Page 58 of Broken Promises

Hockey Boy

Try to have fun tonight, Princess. Belle wouldn’t be there if she didn’t love you and want to talk through this.

“Kai?” I ask Belle.

“Declan?” she asks me in turn. I bite my lip and nod, trying to suppress my smile since I know he’s a sore spot for her right now.

We sit in silence, only speaking when the server comes to take our orders.

“I’m sorry,” I say the moment he leaves our table.

Belle sighs and stares at her hands. “I know you are, Willa. I’ve had a really hard time trying to sort through my feelings, even with my therapist’s help.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Belle shakes her head. “I think I understand now why you kept Declan separate.”

“If you understand, why do you look so sad?”

“Because I feel like I failed you,” she explains, lifting her eyes from her hands. There’s no anger there, only hurt.

“You lost me.”

“I didn’t see it. You started hiding parts of yourself after your mom died. Replacing your smile with a scowl unless you were with people close to you.” She holds my stare, waiting for me to deny her words, but I can’t. “Then your dad died, and you closed yourself off even more. You dyed your hair purple, wore mostly black, and pretended like nothing could crack your armor.”

“I didn’t want you to see it,” I whisper. Belle reaches her hand out and takes mine.

“I know, and that hurts.” I open my mouth to apologize, but she speaks before I can. “I understand it, though. But why did Declan get all of you? That’s what I’m still struggling with.”

“I don’t have an answer to that because I honestly don’t know. Maybe because there was always physical distance between us, or because he always made me feel like I was perfect.” I squeeze her hand and smile softly. “What would you say to me if I said I wanted to quit the band and start an elephant sanctuary?”

Belle’s eyes go wide. “That you should take a step back and think this over. You don’t even like animals. Or the outdoors. Or being in charge of things.”

I nod and hold up a finger, pulling out my phone and quickly dialing Declan on speaker. He picks up on the second ring. I can hear the noises in the locker room filtering through the phone before he even speaks.

“Hey, Princess. Is everything alright? You should still be at dinner.” I smile at his sweet concern.

“I’m fine, hockey boy. Belle and I were just talking, and I’m thinking about quitting the band and starting an elephant sanctuary.”

“We’ll need to find a really large piece of land for that. Have you done a pros and cons list for this? Do elephants like snow?” He answers immediately and then pauses for a moment. “I need to do some research, but if you’re serious, I’m all in, Princess. I’ll go on whatever adventure you want me to.”

“I think I’ll stick with this adventure for now,” I say with a smile.

“This one is pretty great,” he agrees. “I have to get on the ice, but I’ll call you after my game.”

“Tell Slava his passes were too slow last game, and he needs to be faster if you want to win tonight. Detroit’s offense is fast and aggressive. They’re going to be on him the moment the puck hits his stick.” I can hear Declan repeating what I said to Slava at the same time Belle snorts from trying to hold in her laugh.

“You got it, Willa!” I hear Slava yell.

“Kick ass out there tonight, baby.”

“You know I will, Princess.” We quickly say our goodbyes, and I turn to Belle.

“You know I support you no matter what, right?” Belle asks.

“I do. That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. You both support me, but you’re more cautious. Dec has always been more balls to the wall. I need you both. It’s never been one or the other for me.” I squeeze her hand again; grateful she hasn’t taken it back. “I’ve never felt like I gave him more of me than I did to you. I have so many more memories with you, Belle. I just kept him to myself because I wanted to be selfish. I’m so sorry that it hurt you.”

Belle’s lips curve into a small smile. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come to terms with you and Declan.”

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