Never Started (Never #2)

PROLOGUE

I push through the front door with a sigh, letting my backpack slip from my shoulder and fall to the ground with a thud. It was a long day, and now my bed is calling my name.

The large house is eerily quiet. I didn't notice if the garage was open, so I'm unsure if anyone else is home. At this point, I honestly don't care.

Walking through the hall toward my room, I hear a muffled noise from the library on my left. Mom must be home. I stand there for a moment, debating whether to tell her hi since I skipped my last two classes of the day.

Fuck it, she will find out one way or another. I chose to leave early. I might as well own it and take the inevitable lecture.

Grabbing the handles of the double sliding wooden barn doors that open to her library, I slowly pull them apart.

"Hey, Mom—" I begin to speak before stepping in, but the sight before me quickly cuts me off.

Mom is definitely not here.

"What in the actual fuck!?" I shout, standing there, stunned. Unfortunately for me, I'm unable to move. This includes covering my eyes or looking away. You know, like a normal person would.

What do I do? Stare on in horror and shock, of course.

"You watch your mouth!" my dad shouts back. He quickly pulls up his pants, picks up Mrs. Leah's dress off the floor, and throws it to her. She instantly uses it to shield herself, her head hanging in what's clearly embarrassment.

"Seriously? Maybe you should watch your dick, because it apparently just got lost inside my best friend's mom," I bark back without hesitation, unconcerned about the consequences.

"Izabel Landry, that's enough," he shouts wrapping his arm around Via's mom and ushering her toward the doorway. The one I'm currently standing in.

Mrs. Leah swats his arm away as she closes in on me. She stops just before me and lowers her head, unable to meet my eyes.

"Izzy, I'm so sorry, honey."

"Just go!" I yell, my heart plummeting in my chest at the betrayal.

This can’t be real. My parents are happy. My mom worships the ground my dad walks on. He has everything when it comes to her. How could he do this to her? How could either of them do this? To their spouses? To Via? Hell, to me?

Via’s my best friend. Fuck that, more like my sister. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. Do they not see what this could do to us?

Mrs. Leah nods, pushes past me, and runs toward the front door.

My dad stops in front of me, and his jaw ticks before he speaks, "Why are you not in school?"

"Really!? I think the better question here is, how could you do this to Mom!?” I don’t hold back my rage as I shout at him.

“Dad! Do you not see how fucked up this is!

? That's my best friend's mom! How could you!

? I trusted you. Mom trusts you!" I've never once raised my voice to my father.

I've always been a "daddy's girl." I feel as if everything I've ever known and loved about the man in front of me has all been a lie.

It's now very apparent that I've only seen the side of him he's wanted me to see.

My dad places his hands on my shoulders, attempting to still me and get me to lock eyes with him. I refuse.

"Don't touch me!" My sharp words carry through the library, stunning my dad still, rejecting his touch for the first time in my life.

His hands fall away, and he says in a low tone, "Izzy, calm down. I can explain." He's clearly embarrassed and treading lightly.

"Explain!?" I snap. "No explanation in the world could make sense of this situation. You are unfaithful and unworthy of the trust that's been so easily handed to you. Explain that!"

My dad's shoulders sag in defeat, and he exhales sharply. His face looks pained, as if I just stabbed him with my words.

"I won't argue. You aren't wrong." He keeps his tone even as he turns, facing the room with his back to me, running a hand through his thinning hair.

"Your mother." His voice cracks as he pushes the words out. "If she finds out about this... This would destroy her, Izzy. I know this is terrible to ask of you, but you can't tell her. If you say something to your mother, you will break her heart." He swings around to face me again. "Please."

The look in his eyes reminds me that he's the first man I've ever loved—the only man I've ever loved.

He's the man who taught me to ride a bike, chased the monsters away at night, and wiped away all my tears throughout the years.

He's the man who gets my dark sarcasm and sense of humor, and matches it tenfold.

He's the man who dotes on my mother, and makes her feel like she's floating on air in love.

The one man in this world whom I looked up to more than anyone.

The man standing before me now feels like nothing more than a stranger.

With the simple opening of a door, so much has been taken away from me.

So much will now be forever changed. My trust in him is not the only thing that instantly evaporated, but my trust in people in general.

If someone you allow to hold your heart in their hands can choose to destroy it so carelessly, how can I trust anyone to get that close?

I refuse to be put in my mom’s situation.

My mom… None of this is fair to her. She doesn't deserve to feel the heartache he created for her.

"She won't find out, at least not from me," I say, throat tight. I turn on my heels and walk out of the entryway to the library when my dad’s words stop me short.

"You would do that for me?"

"I'm not doing anything for you," I bark out with a disgusted scoff, spinning back to face him.

Taking the few needed steps to close our distance, I shove at his chest. "I owe you nothing!

You've created this mess with your choices. I just refuse to speak the words that will break her heart. She deserves better than this. Better than you!” I push at him again, then glance at his face, meeting the same green eyes as mine.

I not only look like him, but I’ve prided myself on being just like him, through and through. Until today. I've always been proud of the person I am because I was the spitting image of him.

Never again.

Now, it’s my mission to be nothing like the man I obviously never truly knew.