Page 9 of Every Broken Promise
“You ran down the bar buck-ass naked,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, but that was a drunk dare, and no one at Zeke’s would rat me out.”
He had a point there.
“Need help with the Civic? I couldn’t find the slip, so I didn’t touch it because I didn’t know what you were doing with it. EZ usually leaves me a note if he needs help.”
“Nah, I got it. I need to add wiper fluid, and it’s all set.”
I briefly wondered just how many fucking miles Astrid had driven since her oil change light came on.
It was a miracle the girl was not driving on fumes.
Then just like yesterday, that same fucking thought came to mind. She had no one taking care of her. When she was here, she didn’t have a car. There was no need for one. When Adam got his license, he would take us everywhere, and when I got mine, Dad let me borrow his truck on the weekends.
For fuck’s sake, Astrid was with me on the bay, watching me change the oil on that damn truck every three months hearing me tell her the same thing Pops had always drilled into our heads.
If you take care of things, they will take care of you.
Dad’s truck was ancient but still ran like a dream. He refused to part with that old thing.
I removed my shirt because it was sticking to my skin. I went to the metal drawer where we kept our shop shirts and grabbed a black one. I was about to put it on when I heard Adam shouting.
“Damn, Astrid, look at you, baby girl. You’re all grown up.”
Fuck.
With the new shirt in hand, I ran out because if Adam was good at one thing in life, it was getting a chick out of their panties.
Like hell if one of his victims was going to be Astrid.
When I came to the front, I noticed Adam didn’t waste any fucking time. He had Astrid in his arms, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to rip them off his body. What fucking killed me was that Astrid was beaming at him as the fucker gave her a twirl.
Once upon a time, she used to look at me that way, and I took it for granted.
“I see you haven’t changed one bit.” She playfully punched his arm with her free hand.
As for my brother, he was still holding on to her. My eyes latched on to where his thumb was caressing against her arm.
“You want to step back, Adam?”
My brother raised an amused brow at me. He knew it wasn’t a question and more of a demand.
“Ahhh, the best friends are reunited once again.”
At Adam’s words, Astrid’s body went taut. I took a step closer, and she turned her profile so she wouldn’t be facing me.
“I’m here to pick up my car,” she stated.
Adam looked at her, then at me, and his grin grew.
“The Civic is yours,” he said as something clicked in his little chicken brain.
“Yeah. Is it ready? I tried to pay yesterday, but a hindrance wouldn’t let me.”
“Are we still doing this?” I questioned her.
I always figured we would make up when Astrid finally returned to town. It fucking sucked having to carry on without her here, especially after how we left things. Deep down, I always knew she’d be back—I guess I just figured I would apologize. She would tell me that I was a shitty best friend and to never do that again, then we would go back to shooting the shit.
