Page 73 of Every Broken Promise
We were swamped at work. There had been a nasty crash, and everyone was bringing their car for maintenance. I didn’t have enough time to talk with her, even though I had already planned to visit her this weekend.
We needed to talk, but I also wanted her undivided attention because I was tired of letting her call the shots.
Yeah, I had fucked up, but things were never going to get better if she kept being stubborn and didn’t allow us to move on from this.
She didn’t have to forget it happened, but she also had to learn to grow from the consequences, just as I had.
“Beautiful,” I murmured as I stepped closer to her.
“Ty-asshole,” she shot back.
Her comeback would usually annoy me, but after last week, it had the opposite effect.
There had to be a reason why I could never move. Why, with every girl I was with, I kept comparing them to her. Astrid managed to be the only person who made me feel whole.
“You’re still going to call me that when I had my hand inside of your pu?—”
I didn’t finish my sentence because she covered my mouth with her hand.
“Nothing happened,” she cried.
This made me smile, and I knew she could feel my smile because her eyes narrowed. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from my face.
“Beautiful…you were wet and panting for me.”
Her eyes were wide as she craned her neck, searching for my brothers and my dad.
“Remember how we had a truce at my parents’? You will do the same now.”
My grin got bigger. That meant she was planning on staying. Maybe she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of my dad, but whatever the reason was, I was glad I had her here with us now.
I just needed to find a way to get her here permanently.
We had a big round patio table. One of the nicer purchases we made now that we were older. I liked dinners at the Harts’, it was something I didn’t know I wanted with my own family.
Once Ezekiel and Adam moved out, convincing everyone to start doing them wasn’t hard. My brothers and I had been craving this since Mom died. We turned out okay—at least, I’d like to think so.
Astrid sat down across from me. I know she would have preferred not to face me at all, but given the shape of the table, that wouldn’t be possible.
“Do you need help bringing anything out?” she asked as soon as she saw my father carrying today’s meal.
“Oh no, we are fine. You’re the guest today. Sit back and enjoy,” my dad told her.
“Do you want soda or some water?” Ezekiel asked her as he handed me a beer.
Astrid scrunched her nose, and it was adorable.
“I want a beer, too. It’s the least you could do after kidnaping me.”
Ezekiel snorted.
“I didn’t kidnap you,” he told her before handing her a beer.
Adam was the last one to walk out, holding a big salad bowl.
“Ah, look, all the family is here,” Adam stated as he put the salad bowl on the table and sat down.
“Did your cooking get better, Mr.…Mark?” Astrid teased my dad, but she was probably wondering if she was going to have to pretend to like the food that was given to her.
