Page 46 of Broken Promises

Like I was hiding something.

“I didn’t care about the flowers or the note, so I didn’t mention them. I only want to be with you, and I?—”

“Luce, stop,” he interrupted me, his tone pained. I fell silent, staring at him. This wasn’t how today was supposed to go. We were supposed to have fun—and I planned to tell him that I had made my decision about what I wanted to do. But now, it had all gone to hell. If I told him my plan now, it would’ve seemed like I was trying to find my way out of an uncomfortable situation.

“I mean it. It didn’t matter to me. That’s why I didn’t bring it up.”

“That’s not the point.” Luke rubbed his forehead. “Let’s just take a few hours away from each other to process all of this and think about what we will do. I don’t want either of usto make rash decisions or say something we will regret later.” The burning behind my eyes had intensified. If we couldn’t get through this, how would we get through anything else life threw at us? We were supposed to be a team, but right now, it couldn’t feel further away than that. With nothing else to say, I nodded.

“Fine. We’ll talk later,” was all I managed to say as I turned on my heels and rushed into my home. The last thing I wanted was for him to see the tear that rolled down my cheek.

luke

. . .

What the hellhad I done?

Only an hour had passed since I left Luce at her home, yet my mind continued to reel, with a spreading suspicion in the pit of my stomach. I fucked up. With each moment that ticked away, I was more than sure of it.

I had spent the past ten years craving her presence, wishing I hadn’t let her go that day. The thoughts of what I could have done differently haunted me for years, and now that I had a chance to make things right, I was messing them up all over again.

Without a moment of hesitation, I started my truck. It had been parked at our spot in the forest, where I often came to clear my mind. I had spent an hour blankly staring at the two initials carved into the bark, surrounded by a heart Itriedto do myself.

“What are you doing, Luke?” Luce couldn’t stop laughing as she watched me carve into the bark. It wasn’t my fault; the bark was the problem. It was unusually hard and uneven. This wasn’t my first rodeo, so I knew something was up with this tree. I practiced this before to impress her—not that I’d say it out loud.

But no matter how hard I tried to explain the logistics to her, she didn’t believe me. “That doesn’t even look like a heart. Well, maybe if I squint my eyes…”

Now, I couldn’t help but smile either. I looked back at her, unable to believe how lucky I was to have a girl like her with me.

“I’m purposely making it uneven like that,” I told her, “to show that even when things aren’t perfect, we’ll stick together.”

The view of the uneven heart did the trick—I knew what I had to do.

I had to make things right and tell her how I felt. I didn’t want to spend another second away from her; I wanted to hold her in my arms and assure her everything would be okay.

I meant it when I said it. I was all in, and it was time to prove it.

The drive to her home passed in the blink of an eye with how focused my mind was on what needed to be said and done. My body was on autopilot, moving between the streets with muscle memory that took over the charge of my truck. My head was elsewhere, and my heart was aching to see her and apologize.

When I finally pulled up in front of her home, I didn’t head for the front door. Instead, I hopped over the fence and moved into the backyard. It was still perfectly maintained. I guessed that was Ed’s doing while Eve was unable to do it.

I swept my hand over the ground until I found the tiniest rock I could spot. With great precision, I tossed it on the familiar window on the second floor. I had done this dozens of times a decade ago, and my precision remained intact. It was like riding a bike.

A few seconds passed before Luce opened the window and stared at me. Her brows furrowed in confusion, and her eyes were red from crying.

Fuck.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her tone quiet as she leaned against her window’s white, wooden frame. “I thought you wanted some time to?—”

“Fuck that,” I said. “I want to talk to you. I don’t want to spend another second away from you…” I hesitated. “If you’ll still have me, of course. Can I come in?”

“You know, there’s this thing we call front door that people use nowadays when they want to enter someone’s home…” Luce retorted.Good,I thought to myself. If she was joking, that meant I hadn’tentirelyfucked up.

“And where’s the fun in that?” I sized up the tree. The lowest branch was still within my reach, though I was much heavier than I was in my teenage years. I leaped and grabbed hold of the branch, pulling myself up. I took a moment before climbing my way up on some thinner branches that threatened to crack under my build.

“If you fall, I’m calling Landon, and you’ll have to explain what you were doing…” she called out, watching me.

“If that happens, please, just let me die in peace.” I finally reached the branch that was close to her window. I reached out and swung myself over the windowsill, landing right before her.

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