Page 8 of Every Broken Promise
Friends? Best friends? This little girl wanted to be my best friend. That meant I wouldn’t be eating alone—I wouldn’t be a loser.
For the first time since arriving at school, I felt excitement.
FOUR
“You’re late!”Adam yelled as I walked into the auto shop.
I didn’t bother with a reply. My brother had the audacity to call me out when I was the one opening the shop nine times out of ten. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my brother. He was dependable, but he was not a morning person. The fact that he was here before me was a testament to how fucked up my head was at the moment.
The first thing I did was head toward the back and turn on the coffeepot. I wasn’t a coffee guy, but I needed a pick-me-up if I was going to make it through the day. I barely had any sleep last night. My thoughts were screaming at me. It had been a while since my thoughts and guilt got too heavy to let me sleep.
“Whose Civic is that?”
And right there was the main reason I got shit sleep last night. It was the fact that I stayed here until two in the morning fixingthatdamn car up. I swear to fucking God, it’s like that girl forgot everything I had ever taught her. The other part—Astrid had returned home.
Fuck.
As stupid as it may sound, I had been dreaming and dreading this moment.
When my brother told me we had a call, I never expected it would have led me to Astrid. People getting their tires popped on their way through town rarely happened, but it was not unheard of. Adam loved playing the hero when it came to stranded chicks. I remember thinking I was going to rub it in his face as soon as I noticed a pair of long legs. The kind of long legs you wouldn’t mind having wrapped around your waist.
Then my eyes made contact with her midriff, and a chick showing her belly button wasn’t anything new nor newsworthy. But the moment my eyes landed on those two little piercings on her hips, I was fucking glad I took the call and not Adam. The piercings were sexy as fuck.
I greedily took her in, not knowing who she was at first. Her hair was different shades of blonde and light brown. It was like looking at the sun when it was starting to come out. Nice firm set of tits, and then when I got to her mouth, I felt something in my skin tingle.
At the moment, I confused it with arousal because, come on, I lived in a fucking small town, and new chicks who had banging bodies with piercings were something exciting. But the more my eyes traveled up her face, a feeling inside me was telling me something I had refused to acknowledge.
Looking into her eyes was all it took—those hazel eyes that used to gaze at me with wonder were now laced with hate, and at that moment it just clicked for me.
Astrid Hart had returned.
My mind instantly got the memo that I was checking out my best fucking friend—my cock had a little trouble catching up.
The moment I found out that Astrid had left town without even a goodbye, I knew I had fucked up. After calling her for two weeks straight and getting the operator because she had changed her phone number, I knew that losing her was right up there with losing my mom.
I’d mourned my mother. It was hard losing someone that young. Not knowing what love was but feeling it so deep and then losing that fucked you up on a fundamental level. With Astrid, that shit went bone deep. Losing someone without getting a chance to make amends was one of the worst hells ever because that closure wasn’t there. You walked around with an open wound that refused to heal. The pain dulled, but aches were a constant companion.
“And then she gave me a blow job in the middle of town square,” Adam deadpanned.
“Sounds good,” I replied.
“In broad daylight.”
I brought the shitty coffee to my lips as Adam went on. Just before I took a sip, Adam smacked me in the head, making the coffee spill down my shirt.
“What the fuck?” I hissed.
That shit burned.
“You’re not paying attention to me!”
Adam had the audacity to be appalled at the fact that I was not paying attention to him.
“You burned me, asshole.”
“Serves you right. Like I would catch a case for public indecency.”
At that, I had to look at him.
