Page 33 of Every Broken Promise
I cursed the deck because I could feel people staring at us.
Fresh meat in a small town was like getting your period in shark-infested waters.
I turned to look at Rachel, and she didn’t seem bothered at all. She took the lead, and I followed close to her as she made her way inside.
It felt like prom all over again.
People stared, some gaped. Others started whispering in their friends’ ears. Rachel didn’t notice this, and if she did she didn’t stop to ask me about it. Some stools were by the bar, so she headed there and sat.
Zeke immediately noticed us.
Damn, the man was still fine.
He had long hair in a small ponytail. His arms were nice and firm, and he wore a black fitted V-neck.
He handed out a couple of beers and then approached us. He leaned into the bar so we could hear him. He leaned a bit more on Rache’s side with the comfort of someone who was at ease with that person.
“You’re a baby. You can’t be here,” he told me.
I glared at him, and the fucker smirked at me.
“I will sue you for discrimination if you kick me out. We had enough of that,” I said, pointing my index finger at him.
He chuckled.
“You’re making me feel old,” he told me. Then he turned to Rachel. “This one and her conjoint twin used to try to sneak in here whenever it was packed.”
I scrunched my nose at the twin part.
The place was rowdy, and people were chanting “Birthday shots” over and over again. I was obviously more stressed out than I thought since my mind didn’t immediately gothere.
Rachel ordered a martini, and someone bumped beside me before I could say what I wanted.
I immediately perked up when I saw it was Adam, not thinking too rationally about the fact that if he was here, that meant he-who-must-not-be-named was probably also here.
“Astrid!” he exclaimed. “Rach.” He leaned into me and gave Rachel moon eyes. I just patted him because she was way out of his league.
Adam threw a hand around my shoulders and pulled me close to his body. He then turned around and yelled loud enough for the whole bar to hear him.
“Look, Ty, your girlfriend is here.”
FOURTEEN
How much timewould I get for murder? I heard that if it were a crime of passion, then you would get less time because emotions got the best of you. I was ready to kill off Adam Kane very passionately because now everyone who had been previously chanting “Birthday shots” was staring at me.
And at the very center of the people looking our way was him.
Ty-enemy.
My once best friend.
The birthday boy.
Of course I knew it was his birthday—it was also a reminder of another broken promise.
Silly me for thinking he would have celebrated with a cookout at his home. Maybe part of the reason I wanted a distraction today was so I wouldn’t have to think about what he was up to.
It sucked that with every holiday that passed, I was reminded of him. How pathetic was I that I was so hung up on someone who had never been my boyfriend?
