Page 21 of Broken Promises

No. What’s wrong with you?I scolded myself silently, stunned by the dirty thought.

“I was thinking you may want to shower before we head back to the hospital.” His eyes traveled the length of my body sending shivers down my spine. “Last time you were here, I didn’t return your clothes. I intended to, once I washed them, which Ididdo. So, at least you have something to wear.” The back of my eyes burned at his words. He was so kind and so thoughtful, and I was so blessed to have him by my side right now. Any other scenario would have sucked. I would’ve been all on my own.

After I finished breakfast, I found myself in the bathroom and turned on the shower. As I stepped in, the hot water once again did wonders for my sore muscles and my worried mind. It was exactly what I needed. I leaned my back against the heated tiles, closing my eyes when unwanted thoughts snuck back into my mind.

I wondered what it would be like to sleep with Luke again after all these years. A decade spent away from each other would surely contain a lot of pent-up frustration. For the first time, I let myself acknowledge it was there. The frustration. The anger. The need. And there was nothing I could do about it…aside from wonder. In my mind, Luke was next to me in the shower, with his bare body pressed up against mine as he rammed himself inside me and?—

No. No. I chewed my bottom lip, not allowing myself to lose another second in those filthy thoughts. He was kind to me because my mom was in a hospital, and I wasn’t about to mistake it for anything else. Still, as I went to reach for his infamous three-in-one shower gel, I spotted another bottle right next to it. Vanilla. My favorite scent. Did he get it for me?

The smell was divine as I soaped myself up, relaxing further before washing it off my skin and stepping out of the shower. I quickly dried myself with a towel, only to also find a brand-newtoothbrush and mouthwash at the side of the sink. He really was the kind of guy to think about everything.

Once I was all washed up and dressed, I got out of the bathroom. Luke was already waiting for me with his truck keys in his hand.

“Let’s go see your mom.”

luke

. . .

Our driveto the hospital was now much more lively. Lucy’s mood picked up, and for a good reason—her mom is better. Landon didn’t call. I called them and pestered them until I got an update on her mom, so I had good news when she woke up. Or that was, at least, what I told myself. After they insisted they couldn’t give me details because I wasn’t Eve’s family, I called Landon, who had to callthemand ask for updates. Still, it all worked out in the end because the smile on her face was more than worth it.

“I think I’m going to bake her some cookies the next time I visit her,” she said, looking out the window as we headed toward Rockwood. “And I definitely have to make some for you. To thank you for everything.”

“I already told you there’s nothing to thank me for. You would’ve done the same for me.” Shehaddone the same for me. Lucy was there during the worst things to happen to me—save our breakup. We were dating when my grandpa passed away, and she didn’t leave my side. Before we could continue the conversation, her phone buzzed, and she groaned as she looked at the caller ID.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“My ex,” she grumbled. Every muscle in my body tensed. Why was he calling? Did he want her back? “Do you mind if I take this?”

“Not at all.”

“Hello,” she answered, and I lowered the radio volume so she could be uninterrupted during her call and so I could hear the words exchanged between them. I kept my eyes on the road.

“Hi, how are you?” he asked on the other side of the line.

“What do you want, Jason?”

“Shit, there’s no need to be so cold to me, Luce.” A surge of fury spread through me. Apparently, we shared a nickname for her, which annoyed me to no avail.

“You don’t get to call me cold. You cheated on me for six months, so I’m sorry if I am less than cordial with you.” Her volume rose with each syllable.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t so fucking distant, I wouldn’t have needed to do that. I needed you by my side, and you weren’t there.”

Was he seriously blamingherfor cheating? The audacity of this asshole. I shook my head.

“Put that on speaker,” I interrupted her. I was about to give this dickhead a piece of my mind.

“Who’s that? Are you already fucking another guy, Lucy? I can’t believe this!” her ex continued complaining on the other side of the line as she put me on speaker.

“You want to know who this is, and I’ll tell you. I’m about to become your worst fucking nightmare if you ever speak to her like that again. She’s not interested in anything you have to say about this charade of your affair, and she’s most certainly not interested in being insulted and humiliated by you. So, the next time you speak to her, you show her some fucking respect. Or you’ll regret the day you met her.”

Lucy fell silent, and so did her ex. I didn’t need to look at her to see how her mouth gaped.

“Now, say what you need to say, and leave her the hell alone.”

He was still silent, so Lucy spoke up first. “What did you want, Jason?”

Jason then blew out a breath. “I need you to get your stuff out of the apartment.”

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