Page 81 of The Promise Of You

Oh.

My.

God.

My tongue wets my lips.

“Yoo-hooo! Anybody home?” We both jump apart as the front door slams shut. “I saw the two cars, and no one was answering the door. I wondered if you’d killed each other alr—” Alex stops in her tracks, a knowing smile spreading slowly on her face. “You’re alive! The two of you!” She sets a tripod on the floor and fusses with Moose while I get myself together.

“Nice braid,” I say. “Coffee? Water?”

“Hungry yet?” Justin asks.

“Starving. Chris has been up since three.”

“Bet you were with him,” Justin says as he hands her a pork slider. “I’m surprised you made it out of the house at all.”

She blushes. From what I heard, she and Christopher are finally together after a love story that was so hot it made the news. “I was—ohmygod these are the bomb,” she says with her mouth still full. Her eyes dart between the two of us. “Who made these?” She takes her phone out and starts filming us.

“Team creation,” Justin answers her as I say, “I’m not—I’m not camera ready.”

Justin trails his gaze over my track suit, lust in his eyes, and Alex giggles. “You so are. Totally authentic, you two. Love it. Just ignore me and keep doing what you were doing before I came in.” She lifts her gaze from the phone to set it on us. “Just keep it PG and throw in some cooking, ya know?”

twenty-six

Chloe

We end up making the mac’n cheese balls and the gazpacho while Alex films us and takes close-up photos of the foods, standing on a chair so she can have a perfect looking-down angle. We drink more coffee, make more food, and finally end up having a late lunch on the porch. At some point Justin carries our plates inside, and Alex and I get lost in our chatting. Then Justin comes back out with glasses of water for the two of us and says, “This was fun.”

Then he hops in his truck with Moose on the passenger seat.

And then he’s gone, and I feel a little lost. He didn’t even look directly at me before leaving.

The dust isn’t yet settled on my dirt driveway when Alex says, “You guys worked out okay, after all.”

Us guys? Justin is going to hate that. “Oh—you got the wrong impression. I could tell you thought something was going on when you came in, but—there wasn’t.”

She looks out to where the truck disappeared, mischief in her gaze. “Does Justin know that?”

“Justin doesn’t want anything,” I say and immediately regret it. I’ve exposed myself. Oh well.

She stands and stretches. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.” My heart does a little skip at her words. She has a glow about her that’s a testimony to how happy she is in her love life, and while I’m envious of her in a good way, I’m also aware that she’s bound to look at everything with rose-tinted glasses.

We both go inside with our empty glasses.

The kitchen is shipshape clean, the leftovers boxed and labeled in the fridge, my notebook closed with the pen on top of it the only trace of what happened here.

“Holy crap!” Alex lets out a cascading laughter. “He’s definitely a keeper,” she adds as she bags her tripod.

“Alex,” I say as I walk her to the door. “I’m—I’m serious. About earlier. Nothing happened between Justin and me.” I can see where Justin is coming from. Small towns have a way to obliterate your privacy in a way that can seem stifling, and maybe that’s one reason why he’s so careful about not having any crossover with whatever he does when he’s not in Emerald Creek. I don’t take Alex for a gossip, but I’m feeling oddly protective of Justin. “Nothing happened today,” I hammer. At least that’s the truth.

Her gaze, playful earlier, gets deeper as she pauses on the threshold and turns to me. “Okay,” she says softly. “But I hope something does. Fast.”

I let out a deep sigh once she’s gone.

Justin nearly kissed me, and I wanted him to.

So much.

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