Page 1 of Silent Verity

Prologue

Dalton

I stared up at the massive home looming in front of the six of us. We’d finally decided to move out of the tiny three-bedroom house the six of us had been renting in a rougher part of the city, deciding it was time for the six of us to put money together and buy a bigger place. I didn’t think any of us truly cared about the tight living quarters, but Kalin, Spike, Jesse, and I had enough of listening to Tor and Salem fucking like rabbits.

But now that we were all standing there in front of our new home with our keys in our hands, my chest ached. Because moving into this massive mansion meant I would no longer share a room with Jesse, my best friend. My fucking rock. He would no longer be in my space. I’d no longer catch him randomly wearing my shirts and pants because he was too lazy to wash his own clothes. I’d no longer get to smell my body wash and shampoo on him because he’d showered using my things because he didn’t want to go out and get more of his own when he ran out.

We were moving up in the world, which was good, I guessed, but at what cost?

“Well, I guess now everyone can have their own rooms,” Tor said, leaning into Salem’s side.

Salem snorted. “You’re never having your own space, babe. Don’t even think about it.”

Kalin, the keyboard player in our band, grimaced at them. “I’m just happy I won’t be woken up by you two fucking at all hours of the night. You’ll be way on the other side of the house in your own wing.”

I laughed, thankful it sounded normal. Inside, I felt like I was being strangled. Jesse wasn’t saying anything, just smiling. There was nothing showing on his face except contentment. How was he okay with this?

Oh, right. He didn’t feel anything like that for me. It was just me who was madly, stupidly fucking in love with him.

“Well, let’s not stand out here with our thumbs stuck up our asses,” Jesse said, moving forward to unlock the front door. “I’m ready to unpack so I can veg out on pizza and then pass out in bed.”

Once we were inside, I was thankful to see that the movers my mom had hired for us had already placed all the furniture in their respective places, so that was one less thing we all had to worry about. And a glimpse into the kitchen showed that all of our utensils, pots, and pans had been unpacked and put away as well.

Tugging my phone from my pocket, I shot a text off to my mom. Didn’t matter that I was a grown man and a multi-millionaire. I would never not need my mom, nor would I ever not be grateful for her always working to make my life easier.

Dalton:

Thank you for the movers. They did most of the hard work for us.

Mom:

Good. They were paid extra for it, so I would hope so. Enjoy your new home, honey. And congrats again.

I smiled before pocketing my phone. Unlike my friends, who’d been raised in various stages of poverty and in broken homes, I’d grown up in a middle-class home with great, attentive parents. I never went without anything. I knew my friends hadn’t been so lucky, which made me even more grateful for my parents. I had no idea how I’d ended up being friends with lot of them when I was so different from them, but they’d welcomed me into their fold regardless. And now, we were our own little family, and my parents loved all five of them like they were their own.

Looking up, I was surprised to find I was the only one left in the middle of the entrance. Everyone else had already dispersed. Sighing, I toed off my shoes by the front door. One of the rules my mom had always had was there were no shoes in the house, and old habits died hard. Even if we now had cleaners and I knew my friends would never remember to take their shoes off—as shown by my shoes being the only ones by the front door—I would never walk through the house in my shoes.

On my way to my room, I passed by Jesse’s. His door was shut, and I could vaguely hear music from his room. I paused outside his room, raising my fist to knock. To see if he wanted company or help unpacking. He was disorganized at best and chaotic at his worst. But then, I noticed the “DO NOT DISTURB” door hanger, and I lowered my hand, feeling sick to my stomach.

Since when did Jesse block me from his room? Since when did he shut me out?

Feeling nauseous, I finished the walk to the end of the hall where my room was. Once I was inside, I shut my door and bypassed all my boxes to collapse face first onto my bare mattress. I had no idea how I was supposed to cope without Jesse asleep on just the other side of the room. Hell, most nights, he’d always slept in my bed with me. We’d put on a movie and fall asleep wrapped around each other.

That had always been us. Even before I moved out of my parents’ place and into that tiny fucking house so we could all be close. We’d always had each other.

Now there was a hallway and two closed doors between us, but they may as well have been the fucking Pacific Ocean with how much distance I felt was between us.

I suddenly regretted ever agreeing to move out of that rundown house and buy this one. Because if I hadn’t agreed, I would still be sharing a room with Jesse. He’d still be smiling at me and not blocking me out of his room.

But he was now clearly putting distance between us, and fuck me for being a gentleman. For being the good guy. Because I knew I wouldn’t push him.

If this was how he wanted things now… Well, I’d let him have it.

Even if it damn near killed me inside.

1

Jesse

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