Page 6 of Where We Promise

His groan sent a trail of goosebumps down my spine as I turned away from him and stopped at the counter. Reaching for a mug, I poured us each coffee.

“You feel better today?” His fingers dug into his hair, trying to adjust the misplaced pieces.

It made me smile, as a flutter began in my stomach.

My hand dropped to my belly on instinct. Crap.

“You forgot about the caffeine thing again?” Jamie laughed, reaching around me to grab his mug.

I watched longingly as he took a generous sip.

“I can have one cup, I’m pretty sure.”

His smirk stretched into something I would almost call a smile.

“But you won’t because you’re so obsessed with doing everything by the book.”

He knew me too well.

“Why don’t we head to the main clubhouse, I know they make a big breakfast up there.”

He meant the Stone Riders. Which was odd because his club was in the other direction back at the house.

“No breakfast over with the Chaos Kings?” I raised a brow, needing him to explain why he seemed so comfortable with just heading over to our rival club for a meal.

He shrugged. “No one cooks. Over at Stone Riders, they have a few people who prep meals.”

Just like we’d had when our club was whole. I missed Gene…and my mom.

A chasm had opened at the reminder of her. The facts that now outlined my life as cold pieces of data. Regardless of how often I tried to convince myself it was fiction, or that my mom wasn’t dead, the facts said otherwise.

Still, I liked to pretend that she was alive, and just back home with Miles, waiting for me to come back. She’d be sitting on the porch, smiling and waving at me just like she always did, every single day when I’d walk home from school.

My mother had passed only four months ago, and the doctor worried I might miscarry because the grief was so acute. It was too much, paired with the bullshit from Luke and the club. I knew deep down her passing was the reason Jamie was standing here in front of me.

Promise me, Jameson. You’ll take care of her, keep her safe. Promise me.

I owed him everything.

I could tell he wanted to go up to the main house, and I also knew he was desperate for me to start feeling at ease around the grounds, and hopefully safe enough to sleep at night.

“Can I go like this, or should I change?” I opened my arms and looked down. I had on gray sweats and an oversized t-shirt…thinking about it, it may have belonged to Luke.

I saw the smallest flash in Jameson’s gaze as his eyes trailed my frame.

Things between us were platonic.

Another fact that I had to accept.

“You’re fine, let’s just throw on our shoes and walk over. Fresh air will be good for both of us.”

I nodded, knowing he was right. I grabbed my boots and a sweater, following him out of the house.

The sun was even more magnificent out here, flowing in through the valley like a broken bottle of gold dust.

Dead weeds crunched under our feet as we walked through the glade leading up to the Stone Riders clubhouse. From behind, the club was intimidating.

Two or three stories with large windows, a wraparound porch, and a townhouse off to the side. The siding was fresh, the windows looked new, and the yard was pristine.

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