Page 16 of Promise Me Never

I use the time I’m waiting to check my email and reply to a few inquiries. After twenty minutes, my patience is starting to wear thin though. How long could removing stitches take? I pick up a conservation magazine from ten years ago and flip through it before dropping it back on the coffee table.

“How long does this usually take?” I could have been out running Paul’s errands.

“It’ll take as long as it needs to. If you want to leave, I’m sure someone can give her a ride back out to the ranch.”

“I’ll wait.” I toss my arm over the back of the chair beside me and cross my ankle over my knee while I stare out the window. At least every building in this town has an exceptional view because of how it was built into the valley.

“Luke?” Janey walks out with Eli nowhere in sight.

“Yeah.” I stand and walk over to her.

“I’m going to take Eli to lunch, and then I’ll drive her back to the ranch tonight.”

“Why? Is she okay?” I start to walk around her to go find Eli.

Janey’s hand on my chest stops me. “She’s fine. She just wants girl time, and we’ve really hit it off.”

I look down at my sister, her blue eyes a perfect match to mine but somehow heightened by the blue hair framing her face. I never really thought about it until now, but she is only a couple years older than Eli. It would probably be good for both of them, and they equally annoy the fuck out of me.

“But she’s fine, there’s no lingering effects from the concussion?” I swallow the lump in my throat as I ask.

Janey’s face softens. “Yes. There are no noticeable lasting effects. Dr. McPherson cleared her.”

My entire body relaxes. I’ll be able to get more than two hours of sleep after hearing that. The irrational part of me still wants to see it for myself. I’m seconds away from asking to tell her goodbye when Janey wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me.

“You know that whenever you’re ready, Julia will clear a spot on her schedule for counseling, right?” she whispers quietly.

I squeeze her back. “I know.”

Seven

ELI

* * *

“Tell me everything about college life at UCLA,” Janey says as soon as our server drops our food off. “I would have loved to go out of state, but it just wasn’t possible for me.”

“It’s probably the same as college anywhere. I’ve been reclusive the first two years of college and focused mostly on my coursework.” I look out the window behind her, appreciating the scenery. “I’m actually pretty boring now that I’m talking about it. I’m part of a few student organizations, but I’m not in a sorority, so parties are pretty few and far in between.”

“What about guys?”

I sigh heavily at this one. I talked to Brandon last night for the first time since being gone, and he was so sweet. Or at least it was until I told him about my head meeting a rock incident. Then he demanded a picture to see how bad it was. He’s worried about scarring and said he’d ask his dad, a surgeon, for ideas of how to treat it. Worrying about a scar hadn’t even crossed my mind yet.

Ultimately the conversation steered back to his internship with a huge real estate agency in San Diego. He spent nearly an hour talking about everything from the actual properties to how much he admires the man he’s shadowing. His drive has always been one of the things I’m most attracted to, and it was on full display last night.

“There’s really only one guy, and we’re not together in any sense of the word. It’s more of a situationship than anything else.”

“Tell me about him.” She rests her elbows on the table and her chin on her knuckles. “I love dissecting the behavior of the male species.”

“Okay.” I roll my lips in between my teeth as I try to figure out if I should be completely honest with her to get her perspective on my situation. “Can I be completely, uncomfortably honest?”

“Yes,” she answers immediately.

“He’s incredibly smart.”

“Hot?”

“So hot. He’s tall, not as tall as Luke, but still over six feet, blonde hair and hazel eyes. Total surfer body because he goes several times a week.”

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