Page 22 of Wicked Promises

My dad was working, his mom was out. We could hear his dad downstairs, which should’ve been reason enough to stay locked up.

Caleb and I had experienced an odd thrill of imminent capture when his dad got home. He wouldn’t just yell at us—he’d probably scream his voice hoarse at Caleb’s mom, too. Leaving two ten-year-olds unattended? Not wise. But hide and seek was an excellent game. It got us out of the room, and there was abonus of sneaking around Caleb’s dad. It wasmeantfor devious kids like us.

And yeah, it may have been my idea.

There was an odd thumping noise coming from the kitchen.

I pressed myself to the wall and tiptoed closer, more driven by curiosity than anything.

Upstairs, Caleb was probably counting as quietly as possible. I counted in my head, keeping track of my time. That’s how you were supposed to do it when being stealthy.

“Fuck, Amber,” a voice growled.

My whole body got icy.

I stopped just before the doorway and poked my head around the corner.

My mother and Caleb’s dad were in the kitchen. She sat on the counter, her bare legs wrapped around Caleb’s dad’s hips. It was the same counter she cooked on. But she was moaning like she was in pain. Her mouth was open. Eyes closed.

His hand was tangled in her hair, keeping her head back.

His ass flexed as he moved, and horror filtered through me.

I knew about sex. We’d learned about it in health class just a few weeks ago. All the kids had laughed and shrieked their way through the birds and bees discussion.

But I didn’t think it would be likethis. Caleb’s dad was still wearing his pants. Barely. They clung to his upper thighs. That wasn’t the disturbing part—besides seeing his hairy ass,ew. No—it was that the words coming out of his mouth were vicious.

He called her dirty, even as he kissed her neck.

Mom was cheating on Dad?

I knew what that was, too. We had learned about it from Savannah. Her dad had a shiny new girlfriend who sometimes picked her up from school. Sav said her dad called the girlfriend the newer model—whatever that meant.

That’s not this.

This is something worse.

They’re doing somethingbad. Worse than picking up someone else’s kid from school.

Dad would be heartbroken if he saw them. But before I could let out a shout, a hand wrapped around my mouth and dragged me backward. I kicked, then realized it was Caleb. He pushed me into the pantry, closing the door behind him with a softsnick.

“What are you doing?” I needed to scrub my eyes out with soap. I was shaking.

“You can’t tell,” Caleb said.

That wasn’t what I expected.

“Please, Margo, you can’t tell them.” He was desperate. Reeked of it. He came at me and grabbed my wrists. His thumb caressed my bracelet, as if to remind me that it was there. “That won’t be us. Okay? But it’s them, and doing whatever you’re about to do will just make everything worse.”

“Caleb, Mom is cheating on my dad—” I took a step back, shaking him loose. “You knew?”

Slowly, he nodded.

“Cheating is wrong,” I said. Decisive.

Dad always talked about morals. Morality. It was such a hard thing to wrap my brain around, but he made it easy. Right and wrong. Stick up for the truth.

This… this was a lie. Plain and simple.