Page 37 of Broken Promises

“Of course, I’d love to come. Your parents and Logan helped me set everything up for my mom when she fell, so how can I say no?” Opening my eyes, I looked back at him. He was already staring at me adoringly. “Though…I do have one request,” I murmured.

“Anything you’d like…”

“There’s karaoke night next week and?—”

Luke’s loud groan interrupted my sentence. Granted, I wasn’t a big fan of the karaoke, nor was I a good singer, but Luke hated them, which made them so damn fun. It was an actual test of this new relationship of ours. I batted my lashes at him.

“Are you seriously going to say no to me?”

He sighed, but I didn’t miss the teasing glint in his eyes. “I could never say no to you. So, yes, sure, we’ll do the karaoke night.”

lucy

. . .

The following day,the red rose and baby breath bouquet remained unpicked. I stared at it, along with the phone number attached to the order. Things like this happened sometimes—sometimes customers forgot they had ordered flowers or mistakenly didn’t set up a delivery.

And my mom always made it her mission to notify them about it, so it was up to me to do the same. With a small sigh, I grabbed my phone and dialed the number. The name linked to the order was Jensen Powell, repeating in my head repeatedly as the phone rang. The person on the other side finally picked up at the fifth ring.

“Mr. Powell, my name is Lucy, and I’m calling from Blushing Blooms about your flower order. You haven’t set up a delivery, and the bouquet was meant to be picked up three hours ago, so I’m just calling to check if there’s anything we can do. Has there been some mistake on our end?”

“No,” a voice, unmistakably familiar, said over the phone. “There hasn’t been a mistake. The order is exactly where it’s meant to be.”

Jason.

What the hell?

“What in the world are you doing, Jason? You’re not Jensen Powell, and I surely don’t have the time for your nonsense. Did you put in a fake order or something?”

“No, Luce, the order is real. I wanted you to get the flowers and the apology note I attached to it. Have you read it?”

“I haven’t. I printed it out and attached it to the flowers, and that was about as interested I was in anything Jensen—or you—have to say.”

“Read the note, Luce. Please. I know…” Jason choked on his words on the other side of the line. I should have felt something—after all, he was my last relationship and one I was running from this time. At the very least, I thought I would be seeking closure. But I was surprised to realize I didn’t care about any of it. At all. And it was the most liberating feeling in the world. “I know I messed up, and I know you don’t owe me anything, but I just wanted you to know that I see now that I’ve made such a massive mistake, and I couldn’t be more sorry about it. So, I figured that if I sent you flowers?—”

“You didn’tsendme flowers. I had to make the bouquet myself. And then call you to check if there was a mistake on my end with the delivery. It’s hardly romantic.” Wheels started turning in my head. “Wait, how did you even know I’d be here?”

“It doesn’t matter. I figured it out because I want to be with you again, and I wanted you to see the lengths I’d go to win you over again. I don’t know who that?—”

“So, that’s what all of this is about. You’re threatened by the other guy you’ve heard from me the other day, aren’t you? That’s the only reason you’re calling. You can’t accept the fact that someone else has somethingyoulost. You don’t care about me, nor do you want me back. You just don’t want anyone else to have me. That’s all.” I let out a small snort. Weeks ago, I would’ve been upset about all of this, but it was entertainingright now. While some things changed and grew, some did not. Some were always doomed to stay the same and ruin your life; my relationship with Jason was at the top of that list.

“Please, just hear me out?—”

“I’m going to say this one time, and one time only. Even if I weren’t seeing someone else, I wouldn’t ever consider getting back with you. You betrayed my trust in the worst way possible, and frankly, you treated me like shit for the rest of our relationship, too. I see that now, and I don’t ever want you to call me again.”

I didn’t waste another second on him as I hung up.

What an asshole,I thought to myself. The audacity he had never failed to amaze me. If there was one good thing to come out of that conversation, though, it was the realization that I hadn’t called Sailor and needed to check up on my best friend, too. With my hectic life, I barely had the time to breathe, but I wanted to keep her updated on everything.

ME: Are you free to call?

Sailor didn’t bother responding; instead, my phone rang right away. I picked up with a small smile on my face. It was hard to believe I feltgoodafter what should have been a difficult conversation with an ex-boyfriend.

My best friend sighed. “I see you only now remember the life you’ve left behind.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m practically modernizing my mom’s flower shop, and it’s taking up a lot of my time. But that’s not all. I also…”

“Found some hot guy you’ve been spending all your time with? That’s the only acceptable end of that sentence, Luce.”

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