pulled her toward the kitchen. “Let’s get you a beer.”

  We spent the rest of the night hanging out and planning the last day of the fair. It was honestly the most relaxed I’d been in months. There was something about being home with my family that settled me. I didn’t think about the insane tests I had the following week, the conversation I needed to have with Matt, or the fact that I was going to propose to Terri. I just enjoyed spending time with the people I loved.

  You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something. ~H.
G. Wells

  May 2015

  “Yo, Matt, you here?” I yelled, throwing my backpack on the floor and kicking off my shoes. Finals were over, and I was ready to relax, be lazy, and drink for the next three months.

  “In the living room.”

  I stopped by the kitchen and grabbed a couple beers, tossing one to Matt before falling onto the couch beside him.

  “Thanks, man,” he said, never taking his eyes off the game he was playing. I took a couple sips of beer and tried to swallow my nerves. It was time to tell Matt.

  “So, uh, you know how Terri has been bugging me about moving in together,” I began, noticing how Matt’s jaw tightened. He hated Terri as much as Rachel did, but just like Rachel, he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me why. “Anyway, I think when I come back for fall semester, we’re going to get a place together. I just wanted to give you the summer to find another roommate.”

  Matt popped the top off his beer and downed half in one swallow. He leaned forward on the couch and rested his elbows on his knees before turning to look at me.

  “Dude, you said you weren’t going to move in together until you were at least engaged. What changed?”

  “Well.” I shrugged and rubbed the back of my neck. God, this sucked. It felt like a fucking breakup, which was ridiculous.

  “No fucking way.” He stared at me for a second, obviously waiting for me to tell him I wasn’t going to ask her to marry me. I didn’t know why he was shocked. We’d been together for years, and she wanted to marry me. I loved her. I was happy. We never fought; it was easy, familiar.

  “Dude, what the fuck are you thinking?” Matt kept his voice low, and I could tell he was trying to stay calm. I knew better. He was about to lose it, and I was tired of defending my relationship. If it wasn’t to Matt, it was to Drew or Rachel.

  “I’m thinking I’m going to ask the girl I’ve been dating for nearly four years to marry me,” I snapped, standing from the couch. I hadn’t slept in days from all my studying. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for this conversation. I shouldn’t have done this now.