Page 69 of Keeping Promises

Cal whistles, pursing his lips together. “When Hadley couldn’t get ahold of you on your phone—it went straight to voicemail—” That’s right, my phone is still fucked-up. “—she called the hotel room, and I guess Zoe answered it.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I pull on the strands of my hair. She has to think the worst of me. I need to fix this. I need to get home.

I pace back and forth before dropping on the bed with my elbows balanced on my knees and my head in my hands. The bathroom door finally opens, but I don’t look up. I can’t make eye contact with her.

“I think I should go,” she murmurs as she takes in the tension in the room.

“Okay, sweetheart.” Cal’s voice softens. “I’ll help you downstairs and get you an Uber back to campus.” He ushers her to the door.

“Asher?” I look up at her but keep my head in my hands. “I’m so sorry, but thank you for taking care of me.”

“Yeah” is all I have in me to say. I just hope it didn’t cost me everything.

She gives a brief smile before she exits the room behind Cal.

“Fuck,” I hiss as soon as the door clicks shut.

“Asher, I’m only going to ask this once, and I want you to be one hundred complete honest with me.” I glance up to find Ben leaning up against the dresser with his arms and ankles crossed.

“I know you’re not going to ask what I think you are—seriously?”

He holds up one hand. “I just need you to look me in the eye and tell me.”

“No, Ben, I didn’t sleep with Zoe or do anything with her besides make sure she got into bed safely to sleep it off. And then, I slept in the chair.That’s it.”

“I don’t think you would do anything to hurt Hadley on purpose.”

“Of course I wouldn’t. I love her, man.” Both of our eyes widen at my confession. But I do. I love her. I am head over heels in love with Hadley Kincaid. “Shit, this is so fucked-up. I need to get home.” I stand and go in search of my duffle bag for a change of clothes.

I disappear into the bathroom with jeans and a T-shirt. I quickly get dressed and look at my reflection in the mirror. I press my hands against the counter and sigh. “Please let everything be okay and let Hadley hear me out.” A knot in the bottom of my stomach worries as I open the door to rejoin Ben.

“The girls are still at the apartment. I’m not going to lie, Asher, it’s bad.”

“Then what the fuck are we waiting for,” I state, shoving my belongings in my bag.

“Cal is going to grab his bag, and I’m going to grab mine. We’ll meet you in the lobby. All right?”

I nod but refuse to meet his eyes. I can’t believe he had to ask me that nothing happened. Fingers grab my arm, and I spin around to see Ben’s brown eyes staring at me with determination.

“Hey. It’s going to be fine, okay?”

If only he knew that was true.

* * *

The drive to the apartment feels like it takes forever. My leg bounces the entire time.

I don’t bother knocking and use my key to enter Hadley’s apartment. The place is eerily quiet, but I meet two pairs of eyes boring a hole into me. If laser beams out of eyes were real, I’m pretty sure both Lexi and Brynn would have burned me alive already.

Hadley is nowhere to be found, but I hear shuffling down the hallway, so she must be in the bedroom.

I drop my bag on the floor and start to head that way when Lexi wraps her hand around my arm. She gives a small shake of the head, telling me to stop. All eyes turn toward the hallway as footsteps approach.

Hadley appears with her arms wrapped around her. She looks so fragile—her red-rimmed eyes gut me. I’m terrified that if I open my mouth and the wrong words come out, then all the pieces of the life we’ve been building will fall to the ground.

No one says a word while Hadley and I continue to stare at each other.

Someone clears their throat. “Well, we’re going to go,” Lexi announces, cutting the silence.

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