Page 42 of Every Broken Promise
“Nice try, Typebar.”
“I can be patient. I know it will happen again.”
After that, I ate in silence. It wasn’t as weird as I would have thought having someone watching me eat would be. Once I was done, Tyler got up and began to climb out the window.
Before he jumped out, he turned to look at me and gave me a half smile.
“Thanks for letting me stay, Astrid.”
SEVENTEEN
13 years old
In a few months,we would be in high school. This year seemed to have passed in a blur. Between the auto shop, trying out for the basketball team, Astrid, and our friends, the days just blended into one another.
Since sports season had ended, I was now at the auto shop helping my dad. Last year, he showed me how to do an oil change, and after watching him a few times, he let me do one on my own.
It was scary, but hell, if Adam could do it, anyone could. Now that Ezekiel was seventeen and Adam fifteen, my dad was bringing us more into the shop to help out. I liked being in here, it was calming. There were soft feminine touches in the auto shop that I knew didn’t belong to my father. I once asked EZ about it, and he said Mom used to help Dad organize and kept food and snacks for him. I liked that—I liked looking around and seeing the imprint she had left in this place.
The bell chimed, and I sat straighter on the stool. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t Astrid bringing me some food,but instead, it was Sabrina, our next-door neighbor and EZ’s girlfriend.
“Hey, Sabby.” I waved her over so she could come to the back.
She walked over to me and pinched my cheek. “Are you excited for high school, kid?”
I scrunched my nose at her comment.
“I’m a teenager now,” I stated.
Sabby was hot. All of EZ’s friends always said how lucky he was that he had a total smoke show—whatever that meant.
“You’ll always be a baby to me,” she teased.
Great, just what any guy wanted to hear from one of the hottest chicks in town.
The door to the back opened, and I knew it was Ezekiel coming in to check to see if Sabrina had arrived. He was a lovesick fool, so it was kind of funny to watch him whenever they got in a fight. My brother was laid-back and serious, so whenever Sabrina was upset with him, he would lose it and get desperate to try to fix whatever he did to make her upset.
“I missed you, babe,” Ezekiel said as he made his way toward us. He grabbed Sabrina by the waist and hauled her toward him, and then he kissed her.
It was gross to watch my brother kiss someone.
“You saw her this morning,” I deadpanned at the two of them.
Sabrina giggled, and my brother glared at me.
“Mind your own business.” Ezekiel pointed toward the computer.
Dad liked to do receipts the old-fashioned way. He still used carbonless notebooks that came with the yellow and pink slips. Since I wasn’t an expert at oil changing all types of cars, my job was to update everything on the computer. It was just easier to look up a log than to go through all the receipts every time someone had a question or complaint.
“You guys are gross,” I muttered.
Ezekiel took this as a challenge and dipped Sabby and kissed her more passionately than before. I was about to look away, but instead, I found myself staring not at the act itself but at Sabrina’s features. She looked at peace. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were wrapped around my brother, and when she pulled away, she beamed at him. My brother was looking down at her with a soft look I had never seen on him before.
The bell signaling someone had entered chimed again, and I tore my gaze from Ezekiel and his girlfriend. My cheeks burned with the feeling I had intruded on a private moment.
When I turned to see who had walked in, my breath got caught in my throat. Ezekiel and Sabby’s little show had fucked with me more than I realized.
Astrid had walked inside, and in her hands she had a lunch box.
