Page 51 of All the Promises We Break

The vocals and rattle of the doors and drawers cease the same time her movement does. She’s frozen around me as I fill her. My head is spinning for all the right reasons. “How. Is. It. Possible?”

“Mmmm. What?”

“Making love to you. Each time is better than the last.”

Wes

It’s amazing all the things you can think of doing when you can’t sleep. I try counting sheep, but I figure by the time I get to five hundred it isn’t the animal for me. After taking a break and giving her time to think, I tried to talk to Hayley through her closed door. I sat down on the floor for a couple hours. I slid a note under the door that said I’m sorry.

I rattle around the kitchen, hoping Hayley would hear me and come out of her room. Instead I ate a whole bowl of popcorn with warm milk. Bad idea. I finished being sick at about four in the morning. Even the pain in my stomach couldn’t touch the other pain I feel.

Nothing is working.

Defeated, I stayed in my room. I go over all the ways the drive home could go in my head, most of which end up ugly. As we pack the car, I can see that’s likely. Hayley tells Eli to ride shotgun so he can put the seat back if he needs to. Strike one.

Dylan and Hayley pour over some last minute wedding details for about half the ride and the other half working on a school project. Eli did end up needing a nap, so I feel like the chauffeur in this guilt trip. Strike two.

Since I’m in control of this ship, I decide to drop Dylan and Eli off first at their place. This will give me at least a few minutes alone with Hayley and we can hopefully get some of this awkward off us. After we say our goodbyes on the curb, I open the door for her. She climbs in without a word.

Once Goose and Viper are clear from view, Operation Merlin is in full effect. I close my door and the inside of the car is about as silent as it's going to be in New York City.

“Hayley, you can’t avoid me forever.”

“I know I can’t. We still have to co-host the wedding, then you can go your way and I’ll go mine. It will suck for a bit but it’s for the best.”

“Is that how you feel?”

“I’m not given an option to feel anything else. Look, we knew this was a long shot anyway, right?”

“It’s nice to know you run when things are hard. I never knew that about you.”

“Don’t you dare blame this on me. I was good, more than good. Wes, you blew us up, not me.”

“At least you admit there was an us.”

I pull up outside her apartment near NYU. She bails out before I even have the trunk popped. I offer to help her with her bags, and she refuses help.

“Hayley, stop.” I grab her wrist. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“I know. But you did.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Elijah

This week was a whirlwind unlike any other. Monday and Tuesday were spent putting out fire after fire at work. I finally got a hold of Wes to come and get Dylan’s ring from me on Wednesday. He’d seemingly been avoiding all my calls but made the excuse of being busy himself.

I know he’s off. He won’t say why. I’m hoping I can find it out on Friday night. Dylan and Hayley will be staying in a room at the hotel and Wes will be with me. I don’t want to be away from her but it’s a tradition she really wants, and I won’t deny her.

I haven’t done boys’ night with Wes in what feels like forever. We order in, have a couple of beers, and we play video games until way too late. You know it’s late when the king of pulling all-nighters orders you off to bed. I know I won’t be able to sleep.

I roll around on the bed for a couple of hours before I decide to get back up. I’m still too keyed up to sleep and I don’t sleep well unless Dylan’s beside me. We haven’t slept apart since those first nights in the hospital. Even though she isn’t far away, I miss her long hair wild over the pillows and me. Her scent lingers but it’snot the same as if I could have her next to me. I want this to be the last night we spend apart. I’ll make sure of it.

Tomorrow is the day. In less than fourteen hours, I will see her all in white walking toward me this time, instead of dancing or running away. This time she won’t be in sneakers, well, at least at first.

I wonder what Dylan and Hayley are doing right now. They should be asleep in the hotel suite. I can picture them talking and laughing though well into the night. There might even be a bottle of wine involved. They’ve become so close, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Dylan is so confident with most things. When it comes to family, she’s not had the experience I’ve had. Hayley is her first sibling. I can see equal parts nervousness and joy when they’re together. I hate to think that it was the accident that brought them close. I can hear my gran in my head right now, “Every cloud has a silver lining, dear.”

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